One piece of music that I’m familiar with is The Shade by Rex Orange County. The artist behind this name is Alex O’Connor he is 24 years old, he was born in the United Kingdom. The genre of his songs can be considered Indie rock, Hip Hop music, alternative/ indie, and Lo-fi. The relationship that I have with this pice of music is that I mostly like these type of songs and he is one of my favorite artist. I think that this song can be considered calm in some type of way.

We can see that the melody in this song is decrescendo and the harmony is almost the same thought the whole song. We can also see that the form of the song is the same in the song and the only thing that changes is the rhythm of the lyrics. A musically interest of the song is in minute 2:29 until the end of the song, when he combines different types of his voice to make a different melody with high voices and low voices. “BPM 120, key F”(song BPM)

the link for the song is:

The song I picked was No One by Alicia Keys.  Alicia Keys whose birth name is Alicia Augello Cook was born January 25,1981 in the state of New York. Alicia Keys was known as an “American singer-songwritter, pianist, and actress, who achieved enormous success in the early 2000s with her blend of R&B and soul music”(Britannica.com).  From the age of four she began her transition into performing which would later lead her to learning how to play the piano at the age if seven years old. Years later she would go on to be signed to Arista Records in 1998 after catching the eye of Clive Davis. This also included being the first to join J records in the 2000s, Davis new Label (Britannica.com). She would later on go on to produce a variety of music throughout the years, including performing by herself and collabing with many other successful performers. My relationship when it comes to this type of music specifical this song would be I would alway hear this song when I was younger with either my siblings, cousins and even my friends when we are listening to different music genres. There would always be a moment where we would play this song and others similar to it due to how fond we were of it. A musically interesting moment when referring to the Rhythm within the song would be how it is oraginze. This is because in the song we are able to hear from the beginning to end how the beat is being played at a slow medium tempo. This is since it is not going increasingly fast nor to slow it stays consistant.  As for another musically interesting moment would be the texture within her song. When listening to the song although there is only one accompanied voice it has two different melodic lines being played therefore would be polyphony.

Eve is a Japanese singer and songwriter, as well as a Vocaloid producer. He was born on May 23rd, 1995. The genre of his songs is considered j-pop rock, and his music has been featured in animes such as Jujutsu Kaisen. Eve was introduced to me by my friends back in high school, and ever since then, his songs have been a part of my everyday life, such as commuting to and from school. “Snow” was one of the first songs by Eve that I’ve heard, and it is also one of my favorites as the animation and lyrics of the song are really beautiful.

One musical element present in “Snow” is rhythm. In terms of melody, the overall song had a conjunct melodic motion, where the distance between pitches was fairly short, and there seemed to be 4 beats grouped together per measure. The tempo of the music was also quick throughout the song, and you could clearly hear 4 beats of the drum at the beginning of the song. Another musical element present in this song is texture. There was homophonic texture throughout the song, as there were multiple different instruments and chords that accompanied the single melodic line that dominated. Instruments such as the guitar and percussion are heard, and they overlapped, with the drums setting the beat and the guitar blending in with the melody to harmonize.

A musically interesting moment in the song is the chorus, starting at times 1:03 and 3:21. It was interesting because this part of the song felt like the climax, with everything building up and then releasing. The beats would slow down right before the chorus, and then become quick again, like a roller coaster, which I personally enjoyed.

Michael Jackson is dubbed as the “King of Pop”. Jackson started young in the music industry, joining the Jackson 5 at just 8 years old, rising to fame with his very own single “Ben” in 1972. He is widely known for his impact on popular music, with his signature dance moves, songs for protests and justice, his philanthropy and with most boomers growing up watching Michael rise to fame. My mother, who was born in ‘67, is the reason I am a Michael Jackson fan today. Having grown up in Jacksons era, she introduced me to all his hits and educated me about his legacy. One of those songs in particular being “Beat it” by M. Jackson in 1987, is one example of the popstars best songs. With the constant rhythm being accompanied by the intense tempo, this song can quickly get stuck in your head. All of this contributes to the musically inclined part of the song where Jackson gets to the first Chorus, you hear a higher pitch with more intensity of music. Michael wrote most of his songs, therefore he had control of his lyricism and texture. Using Homophony, Michael was able to combine the fast paced rhythm with multiple instruments to follow his lyricism. If you listen closely, there is an acoustic guitar and a drum set being played at a constant beat contributing most of that catchy rhythm we keep hearing. Today, we don’t hear much of this song anymore because being a part of pop and being released in 1987, it is often forgotten. However, this remains to be one of Jackson’s most publicized songs to date mainly due to his appeal to his rhythms and beats in the song. 

(0:10-0:24) Drums sets the beat of the song. 

(0:25) We’re introduced to our catchy rhythm.

(1:06) First Chorus.

(2:35) We now hear the most musically inclined part where our drums are still there keeping the constant rhythm, but now a guitar is having a solo to keep up with the fast tempo so Michael can then start singing again.

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

For my song, I chose the orchestral version of “Your Best Nightmare” from one of my favorite games, Undertale! Toby Fox, the creator of the game, also composed all the music for Undertale by simply taking a few motifs and reworking them into different songs by speeding them up, slowing them down, and adding new sounds. “Your Best Nightmare” is a reworking of the character Flowey’s motif, “Your Best Friend.” Only this time, he shows his true colors, which is why the former song is much more fitting of a boss fight. I’m not sure where this song would fit in a genre, but I would generally put it in whatever category “video game soundtrack” music goes in.

