7/21/2019 Bonnie Raitt Opinion Paper

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Madeline McCord

PFSS-371

Final Project

Personal Opinion: Bonnie Raitt

Stylistically, as a musician, Bonnie Raitt is truly one of a kind.

Se successfully fuses !lues and rock elements to"eter to create a

#ery e$%ressi#e sound tat to me is #ery uni&ue, es%ecially for a

female #ocalist. First of all, er tone &uality often seems to emulate

tat of classic !lues sin"ers from te early '(t century. Se ty%ically

sin"s in er lo)er re"ister )it #ery )arm tim!re and rela$ed, soulful

tones in er cest #oice. *n er early al!ums, se incor%orated a "reat

deal of #i!rato to create tat classic !lues sound. +ater on in er

career, er son"s tat incor%orated more rock elements )ere recorded

and %erformed )it less #i!rato and a clearer tone. Because of tesoulful &uality in er #oice, se tends to incor%orate some !lues

em!ellisments in er music like su!tle "ro)ls, slides and #ocal runs.

Se as suc "reat control in er #oice tat er sort im%ro#ised

em!ellisments are sun" #ery clearly and are not o#ertly fre&uent.

+ike most classic !lues son"s, Bonnie Raitts son"s are #ery

con#ersational !ot melodically and rytmically. er #erses for te

most %art are almost s%oken in a #ery rela$ed rytm tat el%s er

tell te son"s story )it a lot of emotion and soul. Se takes li!erties

)it certain melodies !ecause of er ty%ically sort and #ery natural

%rasin", so te lyrics really a#e tat con#ersational &uality. s a

"uitarist, * feel like se is a!le to interact )it oter instrumentalist

#ery )ell, es%ecially )en se does er o)n im%ro#ised !ut #ery

%olised "uitar solos or %asses o/ te solos to oter !and mem!ers. *n

"eneral, * tink Bonnie Raitts style is #ery di/erent from most %o%ular

sin"ers and se as te ran"e to successfully sin" anytin" from a

eart-felt !allad to an u%-tem%o rock "roo#e in er o)n uni&ue !lues-

rock )ay.

 0e son" Sometin" to 0alk !out2 )as )ritten !y Sirleyikard in te mid-145(s !ut Bonnie Raitt recorded it in 144( for er

al!um Luck of the Draw. 6en * )as )orkin" on learnin" tis son", *

)as tryin" to emulate tat rela$ed, soulful, !luesy &uality in Bonnies

#oice. 0o do tis, * ad to rela$ a lot of te tension in my ja), let my

#oice dro% into a lo)er re"ister, and use !reatier tones tan )at *

am used to. ne of te !i""est callen"es * faced )it tis aural

transcri%tion )as tryin" to mimic te sort runs and em!ellisments

tat se incor%orates trou"out te son". * ad to !reak tem do)n

7/21/2019 Bonnie Raitt Opinion Paper

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one !y one and %ractice tem at a muc slo)er tem%o, !ut * am still

una!le to make tose ri/s sound as clear and soulful as se does.

#erall, learnin" to sin" in er style )as a ste% out of my comfort 8one

!ut it turned out to !e a #ery !ene9cial learnin" e$%erience: %lus *

mi"t kee% tis tune in my re%ertoire for future auditions or

%erformances.