Toto Africa

• Composers - David Paich and Jeff Porcaro
• Recorded in 1981
• Their 4th studio album was called toto IV
• It was released in 1982
• It became an American no1 on 5th February 1983
• Genre - soft rock
• Melody

  Mostly conjunct

  wide vocal rang
• melody

  Riff b uses pentatonic scale (interpreted through E major)
• melody

  Vocal improvisations occur at the end of the song.
• texture

  Homophonic : melody and accompaniment
• Tonality

  B major but A major choruses
• Tempo

  Moderately Fast
• Metre and rhythm

  Simple duple time - 2/2 (split common time) two minim beats per bar

  Distinct ostinato rhythms for both riffs almost all quavers

  constant syncopation

  vocal rhythm follows natural lyric rhythm
• Instrumentation

  Rock band: drum kit, percussion, lead and bass guitars, synthesiser, male lead and backing vocals
• Dynamics

  Most of the song is mezzo-forte (moderately loud).

  choruses are forte
• Harmony

  Diatonic - mixture of root position and inverted chords.

  riff a in intro, verses, link section, instrumental, and outro.

  3 chord pattern: A - G sharp minor - C sharp minor
• Harmony

  Chorus uses standard chord pattern: vi (f sharp major) - IV (D) - I (A) - V (E)
• Harmony

  Harmonic rhythm (rate of chord change) is mostly once per bar