Taylor Swift
Musician, Singer, Songwriter
Biography
•
Born December 13, 1989
•In
Wyomissing, PA
•To
Andrea and Scott Swift
•Younger
brother Austin Swift
•Grew
up on a Christmas Tree
farm in Pennsylvania
•Moved
to Hendersonville, TN
to further music career.
The Early Years
•11
years old – sang “Star
Spangled Banner” at
Philadelphia 76ers game
•12
years old – started writing
her own songs and learned
how to play the guitar
•13
years old – got a
developmental deal with RCA
records, which she walked
away from at the end of the
year
•14
years old – became the
youngest songwriter hired by
Sony in Nashville
Taylor was discovered
in 2006 by Scott
Borchetta at Bluebird
Café in Nashville.
Swift became the first
artist signed to
Borchetta’s record
label Big Machine
Records. Swift’s
debut single “Tim
McGraw” became a
top 10 hit on the
country charts and
the self-titled album
went platinum.
Taylor Swift’s big break!
Taylor’s Music
Career
•At
18 she toured as the
opening act for several
country headliners, including
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw
•She wrote and co-wrote all
songs on her debut album
•2008 nominated for a
Grammy in the Best New
Artist category
•Won Academy of Country
Music’s “Female Vocalist of the
Year” Award
•Won AMA for Favorite Female
Country Artist
•Won the American Music
Association’s “Horizon” Award
Taylor’s Music
Career
•2008
2nd Album “Fearless”
released and stays at the top
of pop and country charts for
11 weeks
•Highest selling country artist
for 2008
•Won CMT award for Video of
the Year and Female Video of
the Year for “Love Story”
which was her crossover song
from country to pop music
•2009 won MTV Video Music
Award “Best Female Video”
making her first country star
to win an MTV Award
•2010 “Speak Now” her 3rd
album entirely self written
sells over a million copies in
one week
Concert tickets for
Taylor Swift sell out in
less than two
minutes.
Only female artist to
have 3 albums hit
number one, amongst
the ranks of such
artists like Michael
Jackson and The
Beatles
Crossed over into
acting in 2010 in
“Valentine’s Day” and
appearing on SNL
2012 released fourth
album “Red” which
sold over a million
copies in a week
Taylor Swift writes honest music her fans
can relate to and knows her audience.
Taylor Swift is a genuine artist for our time.
“Tim McGraw”
Debut single on debut album “Taylor Swift”
“Mean”
Single on third album “Speak Now”
“Ronan”
Made it’s debut on Stand Up To Cancer
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Taylor Swift - Tim
McGraw - YouTube
Listening Guide
“Tim McGraw”
Introduction
The introduction begins with an
acoustic guitar playing in
quadruple/simple meter. The song
is a ballad in minor mode.
Verse 1
The verse is sung over the simple
chords of the guitar in the
background. The fluctuations in
pitch come only from Swift’s voice
and it seems to only raise or lower
an octave.
Chorus
The drums join in at the chorus
and outline the quadruple meter
beat.
Verse 2
Chorus
Bridge
There are only four lines in the
bridge. The bridge is a fast tempo
quadruple meter.
Chorus
The final chorus is a slower tempo
than the previous ones. Only the
guitar and the drums play to
accompany Swift’s voice.
Ending
The ending of the song is Swift’s
voice accompanied by the acoustic
guitar in a quadruple/simple meter.
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You Tube - Taylor
Swift "Mean"
Listening Guide
“Mean”
0:00 Introduction & Verse 1
The song opens immediately with Swift’s
voice accompanied by a banjo in a
simple/quadruple meter beat in major
mode.
0:35 Chorus
The banjo, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and
hand claps all play in unison to accentuate
the words and the rhythm of the chorus.
1:05 Verse 2
The second verse opens with the violin
joining in to add melody in the background.
1:42 Chorus
In the chorus the second time around, the
additions are the drums highlighting the
tempo of the song. The banjo, acoustic
guitar, bass guitar and hand claps all play in
unison to accentuate the words and the
rhythm of the chorus.
