Did popular music run out of ideas after the first few decades? Last week I wrote about songs that sound the same. Today, we visit how we hear artists reaching back to sample from the musical buffet of the past. Sometimes it is because an artist is heavily influenced by a certain band, or likeContinue reading “Music Monday: What Goes Around Comes Around”
Category Archives: Music Monday
Music Monday: I’ve Heard That Song Before
12 notes. How many combinations can you get? Quite a few. Most of the popular music we listen to is made up of 7, so that makes a few less combinations. Just a quick theory lesson: Western music – not Country and Western – which originated in Europe, is based on the major scale, whichContinue reading “Music Monday: I’ve Heard That Song Before”
Music Monday: You Oughta’ Tune – Yer Makin’ Me Cry
Sometimes a song will just grab you for several different reasons. Lyrics hit close to home, a melody moves you, or the rhythm makes you want to dance. I listen to a wide variety of music, as I wrote about in a previous Music Monday: Music Monday: So Many Genres. Here are a couple ofContinue reading “Music Monday: You Oughta’ Tune – Yer Makin’ Me Cry”
Music Monday: Riviera Galliard
I write better than I play. I play better than I record. I record better than I perform. Which is why it takes me a long time to get my music into audio form. It was the mid [insert decade here]s. I was two years out of high school, still trying to figure out whatContinue reading “Music Monday: Riviera Galliard”
Music Monday: Opus 6 – Progress
I sat down the other day and was able to write a few potential transitions to get me from one part to the next. There are so many different forms that a piece of classical music can take. Some take the forms of dances: Gavotet, Mazurka, Allemande, while others are named for their tempo: Allegro,Continue reading “Music Monday: Opus 6 – Progress”
Music Monday: Minimalism
John Cage’s 4’33. A pianist comes out and sits at a piano and begins to…do nothing for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Is this taking minimalism too far, or is it just someone beating everyone else to the punch. Probably the latter. My first exposure to minimalism was Philp Glass’s Koyaanisqatsi. I didn’t hear itContinue reading “Music Monday: Minimalism”
Music Monday: Places (acoustic guitar)
I hope you have been enjoying my composition series Opus 1 through 5. The next one will follow once I have all the parts connected into a cohesive piece of music. How long does that take? Beats me, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I’ll share a project I have been working on called Places.Continue reading “Music Monday: Places (acoustic guitar)”
Music Monday: Opus 5 Playing and Recording
Now that I have written a piece of music, what next? Music, like other forms of artistic expression, is meant to be shared. Not always—some of what I have created will only be seen and heard by myself. Not that I’m selfish, some things are just too personal. There are two options: Live or recorded.Continue reading “Music Monday: Opus 5 Playing and Recording”
Music Monday: Opus 4-Writing it Down
When I started my musical education journey, I didn’t have the advantages of computer transcription programs. There was no easy access to popular sheet music. Other that a few guitar magazines, if I wanted to learn a song, I had to get a recording and learn it by ear. That’s not an altogether bad thing—it’sContinue reading “Music Monday: Opus 4-Writing it Down”
Music Monday: Opus 3 – Decomposing Composition
How do I compose? Probably the wrong way and the slowest way ever… I wish I could say that I can hear the music in my head then play it or write it down. I can’t. Not even close. The lucky ones can. I can’t even play the same thing twice in a row sometimes.Continue reading “Music Monday: Opus 3 – Decomposing Composition”
Lines by Leon 