The main melody is provided by the voice. This melody is characterised by two distinct parts:

• The first verse melody (Vocal melody A) is heard from bar 4 (0'16). It is defined by a rising arpeggio, which is repeated in a descending sequence (see notation below). This makes the melody quite disjunct which enhances the sense of longing in the lyrics. The range or tessitura of the verse is quite large and also very low, spanning a range of a 10th.

• Vocal melody B can be heard from bar 23 (1'19) and is partly notated below. It is far more stepwise and tends to move in descending phrases. This helps to support the feeling of heartache and despair in the lyrics. Though it doesn't go as low as the first melody, the range is still quite large.

The acoustic bass guitar is played by Spalding herself. During the introduction and first verse it is very melodic, including some scalic passages as well as other triadic melodies such as the first two bars (notated below). This makes the part very playful and conversational, allowing the bass to "speak" as is the case in jazz performances.

Other melodic features include:

• Chromatic notes. There are lots of accidentals and chromatic passing notes. This is really typical of jazz bass lines and so is very idiomatic. An example is the end of bar 36 (1'46).

• Mordents. The 3rd note the bass plays in the first bar includes a mordent. These are decorative embellishments that shape the melody phrases effectively.

• Slides are used to go from one note to another. The most obvious example is the upward slide on the low F sharp at the end of bar 3 (0'14) which slides up to the D.

At bar 88, the bass plays Vocal melody A in a polyphonic section. This is a novel bit of arranging as in the original, this section was sung by two singers. Spalding is essentially using her bass as a second voice!

The role of the acoustic guitar is to provide the harmony of the song. It often does this using snippets of broken chords but some stepwise melodies also come in. An example of this is bar 41 (1'56) which has a descending pattern which includes a turn. Melodies like this make the guitar part more active, varied and interesting.

At other times you could describe the guitar part as virtuosic, when the melody is more intricate. An obvious example is the guitar solo from bar 54 (2'24). This solo is picked with the fingers but includes lots of slides and pull-offs to create decorative acciaccaturas and rapid, energetic scalic runs. Some notes towards the end (3'25) are also played tremolo with some trills. All of these musical features make the guitar solo flamenco in style.

To appreciate the flamenco style, it is worth watching this performance of the Spanish folk song "El Vito". A lot of it includes more intense strumming but the finger picking from 1'07 is very comparable with the playing on Samba Em Preludio.

This performance is led by Caterina Valente alongside Dean Martin. The piece was composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim and is famous for being on one note! Its lyrics comedically reflect on the fact that though some people like to talk a lot there's beauty in keeping things simple! The verse actually uses two notes but the use of repeating notes allows the melody to be highly syllabic and rhythmic.

The section from 1'50 is actually very scalic and includes lots of descending and ascending patterns of stepwise notes which contrast the main verse effectively. This is effective word painting as the lyrics here talk about the pointlessness of using lots of notes! Having a look at the English lyrics below should illustrate this well.

In comparison, though this song is also about love, it is more light-hearted and uses a melody that is more rhythmic and dainty than the more sorrowful Samba Em Preludio.

This is just a little samba

built upon a single note

Other notes are bound to follow but the root is still that note

Now this new one is the consequence

of the one we've just been through

As I'm bound to be the unavoidable consequence of you

There's so many people who can talk and talk and talk

And just say nothing or nearly nothing

I have used up all the scale I know and at the end I've come

To nothing, or nearly nothing

So I come back to my first note

as I must come back to you

I will pour into that one note

all the love I feel for you