Transcript Journal for Thursday November 5, 2009

Chorus
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Attendance/Binders
I hope everyone had a good spring break!
Choral Fest Reminder
I need $5 from you by Wednesday!
Warm-ups
Sight singing
Work on memorizing words!
– “Kuna Karamu”
– “Danny Boy”
– “Seasons of Love”
Journal for Monday April 12,
2010
Answer the following question in four
sentences or more: Think of the term
art in a musical sense. What makes
a piece of music a work of art?
What piece of music do you
consider to be most “artistic”?
Music Appreciation
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New Journal
I hope everyone had a good spring break!
New Unit! Love Songs
Review Major Scales
Chapter 11: Love songs
• Song as a form of human expression is the
largest and oldest category of music.
• Secular songs can be traced back to ancient
Greece. They are a large and respected part of
what music is all about.
• Love Songs of Today
– One of the most universal themes in music is love.
Love may well have been the reason humans
invented singing!
– The vast majority of love songs communicate just
three basic messages: lost love, longing for love, and
celebration of love.
– The first conveys sadness, the second melancholy,
and the third joy and hope.
Continued
• Patsy Cline: (1932-1963) was a favorite
country and pop singer during the 1950s
and 1960s. Like most of her love songs,
“Why Can’t he be you” conveys a sadness
for lost love.
• Activity: Compare Love Songs
– Each song you are going to hear contains a
different message about love. Can you
determine the basic message of each song?
– Identify: the style of the music and the basic
message.
– Write down your answers in your notes.
The Major Scale
• Usually songwriters rely on melody to give
greater expression to their lyrics of love.
• Scale: a sequence of tones arranged in rising
pitches.
• Major Scale: is a scale built on the pattern of
two whole steps, one half step, three whole
steps, and one half step.
• There are a total of 12 major scales or keys, one
on each of the 12 tones that make up the
Western tonal system.
• Musictheory.net
Intervals
• Melodies are created by selecting scale tones and
putting them in an order that has an expressive quality.
• A melody can move up by step or skip, down by step or
skip, or remain the same by repeating the tone.
• Interval: the distance in pitch between two tones.
• In determining the difference in pitch between the two
tones, we count both tones as well as the lines and
spaces between them.
• The smallest interval is a half step, or a second. The
largest is an octave or an eighth.
• Melodies generally use whole and half steps and few
large leaps.
• Musictheory.net
Mexican Love Songs
• The love songs of singer Selena (1971-1995) expressed the joys
and hardships of young love. She also recognized as a gifted, rising
star who updated cultural themes about love.
• In Mexico, it is common for individuals to express their emotions in a
love song.
• This style of singing allows the singer the opportunity to express
emotion through melody and text.
• This was influenced by European styles, that were popular in
Mexico in the 19th Century.
• Cancion Ranchera: country song. It speaks of love lost, sought, or
found. It can speak of tragedy and betrayal, longing, or joy.
– Have a simple AAB structure.
• Following the instrumental intro, the vocalist sings one or two
stanzas of the text. Then sings an additional section that has
a different character. Following a short instrumental
interlude, the song may repeat one of the stanzas and the
final section and come to an end.
Continued:
• “Se me olvido otra vez” (I forgot once
again)- a lonely woman tells of returning
again and again to the place where she
fell in love. The familiar surroundings
make her forget once more that her love
was not returned and that the relationship
is over
Activity: Feel the Drama: “Se me olvido otra
vez”
Egyptian Love Songs
• Arab music has a long history. Its theory dates from the
writing of the philosopher al-Farabi in the 10th Century.
• Melodic and rhythmic modes serve as the basis for
musical composition.
• Melodic modes- notes that lie between the half steps of
the Western scale. May be “out of tune” at first, but they
are carefully tuned.
• Song: “Ana fi intizarak” (I am waiting for you)
– English translation: I want to know that you are not
angry, or whether your heart belongs to someone
else.
• Poem speaks to common, everyday personal emotions,
it also expresses the pain of waiting for something good
to happen.
• This theme appeals to many listeners in twentiethcentury Egypt and the Arab world who wait for political
independence, for wars to end, for families to be
reunited, and for economic conditions to improve
Egyptian love songs continued
• This song expresses more general emotions.
• Recorded by Umm Kulthum. The melody she
sings moves stepwise and is based on one of
the Arab melodic modes.
• Instrumental accompaniment is simple so to not
interfere with the singer’s line.
• An instrument called the ud, an Arab lute will be
predominant along with a string bass and violins.
• Tarab: to become one with the song and the
music.
– Arab music is primarily melodic. To appreciate it, you
need to focus your attention on the vocal line,
listening to every note so that you are able to follow
the singer’s interpretation of the text.
Activity: Follow the melody
• Egypt is located on the continent of Africa.
Its history and culture are more closely
tied to the Middle East and Islam, where
music making was considered socially
acceptable for males, not females.
• Listen to the love song “Ana fi
intizarak” and try to feel the
meaning of the text.