Enlightenment Ideals

To be honest, when I found out that we would be learning about classical music in this class, I wasn’t thrilled. Then I figured that I was just judging a book by its cover. During no time in my life has classical music ever done me wrong, why should I doubt it and not even give it a chance? So, with that in mind, the class started the classical unit.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that although classical music is definitely more “complicated” than folk music, it is still interesting. Usually when I think of a song with no lyrics, I ask myself how it could possibly catch my attention, let alone keep it for an entire song. But listening to the tracks that went along with the chapter reading, I was surprised to find myself actually interested in the song. Although there are no lyrics, the music is very dynamic. There are different instruments, call and answers, crescendo, decrescendo, and many more ways that the music can be used to entertain the audience.

After learning about Versailles, a symbol of the enlightenment, I was interested in how it relates to the music that came out during this time. Of course, since then, we have discussed how they are related in class. Some of these include structure, contrast, vibrancy, groomed/neat, ornamentation, and others. I do agree with these shared characteristics between one of the greatest palaces and the beautiful music, but I have thought of something else myself. Maybe this has already been said in class and I missed it (I did once leave class to search for one of the hidden bathrooms in Whalen). To me, this is a simple concept but it fits in well with the unit.

I have always thought of operas in the way that many others who are not educated on it do: a bunch of people on stage singing really high notes very loudly. After watching the video clip of the opera on Friday, I still thought that opera was a bunch of people on stage singing really high notes very loudly, but I also felt that it was symbolic of the enlightenment. With some of the ideals of the enlightenment being about “enlightened” individuals and a strong sense of humanism and new ideals, I felt that the opera symbolized this in some ways. I thought that because they were singing in strong, loud voices, that this was, in a way, them boasting about their culture and letting the world know how proud they were to be philosophes and salon members, feeling like they were making a difference in this world. If I were any of those women who hosted a salon, or any man who had opinions about all of these new ideals and theories of society, heck, I would be singing as loud as I could to show others how I felt about my culture.

It is a simple concept and maybe I am digging in too deep into the meanings of the enlightenment, but when I was watching that video clip on Friday, I felt connected to the culture, like I was in the audience, listening to the opera singers boast about our contribution to the world.

Folk Music Definition?

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been listening to, analyzing, and discussing folk music. Although folk music is one of my favorite styles of music, I never thought to define it. My approach to listening to music before I enrolled in this seminar was to just listen and observe how it made me feel. I even had trouble with listening to the lyrics because I was more focused on the style, texture, and rhythm of the song. Now, I try to listen to the lyrics, the cadences, form, and other parts of the song so that I can have a better understanding of the meaning.

For one of our assignments, we were to read Bruno Nettl’s introductory essay to folk music. My initial reaction to this essay was that I thought that Nettl seemed like he knew what he was talking about. He did mention a couple of facts in the beginning that I agree with. Those were the two main approaches to defining folk music: composed in a particular style, and produced by a particular group or society (the “folk”), as well as the fact that folk music is usually considered as storytelling.

Nettl touched on many points of folk music vs. other styles of music. One of the types of music being compared to folk is cultivated, defined as “a part of culture through a written tradition”. Folk music today, according to Nettl, can have a different style from the folk music from decades ago. It could also be the opposite, being the same style as the style from decades ago. With this point, I agree with Nettl. In my quest to define folk music, I have realized that what I consider “folk music” varies. It can be any song with a guitar and a voice, or it could be more complex than that, using numerous instruments and having a faster or slower pace with a different type of voice singing.

Folk music vs. so-called primitive music is another main theme in Nettl’s essay. Primitive music is defined as music produced by pre-literative people. It is described as religious music, and more varied than folk music. Folk music, in this case, is described as being in cultures with reading and writing. I don’t agree nor disagree with Nettl’s definition of these two music types. This passage in the essay was more informational to me and therefore I took it as it was. If Nettl is writing the truth about pre-literative people and how they only wrote music that was more varied than folk music, then I will believe it because I don’t know any other facts that would contradict this.

