Gillian Welch And Swift Essay

Gillian Welch and Taylor Swift are both singer songwriters in their own right and both have had/are having very successful careers. Although when listening to their music they appear to have two very different vocal styles some striking comparisons can be drawn and will be discussed in this paper. These two artists can be seen to have the similar influences of country and blues in their music and so although they are two very different artist it is because of their similarities that they make an ideal pair of musicians to analyse.

Gillian Welch is fifty-year-old American born Country/Folk singer who in later albums added more than just her and her acoustic guitar. However, later in her career she typically performed and records with musical partner and guitarist …show more content…
When listening to their music you can hear the influence of early 20th century musical styles including classic country, gospel and blue grass mixed with more modern elements of blues, rock n roll, jazz and punk rock. She arranges their songs with interwoven guitars and a great variety of harmonies within the vocals with David often picking harmonies very to Gillian's. This adds a distinct sound to Gillian's vocal style where David often picking a harmony close to hers such as a major second, creating a lot of dissonance. The timbre of Gillian's voice helps her convey her message through the powerful lyrics as she uses traditional techniques to tell historical stories in a contemporary way. In listening to a variety of her music her vocal range does not seem large, but it is evident she is more comfortable within her alto register from range of her songs. Her alto register is rich and has a roughness to it that gives tiredness in the sound. Gillian's vocal style has a sombre quality as she portrays emotion through not only song lyrics by the use of dynamics (not vibrato)