To try and pick just one musically interesting part of the song would mean leaving a whole lot of it behind since it all works together to reflect what happens in-game. “Your Best Nightmare” is a kind of variations form, where Flowey’s motif is changed ever so slightly whenever the orchestra transitions to the next version of the motif. We have an A section, the first grand notes (and heartbeat in the Percussion if you listen real close!) that precede the maniacal laughter, and then a variation on that section before we transition into the “Your Best Friend” motif. Upon closer listening, I noticed that the first three times we hear the motif (I call B, B’, and B”), the Woodwinds are the predominant instruments, but later on (B”’, B””, and B””’), the Strings take up the melody. As we go along listening to the melody change, we go from a major key (the “original” key from when Flowey is still lying to you, the player) and gradually grow into a dissonance where we get the sense that Flowey’s gone power crazy. Those spare piano transitions between B sections (I dub “C”) create a contrast that helps the next A section shock you, as well as reflect the in-game sequence of healing your character before going back into battle.

The song that I chose for this blog is called “Liar” by a Korean girl group, (G)I-DLE. This song is a b-side track from their latest album “I Never Die” written and composed by the member Yuqi and it has this rock vibe to it. I chose this song was because this song has a strong meaning behind it being to not care on what others think and live the way you want. The rhythm to this song has a fast beat where the tempo is around 174 BPM and the scale is a G Major. The texture of this song is more homophonic where there is the singer and accompanied by many chords since there are more that 3 pitches being played. The form is more of a Verse-chorus form and the instruments has more electric guitar and drums. Here is the song.

One piece of music that I’m familiar with and enjoy is Prelude by Twoset Violin from their Fantasia album earlier this year. It’s actually the same piece of music that I linked in my welcome post. The artist is comedic YouTube violin duo Eddy Chen, and Brett Yang. Together they make up the YouTube channel Twoset Violin. I started watching their channel during quarantine, and prior to that I was mostly interested in popular music ( pop, R&B, rap, EDM, etc.). However in their videos, as two professional classical Violinists, their channel was all about classical music. This really opened up my curiosity to music, how it functions, who it works, and how people express themselves through an instrument. It’s been almost two years now, and they inspired me to play guitar for the last 10 months. And it’s because of the context they create and music they produce that really inspired me to make music of my own, and to really learn more about music in general. 

Two musical elements that are interesting to me in this piece is how the piece harmonized with its polyphony texture. One of the many reasons I really live and enjoy this piece is how peaceful and calming it sounds. The consonant harmony playing in the piece is reminiscent of Debussy, and Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi. The polyphony texture of the piece also reminds me of walking in a meadow or just being lost in thought staring into the clouds. I also really love how the melody is trading in between the two violins, sometimes they play together, and other times one takes the wheel, and yet both melodic lines stay independent. 

Here is the link to the Music: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjI6sviwpr6AhVjEFkFHYCaBvMQwqsBegQIGBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBxMxgeygEbQ&usg=AOvVaw0DDUHYfPP6kBqucBjeWe0H 

One of my favorite songs to listen to is “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears. Tears for Fears is an English pop rock group, started by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith in Bath, England in 1981. The song came out on March 22, 1985, in the “Songs from the Big Chair” album. They were immensely popular in the 80’s all over the world and are still active and well loved by many today. The “pop rock” genre, that this song is placed in, is a genre of rock music that does not focus on attitude, but more on professional songwriting and recording craft. The song’s rhythm is set at an easy medium pace, where you can tap your toe to the beat while walking down the street. The homophonic texture of the song is beautifully arranged with the song starting with a simple two-layer harmony that leads to the percussion and the lyrics of the song. “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” has such an easily discernible sound, mostly due to its popularity, that I can recognize the second the song starts. A part of the song that sticks out to me is a little passed the halfway mark in the song at around 2:30. They put an echoing effect on the guitar solo that pared well with the changing dynamics and consonant harmony to the song.  

For this blog I chose ‘Good Vibrations’ by the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys consisted of 5 men: Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine. They started as a garage and their distinctive style was influenced by the music of pop vocal groups, R&B, and rock and roll from the 1950s. Murray Gage Wilson was their manager as well as the father of Brian, Dennis, and Carl but he was very abusive towards the boys, especially when the boys were successful. Because their father terrified them, they were scared to creating successful hits and they did whatever they could to achieve that, including drugs. They went through a lot of different stages in their career but ultimately, they were successful in having an impact on America that their music is still played today.  

When I first heard this song, I was 10 and it was played by my father. He loves playing older songs and showing me “the good music” as he likes to call it. I then heard it again in 2019 while watching hotel Transylvania 3 with my niece.  

The music elements I chose are harmony and texture. I chose to focus on the chorus in ‘Good Vibrations’. In the chorus, the texture is Polyphonic. At first, I was between monophonic and polyphonic but because each background contributes to the full piece of the music, it was clear that those were independent melodic lines. In this song, the Beach Boys used Electro-Theremin, jaw harp, string bass, and cello and you can hear all of these in the chorus. I never heard of an Electro-Theremin, but it turns out it was the little high pitched “wooooo“ during the chorus. That was just interesting to me. The harmony is consonant in the chorus. Because there are so many different instruments, including the singer’s voice, and they all lean towards a higher pitch, it sounds pleasing to the ear and there is a constant beat that the harmonies follow which give a sense of stability. 

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eab_beh07HU