In the case of simple vs. complex, another theme in Nettl’s essay, I believe that folk music is simple, not complex. As discussed in class, “simple” does not mean “bad” or “lacking”. When I think of a simple folk song, I picture a guitarist and vocalist (this may or may not be the same person) singing a simple tune that anyone could sing. Music like this may be “simple”, but to me it effectively relays the message or story of the song. If it were to be complex, it wouldn’t be very easy to distinguish the feel, mood, or the meaning of the song. Therefore, I agree with Nettl in that folk songs are simple vs. complex.

Nettl talks about changing through communal recreation vs. unchanging style/songs over time in his essay. What he believes is that folk music is changing and stemming off of original songs so much that there are lots of different versions of one song and sometimes they are so different that they are almost unrecognizable as an original folk song. I think that this most definitely can happen within the folk music world, but since I listen to lots of modern folk songs, I can also see that covers of newer folk songs are almost exactly the same as the original song, with minimal changes.

One of the parts of my definition for folk music is that the music tells a story or relays a strong message about society. In his essay, Nettl discusses how this is called “narrative”. He mentions that there are two main categories of narrative songs: ballads, which have a short, strophic stanza form, and epics, which are long and portray a series of events centering around a hero.

Another defining factor of folk music that we have discussed in class and is also found in Nettl’s essay is the idea of “music for the folk, by the folk”. Initially, I agreed with this statement, and I still partly do. If you think about it, “music for the folk, by the folk” could be used to describe any music style out there. Isn’t all music made by people? Therefore, isn’t all music made for other people? If artists weren’t making music for other people to listen, understand, or relate to, who else would they be making the music for? For this reason, I don’t completely agree with the phrase. On the other hand, I can understand why this can possibly be used to describe folk music. It is kind of like geometry in a way: all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. In this case, folk music can be defined as “music for the folk, by the folk”, but not all “folk” are creating folk music.

Overall, I agree with parts of Nettl’s essay, including the simple vs. complex theory and the narrative theory, but not with others, like communal recreation. I think that since there is no clear definition of folk music, it can be interpreted by people in many different ways and for that reason it is so special. Because everyone has their own definition of folk music, they appreciate it for what they believe it is.

Concert Report - XXYYXX with Joywave

Concert Report – XXYYXX with Joywave

  

http://www1.sk-static.com/images/media/profile_images/artists/4971388/col6 (XXYYXX)

http://www.spin.com/sites/all/files/140527-joywave.jpeg (Joywave)

On Saturday 13, 2014, I attended a concert with some friends at Emerson Suites at Ithaca College. The opening band called Joywave, and the main performance was XXYYXX.  According to Wikipedia.com, Joywave’s music is described as “indie rock” and “alternative rock” while XXYYXX’s music is described as “electronic”, “hip hop”, “post-dubstep”, and more.

Joywave’s music was very intriguing to me. Although I have not been educated on the origins of indie music, I observed that their music seemed to be very modern. On stage, there was a lead singer, guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. XXYYXX seemed to be even more “modern” than Joywave. Again, I am not very educated on the type of music that XXYYXX produced, but it seems that in society, today, a popular genre of music is electronic. Teenagers and young adults call this “rave” music. This includes dubstep-like music that is produced by a computer, not a band. The general feel of the concert is party-like and dance-like. It seems that XXYYXX is similar to this type of music, but mellower.

