The Call and response (music) reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Call and response (music)

In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. It corresponds to the Call-and-response pattern in human communication.

This structure is rooted in folk traditions of choral singing of many peoples.

In the classical European music it is known as antiphony.

This structure, also known under the Spanish term coro-pregon, is widely present in Afro-Latin music based on religious chants.

In modern Western popular music, call and response is most commonly found in the blues and in blues-derived music like jazz and rock'n'roll.

It is particularly apparent in the traditional and electric blues, where the most common 12-bar form is an AA'B pattern where the AA' is the call (repeated once with slight variation), and B is the response. But, each A and B part may itself consist of a short call and a short response, and those 2-bar calls and response may also be divided into 1-bar-each call-response pairs!

To make an attempt at diagraming it:

• A: 4-bar CALL
  • (2-bar vocal CALL
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE]
  • 2-bar instrumental RESPONSE
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE])

• A': 4-bar CALL (repeated with slight variation)
  • (2-bar vocal CALL
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE]
  • 2-bar instrumental RESPONSE
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE])

• B: 4-bar RESPONSE (repeated)
  • (2-bar vocal CALL
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE]
  • 2-bar instrumental RESPONSE/turnaround
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE])

Note that each turnaround can be considered a call which the next A section is the response to.

Table of contents

1 Leader/Chorus call and response 2 Question/Answer call and response 3 External link

Leader/Chorus call and response

A single leader makes a musical statement, and then the chorus responds together. Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" is almost entirely Leader/Chorus call and response:

• CALL: Bo's vocals: "Now when I was a little boy"
• RESPONSE: (Harmonica/rhythm section riff)
• CALL: Bo: "At the age of 5"
• RESPONSE: (Harmonica/rhythm section riff)

Question/Answer call and response

Part of the band poses a musical "question", or a phrase that feels unfinished, and another part of the band "answers" (finishes) it. In the blues, the B section often has a question-and-answer pattern (dominant-to-tonic).

External link

• History of Gospel Music - with references to call and response in black gospel music

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