Music

In music, as in all the arts, "depth" is a subjective quality dependent on how the audience personally reacts to a given work. Some commentators and music historians have in fact regarded the...

Many comparisons of medieval and modern music have already been discussed. I will add a few more worth considering. One point of comparison between medieval music and today's music comes from their...

Dynamics refers to the volume of what a listener hears or what a performer is directed to produce. Form refers to the structure of music; a common example is twelve-bar blues. Form almost always...

There's a great deal of hyperbole in the song, apparently meant to emphasize the idea that the speaker loves his girlfriend as she is, that she is just right without having to change anything about...

Music may be connected to history in several ways. When a nation becomes independent, it adopts a national anthem. Certain musical styles and genres may become common during a particular historical...

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was first performed in 1808 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Since then, it has become one of the best-known compositions of all time. It is still frequently...

Straight eighths is a specific performance practice in music. The term refers to eighth notes, so called from the manner in which they divide a measure of common time—into eight equal parts. In...

Poetic devices used in the lyrics of the song "We Are the World" include rhyme scheme although the rhyme pattern is somewhat irregular, alliteration, literary allusion, repetition, and...

Let us first examine the two descriptors of music in the question. Music that is described as "popular" is just that. It is music that is consumed by a large portion of the populace. It is also an...

Released in 1966, "Eleanor Rigby" is a popular song by The Beatles that explores, in a straightforward manner and with a haunting tone, the loneliness and isolation experienced by the elderly. The...

"Summertime" is a 1934 aria composed by American composer and pianist George Gershwin. Gershwin composed the song for his 1935 English-language opera, Porgy and Bess, while the lyrics were written...

Modern music is often a reflection of many people's perceptions of the world around them. The protest music of the 1960s and early 1970s, for example, grew out of the growing disenchantment among...

Both acoustic and electric guitars have distinct advantages. For learning music, acoustic is still usually recommended. An obvious disadvantage of the electric guitar is its dependence on...

Let's start with brief definitions of these African music characteristics, or traits, then add any examples that are commonly known in American pop music (often described as music that is popular...

Perhaps the most significant linguistic feature of "Waltzing Matilda" is the colloquial language. The first verse, for example, is packed with colloquialisms (e.g., "swagman," "billabong," "billy...

While Baroque and Classical music historically refer to two distinct periods of time (the former from around 1600 to 1750; the latter from 1750 to about 1820), and while they represent different...

You can find the elements of music in a piece of music by first understanding what elements you are looking for, and then listening to the music with a focus on these elements. Dynamics: One of the...

The most important thing to keep in mind when you're writing a college application essay is that everything about it represents you to people who don't know you. It should sound like you (be...

This brief, lyrical song is mystical in tone and does not lend itself to rigorous textual interpretation, relying principally on mystical sensations and images for its effect. The song opens with...

Rocksteady and ska are both music genres that originated in Jamaica: Ska in the early 1960’s and rocksteady near the end of that decade, evolving from ska influences. Although rocksteady was...

It's important to start by noting that music is inherently subjective. The beauty of the art form is that each listener can experience a song in a different way. That being said, it's possible to...

The Romantic Era took place during the 18th century in Europe, partly as a response to the Industrial Revolution. It focused on powerful emotions, which were heightened by the French Revolution and...

There are two ways to think about this question. The first is that a combination of melody and rhythm allows people to escape the stresses of their realities and focus on something other than their...

Each concerto of "The Four Seasons" was meant to be preceded by a sonnet describing the particular season being portrayed. The music that followed gave another interpretation of the season. The...

Two differences between Renaissance and modern music are in notation (writing music down). The primary basic note value was larger than the modern value being the equivalent of modern whole note...

When listing top female singers for each decade between 1920 and 1969, two considerations must be kept in mind: 1) "Top" singer may refer to most records sold, or it may refer to the far more...

The levers on a lever harp (aka folk harp) are used to adjust the tone of each string--changing it from a natural tone to a flat or sharp note (or, from a flat tone to a natural or sharp). Unlike...

Chapin's song is a testament to the intricacies of parenthood. The song operates as an example of how daily life's routine can preclude the elements of life that make being worthwhile. The birth...

About the lyrics to "A Stairway to Heaven," that he himself wrote, Robert Plant has made this explanation, It was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time...

Puff, the Magic Dragon was written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary along with Leonard Lipton and released in 1963. The main theme of this popular children's song is the loss of childhood...

At the time Haydn premiered his oratorio The Creation (in German, Die Schöpfung) in 1799, he had already achieved an iconic status, and was now considered the greatest living composer. Mozart had...

A wide array of songs could fit in answering this question. Yet, for me, the immediate connection I made was to The Beatles' "A Day in the Life." It features a strong shift in musical dynamics...

The lyrics of this famous and extremely popular song by Coldplay describe the opposite of a rags-to-riches story. Instead of beginning from a place of poverty, the speaker of this song "used to...

Music has become a ubiquitious presence in the lives of many people, especially those in modern, consumer-oriented societies. We listen to music without even realizing it when shopping, strolling,...

Folk music, blues, and gospel might initially seem to be very distinct types of music, but in fact they are definitely connected. Bearing in mind that folk music is defined as a "type of...

Strictly speaking, Platonism is any philosophical idea or ideology that derives from the teachings of Plato, the ancient philosopher. However, it has also become a term used to define certain...

Let us begin by clarifying and limiting some terms. First, we will limit our response to “fine art” music, let us say Western orchestral instruments. Second, we will expand the definition of...

Che Guevera is the well-known, famous or infamous Argentinian who became the leader of the Cuban revolution. The Motorcycle Diaries, adapted from his own journals, tracks the start of his...

Bluegrass as a separate type of music originated in the Appalachin Mountains of the United States. The area was settled largely by immigrants from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany, all of...

I am a woodwind player and not a percussionist, but here goes. First, although virtually all timpani or kettledrums (or, if singular, a timpano) are strictly bass clef instruments, the piccolo...

As might be expected, the seven pedals of a pedal harp are named after the seven musical notes: E F G A and D C B. The D C B pedals are positioned in that order on the harp's left side, and the E F...

A listening chart is a regular chart that has been adapted to row and column labels specifying music selection types, titles, artists, and music elements. For "The Sound of Music," your chart will...

This is a very interesting question. I've always classed double reed instruments as specialty instruments, not as popular instruments; maybe "the times, they are a' changin'." Howsoever that may...

Both Rodgers and Williams depict a South that is more visceral because of the emotions contained in their music. Rodgers and Williams feature a "realism" in their music that shows struggle,...

The inclusion of a harp in an orchestra depends upon a couple different things: the type of orchestra and the music composition. First, not all orchestras require harps. (On a side note, a harp is...

The relationship between music and mood has long been established. In preparing a research paper on the subject, therefore, a useful starting point would be a review of the literature – an...

William Channing Woodbridge’s role in music history was as a proponent of music education in the 19th century. Woodridge made a name for himself as a geographer, specializing in teaching geography...

Reggae is the musical voice that the people of Jamaica have used to tell the world about their history, about their cultural uniqueness, and about their historical and social struggles against a...

The four families of instruments are woodwind, brass, percussion, and string. The different instruments are made respectively out of wood, brass (hence the names), wood with other materials (such...

Tempo: the speed at which a passage of selection is played. The tempo variation moves from initial slow instrumentals with slow vocals to double-time vocal over slow percussion.Dynamics: the...