Music is one of the most popular ways of portraying, sparking, and settling emotions. Perhaps one the the most well known artists for emotional music is Adele Adkins. As a child, she enjoyed singing contemporary pop music and learned to play the guitar and the clarinet. Then in her early teens, Adkins discovered Etta James along with several other mid-20th-century blues performers. It was then that she seriously began to consider a professional musical career. In this paper, I will discuss some musical characteristics, the instruments being played, as well as the rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, and form of one of her many successful songs. (Cunningham, 2017) “Don’t You Remember” portrays her blues-like style in full. This piece tells the …show more content…
Rhythm, melody, harmony, and texture are the next elements. These four ingredients are the true building blocks of most any song. Now, I would like to bring further into light a few of these topics. First let us discuss texture. “Don’t You Remember” is homophonic, which means it contains one melody, Adele’s voice in this case; and also contains harmonic accompaniment, which is the instruments. Second is rhythm; this ingredient is what determines the time or tempo. There is a clear duple meter beat in this song, which means two beats per measure. Furthermore, this song has an adagio tempo. This gives it a slow and pleasant feel. Overall, it should be said that Adele Adkins integrates smooth, clear, and full textures and rhythms into her song “Don’t You Remember” very effectively. She's found a balance of sad sounds and touching tones in her voice that is breathtaking. The final piece of this song’s puzzle is form. “Don’t You Remember” is in standard song form. There is no call and response in use for this piece. It keeps a simple structure throughout most of the song by repeating the same section over and over but occasionally has that completely different melody which makes it into the AABA
For almost half a century, the musical world was defined by order and esteemed the form of music more highly than the emotion that lay behind it. However, at the turn of the 19th century, romantic music began to rise in popularity. Lasting nearly a century, romantic music rejected the ideas of the classical era and instead encouraged composers to embrace the idea of emotionally driven music. Music was centered around extreme emotions and fantastical stories that rejected the idea of reason. This was the world that Clara Wieck (who would later marry the famous composer, Robert Schumann) was born into. Most well known for being a famous concert pianist, and secondly for being a romantic composer, Clara intimately knew the workings of romantic music which would not only influence Clara but would later become influenced by her progressive compositions and performances, as asserted by Bertita Harding, author of Concerto: The Glowing Story of Clara Schumann (Harding, 14). Clara’s musical career is an excellent example of how romantic music changed from virtuosic pieces composed to inspire awe at a performer’s talent, to more serious and nuanced pieces of music that valued the emotion of the listener above all else.
Music is an art and a wonderful gift to human race. It soothes, stimulates and makes us feel happy. It affects our moods in many different ways from lullaby to war cry for changes in the society. Music is actually distinct to different people. Above all, it has a transformational importance that is captured in its art and nature. Music draws our emotions and it has an impact of bridging different cultures across the continents. Slave songs were very vital channels through which all kind of information was conveyed both positive and negative.
Amy Beach was a very famous and influential composer and pianist from New Hampshire, United States. She fought long and hard to get to where she got in her lifetime. Back in the late 1800’s, it was hard for women to get noticed because they believe that their role in society was to stay at home and take care of the family. Amy Beach defeated all the odds of a female gender role in her lifetime. She became a role model for young girls wanting to become a composer or becoming anything they wanted to be, as long as they fought for it. She has made an enormous impact on music in America. The following paper will discuss Beach’s life, her struggles, her musical training, how her music was shaped by the society she lived in and famous compositions
The first song played was from a genre that I had previously taken a test on, Sonata. The musicians played the song by the book. There were three movements and polyphonic texture. It was even fast and jerky. Nonetheless, this is the part where my rollercoaster was going down. In my opinion it was boring. Although very well played, the song itself did not interest me. I did not like the roadrunner, coyote essence of the song. The piano accompaniment would sometimes play the melody and let the clarinet follow and then they would switch. This to me seemed force instead of like the Sonatas that I listened to in class. However, apart from the musical aspect of the first piece there was a certain intensity expressed by the performers. I had never seen a
Ever since humans first learned how to make music with their voices and with instruments thousands of years ago, music has been changing. Some changes took place over hundreds or even thousands of years, stunted by human isolation or by guidelines set in place by religious institutions. The 20th century, in contrast, experienced several rapid, radical changes in the popular genres of music. This made the 20th century a very rich time period for musical culture. These remarkable genres--including, but not limited to jazz, rock and roll, and the music of the “British invasion”--all influenced one another, and all influenced the culture we still live in today.