The music that Joywave made had a long-lasting impression on me. In fact, I am currently listening to them right now as I write this report. Although they were not your typical acoustic-like band and sound a bit more produced than normal, they still had the “band” feel to me. For each song, I tried to watch one member of the band and their role in the song. What intrigued me the most was the member that played the keyboard. Not only did he play the keyboard, but he also had a computer with which he produced electronic-like sounds. The lead singer, as well, caught my attention. The way he performed was very interesting and I could tell that he was passionate about what he was singing. There were definite lyrics in the songs, but at some points, it seemed that the singer was purposefully trying not to annunciate the words so that they created a kind of mysterious aura within the song – maybe allowing it to be open for interpretation. One of my favorite songs that they played, “Now”, caught my attention and had me discussing it with my friends afterwards. During the middle of the song, the pace slowed from a relatively fast rhythm to a much slower rhythm. When they played this part at the concert, everyone cheered because it was amazing to listen to. For most of the song, I had been swaying back and forth to the beat, but when they slowed it down, it was all of a sudden, but really fit in with the feel of the song.

Overall, I loved Joywave and continue to talk about their performance with my friends who attended the concert with me. Their music kept me listening – it was not exactly predictable, which I loved. They were very different than any other concert I had been to and I hope to see them again!

After Joywave left the stage, XXYYXX entered and there was only one person up there. He had no “instruments”; only his computer and what seemed like an array of dials and switches. For the most part, the music was consistent – very electronic-like and with an obvious beat. There was rarely ever singing or human voice in the songs and there were no breaks between songs. Because the rhythm was constantly changing, I was very attracted to that part of the music. There were all sorts of sounds produced by the computer that all fit together to create a type of dubstep/electronic sounding piece. I noticed that there was rarely ever repetition with the songs. For example, unlike some artists who just lay down a beat and have it play over and over again, XXYYXX would create a beat with some other sounds, but he wouldn’t play it more than an average of two times without changing something else in the music. If this hadn’t been the case, I think that the music would have been extremely boring.

In the long run, I enjoyed listening to Joywave more than XXYYXX. I think this is because Joywave had actual instruments up on stage with them, making them seem more band-like. Also, they had lyrics and followed the same musical rules that we have been studying in class with respect to folk music. Compared to folk music, both Joywave and XXYYXX were very different. I would say that XXYYXX was more different, though, because the two styles are almost completely opposite. Folk music is usually very simple and portrays a story. The music that XXYYXX played was produced by a computer and did not have any lyrics. For this reason, the audience had to come up with their own story to go along with this music, making it more personal for them. Although I enjoyed listening to Joywave better than XXYYXX, I think both performances were great and I am glad that I went!

Better Barn Burning Bureau at Porchfest 2014

(Better Barn Burning Bureau playing at Porchfest 2014)

Porchfest 2014 was awesome! What an experience! I was lucky to have a friend who had to attend Porchfest for one of his classes, so we took the TCAT down to the commons and we met up with his professor who showed us around and told us some of the musicians to look for during the day. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay the full 6 hours, but man, I wish I could have. Every porch that I passed, while walking through the streets of Ithaca, I would stop and listen to the music. All ages – from high schoolers to middle aged couples to old fogies- were making incredible music. My favorite, though, came as a surprise.

At around 12:30, I was standing in front of someone’s garage, listening to a band called Better Barn Burning Bureau, I believe, but I was not exactly listening. I was planning out with my friend where we would walk next because we had been standing and listening to this band for about two songs and we were trying to meet up with another friend. All of a sudden, a familiar tune started to play and I immediately gasped and turned away from my friend to listen and watch the band perform this amazing song. They were playing “It Ain’t Me Babe” a song that I recently discovered was written by Bob Dylan, but have only known the Johnny Cash version up until now. The Better Barn Burning Bureau was playing it in a different way than I had known; slowed down.  A variety of instruments were being played including a ukulele, guitar, bass, and drums. The lead female singer, who was also playing the ukulele, and the guitarist were harmonizing beautifully with both their voices as well as their instruments.

Overall, the music was soft and slow, creating a kind of romantic texture. This is ironic, though, because the song is describing what love should be like between two people and how that is not the case between the two main singers. Even so, when I listened to this song at Porchfest, I was intrigued with how the slow rhythm, simple melody, and beautiful harmony fit together to create a beautiful song. For the form, I believe it is AAB (B being the chorus), although I’m not even sure if that is an actual song form. Correct me if I’m wrong (which I probably am). All that I know for sure is that every band that I listened to at Porchfest caught my attention and made me stop to listen, especially “It Ain’t Me Babe” by the Better Barn Burning Bureau. I will definitely tell my friends who didn’t go about Porchfest and I can’t wait to go next year! 

