Ariana Grande: Side to Side (analysis)

Music video by Ariana Grande performing Side To Side ft. Nicki Minaj. © 2016 Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

Interesting intro right? It starts with vocals and no other instruments for the very first line of the song. This is used to instantly grab your attention, like someone speaking directly to you. She's saying, 'listen to this right here.' In music there are strong beats and weak beats. Strong beats are also called down beats and weak beats are also called upbeats. The guitar enters just at the end of the first line and is strumming on the weak/upbeats (this is common in reggae music btw). This is used to give you a sense of suspense--the song has started but we are not settled in just yet.

Interestingly, the intro is also the chorus of the song. The chorus is the main hook in the song that gets repeated with the same lyrics each time and it's the part that people will always remember and sing along because it's the part that continues to always come back. The verses are what guide the song along and have different lyrics usually telling you some kind of story.

So usually songs make you wait to get to the chorus. There will be some kind of introduction, then there will be a verse, sometimes even two verses, then a little extension of music and into the chorus which is the focal point of the song and when you are listening you will feel a sense that you have arrived somewhere important. I'll explain later why and how it feels that way.

What's great about this into is that you are already getting the chorus, but stripped down without a lot of music and production behind it--and you don't even know it yet because it's the very beginning of the song. So, later when this part comes back as the chorus, you will already know it because you heard it right at the beginning--in a sense they're giving you a sneak preview of what is to come.

0:13 the verse enters and now we feel settled in. The song feels like it is now grounded in something and going somewhere. We now have the drums, bass, and keyboard/electronic sounds all playing with the vocals being the focus.

0:37, this small extension (or pre-chorus) is going to briefly build tension and lead us to the chorus. The snare drum in the background sounds like clapping which is mimicked in the video of her clapping her hands.

:50, we've reached the chorus. Again, only being sung by the lyrics and the guitar on the weak/up beats and also fingers snapping now on the strong/down beats--which was not in the intro. So we recognize this melody and the lyrics from the intro but it's still a little ambiguous as to what the purpose of it is. Is it really the chorus?

1:01, Well finally, all the music comes in to back up the singing. And here we realize that we've reached the chorus and we've arrived at the main point.

1:13 second verse starts
1:37 another extension

1:50 Chorus again. There is a second melody in the background that echoes and fills in the chorus @ 2:02 - 2:13 "be there all night baby. Been there all night baby. oooh, oooh, side to side" Listen for it in the background

What follows now are some Nicki Minaj parts that serve to strip the music down melodically and dynamically. Just fancy words for saying, they decided to drop out most of the instruments and change the melody into rhythmic speaking (rapping) as a contrast to all the music you've been hearing up until this point.

2:50 the extension comes back and leads to the final chorus (3:04, with all instruments in) which now has three melodies all independently being sung at the same time. There is the main chorus melody, then the background one that we heard in the second chorus, and now a third one that pops in and out in a very high register that adds a sparkling quality to the sound you hear. Try to listen for these little highlights.

After rewinding and listening for all these different sections and parts, play it from the beginning all the way through and listen to how they all link together. Enjoy!

Special effects to listen for:

Voices in the background accenting important strong/down beats :13, :25, 1:13, 1:25

Electronic sounds that guide your ear from the verse into an extension :36 - :37, 1:36 - 1:37

The fast drumming pattern on the snare drum is mimicked by the strobe light in the video :48 - :49, replaced by sped up hair flipping 1:48 - 1:49

Echoes of the lyrics, "side to side" 1:11 - 1:12, "been there all night baby" 2:02 - 2:04, 2:05 - 2:07

The melody sung @ :55 - :57 (and in every chorus) on the word "boy" although it sounds like "Woh" is the highlight of the song. It is also highly produced--meaning that a melody like this, that flutters around with so many notes and so quickly, will sound terrible if the notes are not precisely hit. To help this sound appealing to the ear, melodies like this, whether sung or played on an instrument like a guitar or violin are recorded multiple times. You are actually listening to anywhere from 3 or more tracks of the same melody being played simultaneously and with reverb added to it which creates an echo sound that fills in gaps between frequencies. This creates a audio equivalent of looking at a kaleidoscope.

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