Posts Tagged ‘Music’
The Science Behind The Music: Controversy In Music & Musical Attributes
September 28th, 2009
Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival
To me, music may mean Beethoven, Debussy, and Mozart. To you, music could be Eminem, Busta Rhymes, and 50 Cent.
The Catholic Church had actually banned music that was characterized by polyphony, which is when more than one musical part is played at the same time. The Church feared that polyphony would result in people doubting the unity of God.
The Church even banned the musical interval known as an augmented fourth, which is the distance between C and F-sharp. Apparently, this interval was dubbed extremely dissonant, that is must have been brought to Earth by the Devil. The church named in “Diabolus in musica.”
Bob Dylan was booed by the audience in 1965 when we picked up an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival. People even began to leave.
But why?
Pitch and Timbre. Pitch caused the medieval church to respond in uproar, and timbre was the musical attribute that got Dylan booed all the way off stage.
So, what do the music of Bob Dylan, Busta Rhymes, and Claude Debussy have in common on the most basic level?
The answer: Music is organized sound. Let’s take a closer look at the building blocks of music.
Tone – usually a discrete musical sound. The word “note” can also be used, but most often the word “tone” refers to what is heard, and the word “note” refers to what you see written on sheet music scores.
Pitch – a completely psychological aspect of music. Pitch relates to the actual frequency of a specific tone and also to its relative position on the musical scale. Basically, it answer’s the question “What note is that?”
Rhythm – The durations of a collection of notes and the way they are grouped together. Think of the beat in your favourite song. It represents a variance of notes over time.
Tempo – the overall speed or pace of music.
Contour – the general and overall shape of a melody. Think of a melody that has patterns of notes going up or down.
Timbre – distinguishes between certain instruments, for example, between a cello and a piano. This “tonal colour” is produced by overtones from each instrument’s vibrations.
Loudness – another psychological aspect of music that relates to the physical amplitude of a sound.
Spatial Location – where the sound is coming from.
Reverberation – refers to the perception of how far away the source is while also taking into account how large a room is in which the music is being played or heard. This can also be referred to as “echo.”
Generally, these musical attributes can be separated. Thus, they are known as “dimensions” of music because they can be separated, varied, and studied, one by one, without disrupting the other attributes. The difference between random sounds put together and “music” has to do with the way these dimensions are strung together to produce a relationship between them. When these are combined and form relationships in a meaningful way, they cause us to notice higher-order aspects of music, known as meter, key, melody, and harmony.
Meter – refers to how tones are grouped together in relation to time. It is created by the human brain, extracts information from rhythm and loudness.
Key – has to do with levels of musical importance within a piece, and does not truly exist in this world, but only in the human mind. It is a mental comprehension that exists as a function of our experiences with different musical styles and idioms.
Melody – the main “theme” of a musical piece, more simply, the part that you sing with. The notion of melody is different across all genres of music.
Harmony – the relationships created between the pitches of different tones. These tones create pitch setups that lead humans to expect certain things in a musical piece, often expectations that a skilled composer or musician can either meet or disrupt for artistic and expressive instances. Harmony can be considered to be a simple, parallel melody to the primary melody, or it can refer to a chord progression.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
Take a listen to your favourite classical, rock, pop, country, or jazz song. See if you can distinguish between the several musical attributes that I discussed above. It’s really interesting once you try, in fact, you’ll realize that you will start listening to songs more closely, no matter WHAT you find yourself listening to!
Posted in The Science Behind The Music | 
Tags: Countour, Harmony, Key, Loudness, Melody, Meter, Music, Pitch, Reverberation, Rhythm, Spatial Location, Tempo, Timbre, Tone | 
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The Science Behind The Music: “I Know Nothing About Music”
September 21st, 2009
Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night"
Music is everywhere. It is used to evoke our emotions everyday, wherever you are. Advertisers use music to make a pair of jeans, a six-pack of beer, or a new car model seem more hip and cool than their competitors’. Filmmakers use music to tell us exactly how we should feel about scenes that might otherwise seem ambiguous, or to heighten our emotions at a certain dramatic point.
Music is always used to manipulate our emotions, and people enjoy it. We accept it and thrive with it. But people who still love music insist that they know nothing about it. Music theorists have a mysterious set of terms and rules that are as odd and complicated as some of the most intense studies of highly advanced mathematics.
In the eyes of a “nonmusician,” the tiny black spots and lines and squiggles of musical notation just may as well be notation of highly advanced mathematics. And yet, you don’t have to know how to read musical notation to know what kind of music you like.
