The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment

As we started the unit, the Age of Enlightenment or The Age of Reason, I honestly wasn't sure what we were going to learn about. I didn't learn much about this era in high school so I was excited to learn about it's history. In our recent class our professor put up some pictures on the projector and asked us how they related to the Age of Enlightenment. At first when I was looking at the pictures I had no idea how they related to the Age of Enlightenment and I wasn't sure why we were being asked to do this, then I realized that these extremely detailed paintings and landscapes have so much to do with this era.

The picture below looks like one of the pictures showed in class:

In class we were asked to describe how this picture represents the Enlightenment era. After we started listing off commonalities, this is what we came up with:

• symmetry: music of this era was known to have balanced symmetry in its melodic phrases
• simple: music of this era is classified as simple classic music because of the harmonies
• overhead view
• swirls: spiraling of education, technology, music and science

We were going through pictures and paintings like these and it really made me think about this era and how art from this age represented the time beautifully and clearly. I believe that this age is so important because it was a time of change and a time of education. There were so many changes that had shaped life after this time and changed lifestyles afterwards. My favorite part of this era is the beautiful and simple music that came out of it. The Age of Enlightenment was the beginning of classical music. This time produced so many performers, writers, and composers who were among the greatest artists of all time. (I think that is so cool!!)

Some of us might hate classical music but I have a lot of respect for it. There is a lot of time and work that is put into composing and playing it. When I first applied to Ithaca, I applied to the music school. I had to do pre-screening auditions and I realized after those auditions I was supposed to have pieces ready in classical style. Let's just say I'm not classically trained on the guitar. I thought that maybe if I had learned the style for about a year I could re-audition to try and get in but once I started learning it, it was probably the hardest style I've ever had to play. So, for that reason I have a lot of respect of the genre. 

Can't wait to learn more about this topic!

Folk Music

Folk music isn’t as old as you think!

As our class was getting to the end of our Folk Music unit, we considered many different definitions of  “folk”. To help us determine the definition we read, An Introduction to Folk Music in the United States by Bruno Nettl. He discussed many opinions about the definition of “folk music”. Some of these opinions/arguments include:

Folk music vs. Cultivated music

Folk music vs. Primitive music

Simple vs. Complex

All of these opinions posed questions about where folk music really originated. The answer is unknown but what we do know is that folk music is always changing. This fact is inevitable because folk music is transferred orally. Each artist who sings a folk song will change the style of the song to fit him/herself. This brings me to my definition of folk music:

~Folk music is orally transferred from generation to generation. It is the foundation of all genres of music and can be created and performed by anyone and everyone.

I think Nettl successfully informs the reader about folk music but the tone of his writing implies he is writing to scholars. He uses the words “primitive” and “cultivated” which suggests folk music is old and not sophisticated. Folk music is the opposite of old, folk music changes everyday. Some of the reasons why folk music changes are failure of memory and the desire to make changes. This creates different versions of songs.

Nettl describes folk music as “simple” because it doesn’t have the depth that classical music contains.  Folk music also has a repeating form that makes it easy for people to learn and sing along but it doesn’t mean the music is simple to play. From my own personal experience, as a guitar player, folk music has different, complex characteristics to it that sometimes makes it a little difficult to learn.

Nettl talks about how folk music is created for activities but I disagree. Folk music tells a story and listeners enjoy the energetic feel to the music that can be played at any moment, not just for an activity.  Every lyric to every song tells a story for any genre of music. I believe that folk music is the foundation to all genres of music because of the story telling tradition and how any song can be orally transferred to other people. An example of that would be singers on YouTube.

I think if Nettl were writing to folk musicians he would need to change up some of his words so that it would make sense and apply to the folk. He explains things from a scientific point of view and not a musician’s point of view, which changes the context of his writing. I agree with Nettl’s topics and points of view about folk music because what he describes contains all the descriptions that our class has discussed about folk music: it's orally passed from person to person, created by the people for the people, it tells a story and it changes throughout the years.

