Ringo's Badass Garden

So this is the last blog assignment for the class. Lets get started then, shall we?

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When I hear a new piece of music from a genre or culture that I do not listen to, my reaction is much different to a familiar song or genre I would usually listen to.

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By using the elements of music we can better understand the culture context for a piece of music, and describe what the intent for how the elements are used. I will start by listing the elements of music. Dynamics, Harmonies, melody, rhythm, tempo and timbre. 

The dynamics of music is the volume, it determines how loud or quiet a piece is. Using the right dynamics is important, because if they are not used properly it can make the purpose, and mood of the music all wrong. Loud dynamics like forte and fortissimo, would be used in a piece where you would want the mood to feel violent, angry, problematic and uniform (like a march). Softer dynamics like piano and pianissimo would be used to create a calming and often sacred (hymns) emotion.

Harmonies are how chords are made, and the way one chord follows another. Chords are more than one note being played at the same time, so in music they can create depth. By using consonance chords, the effects of stable and restful appear. Although using dissonance chords, you can create active and unstable effects.

Melody is the way that notes are arranged one after another so that they make a stable, ordered and complete piece of music. 

Rhythm is how long a not is played in a certain amount of time. In some cultures they use vocals to keep rhythm by counting aloud in songs, or music. Rhythm goes along with dynamics, this is because if a section is repeated then a musician may decide to change the dynamics each time they play it, until it sounds how they want it to. 

Tempo is the measurement of how fast notes are going, in beats per minute. Dance music can have a slow- fast tempo, and a march can have a medium tempo. The tempo can effect the mood depending on the speed it is going. Fast tempo would be very energetic and aggressive, while a slower tempo with be calm and mellow.  

Timbre is the tone of the piece of music, or otherwise known as the sound quality. You can describe timbre in many different ways, whether it be colors or a physical description. When you have a rich timbre it can stimulate on its own without rhythm or dynamics. 

The music that I would be finding interesting lately would have to be indie music. Now when I tell people that I listen to indie music, they think that it is Indian music, which it is not. There are many different sub-genres of indie music, but I mostly listen to indie-rock. Indie is short for independent rock, and is usually music that is not mainstream and is not part of a major label company. Although in some cases some bands will continue to be indie if they sign to a major label.

To make this a little more organized I am going to stick with two bands. Vampire Weekend for a band that I listen to very often today, and The Beatles. A band that had many hits throughout the 1960’s. 

I have gone over many songs by both of the artists and have come to a conclusion. When The Beatles first started making hits, many of there songs were covers by artists of the 50’s, so that alone is an influence from a past culture/ connection to the ideas being expressed. After analyzing many of the songs you will see that both bands will talk about love and girls they love, or have lost to another. The only real big difference would be that with some of The Beatles’ songs they wrote most of them from ideas and random thoughts that gathered in there heads and dreams.