Most of us have a practical knowledge of what we like. You may be a huge hip-hop fan, memorizing the lyrics, practicing in front of your mirror, driving and nodding your head to the beat of the music… but you may, in fact, know nothing (or very little) about musical notation.
I know that I like the artistic works of Vincent Van Gogh. I can often spot or even guess his paintings even before I’ve looked at the artist’s name because I like his style, but I could never paint such a beautiful masterpiece, knowing how to mix each colour on the pallet, use specific brushes, or conjure up such a imaginative scene in my mind and transfer it onto a canvas. Still, I appreciate Van Gogh as one of my favourite painters.
People become intimated by what they don’t know, and it’s a shame that many people are so intimidated by the jargon that musicians’ theorists, and cognitive scientists throw around.
An unnatural gap has developed between those who love music, and those who are discovering new things about how music works.
Music remains to be a mystery in many ways. If we all hear music the exact same way, how can we account for our widely different preferences in music? Why does someone prefer Limp Bizkit over the Beastie Boys, but another prefers the Beastie Boys over Limp Bizkit?
In the last few years, the human mind has been opened up as the field of neuroscience exploded with new approaches in psychology, new brain-imaging technologies, and drugs which are able to manipulate neurotransmitters.
Thanks to the continuous advancements in computer technology, we are coming to understand computational systems in the human brain like never before. Language is practically nailed into our brains, and consciousness itself is something that comes from observational physical systems.
Until now, no one has take all of this together and used it to comprehend humanity’s must beautiful and mysterious obsession: music. It is indeed, one of the deepest mysteries of human nature.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
Look out for my fifth article on The Science Behind The Music. Here, we’ll start asking questions like, “Is listening to music the same as eating when you’re hungry, like satisfying an urge? Or is it like watching the sunset or going for a spa massage, triggering a sense of pleasure?” Look out for article number five!
Posted in The Science Behind The Music |
Tags: Cognition, Cognitive, Emotion, Human Brain, Music, Musician, Nonmusician, Science, Theorist |
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The Science Behind The Music: Evolutionary Psychology
September 10th, 2009
WHY do we love music? To ask such a basic human ability means that we must ask about evolution. We know that animals and plants evolved different physical forms and characteristics in response to their environment.
To point out Darwin’s theory of evolution, all living organisms have coevolved in relation to the physical world. If a certain species develops a characteristic that allows them to overcome a particular predator, that predator is then faced with evolutionary pressure to either find a way to overcome that defense or find a different food source. “Natural selection” is like a race of physical changes between organisms to catch up with one another.
Evolutionary psychology is a relatively new field. It extends the notion of evolution from physical aspects to mental aspects. Our bodies are not the only product of millions of years of evolution… our minds are as well.
The patterns in which we think, our abilities to solve problems in certain ways, and how we use our senses, are all products of evolution. Researchers are now studying how our minds have coevolved with the physical world, changing in relation to certain conditions.
Researchers studying this field believe that we can learn a lot about human behaviour by looking at the evolution of the human mind. How did music serve as a function as humans were evolving and developing?
Of course, music from fifty thousand years ago would be very different from Chopin AC/DC, and the Jonas Brothers. As the human brain evolved, so has the music. Did specific regions and characteristics evolve in our brains to allow us to make and listen to music?
Rather than assuming that art and music belong to the left side of the brain and logic and math belong to the right side, it is evident that music is actually distributed throughout the entire whole of the brain.
Studies of people who have suffered from brain damage show that some patients have actually lost the ability to read a newspaper, but can still read music. Some can even still play the piano, yet they cannot pick up enough coordination to button up their own sweater.
Listening to music, performing music, and composing music engages almost every area of the brain and involves almost every neural subsystem. Maybe this accounts for people who claim that listening to music exercises our minds, or a pregnant woman who listens to Mozart everyday will give birth to a more intelligent child.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
Get ready for Lesson #4 coming up, with more on the topic of evolution and the human brain with its relation to music.
Posted in The Science Behind The Music |
Tags: Brain, Evolution, Mind, Music, Research |
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The Piano Is My Inspiration
August 11th, 2009
“Music is the one incorpeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend” ~ Ludwig Van Beethoven.
This is one of my favourite quotes of all time. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
What a horrible day I had at work today. I don’t even want to talk about it. I’m not going to post anything related to piano lessons today. I think I’m just going to speak my mind.
What is it about playing piano that’s so amazing? When I was little, I had the whole “artist” frame of mind going on. I was a good drawer, piano player, and writer. And I still am (except for drawing, maybe). Then I grew up and decided I loved accounting.
Blech.
