Music Analysis Essay

Hearing a rhythm or melody and calling it ‘music’ with no further analysis or specificity is perhaps the most vague definition on earth. Music is, in fact, so much more. Not only can music span across all sorts of genres, but these genres can be divided even further and made more specific by looking at the number of musicians performing - that is, the orchestral, ensemble, and solo music. Style, perhaps, fluctuates the most of all aspects of a performance with the size of the group. Large orchestral groups or symphony orchestras may have dozens, if not hundreds in some cases, of performers on stage. This allows for numerous parts of a tune to be played simultaneously. The appeal to this is that there can be so much going on at once (a melody, …show more content…
Orchestras often require vast concert halls the size of football stadiums with ample space and perfect conditions to allow their sound to resonate properly. This poses a challenge not only the the musicians when not everything is perfect, but also to the director who is normally in charge of choosing when and where to perform. Smaller ensembles, in contrast, don’t need tons of space and may instead even opt for small areas for a more intimate sound. Another advantage to their smaller size is that they can find a steady flow of income performing at meetings, parties, and anything else where background music would be appropriate and appreciated. Solo artists, much like with style, have complete freedom over their venues. These musicians may even become street performers and perform on city streets, subway stations, or anywhere else they see fit. Often times when thinking of classifications of music people look at the multitudinous genres and types, with little regard to the effect the performing group’s size has on so many different aspects of the music. This is of course forgivable as on the surface it seems unimportant, but when it is actually focalized it is realized that band size makes a world of difference in the way music can