Cadences In "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash

Cadences

Wow. This assignment was much harder than I thought it would be. When I read the prompt, I figured that I would easily be able to find a song with an IAC/HC into a PAC but it took me a while to find something. Also this "something" might not even actually have an IAC or an HC, but I figured that I would take a whack at it since it sounds like it does. Of course, I’m no professional at determining cadences within a song. In fact, I hadn’t even heard the term “cadence” before a week ago. So bear with me while I try to explain cadences through a song.

            The song I chose is “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. I discovered this song and therefore Johnny Cash at the beginning of high school when I was forced to watch “Walk the Line” with my family for family movie night. Little did I know that this horrible event, at the time, would alter my love for music. As soon as Joaquin Phoenix (the actor playing Johnny Cash) started to sing “Folsom Prison Blues”, I fell in love with the music. So, here is my attempt to point out a cadence within a song with one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs:

Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It7107ELQvY

            After humming along with the tune for about 20 minutes, I finally figured out that the end of the first phrase ends with “mi” on the word “ring”. This occurs at the 0:16 mark in the video. I believe that the second phrase then ends with “do” on the word “fire” at 0:27. If this is the case, then that would mean that the first phrase ends with an Imperfect Authentic Cadence (IAC), an open cadence and the second phrase ends with a Perfect Authentic Cadence (PAC), a closed cadence. This would mean that these two phrases combine to form a period, which occurs when the first phrase ends in an open cadence and the second phrase ends in a closed cadence.

            Well, there was my attempt to explain the cadences (if there are even any) in “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. It might have been poor; it might have been rich. Whichever it is, I look forward to knowing for sure what the cadences are.

The Avett Brothers Use of Meter and Texture in "January Wedding"

"January Wedding" by The Avett Brothers Song Link:
http://vimeo.com/33837978

One of my favorite bands is The Avett Brothers, a folk/bluegrass band that was formed in 2000 in North Carolina. Ever since the day I received my license and had the absolute privilege of driving alone with nothing but the road and my iPod, there has rarely been a week in which no songs by The Avett Brothers have been blasting from the speakers. The band's song, "January Wedding", has always been a song that comes up when discussing awesome music with friends, family, and acquaintances. This heartwarming love song creates a beautiful blend of male vocals and bluegrass instruments, including a banjo and a guitar.

After learning about meters, time signatures, texture, and many other aspects included in describing music, I have determined that this song has a 4/4 meter. It can be defined as having a duple meter because the number of beats (upper number) is divisible by two. The bottom number signifies a quarter note (four beats in a unit). Having a duple meter allows for the song to sound firm and stable. I believe that the simple 4/4 meter allows the song to have a steady beat that is easy to nod and clap to. I don't know about anyone else but when songs like these come on all I want to do is smile and get into the music as much as possible!

To me, the song seems to have a polyphony texture, defined as "hear[ing] two or more distinct musical lines at once" in Understanding Music (Yudkin 30). As I wrote before, in addition to the male lead vocals, the banjo and guitar serve as the accompaniment. If you listen to the song, you will find that the banjo echoes the voice several times during the song, including the beginning. It seems to me that the simple accompaniment allows for the audience to spend the majority of their listening skills on the romantic lyrics of the song instead of trying to keep up with the background music. This doesn't mean that one might block out the background music completely, though. I believe that the banjo and guitar only emphasize the understanding, and therefore the emotion, of the lyrics.

Although I am still learning and may not be entirely correct about the meter and texture of this song, I do know one thing for sure: "January Wedding" by The Avett Brothers is one heartwarming, smile-provoking, beautiful song.