Rihanna "Diamonds"

Rihanna, one of my favorite singers did a beautiful job with a recent song "Diamonds". I love the fact that she used her accent in this song, it makes the song so much better. I like this song so much that I did a cover but could not upload it (don't worry it wasn't that good). Instead, I decided to use her official video. In this video, the setting changes back and forth from her being in a house to running on a road. The video made the song more realistic by portraying the meaning of her lyrics. I was surprised at the opening scene where Rihanna has tattoos on her hands. I'm sure they are not real but I thought the designs were really pretty. I feel like this video along with some of her most recents ones show much she has changed from her first music video. When she first came out, she was not sexually appealing but instead had this innocence about her. As she got older and she grew more within the music industry, she changed and I'm not sure if this was her decision but I think that like most singers, pressure got to her and she became a sexualized figure to both men and women.

"Look Like Love" Britt Nicole

This week I chose my favorite music artist: Britt Nicole. She is considered a Pop-Christian singer and her songs have such good meanings. Her lyrics are very emotional and true to life. One thing I love about her is her honesty; she tells her audience what she is going through and has no shame about what she has done. The song I chose, "Look Like Love", has to do with God. If you don't know, Christians consider God to be "Love", hence the title. This song is basically saying that there are people who don't believe in God, but if they see us living a life full of love, they could be "saved". This song makes you think about how you are currently living and if people are watching you. Who would they think you were living for, God or the devil? I really hope you take the time to read the lyrics and truly embrace what she has to say because her music is amazing. (:

Samuel Barber "Medea's Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a"

This week I decided to write about on the songs I enjoyed at the Kimmel Center on Friday, November 2, 2012. This was in the concert that I chose for my concert report and this was the opening song for the night. Samuel Barber uses a variety of instruments, which help to illuminate his music. After listening to Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" in class, I remember the intro of Barber's "Medea's Dance..". Both composers use dissonant chords, however Barber makes less use of dissonance than Stravinsky. This song started off a bit fast so when the rest of the song slowed down I was shocked. This song is really peaceful at times, but then has an eerie sense, which I think woke up some of the old people who were sleeping(shame on them). I really hope you enjoy this song and really listen to the song because it is simple but amazing.

Gershwin -Concerto in F -1st Movement Part 1

For my post this week, I chose to write about George Gershwin because I am going to the Philadelphia Orchestra on November 2 to see a piano concerto that he composed. I took one of the songs from the program that will be in the concerto on Friday called concerto in F-1st movement-part 1.Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York where his works were first published. Both Gershwin and his brother, Ira are most famously known for their "Rhapsody in Blue". Gershwin is known for this piano concerto that I have posted, which made me choose it. This song is played in allegro form or fast form. There are many string instruments involved allowing for the allegro form to take place. Hope you enjoy his concerto.

"Smetana: The Moldau, from My Country"

After listening to "Smetana: The Moldau, from My Country" in class, I decided to do my blog on it. I found this music to be both relaxing and peaceful. My favorite parts are the river theme and the peasant dance. When I first heard the song, I didn't realize the river theme but listening to it over and over, I now understand every part (the listening guide is a big help). Even though this song is almost fourteen minutes long, it doesn't seem that long because you feel like you are listening to a really good story. Hope you all enjoy this song.

"Beethoven"

This week I chose to write about Ludwig van Beethoven because I think he is just such a great composer. His compositions are written in minor keys and I think that helps the audience understand the song better. Beethoven was intelligent since childhood which made him the known composer he is. This song has different pitches and is really catchy. I hope you like this and can enjoy such a classical composer who is truly amazing!

A capella Cover of Maroon 5 Payphone

Since we just finished the unit on a capella, I decided to do an a capella cover of Maroon 5. The song I chose is "Payphone" because it relates to a lot of what I have been going through in the past two months. This song has so much meaning to it and love the vocals of the girl singing. I thought one of the guys would be rapping but I was surprised when she started to rap. I love how she goes from rapping to singing and makes it a smooth transition. The part I really liked about the cover was that they cut the cursing out because Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa cursed a lot in the original song. Hope you enjoy this song and the cover!

Celia Cruz

I chose to talk about Celia Cruz this week because I am puerto rican (although Cruz is cuban). I love the beats in all hispanic music and this reminds me of growing up as a kid and going with my parents to casual parties where the adults would be dancing salsa and it amazed me. I always wanted to dance like them; the people would just be dancing non stop and from that moment I knew I loved to dance. I currently take Zumba classes, which involve salsa so this is the music I usually dance to and love. Celia has a voice that blends in with the beat as most hispanic musicians do. Hope you enjoy this video and really listen to the beat because it is mesmerizing.

West African Drummer Thione Diop

I chose to write about West African music because I enjoyed listening to it in class. This song by Thione Diop, known for his drumming skills is a great example of what we have been learning about. He uses syncopation, call and response, polyrhythm and improvisation. You can hear from time to time the woman shouting in the background. As you can see in the video, woman are dancing randomly but going along with the beat that is played. I love how they just go along with whatever they feel at that moment it makes it much more exciting to see than something that you are used to. Hope you enjoyed this video.   :)

"Stereo Love"

 

 

This song is one of my favorites! Even though there isn't much singing, the instruments make you feel like you would know what they would be singing if they were. The instruments that are involved are the voice(which has a narrow range), piano accordian and sounds like there could be some percussion(maybe not). I think this song is amazing because it is soft but can get intense and the instruments illustrate that. "Stereo Love" is of course a homophony even though there is a guy who is singing because he sings in melody with the girl. After listening a few times I believe the song is played in quadruple meter or possibly duple(they bothe sound the same). The song is obviously talking about love and how they are thinking about each other. Hope you enjoy this song as much as I do because I love this song! 

 



Alicia Keys

(Below are actual notes that alicia keys plays in "Fallin")

Thought this would be interesting since we just finished talking about major and minor scales in class. I love Alicia Keys because she is unique and extremely talented. The video above is her actually playing the piano live for an Aol session. I also added the notes below to video to show you what we learned today in reading music. Alicia Keys bases her music off of Beethovan however in a article I read she took his notes from the beginning of "Moonlight Sonata" and took the three note pattern and made it fall down. As you can hear in her video and see in the notes she uses minor scales which the music really sad and dark.Hope you enjoyed learning about an old song and maybe you learned something just like me!

Types of Singing

     



This video is interesting because it really shows you the intensity by playing the notes on a piano. Before I started Music 102 I didn't think there were different ways to sing just figured that people could make their voices higher or lower. Who knew they actually had names for what they were doing! When I saw this video I was amazed just like you will be. The soprano is high pitched and sounds like a note Mariah Carey would be singing. The bass on the other hand is more like a jazz singer; its deep and sounds soulful. The tenor voice sounds like bass at first but then is like a choir, their voices have such a softness to them but at the same time they are manly and it's pretty cool to hear how they can  reach those kinds of notes. I had to add the other video because unfortunately they didn't include the alto voice. The alto voice is like a mix between soprano and tenor it has a masculine tone but at the same time has the happiness and high pitch that soprano singers have. Hope you enjoyed the videos!