Day: Dec 3, 2018

Elements of Music, an introduction

Considering how I need to occupy my busy brain I decided to go over he resources on Oracle that have been supplied for Theory, one caught my eye particularly called ‘Elements of Music’.

We began to go through it in class but that didn’t go with flying colours, so I chose to take it and make it more appealing and for it to be more of a resource I can use in the future considering I want to teach others what I’ll be picking up over the years.

Now, I think we all know what keeps me thoroughly engaged at the moment, so with this in mind I put together each slide.

It started off with going through each and every element briefly, the following attributes combine to produce a piece of music;

This evening I decided to carry on and do another page as I’ve been a bit on edge so I filled out the rhythm part which went well.

I think I’ll be adding to this booklet weekly leading up to the end of the year, next week we have Melody which is installed for us which will be a blast.

Monday the 3rd of December 2018

Quality. This morning we had Aural Perception with Chris, I do enjoy the lesson a lot but when I have a headache it doesn’t help at all, especially along side my peers talking on and on throughout the songs we are trying to listen to and by we, I mean me.

I tend to jot all over my work with a lot of tribe, so I am not going to put it on here as it is incredibly hard to if you’re not living within my shoes. We went over a bunch of songs and then we discussed what we as musicians and active listeners look out for, in our case today it was time signatures which is always a mouthful. 

When the lesson ended we had a quick break which then led on to us finally getting round to recording our music video. I got to say I did enjoy the process of it all but I wasn’t too fond of the time span we were given and having to mime our parts. It felt like all the attention was being put on the guitarist and singer which is fair enough because they’re what passive listeners listen and look out for, so me and the drummer were just left in the back to fester which I didn’t mind as I’m not up my own arse when I play an instrument like others. 

Our director did some close ups of me playing bass along side Tom but in reality the video rotated around the other two which was painfully funny to watch, as it successfully made my day worse but great at the same time I can’t compare the feeling but when it happens it’ quality.

During D.I.S, I was mean’t to catch up on my work considering how I have let the big sad take over my weekend which wasn’t great. So instead I went to go practice the song I am going to play in my Bass exam on Wednesday, but Jack decided to come in a ruin what I had going soon after Tom wanted to come in and sit with me which wasn’t epic.

The rest of the day was in shambles really, our vocalist took off early as her and the other two were taking digs at each other all day which I stayed well away from as per usual as I am in college not secondary school. So for that session I sat and just spaced out which was great the others played some Led Zeppelin which I can’t get into so I left them to it and backed up and sat outside to cool down mentally.

Parents evening was cool, it was nice to go over what is install for me next year and to hear good comments from Chris and Jason which I have to thank greatly for helping me settle in perfectly and to achieve what I have done so far!

Aural Perception, Monday the 3rd of December 2018

Within music they are two types of listeners, ones Active and the others Passive. 

Active listening is a technique that is used in many things not just music. It is used in counselling, training, and solving disputes or conflicts . It requires that the listener fully concentrate, understand, respond to what has been played said and or done. 

Passive Listening is listening without reacting, for example it is like allowing someone to speak, without interrupting and not doing anything else at the same time or reacting to what is the matter at hand.

The first song of our lesson today is called ‘Higher and Higher’ by Jackie Wilson. 

  • Time Signature – 4/4
  • Tempo – 190bpm (Allegro)
  • Timbre
  • Style – R&B/Soul/Jazz
  • Instrumentation – Bass, Drums, Guitar, Bongos, Male Vocalist, Keys/Synth and a Mixed Female Vocal Choir.
  • Structure 
  • Pitch 
  • Dynamics

Next up would have to be the man himself, Paul Simon’s – ‘You Can Call Me AL’.

  • Time Signature – 4/4
  • Tempo – 126bpm (Allegro)
  • Timbre
  • Style – Pop
  • Instrumentation – Bass, Drums, Male Vocals, Male Backing Vocals, Synthetically created Horns (Keys/Synth) and a Penny whistle.
  • Structure 
  • Pitch 
  • Dynamics

Here is another one by Paul Simons called ‘Diamonds on the soles of Her Shoes’.

  • Time Signature – 4/4
  • Tempo – 104bpm (Andante)
  • Timbre
  • Style – Pop / South African Jazz
  • Instrumentation – Male Vocals (Call and Response), Mixed Male African Vocal Choir, Bass (Fretless), Drums, Conga/Bongos, Trumpets and Saxophones.
  • Structure 
  • Pitch 
  • Dynamics

Next up is the iconic song by Dave Brubeck called ‘Take Five’. 

  • Time Signature – 5/4
  • Tempo – 174bpm (Presto)
  • Timbre
  • Style – Jazz
  • Instrumentation – Drums, Grand Piano, Double Bass and Saxophones in E flat.
  • Structure 
  • Pitch 
  • Dynamics

My favourite track from today’s lesson is called ‘Money’ by Pink Floyd.

  • Time Signature – Although Roger Waters and David Gilmour have made recent comments stating that the song had been composed primarily in 7/8 time, it was composed in 7/4, as stated by Gilmour in an interview with Guitar World magazine in 1993. The song changes to 4/4 time for an extended guitar solo.
  • Tempo – 126bpm (Allegro)
  • Timbre
  • Style – Jazz
  • Instrumentation – Cash Register, Coins, Bass, Guitar, Drums, Male Vocals, Saxophone and Pre-Recorded Vocal Tracks. 
  • Structure 
  • Pitch 
  • Dynamics

Finally the last song for today is by Peter Gabriel and it is called ‘Solsbury Hill’.

  • Time Signature – The song itself is unusual given its 7/4 time signature, which settles into 4/4 only for the last two measures of each chorus.
  • Tempo – 102bpm (Andante)
  • Timbre
  • Style –Rock
  • Instrumentation 
  • Structure 
  • Pitch 
  • Dynamics
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