2:08 Instrumental
The bass guitar keeps the tempo of the
song accentuated, while the banjo shines in
a short but awesome solo playing a fast
melody for seven seconds as a segway into
the bridge.
3:27 Chorus & Ending
The song ends with the chorus. All
instruments, banjo, drums, bass guitar,
acoustic guitar and violin carry over the
same melody from the last chorus.

You Tube - Taylor
Swift "Ronan"
Listening Guide
“Ronan”
0:00 Introduction
The song begins with only an electroacoustic guitar playing in minor mode
in a quadruple simple meter beat.
The melody of the song is haunting
and sets the somber mode. You can
tell immediately from the melody that
the song will be one about tragedy
and loss.
1:27 Instrumental
For this ten second instrumental the
hand drums join in playing a triple
simple meter beat while the piano
harmonizes with the electro-acoustic
guitar to add texture to the melody of
the song.
4:10 Ending
The ending is only the electroacoustic guitar playing the melody
of the song accompanying Swift’s
voice singing the words, “I
remember your bare feet, down
the hallway. I love you to the
moon and back.”
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Works cited
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Farley, Christopher John, “Taylor Swift’s Solo Act,” The
Wall Street Journal, Arts &
Entertainment,
October 22, 2010
Hogan, Marc, “Taylor Swift Debuts Tear-Jerking ‘Ronan’ at
Cancer Benefit,” Spin, September
10, 2012,
spin.com, November 27, 2010
Houston, Chris, “Taylor Swift ‘Mean’ is Anti-Bully Anthem,”
Yahoo Contributor Network,
October 25,
2012, www.yahoo.com, November 24 2012
Masley, Ed, “Taylor Swift song ‘Ronan’ for Phoenix boy an
artistic high,” The Republic,
September 9,
2012, www.azcentral.com, November 27, 2010
Morris, Edward, “When She Thinks Taylor Swift Savors
Payoff - Hardworking Teen to Open for
George Strait
Next Year, CMT News Online, December 1, 2006,
www.cmt.com
November 23, 2012
Smith, Hazel, “Taylor Swift Talks About Songwriting,
Friends and Good Manners, CMT News
Online, October
6, 2008, www.cmt.com, November 23, 2012
Ward, Leeann, “Taylor Swift, ‘Fifteen’”, Country Universe
Online, August 28, 2009, www.countryuniverse.net,
November 24, 2012
"Taylor Swift." 2012. The Biography Channel website. Nov
23 2012, 10:45
http://www.biography.com/people/taylorswift-369608. Documentary
“Taylor Swift Biography” Part 1-16, You Tube, July 11,
2011, www.youtube.com, November 24, 2012,
Documentary
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Photo’s
Image courtesy of favim.com
Photo courtesy of
http://www.joybaker.com/tag/kathy-almendinger/
Photo courtesy of
http://www.myspace.com/taylorswiftfanatic13/phot
os/10774092#!
http://nashville.about.com/od/countrystarsphotogall
eri/ig/5th-Annual-Academy-of-Country-MusicHonors-Show---Red-Carpet/Scott-Borchetta--Taylor-Swift.htm
http://taylorswift.com/users/eU7Ghm8O/blogs/3278
791
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/taylorswift/images/16371135/title/taylor-swifts-meanphoto
http://mp3lyricsmania.blogspot.com/2010/11/taylor
-swift-tim-mcgraw-lyrics.html
http://www.millionlooks.com/people-andevents/celebrities/celebrity-red-carpet-style-taylorswift-epitome-of-elegance-and-femininity
http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Taylor+Swift
http://vivienzeru.blogspot.com/2008/11/taylorswift-fearless.html
http://taylorswiftsfans.webs.com/apps/photos/phot
o?photoid=112503679
References and Bibliography
Taylor Swift
Musician, Singer, Songwriter