Musical improvisation

The 30th Annual Evanston Ethnic Arts Festival, which was located on Evanston’s lakefront, was eventful for me last weekend. There were many ongoing activities such as family craft activities, international cuisine, and live music by several performers. I got to experience the diversity of arts and culture from all over the world. I went there mainly to listen to one of the music performers named, Saraswathi Ranganathan, along with her ensemble of Raga Blues that consisted of guests that included…

It is a loudness of musical instruments rather than a voice of singer/artist at the stage. In order to come across with one simple solution, let me take Ethiopian evangelical church broadly. I will address only the church music because it may be tough to solve this problem from…

American Overture for Band is a level six, wind band, piece that has been played and enjoyed by advanced high school and university bands. The scoring is dense and somewhat atypical, however. Jenkins includes a sting bass, a cello, three baritone parts, three flute parts, and four clarinet and trombone parts. Jenkins includes the string bass part because is important to the texture of the piece. The tuba cues, like all the cues in the piece, are “safety doublings” and “should be played only…

what we know as the Romantic Period. Although Henry Purcell’s piece “If Music be the Food of Love” was unappealing to me he however was one of the most influential composers and influenced other composers through his different pieces in different musical categories (sonatas, chamber music, operas). The purpose of the piece “If Music be the Food of Love” could be a portrait of how a person can go crazy and do foolish things because of love. The Duke (the singer) of the song drowns himself in…

Singing in the Rain is “backstage” musical filled with comedy, songs and romance that was released in 1951 but set in the late 1920’s. It was one of the last films to be produced during the profitable golden age of the studio system. The film employs the typical characteristics a Hollywood musical by relying on superstar names and contagious dance numbers. The movie incorporates an additional level of parody into its wistful plot that is centered on the disruptive shift from silent movies to…

The first song was called Joy Ride. It started of very strong with crashing cymbals and a loud drum. It was very powerful and had really good harmony all together. The second song was called Regrets and Resolutions. It started off very peaceful and quiet with flutes and clarinets. Then the horns and xylophone were added in. The flute soloist would play one song and the rest of the instruments were playing a different one, it actually sounded really cool. At one point it all the sudden got really…

Singing musical theatre songs there are necessary elements which should be used in order to create texture and feeling to the song but the main reason why singing helps to create character to bring the song to life is usually done when singing from the heart by apply passion and connecting with the song/character. The best singer especially for musical theatre genre does not have to have the most polished voice or technique but they are great because of their character as it seems to feel real…

Pop songs today are laid out in similar ways: verse, chorus, verse 2, chorus, verse 3, chorus. Because of their repetition, choruses usually make up what we see as the “core” of a song. When one thinks of “Rude” by Magic, do they think of the chorus or the verses? What about “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire? We generally think of songs like these as having a “normal” song structure. In fact, very few pop songs go against this grain, with most of the few examples of this not actually being pop songs.…

Sa. The first note that I ever heard and the beginning to my musical life. This one note was enough to change my small world that I existed in. Then came the rest of the scale. Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni. The notes rang in my ears for what seemed like an eternity. Then the final note came. Sa. My young brain made a discovery that music could seemingly come to life. At the age of four, I discovered Kirtan. I quickly became infatuated with the art and was recognized for the so called talent I…

The Royal Family, written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, is a play about three generations of a wealthy family during the 1920s. I watched the play on December 6, 2015 at the Pierce College Arts Building. The play was directed Anita Adcock, who did great job setting the play as she intended it to be. Everything from the costumes, the lighting, to the typecasting was excellently produced. Particularly, the set design was able to greatly express the theme of the play. The setting mainly…