“Music” as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is “vocal or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce the beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.” Emotion, and the treatment of emotion, is indubitably an important aspect of music from all eras, but the manner in which emotion is expressed, has changed over time. Throughout the Baroque period (c. 1600 – 1750) musicians attempted to cause a specific extreme emotion in the listener, while during the Classical period (c. 1750-1825) composers sought to produce a balance of emotions. Due to philosophical and artistic movements that occurred, emotion, a critical element of music, was conveyed differently between the Baroque and Classical periods.
In itself, music has intrinsic value. From Ludwig Van Beethoven to Miles Davis, instrumental music can stand on its own legs, and have meaning that transcends grammatical meaning. However, the implementation of words that are either spoken or sung creates a new genre, and a different aesthetic. In a sense, this is literature juxtaposed over rhythm and melody. This has the effect of giving a more concrete meaning to the music, and more emotion to the words or lyrics. It is a matter of taste, and a subject of intense debate to try and say one style of music does this the best. Blues music, one of America’s greatest exports, is a contender for this title, and is also interesting in a linguistic sense.
Music often carries information about community knowledge, aesthetics, or perspectives. Toni Morrison discusses the power of music and the way it functions in culture in discussions of her craft. Symbolic and structural elements of music appear throughout all of Toni Morrison’s fiction in one way or another. (Obadike) As mentioned above, the title itself, draws attention to the world-renowned music created by African Americans in the 1920s’ as well as to the book’s jazz-like narrative structure and themes.
For many of us, one of the most accurate and effective ways to express the feelings that really matter to us is through music. We don’t only grow to attached to songs that are catchy, but also those with lyrics that we can relate to. It is not uncommon to feel like sometimes, artists can convey the way we feel better than we could ourselves. The storybook-like lines you read at the start of this page are a collection of lyrics
ABSTRACT: There has yet to be a culture discovered which lacks music. Music is a part of our existence, but we do not fully understand it. In this paper, working in the tradition of Aristotle, Wittgenstein and Langer, I elucidate some of the connections between music and the emotions. Using contemporary philosophy of mind theories of emotion, I explain how we can have a better understanding of our emotive responses to music. I follow the pattern through representational painting and abstract painting to music, and show how each functions as an intentional object for the object of our emotions in response to each art form.
Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. The Enjoyment of Music. 11th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.
"Emotional Responses to Music: Implicit and Explicit Effects in Listeners and Performers." Psycology of Music. N.p., n.d. Web. April 2011. .
Rhythm and blues, also known as R&B, is something that I really enjoy. I am a singer and along with country music, R&B is my favorite thing to sing. With rhythm and blues, there is a song for every emotion, so most of the time the songs can be very relatable. The songs have a variety of subjects like sex, work, and even drinking. In this paper I will briefly discuss how rhythm and blues started, how it evolved into today’s music and why I like it so much.
Throughout this semester we have discussed an array of musical periods ranging from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to more recent modern times. As music progressed through time certain concepts such as melody, harmony, and texture changed along with the introduction of different instruments. In the early phases of music it was more directed toward religious ceremonies, but as time went on it became integrated into everyday life. Even though musical dynamics seem to change as the years go on, it has never failed to create some form of emotional response such as laughter or sadness.
Music can move a person in incredible ways, whether by healing, inspiring, saddening, or even angering. But when a song touches in a positive way it imprints a lasting memory of itself in the heart and soul. That might explain why some of the most classic and popular songs through the centuries are love songs. The creative ocean of love lyrics and melodies is probably as vast as a Universe and among the shining stars are two humbling songs that will continue to move the emotions. "Somewhere out there" and "Dreaming of you" are two musical creations that have planted a lasting impression in many people’s heart.