The piece I've chosen to analyze is Nobuo Uematsu's Descendant of the Shinobi. It is found in the soundtrack of the game Final Fantasy VII, so for those of you who've played it, this might sound vaguely familiar.

Anyway, here's the YouTube video of the clip. (Can't upload the mp3 here so if you wish to obtain the mp3 file, you can request from me personally.)



And here's the score to go with it. (Please open the pictures in a new tab/window as the thumbnails're rather blur.) I'll only be analyzing the 1st 33 bars of the piece.

(Pages 1-2)

(Pages 3-4)

This below is the harmonic analysis of the 1st 33 bars.

I'll touch on the phrase structure of the piece first.

I've broken these 1st 33 bars into a binary form structure with an introduction and a bridge in between both sections. The "A"-section follows a double period structure, with each (antecedent and consequent ) phrase (in each period) lasting for 4 bars. Each phrase starts with an anacrusis of 3 quavers, so it may feels as though each phrase ends before the end of a bar. The "B"-section also follows a double period phrase structure. Unlike the "A"-section, each phrase within each period is only 2 bars long in the "B "-section. However, there is an extension to the consequent phrase of the consequent period, making it 4-bars long. Each phrase also starts with an anacrusis of 3 quavers like that of the "A"-section.

In short, it should look something like this in chronological order:

• Introduction (bars 1-4)
  
• A (bars 5-20): double period
  
• Bridge (bars 21-22)
  
• B (bars 23-33)
  

If we were to examine the hypermetric structure, we would realize that the hypermetric beat quickens at the "B"-section. In fact, the hypermetric beat at the "B"-section seems to've diminished by half as the "short" phrases there are half the length of those in the "A"-section.With the entrance of the "long" phrase in the "B"-section, the hypermetric beat seems to resume to that of the "A"-section. Possibly signalling that the next section will follow the hypermetric beat and phrase length of the "A"-section. Taking a closer look at the "bridge" section, we could take it that it's acting as a precursor to the diminution of the hypermetric beat and phrase length by comparing it with the "introduction" section. The bridge section is exactly half in length in terms of hypermetric beat and phrase length. As both the "introduction" and "bridge" sections act as a very short introductory passage to both the "A" and "B" sections, we can assume that each of them will also set the phrase structure and hypermetric beat of the proceeding section.

Having discussed the phrase structure and the hypermeter, we can now discuss a little on the harmonic structure of the 1st 33 bars:

• T -> PD -> D in the antecedent period of the "A"-section
• PD -> D -> T in the consequent period of the "A"-section
• PD -> D -> T in the "B"-section
• PD comprises of circle of 5ths e.g. vi7 -> ii7 -> V7
• jazz elements e.g. the use of extended 9ths, 11ths, 13ths
• smooth bass-line with the use of passing and neighbour chords (sometimes chromatic)
• "colourful" chords and ambiguity in keys at times
  

Taking a closer look at the harmonic phrases in both sections, we can see that it follows a "short-short-long (SSL)" phrase structure. Bars 5-6, 7-8, 13-14, 15-16, 23-24, 25-26 are all consecutive "short" phrases. The proceeding 4 (sometimes slightly more) bars to each of these "short-short" phrases form a "long" phrase. Coupled with the melodic phrase structure, and the use of a swing beat, the piece is very catchy.

In terms of the chords used, we can see that there is a wide usage of extended 9ths and sometimes 11ths one occurence of a 13th. These add to the jazz feel of the piece along with the swing beat. A smooth bass-line is achieved by the use of passing and neighbour chords, sometimes chromatic in nature (e.g. bars 12 and 22).

"Colourful" chords are used too, like the German 6th at bar 18 and the flattened submediant chord at bar 32, which add an element of surprise to balance the predictability of the melodic and harmonic phrase structures. There is some ambiguity in terms of key at bars 11-12 and 32 if you look at these 2 places out of context. Bars 11-12 seem to suggest a modulation to G minor. In fact, the last 3 quavers of the melody in bar 12 fit nicely to the harmonization of a G-minor tonic triad. However, the proceeding bar (13) firmly brings the tonality back to that of the home key (B-flat major) with the use of the subdominant triad of B-flat major.

Similarly, at bar 32, the unexpected use of the flattened submediant chord of B-flat major (subdominant chord of D-flat major), followed by the dominant of D-flat major, seem to suggest a modulation to D-flat major. However, the proceeding bar (33) sees an interrupted cadence, using a major submediant chord of D-flat major. We probably wouldn't realize the interrupted cadence as it usually would be a minor chord. Furthermore, this major submediant chord is also the tonic triad of the home-key, thus, it's only natural for us to think that the piece has rooted itself back to B-flat major.

As you've noticed, I've included jazz notation of the chords to so that it is easier to see the presence of the extended 9ths, 11ths and 13ths, and the bass-line. For those unfamiliar with jazz notation, here's a little summary of my own:

• a chord with only a note-name denotes a major triad built on that note e.g. C denotes a C-major triad
  
• a chord with a note-name followed by "m" denotes a minor triad built on that note e.g. Cm denotes a C-minor triad
• a chord with a note-name followed by a "dim" denotes a diminished triad built on that note
  
• a chord with a note-name and a "+" in superscript denotes an augmented triad built on that note
• a "maj7" in superscript indicates that the chord carries a diatonic 7th while a "7" in superscript indicates a flattened 7th (i.e. a secondary dominant 7th)
• numbers "9", "11", "13" in superscript indicate that the chord carries the respective
  diatonic notes with respect to the tonic (where the note-name of the chord is the tonic) e.g. C9 denotes a C-major triad with an added "D"
• an "add" followed by a number in superscript indicates that the chord carries an added diatonic note (corresponding to the number) of the scale (where the note-name of the chord is the tonic)
• a second number (usually having an accidental preceding it) in superscript denotes that that particular note in the chord (where 1 is the tonic) is altered according to the accidental
• the note-name after a "/" indicates the bass note of the chord (where the bass note may not be found in the chord some times) e.g. C/E denotes a C-major triad with E as the bass-note, or in its 1st inversion