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Music composition essays
Music composition essays
Music composition essays
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A human being begins from one of the smallest cells in the body. We then, grow and evolve into extremely complex mechanisms made up of individual parts, such as the brain, the bones, and the heart. However, no matter how complex, a human is only one work, with individual parts working together to make it functional. Similarly, a work of art is composed of individual elements collaborating to create the overall work. Beginning with the colors chosen, to the way the artist swipes their brush in specific directions creating distinct textures, the work would not be complete without its most minute component. The same concept can be applied to musical pieces. A great musical work would not be complete without the original combinations of musical instruments, voices, lyrics, and meaning. Two examples of this idea are “Classical Gas” by California Guitar Trio and “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin.
In reference to music we can indentify specific aspects of pitch, including harmony and melody. Harmony refers to the relationship of sounds that happen simultaneously while melody refers to the relationship between sounds that occur one right after the other. “Classical Gas” has a melody, which means it has a hummable tune accompanied by a wide pitch range. Some notes are leisurely and low, while others burst into rapid, loud sounds. “Cat’s in the Cradle” also has a melody, however, its pitch range is much narrower than “Classical Gas”. It does have high and low notes, but the high notes seem to mostly come during the chorus of the song, rather than randomly throughout the piece. “Classical Gas” is mostly presented in a conjunct, or stepwise motion, however, some leaps, or disjunct motions are prominent and repeated throughout the song. F...
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...diate slight decrescendo when the chorus ends. In this case, I would argue that the instrumental background adds to the lyrics by giving it a specific beat and accentuating the sounds of the words, with sounds from the guitar or drums. The overall dynamic level in this piece is mezzo-forte, meaning somewhat loud.
“Classical Gas” by California Guitar Trio is consisted of three acoustic guitars. “’We’re kind of unique in the sense that we’re playing this progressive instrumental music on only acoustic guitars,’ [said Paul] Richards” (Cleveland). All three of the guitars combined together create a mellow, but still, exciting tone color. “Cat’s in the Cradle” includes a melodious electric guitar, as well as another string that allows the crescendos for the chorus to occur, it also includes a vocal instrument (Harry Chapin), and drums can be heard in the background.
“The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, 'Is there a meaning to music?' My answer would be, 'Yes.' And 'Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?' My answer to that would be, 'No.'”
“Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals contains a stylistic technique of layering. In the beginning of the song, it starts out with a guitar solo and then more instruments are continuously added in one at a time, along with the singers. The sound is rich and complete with multiple instruments layering in the background, which means that doubling and/or triple rhythm sections were used. The instruments blend together to create a single effect that builds up to a climax. Near the end of “Then He Kissed Me”, each instrument gradually drops out one at a time to create a decrescendo effect in the sound, counteracting the layering technique in the beginning of the song.
The music in this song is so dense and is paired beautifully with the deep tone of Bill Medley’s voice. The song begins with little to none background music but by 22 seconds into the song Phil adds a tambourine. Then, almost immediately Phil adds additions of the orchestra such as the cello. By the chorus, Phil is utilizing the entire orchestra which creates a dense sound behind the lead vocals and back up vocalist of The Righteous Brothers. After the chorus, the orchestra is still being used, but he tones it down a little in order to secure the intensity of the chorus. If he was to use the entire orchestra at full potential throughout the whole song, the chorus would not have as much effect. The last verse of the song includes very little instruments in the back ground. However, the music progressively builds with the lyrics of the song in order to end the song on an intense and dramatic
The group started us off with an electronica inspired piece called Death to Kosmische by Nicole Lizée. They begin in a piano dynamic with a small crescendo to mezzopiano and a moderato tempo. What really sets this
The first element that comes to mind would be its melody. Melody is the arrangement of notes which create a musically appealing sound, the melody is often what people catch themselves singing in the shower. This songs melody could potentially be described as conjunct as the notes sung are generally very easy to sing along with. However, it could also be described as disjunct as the guitar riffs in this song seem difficult to play all at once. This song also has a very consistent rhythm, with a beat that plays throughout. The tempo found here could be described as Andante because when listening to the song its very relaxed and what one would label as music to sway to. The texture for this song is polyphonic, as it has several independent melodies all playing at the same time. This texture just adds to the song allowing it to be as musically appealing as it is, as all the different melodies in it combine and relationship between them really creates something beautiful. The last musical element discussed for this song is dynamics. For this piece the dynamics is mezzo-forte, or moderately loud. When listening to this song the lyrics and singer are not quite muffled but there seems to be more of an emphasis on the actual notes being played as the singer seems to take a secondary role at times. This song when further analyzed musically can really help one appreciate how each element helps create a song that is truly a pleasure to listen
Music is far more than the sum of its parts. It can be thought of in a highly mathematical sense, which leaves one in awe of the seemingly endless combinations of rhythm, tone and intervals that a good musician can produce. Admiring music in this way is a lot like admiring an intricate snowflake, or shapes in the clouds; it's beautiful, but at the same time very scientific, based on patterns. All of the aforementioned qualities of music have one thing in common: they can be defined with numeric, specific values. However, the greatest aspect of music lies elsewhere, and cannot be specifically defined with words. It is the reaction that each individual has when they are confronted with their favorite (or least favorite) kind of music.
