The presentation I chose today to discuss is music and addiction. The connection between music and addiction is that people can reflect or speak about their addiction issues through the use and projection of music. In both songs, the lyrics spoke about the addictions of the singers and their feelings about it. If i wrote about this topic, 2 songs I would pick are sober by demi Lavato because she speaks on her addiction issues and lets us know the hardships, she went through and is going through. Another song i would choose is withdrawals by tom MacDonalds because he discusses the aftermath of addiction and how it isn’t so easy to just stop being addicted to something. It takes time and patience and is a very long process that is stuck with you.

The song I chose to write about today is “The bigger picture” by Lil Baby. This song falls under the genre of rap music and came out in 2020. This song was released after all the Black Lives Matter protest and George Floyd protests happened. This song talked about police brutality issues and systematic racism in America. The dynamic was mezzo forte because the background music matched the lyrics and was steadily faster than usual. The tempo of the song is allegro because since its rap it tends to be sung in a faster pace. This song would fall into the theme of music and political expression. It speaks on Black Lives Matter which is a big political movement.

The religion I chose to discuss is Islam. In Islam there is one sect of people called “Sufis”. The Sufis are famous for making “Islamic” influenced music called “Qawwalis” which are listened by people in all sects of Islam. “Qawwalis” are meant to increase one’s Islamic spirituality and get them closer to the religion and God through the Qawwali. The piece I chose to discuss today is a qawwali that my family and I grew up listening to which is “Tajdar-e-haram”. This qawwali is sung in Urdu. This qawwali expresses religious belief because its referring to the “king of our holy sanctuary” which would be God ultimately and saying to bless us and be merciful on us. The dynamics of this piece would be in between piano and mezzo piano, because the song was sung in a soft manner for the most part while it did get loud during some parts of the chorus. The tempo of this piece would be andante because it wasn’t too fast and too slow. The pace was like a steady beat and so I’d consider it andante.

A concert that I have attended previously is a concert by Atif Aslam. Atif Aslam is a well-known Pakistani singer. The genre of music that his songs mostly focus on is pop music. The concert took place in a performance center like hall. I attended this concert because I grew up listening to Atif Aslam’s music at weddings and during family parties and just in general as well. Most of Atif aslams songs are slow love songs, and so the audience was mostly seated and recording while swaying back and forth. There were some songs which hyphened up the crowd. This concert met my expectations because it was a calm and reasonable concert for the way he sings. To compare this concert with the one we saw of Coachella in class, this one was indoors, and the crowd was not as hyped up and dancing.

1.) The author believes that during the ballet premiere a riot broke out. He says that the reason behind the brawl was unclear. He has many theories of what could’ve started the brawl, one being that the audience did not like nor appreciate the modern twist to this ballet premiere and wanted the traditional one to remain the same. He also believes that the brawl could have started because of the audience. Some people in the audiences could have been liking the new ballet performance twist while some wanted the original.

2.)This author feels that during the ballet premiere the aristocrats were being extremely disrespectful which caused a chain reaction in the audience. He also feels that the music was too loud and full of rage and the premiere was more politics based. Some evidence he claimed of having was personal journals and records from people who attended the premiere.

3.)After watching this ballet piece, I feel that it is really packed with emotion and intense. I think it pushes the boundaries of ballet and is more of an intense version of it. If I was a part of the audience, I would be shocked at the intensity level, but I don’t think id react in a negative manner about the piece or overthink the meaning of it.

The song that I chose to compare, and contrast is “Can’t help falling in love” by Elvis Presley, and cover by Haley Reinhart. This song was first sung by Elvis Presley in 1961. Elvis was a predominantly rock singer, who infused country western music into his songs. On the other hand, Haley Reinhart is mostly known for her pop music, and she also sings many cover songs from previous decades. The song “Can’t help falling in love” portrays a romantic story about love and how it’s hard to stay away from someone whom you’re in love with. This song is packed with feelings of love and the frustration of staying away from someone. This song also portrays the idea of if something is meant for you it will come to you and the inevitableness of meeting your soulmate. When the song was sung by Elvis, the tempo was andante. I say this because the tempo sounds like a steady walk like pace. The dynamic of the lyrics was sung a little loud, but the background music itself was mezzo piano. In the cover by Haley Reinhart, the tempo was adagio. The tempo was fairly slower than the original and sounded like a piano. Although the lyrics were the same, I definitely think that the original was much more active in terms of how it was sung. Haleys way of singing the song was much softer than Elvis. The background music in the original was steadier than the cover. The covers background tempo was much slower.

The musical technology I chose is an mp3 player. An mp3 player is a device that plays digital audio files. The purpose of an mp3 player is to store music, and any other recordings. Furthermore, it allows people to then listen to this music and have access to it anywhere. Some people tend to download illegal music onto mp3 players which makes it illegal. I used to use an mp3 player a lot back in elementary and middle school. It was easy to access music without the internet which I found very convenient. You can download all types of music onto an mp3 player, such as rap, pop, jazz, and rock music.

The song I chose for today’s blog is “Falling in love” by Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley was a music artist who mainly focused on rock and roll music. Some other genres he contributed to were country and gospel music. Elvis’s interest in music began in 1954. The reason I find this song very interesting is because of the fact that growing up my dad use to play it all the time and I enjoyed how it sounds. Also, this song was featured in my favorite horror movie which is the conjuring. The melody in this song is very disjunct especially in the main chorus. The lyrics “I can help falling in love with you”, tend to have gaps in between them. I believe the texture of this piece would be considered homophonic because the music is accompanied by chords and is pop music.

Elvis Presley – Can’t Help Falling In Love (Official Audio) – YouTube

The Medieval period was commonly referred to as the “dark ages” or the “Middle Ages”. The medieval period took place between (450 to 1450). During the Medieval period Christianity was widely spread, and therefore most of the music was heavily influenced by churches, and the monasteries. Along with musical developments, the medieval period was known for having some technological upgrades such as the creation of the printing press. Different types of art were also a main aspect in the medieval period such as sculptures, stained glass, and mosaics. In the text, an aspect I found interesting was the way of life during the Middle Ages. To add on, life during the medieval times was very harsh, and people were broken up into categories such as peasants and the noblemen. I listened to a music piece by Francesco Landini, and the music was how I expected it to sound. The music sounded very church like and seems like it’s something that would be sung in church. I expected this outcome because monasteries and churches had a major influence during the medieval period.