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Final Project: Music Brings us Together

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 Music Brings us Together!  Humans need music! It can lift your spirits, help you get through hard times, or simply to fill in background noise. But it has the ability to bring people from all walks of life together. At least in my life, I hear a song that reminds me of a friend, family member or a good memory on some crazy adventure. But it doesn't necessarily have to be a happy unification.  I find that people listen to music to elicit a specific emotion. Sad songs can draw the desire to call your grandma for instance.  We will look at two songs, one that shares a message of unity, and patriotism. The other, happiness and serendipity.   The Star-Spangled Banner The Star-Spangled Banner lyrics were written in 1814 By Francis Scott Key, and the music by John Stafford Smith in 1773. The song is traditionally in a key of B flat major and 92 beats per minute.    This song has an extremely patriotic feel, and of course is the National Anthem for America. The song has a beautiful and vi

Music and the Fictive Dream

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Frozen Frozen is a movie produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2013. It is based on a story written by Hans Christian Anderson. The general plot of the movie follows Princess Elsa, a girl with the powers to control snow. She accidentally harms her younger sister with her abilities, her parents decide it best to keep her safe from her sister and herself, by closing themselves off from the world  until she learns to contain her power, and removing the memories of her sister being hurt. Song:  Let It Go This work expresses heavily that you should not be ashamed of who you are. It is not good to suppress a major portion of yourself just to "fit in" or please other people around you. The phrase "the cold never bothered me anyway" shows this in a great way, alluding to the fact that not everyone will like you, or think the same way as you, or agree with you, and this shows the acceptance of that. Of course, even the title conveys many meanings, and can mean differe

Role of the Perfomer- Patsy Cline

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  Patsy Cline  Patsy Cline was born in 1932 as Virginia Patterson Cline that she later changed to Patsy. For its more appealing stage name affect. Not only is she one of the most recognizable, but also one of the most influential country music singers of all time.  She did not have a long career as she unfortunately died at the age of 30 in a plane crash. But this did not stop her from creating amazing music still listen to to this day. At age 13, she had a throat infection, which caused her voice to be affected, becoming deeper, and louder. This sparked her desire to become a singer. by Age 15, she had auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry, various bands and radio stations. Walkin' After Midnight The song written by  Alan Block and Don Hecht was sang by patsy in 1956. The two were looking for a suitable singer for the song and as many, were immediately enamored by Pasty's voice. Becoming one of the most iconic and recognizable songs even to this day by many country music fans. The

Musical History-Russia

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  Musical History of Russia      As with any sort of musical history from many different countries of regions, The music can be very diverse. Today we will be focusing on Russian classical music that began to from during the Tsardom of Russia.       Russia was relatively slow in the growth of its musical diversity, the church was apposed to any sort of secular music or music for simply entertainment as well as it relatively removed interactions from musically progressive countries. Western composers were brought over to westernize Russia and jump start Russias musical culture. This meant that Russia composers fell by the wayside due to the previous "one trick pony" approach that had been used previously. Thus they attempted to compose in a western style, although this was difficult to achieve since they had little experience with the method.  Russian Orthodox Church music      Russian Orthodox music has a heavy emphasis on singing as mentioned prior with a fair amount having

Innovations and Evolutions- The Microphone

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The Microphone It's hard to think about singing and not inherently assume you would have a microphone. In today's age, it is an integral part of almost all singing and musical venues you will see. But of course there was a time before the microphone, and that's where we will start.  Singing before the advent of the microphone Before the microphone, singing was done in much smaller venues. A tenor style of voice was prefered for its ability to project loudly and fill a room, such as Al Jolson on Broadway. This also impacted the style of music being created and performed, it wasn't necessarily limited, but there was not as much variety in style.  Nobody wants to listen to music they cant hear!        Microphones in music Once microphones and amplification began working its way into the music industry a whole new era ensued. Larger venues, different vocal ranges became more favorable, and allowing events to be held in more areas.  This also allowed people like Frank Sinatr

Musical Analysis #2

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Musical analysis #2 In Color- Jamey Johnson In Color Jamey Johnson  " In Color" By Jamey Johnson was released in 2008. Once again, a song depicting a story, my favorite type of song! The song is a story about a grandfather telling stories to his grandson about his life and experiences. He does this by showing photographs from major events in his life. Such as his time in the Second World War and his wedding day.  When listening to the song, it brings me back to conversations Iva had with my grandfather, it's slow, with methodical and purposeful words, seeing the gears turn in his head as he remembers more details.  Tempo:  The songs run time is 4 minutes 51 seconds at 130 beats per minute. Although the beats per minute are fairly average for a country song, when you listen to it, it feels a lot slower with drawn out words and trailing off thoughts.  Lyrics:  "Oh, and this one here's taken overseas In the middle of hell in 1943 in the winter time You can almost se

Musical Analysis #1

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  Musical Analysis: " Fast Car" - Luke Combs  This song is a rendition of the original song released by Tracy Chapman in 1988. Not only is this song one of my favorites it is an amazing throwback to a beautiful song that could've been lost in the digital landfill of music at everyone’s fingertips today.   Fast Car - Luke Combs The powerful melody not only got Tracy Chapman widespread recognition but Luke Combs as well. This song won the CMA award for song of the year, and single of the year. It is no surprise he decided to sing this song as his manager stated Tracy Chapman was one of Luke's favorite artists.  I absolutely love songs that tell a story. Especially one that is so raw and true to life, and poetic. This is a song that each person takes something different away from. whether that's the objective story being told, the desire for something better, leaving a poor situation, or remembering an extremely vivid and cherished memory.  I think this song truly sh