I believe that folk music isn’t old and it isn’t just for the “folk”; it’s for everyone’s ears. It’s enjoyable to listen to and fun to dance to which makes it easy to be passed from generation to generation. This unit has made me realize that folk isn’t a genre, it’s a style, and you see this style in all genres of music. 

PORCHFEST!

PORCHFEST AT ITHACA

September 14th, 2014

Folk band I noticed playing in strophic form.

On this perfect, sunny, fall day I ventured down to Ithaca Commons. From the Commons I walked down the streets near the bus stop. As soon as I started walking towards the neighborhoods on West Buffalo Street and the surrounding streets, music entered my open ears. When I heard the music I walked towards it and that started the journey of my Porchfest experience.

Porchfest wasn't anything I've ever musically experienced before. The idea of local artists performing on their porches would be a crazy idea in Portsmouth, NH but it made me realize how much of an artistic town Ithaca is. Not only did I feel the sense of community on the streets, I saw it too. There were children that had lemonade stands and cookie stands and I even saw a couple of yard/garage sales. It felt like I was back home in my own community. I know I am now technically a resident of Ithaca, NY for the next 4 years but it's not my home and it was very cool to see the locals of Ithaca supporting their community in their town. 

As I walked down the streets of Ithaca I ran into porch after porch of varying musical styles. To me, the concept of this is so interesting; how each porch I went to, whether it being a few houses down or blocks away, the style of music was different. There was a vast variety I got to listen to and watch. I noticed that some porches did covers of songs, some were instrumental and others did their own music. I listened to Led Zeppelin, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", altered/funky instrumental music (I'm not exactly sure how to describe it), blues and folk. 

I walked over to a porch playing folk music. I could recognize guitarists, a banjo and an upright bass. I started to pay attention to the style they were playing and I could tell that they were playing in strophic form (AAA). They music repeated itself but the lyrics were telling a story about a guy loving a women who had just gotten married. Although it's tough doing it live, it was awesome to relate what I was learning in class to what I heard at Porchfest. 

There wasn't just older bands, there were younger bands and soloists too. The first band I ran into was a young group of boys playing Led Zeppelin. They were singing covers of rock songs and weren't afraid to put themselves out there. I ran into an older band playing the blues and I could distinctively point out that it was the blues because they were play a 12 bar form of it and I had learned that on the guitar a couple years ago. 

I don't think that hearing the cadences and the forms of the music made me have a deeper appreciation for it but it definitely made me open up my ears more to what I was listening too. I loved my experience at Porchfest and it's definitely something that I will attend in my future years at Ithaca College.

School of Music Convocation

New & Improved Ford Hall

The School of Music Convocation

This past Tuesday night (9/9) I attended the School of Music's Convocation. Not only was this a beautiful welcome to all music school students, it was also the welcome of the newly renovated Ford Hall. Although I hadn't seen the music hall before this performance, I was blown away with how full and wonderful the music sounded during the concert. The new renovation made this music hall unlike any other. On the walls of this amazing space there are millions of grooved panels. The special thing about these panels is that each one is different and each one emits a different frequency so that you hear the same thing anywhere you sit in the space. It was a such a pleasure to be in the audience for this wonderful performance. 

The dean of the music school came on before and after each of the four performances. He was excited to reveal the new space. The first performance was the brass band of five instruments. They did a fanfare from ballet La Péri. This piece had different textures to it because of the different brass instruments: trumpet, trombone, tuba, french horn and I believe another trumpet. To me the piece sounded a little like Star Wars music. 

After the horn performance a pianist and two, very talented, soprano singers came on stage. I was astounded to hear what they could do with their voices. It was so raw and exquisite. They sang "What Can We Poor Females Do" and "Sound of the Trumpet". These two songs were like nothing I've heard in class because we have yet to study voice and the styles singers have to their voices. 

