There are many songs which work well with very little instrumentation. Personally, I enjoy listening to songs which have a more ‘stripped back’ feel to them. And while these songs may only have one or two instruments accompanying the vocals, there are some which work well with more instrumentation added too.
One of the artists I listen to most is Shawn Mendes. Some of his greatest hits include an entire band of instruments, such as Mercy and In My Blood. However, in my opinion these songs also sound great acoustic.
Mercy
Structure
Intro
- 8 bars
- Piano and vocals (humming)
Verse 1 – 16 bars
Verse 1 A
- 8 bars
- Piano and vocals
Verse 1 B
- 8 bars
- Piano, guitar ans vocals
Chorus 1
- 16 bars
- Piano, bass, guitar, drums, vocals, backing vocals and bass
Verse 2 – 16 bars
Verse 2 A
- 8 bars
- Piano, guitar, drums, vocals
Verse 2 B
- 8 bars
- Piano, guitar, drums, vocals and backing vocals
Bridge A
- 8 bars
- Changes chords
- Vocals, guitar
Bridge B
- 8 bars
- Vocals, backing vocals, guitar, drums
1 bar vocal break
Chorus 2
- 24 bars
- Piano, guitar, drums, vocals, backing vocals and bass
Outro
- 4 bars
- Piano and vocals (humming)
Mercy (Acoustic)
The acoustic version of Mercy solely features a piano and Shawn’s vocals. Both versions of the song convey a completely different meaning depending on the instrumentation used. Through the use of drums in the original version, it makes the song sound more angry and regretful. Whereas the acoustic version is portraying the feeling of uncertainty, as you pay more attention to the lyrics within the song rather than the instrumentation.
Shawn himself says the lyrics can be interpreted in different ways.
“The other kind of view that I like to view it as; when you find yourself so passionate about something, you find it kind of consuming you. To the point where it drives you a little crazy…sometimes all you want to do is just beg for mercy but can’t.” (Dilling, 2019)
In my blood
structure
Intro
- 8 bars
- Vocals and guitar
Verse 1
- 16 bars
- Vocals, guitar and drums
Chorus 1 – 24 bars
Chorus 1 A
- 8 bars
- Vocals, acoustic guitar, drums and bass
Chorus 1 B
- 8 bars
- Vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, backing vocals and bass
Chorus 1 C
- 8 bars
- Vocals, guitar, drums and bass
Verse 2
- 8 bars
- Vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, drums and backing vocals
Chorus 2 – 32 bars
Chorus 2 A
- 8 bars
- Vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, drums, piano and bass
Chorus 2 B
- 8 bars
- Vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, drums, piano and bass
Chorus 2 C
- 16 bars
- Vocals, guitar, drums and bass
Bridge
- 8 bars
- Vocals, acoustic guitar, drums and piano
Chorus 3
- 16 bars
- Vocals, backing vocals, guitar, bass and drums
Outro
- 8 bars (1 bar at the end fades out)
- Vocals and guitar
In my blood (acoustic)
The acoustic version of In My Blood has more instrumentation in comparison to Mercy’s acoustic. However, It still sounds a lot more stripped back than the original version.
The original version of In My Blood slowly adds in instrumentation. However, once it reaches the chorus, it sounds more rock-ish. While this version already presents a lot of emotion to listeners, I feel as though the acoustic version highlights the emotion more, especially within the vocals.
To conclude, the instrumentation of a track can depict the emotions felt by listeners and change the intention of the track. Within tracks that I listen to personally, any stripped back versions are usually more emotional.
How does this fit into my project?
Nic suggested that I take inspiration from music I currently listen to in terms of the structure and instrumentation. In my final project, I am first going to start with the structure and instrumentation of Shawn Mendes’ ‘Mercy’ and then adapt it depending on whether it suits my song or not.