Music plays an integral part in shaping peoples lives, its effects people in a multitude of different ways, whether it be dancing, laughing or crying; most incredibly people can share these moments with others whilst simultaneously having a unique personal experience. The creation of music requires specific skills and knowledge about musical elements and instrumentation; these skills and knowledge need to be developed and nurtured over time.
Have you ever considered…that if all of the works and theory from 1780 to 1880 were suddenly lost to the world, music would still exist? That the purpose of education is to open minds and to provide the substance and enthusiasm for continued personal discovery and growth. That notation is only a coding device…it’s a system for translating musical ideas for future recall, not…acquiring or developing musical sensitivity or sensibility… That a composition is merely a statement of someone’s musical thoughts, and everyone has musical thoughts…that the gulf between the educational system and the living creative art of music has grown so huge that a really knowledgeable student…may be intimidated to reject the
The band attests an easily bent temperament when digging “Triste Beleza”, an illustrative bossa nova appointment propelled by Stryker’s luxurious acoustic guitar voicings, Stewart’s gentle brushwork, and Diaz’s fortifying conga
... a musical composition, the style, tempo and dynamics can describe a lot about the tune, just the same way does the visual elements of a painting or sculpture. These Principles of Design are a clue into the artists world and reasoning behind their creations.
Chinese philosopher Confucius said, “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without”. Music is everywhere and anywhere, in a park, in the car, in a school, even in the shower. Every day kids, teens, and even adults bond over the same music. I have played music almost all of my life and enjoy listening to it as well. Today I will discuss the amazing form of art that we call music. Specifically, I will go over the origin, different genres, and the influence of music on the world and people themselves.First, I will discuss the origin.
Do you ever wonder what an arduous task it is to listen to the music and understand the complexity of it? Just as Walker Percy implies in his essay "The Loss of the Creature," people generally tend to divide into two categories when it comes to viewing the issues of life. We have the "common" individuals who notice the complexity of the matters, but who interpret it in superficial ways, and we have the "complex" individuals who tear through the outer layer and look to find the answers to their questions (Percy . It was not until I remembered an event which took place a few years ago, that I started to apply this simple-sounding division to a process of enjoying the splendor of music.
It is an artform, and art mimics and expands upon characteristics of reality. A song is comprised of individual notes, which are just simple representations of the frequency of air molecules moving throughout the air. They all play an equally important part in establishing a key and the chords that the key derives from. These chords determine the mood and direction of the piece in question, and thus art is born simply from manipulation of air. One can find parallels in almost every aspect of existence. This essay is comprised of words structured in a way to display my personality, which in turn is comprised of hundreds of billions of neurons firing in harmony. And these neurons are simple chemical reactions that work unconsciously to compose my conscious self. This realization that everything in the tangible and intangible realm originates from individual factors all stem from Dunlop pushing me to being committed to
The experience that brought about the conception of my understanding is starkly fixed in my memory. I was at a concert featuring one of Schubert’s Suites for String Quartet and my lack of familiarity with the work only served to heighten my already bursting excitement. They were late getting started and the audience around me fidgeted and chattered. I ignored them, sitting still in my seat, tense with anticipation. Finally the lights dimmed and a pregnant silence took hold. Despite my expectancy I was unprepared for the sudden eruption of applause like a bomb detonating in the hall as the four black figures strode onto the stage. Reminding me of Virginia Woolf’s description in The String Quartet, the performers “seated themselves facing the white squares under the downpour of light, rested the tips of their bows on the music stand, [and] with a simultaneous movement lifted them.” I leaned forward on my seat, straining to hear the first note even before it sounded. With an almost telepathic communication from the first violin, it began. From that moment I was lost. The audience, the musicians, even the music itself was forgotten, swept away by the surge of emotions that engulfed me. As I listened, or rather encountered the exquisite performance, for it was more intimate than listening, I realized with more force than ever before, that this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to make people feel like this when I sang.