On the recitation of poetry with musical accompaniment

Will Yeoman briefly reflects on some characteristics of spoken word performance with musical accompaniment - and why you really should try it

Recently, I was fortunate to attend the launch of Perth-based poet Emily Bridget Taylor’s debut poetry collection, Remedy at the State Library of Western Australia. As a part of the event, Emily performed some of the poems with her brother David accompanying on electric guitar. Rather than vying for attention, David’s spare textures and filigree arpeggios beautifully supported Emily’s emotional chiaroscuro, adding just the right colouring to the poetry’s already strong lyricism.

And the audience loved it.

There is of course a long tradition of spoken word and music performance, dating back to ancient times. Homer’s epics declaimed to the sounds of the lyre. Medieval troubadours and bards alternating song with recitations, both accompanied by the harp, lute, or fiddle. The West African griots, Beat poets such as Ginsberg and Kerouac performing against a jazz backdrop, certain varieties of hip-hop and slam… the list is endless.

But what are the advantages of reciting the words rather than singing them? Words and music have greater autonomy and both can therefore be more flexible in terms of independent rhythm and tempi. The words are more foregrounded and have a greater clarity by virtue of not being slaves to melody or (musical) metre. Spoken word is more inclusive, both in the sense of being more direct and more easily comprehended by the listener, and in not requiring any facility in singing from the performer.

Emily & David performing at the State Library of Western Australia. Photo: Will Yeoman

But it would be foolish to assume that there isn’t a learning curve here. I speak from experience, having performed over several years, on classical and steel-string acoustic guitars, with novelist, poet, and journalist Stephen Scourfield, as well as more sporadically with poets such as John Kinsella.

In Stephen’s case, it was a question of adapting the written word to performance, especially in relation to rhythm and dynamics. After years of experimentation, his solution was to write out the prose as verse (i.e. lineate it) and use an iPad teleprompter, the speed of which could be adjusted mid-performance. My solution was, after initially using pre-existing music (especially the sonatas and partitas of JS Bach), to work in an exclusively improvised fashion, familiarising myself with the text before responding ex tempore while being sensitive to the nature of the audience, the venue, and the occasion.

It’s taught Stephen to be a better reader and writer. It’s taught me to be a better reader and listener. If you’re a writer, poet, or musician, do try it yourself. The effect can be quite magical.