Musical Style
Gentle Giant's music was mostly composed by Kerry Minnear and Ray Shulman, with additional musical ideas contributed by Derek Shulman (who was also known to contribute entire songs). Lyrics were written by Phil Shulman and Derek Shulman up until Phil's departure following the release of Octopus – all subsequent lyrics were written by Derek Shulman. By the standards of progressive rock, Gentle Giant’s music is generally considered to be particularly complex and demanding. It shares several aspects with that of other progressive rock bands, including:
- multi-part vocal harmonies
- complex lyrics
- organisation into concept album form (on occasion)
- frequent changes in tempo
- frequent use of syncopation and non-standard time signatures, including polymeters (two or more time signatures played simultaneously)
- use of complex melodies, frequently contrasting harmonies with dissonance
- extensive use of instrumental and vocal counterpoint
- use of musical structures typically associated with classical music (for example, madrigal form on "Knots", fugal exposition in "On Reflection" and the consistent use of stated, exchanged and recapitulated musical themes exchanged between instruments)
- use of classical and medieval instrumentation not generally associated with rock music
However, it has been noted that in spite of the comparatively complex initial sound, Gentle Giant’s music is in fact fairly traditional in terms of harmony and features relatively few complex chords. In common with most 1970s progressive rock, Gentle Giant compositions are closer to early 20th century neoclassicism than to contemporary classical music. (Some Gentle Giant songs, such as "Black Cat", "Proclamation" and "So Sincere", do utilise more complicated modernist harmonics.) In general, the band relied on sudden and unexpected compositional twists and turns to stimulate their audience, including:
- polyphony
- hocketing
- unusual chord progressions
- breaking up and tonally re-voicing patterns of initially simple chords (with the chords subtly altering from repetition to repetition)
- accelerating and decelerating duration of musical themes
- rapid and frequent key changes (sometimes within a single bar)
- division of vocal lines between different singers (including staggered rhythms)
- clever handling of transitions between sections (such as a hard-rock guitar riff being immediately substituted by a medieval choral)
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