What a mistake I made. I tried to convince myself that I was analytical and loved math and crunching numbers. I sort of am, but in a different way… in a musical way. You know, all the math that is related to music, such as note values and timing and speed. How interesting it is that some little dots and signs on a piano score literally represent certain numbers and values in the realm of time and can be analyzed by the human brain and processed through the mind, body, and soul.
Somehow, and for some reason that I no longer understand (other than parental and social pressure), I managed to get a university degree in business. Now I’m just realizing that I’m still an artist and I always have been. I am NOT an accountant. (FYI, I got a D in my intermediate financial accounting class during my third year of university). Of course, it took me four years, thousands of dollars, and a whole lot of growing up to figure that out.
I’m beginning to think that I should go back to a piano teacher and get my grade 8 piano. That is, if I can afford it, and if I can handle it. I have to decide if it’s something that I really want.
As Beethoven also quoted, “I despise a world which does not feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”
I agree with this statement whole-heartedly, and I think that any real pianist would. There is something that happens when I play the piano, but I can’t explain it. I think it’s the closest I’ve ever been to a state of pure ecstacy. I don’t even need anyone. I just need my body and my piano.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
What can I say? Life is too short. Don’t spend it doing something that’s merely expected of you (such as, *shiver* accounting). Let your truest desires guide your heart so you can find your real passion in life, whatever that may be. I think that music is probably one of the deepest passions that any human being could have. Cherish it while you have the time.
Posted in Favourite Quotes |
Tags: Artist, Beethoven, Beethoven Quotes, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Music, Playing Piano, Quotes |
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12 Steps For Reading Sheet Music
July 21st, 2009
Have you ever heard a really great song, rushed to purchase or download the sheet music for it, sat yourself down in front of your piano, looked at the sheets, and wondered where you should even start? I’ve probably done this over a hundred times. Here’s a list of steps in chronological order that you should consider when beginning a new piece to play. Not only will you be able to learn and understand the piece in faster time, but you will also be able to comprehend the intent and nuances of the piece faster and more clearly.
Step 1:
Take a look at the entire piece to determine its structure and length. Basically, a quick run-through over the entire composition will help you achieve an initial feel and impression from a first glance.
Step 2:
Take a second look at the piece. This time, go over it more slowly. You should be looking for anything that seems unfamiliar to you, such as awkward or unknown notes, chords, articulations, or tempo indications. Make a note of these things or mark them using a highlighter on your sheets. You can easily look these elements up in the Internet, or use a music dictionary to distinguish their meaning and use.
Step 3:
Look at the time signature of the piece and make sure you are familiar with it. If you are not, it would be a good idea to do some research on the specific time signature, since it is often a primary indication of the type of song.
Step 4:
Identify the key signature of the piece and determine whether you are familiar with it or not. If it’s new to you, consider learning the key’s scales with its corresponding sharps or flats for a better understanding of the piece.
Step 5:
Search for any key changes throughout the piece. Take a mental note of how many times the key signature changes throughout the piece. By knowing the key changes ahead of time, you’ll be more prepared and playing the piece may seem that much easier.
Step 6:
Do you notice any changes in tempo? Highlight them and get familiar with the tempo changes ahead of time. This will allow you to change or glide from one section to another section more easily.
Step 7:
Search for common passages. Is there a phrase or motif that repeats itself somewhere further along in the piece? Perhaps there is a variation of a general motif somewhere else. Look for trends like this. If you familiarize yourself with the basic motif, the variations will become easier to practice and play.
Step 8:
Break the piece up into section. Highlight any difficult sections that you think will require more practice time.
Step 9:
Write out the notes in specific sections that you find it difficult to read on the sheets. You should do whatever makes the piece easier to for you to read. Your own markings on the sheet music will help.
Step 10:
Try playing the piece through once the best you can. Try not to stop, even if you have trouble in some certain sections. Finishing the piece after your first try will give you a visual canvas of the piece.
Step 11:
Play through the piece a second time. Stop where you are having trouble and make any additional markings needed in these areas.
Step 12:
Finally, concentrate on the difficult areas. Look them over again so you have a really good understanding of their structures. This will set the structures in your mind so you can focus on hand-eye coordination when playing. When your eyes are familiar with it, your hands can then work to achieve the movement needed to play the section.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
Starting a new piece can sometimes feel overwhelming when you realize how many different things you need to keep in mind and focus on practicing. Breaking the piece down into the several components addressed above will make it easier for you. Just concentrate on the individual components, and when you put them all together, the result will be beautiful and satisfying music.
Posted in Tips For Reading Music |
Tags: Composition, Key Signature, Music, Piece, Reading, Sheets, Tempo, Time Signature |
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