Lady Gaga Star Spangled banner 4/4 & 3/4 analyzed

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 24 Jan 2021 6:27 am

I found this really interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_GY3DB8pL4

Aaron Johnson · Post by **Aaron Johnson** » 24 Jan 2021 8:34 am

Very interesting, thank you for posting Andy.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 24 Jan 2021 10:13 am

His videos are so interesting.

I hadn't seen this one.

Thanks for posting it.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 24 Jan 2021 4:19 pm

I caught the timing issue while she was singing. The whole time I was thinking two things: â€œWow she is really singing the crap out of thisâ€, and â€œWow they really had to rehearse this.â€

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 25 Jan 2021 1:37 am

Is this the first time I've heard the SSB in 4/4 time? It seems that way. (It was tresilio!)

I thought it was one of the better versions of the anthem. One of the best? Great arrangement.

Sam Conomo · Post by **Sam Conomo** » 25 Jan 2021 2:05 am

I loved her version,
I was unaware of the
Timing complexity,
I found it so emotional
And moving,
And now I am even
More amazed.
Loved it,
Thanks for posting it.
Sam.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 25 Jan 2021 4:14 am

I'm not a Gaga fan per se though I do respect that unlike many pop stars, she can really sing and I found her performance moving. In the moment, I kind of felt some of the aspects discussed in the video above but I didn't analyze the performance at the time. In retrospect, this was a very well thought-out arrangement.

More info on Tresillo Rhythm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPezmcKrPfI

Thomas Stone · Post by **Thomas Stone** » 25 Jan 2021 9:01 pm

Loved her performance at the time and am even more impressed now that I see all the complexities and nuances that went into it. She is a *real* musician and artist.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 26 Jan 2021 5:11 am

I became a Lady Gaga fan when I saw her perform on the Today Show outdoors in the pouring rain not only singing but playing piano and killing it. I thought it was one of the gutsiest and inspired performances I had ever seen.

She held nothing back while she was getting soaked

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 26 Jan 2021 7:12 am

I go Google over Gaga. Sorry, had to say it. She did a great job.

I did see the worst version I have ever heard over the weekend. For Chiefs - Bills game on Sunday, they had some young hard rock guitar playing dude trying to do a copy of Hendrix's version. There were times during his version where you had no idea what song he was playing.

Lady Gaga nailed it. I like her.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 26 Jan 2021 7:55 am

I've been a GaGa fan since 2015 when she sang a medley of songs from "The Sound of Music" live on the Grammy Awards show. She worked for six months on that medley and did an excellent job. Check it out on YouTube.

This video is really interesting. I watched most of it, skipped around a lot. I notice that he praises Whitney Houston's "performance" of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl... a great arrangement... but did he mention that Whitney was lip-syncing to a studio recording that was made one week earlier? Lady GaGa sang live at the inauguration. Very few pop stars nowadays would attempt that.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 26 Jan 2021 8:44 am

Yes, there were no Pro-Tools to hide behind for GaGa. I'm a big fan of singers who can sing in time and in tune. Another artist who can really sing is Adele. Her NPR Tiny Desk concert with just a few backing musicians was impressive.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 26 Jan 2021 11:33 am

Richard Sinkler wrote:I did see the worst version I have ever heard over the weekend. For Chiefs - Bills game on Sunday, they had some young hard rock guitar playing dude trying to do a copy of Hendrix's version. There were times during his version where you had no idea what song he was playing.

In complete contrast, Carly Pearce sang an excellent rendition for the Packers-Bucs game. Just the melody, only slight articulation in attacking some notes, no "look at me, I can turn a single melody note into an eight-note phrase". Let alone the entirely pointless weedly-weedly nonsense the kid threw in.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 26 Jan 2021 11:42 am

Nothing tops Roseanne Barr's crotch-grabbing and spitting "National Anthem" years ago.

Although I did see a video of a police officer singing it once and he made up half of the lyrics and mumbled the rest. The audience politely held back their laughter.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 26 Jan 2021 12:00 pm

I enjoyed the guitar player for the AFC championship game. Great tone. I thought the weedly deedlies were tastefully sparse and well placed. What do you expect from a guitarist? Note for note is not gonna happen, thank you very much Mr. Hendrix. Plus, he was wearing the home team colors and sporting a Jimi/Mahomes hairdo. A+!

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 26 Jan 2021 1:09 pm

Fred Treece wrote:I enjoyed the guitar player for the AFC championship game. Great tone. I thought the weedly deedlies were tastefully sparse and well placed. What do you expect from a guitarist? Note for note is not gonna happen, thank you very much Mr. Hendrix. Plus, he was wearing the home team colors and sporting a Jimi/Mahomes hairdo. A+!

Still thought it sucked and was disrespectful to the song.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 26 Jan 2021 1:10 pm

Brint Hannay wrote:
Richard Sinkler wrote:I did see the worst version I have ever heard over the weekend. For Chiefs - Bills game on Sunday, they had some young hard rock guitar playing dude trying to do a copy of Hendrix's version. There were times during his version where you had no idea what song he was playing.
In complete contrast, Carly Pearce sang an excellent rendition for the Packers-Bucs game. Just the melody, only slight articulation in attacking some notes, no "look at me, I can turn a single melody note into an eight-note phrase". Let alone the entirely pointless weedly-weedly nonsense the kid threw in.

Didn't get to see it. The only network I get is CBS.

Curt Trisko · Post by **Curt Trisko** » 26 Jan 2021 3:26 pm

Didn't you also find it obnoxious on some level? It is very impressive to understand songs enough to manipulate them like that. That said, if you turn music into sport the songs lose what makes them effective. To me, a lot of what makes different versions of song engaging is when the artist understands enough about what makes them work to know what can be toyed with and what needs to be kept faithful.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 26 Jan 2021 3:30 pm

Richard Sinkler wrote:Didn't get to see it. The only network I get is CBS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kc8AnCOhI0

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 29 Jan 2021 9:18 am

I became a Lady Gaga fan when I saw her perform on the Today Show outdoors in the pouring rain not only singing but playing piano and killing it.

Same moment for me, Bill. I had never been a fan before, but when I saw that Today Show, I realized there was something going on there...
Been a fan ever since.