Eschewing hypothetical startles and unnecessary intricacies, “East 97th”, the encouraging debut album by Portuguese bassist Gonçalo Leonardo, provides agreeable listenings through the aggregation of well-composed textures within clarified structures. The record was recorded in New York, where Leonardo lived for a couple of years, and features an international quartet comprising the also Portuguese André Matos on guitar, Spanish Yago Vazquez on piano and Rhodes, and American Tommy Crane on drums.…
In order to understand the concept of the motet, one must first be familiar the musical developments preceding the motet. Although the motet first appears in the 13th century, we can trace its ancestry back as far as the 9th century with the rising popularization of polyphony. Beginning in the Carolingian period (800-1000), composers began to take preference in writing polyphony which provided many opportunities to further explore the depth of musical texture. Early polyphonic music became known…
This week I have been focusing on technique. My mentor said that was one of the most important things, when learning how to play the guitar. He said, since my fingers hadn’t learned the difference yet that I might as well learn how to do it the correct way. This is because as I continue it will be easier to play, and will in the end, sound better. He always says that anybody can pick-up a guitar and learn how to play, but to become a musician it takes practice and dedication. I asked my mentor…
process until the medieval music scholar and teacher Guido introduced new methods. Guido’s teaching of solmization and Guidonian hand had a major impact on the way music was practiced and learned, to the point where it contributed significantly to the notation system and methods we use today. Therefore, I will discuss, in detail, the approaches that Guido came up with to resolve the issues of that time period. Guido, a medieval music scholar and teacher, was given the task to instruct a large…
Listening Assignment One Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is known to be a beautiful piece of art. Upon doing some research, Henry Purcell was Benjamin’s influencer in creating this music. It was all built on the second movement of the, “Rondeau”, of the Abdelazer suite. However, originally it was meant for an educational documentary film. Benjamin started at a very young age and had many of mentors through his career. He even studied at the Royal College…
Alternative R&B PBR -Pabst Blue Ribbon, Music is shared all around the world for everyone to listen to and enjoy. Many different genres such as Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop, Rock, R&B, etc. Every song is different in its own way, but one genre really sticks out to me and that's Alternative R&B. Alternative R&B also goes by many other names such as PBR&B, R-Neg-B, and indie R&B. Alternative R&B definitely takes R&B and gives it a twist. This genre often focuses…
The Great Lyre from Ur The Great Lyre with Bull’s Head is the oldest stringed instrument found by an archeologist Leonard Woolley in the 1920s. This valuable historical relic is now well-preserved in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The lyre was created between c. 2600 BCE and c. 2500 BCE during the Sumerian Period. It was discovered in a royal tomb from an ancient Mesopotamian city named Ur and its contemporary location is Muqaiyir, Iraq. The lyre looks…
I am Vietnamese who was born in the last years of the 20th century. Then, then 2000s was the era which the culture of pop music was automatically instilled in each person the day they started to listen to music. The modern pop music is one of the fastest growing genres in the music industries. And undoubtedly, pop quickly spreads its affections to the Vietnamese audience. Just the same as other people at my age, I used to despite older music, considered them out of fashion and boring. However,…
He invited Howard Shore to visit the different sets and to meet the cast, because he wanted him to immerse himself as much in the story as possible:"There were many months of reading Tolkien's books, studying Ring mythology and influences of Tolkien," Shore says "I had to do that in order to write, to express any ideas and emotions. [...] I think I´m always writing for an emotional impact. I want to feel something when I watch a film and that's how I create music. I mean, I'm watching a film and…
Claudio Monteverdi is an Italian composer from the Baroque period who was influential in the transition between Renaissance and Baroque music. Despite composing in all musical styles and genres of his time, Monteverdi defied past generation 's standards of composition. For example, he did not follow the rules governing the resolution of dissonances in that period. Like other composers of the Baroque period, Monteverdi had a big impetus to imitate reality through his music; he tried to humanize…