Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Style marker

1̂–b7̂ phrase-ending melisma

On early albums, Robert Plant frequently ends vocal phrases by dropping a whole step from scale degree 1̂ down to b7̂ in a minor pentatonic blues context. It's usually a sliding melisma on the lyric's last syllable.

It's a common blues device, but he uses it more often than most blues singers do, especially in a song's opening line. As Led Zeppelin evolved away from their blues roots, he sang this interval less often.

Some cases are sliding and ambiguous, and notating blues vocals requires severe approximation, but there's a clear pattern nevertheless.

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