After that stunning performance, the brass band came back on and performed "Contrapuntist IV" by Yohan Bach. During this piece, each instrument took it's turn playing the melody. I could distinctively recognize each instrument as their turn came around. This piece was full of texture and at first I thought they were performing a "round" but I realized each instrument took turns and then at the end they all played together. This song reminded me of the listening guide that my class listened to in our Understanding Music textbook from Mozart. It had the same style of classical music even though the textures were different. In class we are learning about phrases and because at first I thought this was a round, I could distinctively hear the musical phrases beginning and ending. Although I can't remember what cadence the phrases ended on I could pick out the open and closed cadences. I could also hear the cadence structure of the song.

The last performance of the night was the performance that really blew me away. This piece was composed by Sally McCune: who is a faculty member who teaches composition. The piece is called "River" and it swayed through me. The piece included a piano, violin and a cello. If I had to describe this movement in three words I would say: beautiful, intense, and riveting. There were moments of chaos in this piece where both violin and cello would be playing at fast paces. I found myself in the back row of the concert hall, with my eyes closed, swaying to the beautiful sound. In fact, it was so beautiful and captivating it almost brought me to tears. I could feel the spiral down of chaos and resolution at the end of the piece when the music faded out into nothing. This movement had such an impact on me, I had to wait at least a minute or two to get a hold of myself at the end. I could feel every sound inside of me and it's something that is unforgettable. 

I enjoyed this concert and it was awesome to witness such amazing performances in such an amazing space. I definitely plan on attending other concerts put on by the music school, they are professional and the sound is something I've never experienced before. If it was possible, I would want to be in that space every day making music. The music school means a lot to me because it's why I came to Ithaca College. I had originally auditioned to be a part the school but unfortunately was rejected from the program. I am so thankful to be in this seminar class because it means I can walk through the halls of something I was almost a part of. I still consider myself a music student at IC even though I'm not a music major. So being at these concerts impacts me in a way that is unexplainable. 

It just feels right.

"What Can We Poor Females Do"

                                       The end of "River"

Cadences

Cadence Structure

Row Row Row Your Boat

Nursery Rhyme

When I was trying to find a tune to identify the cadence it was a little difficult at first. I then started to look at some nursery rhymes that had two phrases with different cadence endings. I had gone through about 4 or 5 nursery rhymes and then found this cute, kids version of "Row Row Row Your Boat". I started to sing along with the song and re-played it a couple times singing do re mi fa sol la ti do along with the tune. When I had identified the two phrases I noticed that the first phrase ended on sol or scale degree 5, meaning it was an imperfect authentic cadence (IAC). The second phrase ended on do making it a perfect authentic cadence (PAC). I drew out this phrase digram to help me:

Textures and Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mFYzKSx4Ps

"Thank God for the Summertime" By Ben Rector

I love this song it has different textures that make it a great song to listen to.

It starts with a simple drum and tambourine beat, then moves into the melody (piano) with strikes of an electric guitar.
It then goes into just the drums, the soft piano and the solo singer.
The tambourine comes back in for the chorus with a louder (mezzo) piano and guitar. The singer's voice sounds like it has more passion and he now has background singers.
This repeats twice (verse, chorus, verse 2, chorus) into the bridge where the piano plays with more passion and louder (forte). The guitar also has a little more freedom in the bridge where you can hear it more.
For the last chorus you hear the guitar more, it makes you want to tap your feet because you can feel the rhythm coming from it.
The song ends with the solo rhythm electric guitar.

This song has a time signature of 4/4 and a duple meter. 

The different textures of the song makes it have a jazzy feel to it. You can feel the beat and feel the passion from the artist's voice and the band's sound. The lyrics are laid back: 
Thank God for the summertime
No cares and I'm doing fine, no cares and I'm doin fine
Thank God for the summertime.
and the beat goes along with it because it has a jazzy "groove" to it. Jazz music has a laid back feel to it and that's why these textures and the time meter fits so well with the singers voice and lyrics.