1. Music plays a large role in building the holiday spirit for Christmas. The songs Jingle Bells and snow candy do a really good job of displaying exactly that. Jingle Bells has this way of bringing every family, friends, and strangers together. As it started as a Christian song for the celebration and now has expanded further for everyone hence is why it can bring so many people together. There are diegetic sounds in the music such as slay bells, giving even more of that holiday charm. Snow Candy starts with a beautiful intro with the slay bells and a theme most people can recognize in holiday music. It has a warm feeling with the soft singing and togetherness we get from everyone involved singing together. It was released by a band called Starship planet and they did this as most artists around Christmas time do their own holiday cheer spreading.
2. If I were to write about the topic I would pick “Carol of the Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. I picked these songs because not only one person is known for singing or performing it and they have been around for so long. Carol of the bells is one of the most famous caroling songs out there, it originated in Ukraine based on the Ukrainian folk chant song called “Shchedryk”. The lyrics are beautiful basically telling a story about the bells and every time comes back to the bells and their song. The infamous bells that remind everyone of Christmas. Like any good ol’ Christmas song, there are bells involved but most times this song is sung in a canon where singers in the same voice groups come in together and every other joins in making it one beautiful canon. “Santa Claus is coming to town” is a great Christmas song for kids, and was originally written for kids by Haven Gillespie a composer known for his children songwriting. Its popularity has risen since the 50s and till this day is a very known song. The lyrics are based on the fact that Santa is coming to town, telling kids to watch out and behave well if they want gifts. It plays a role in child behavior, especially around the holidays. It again has the famous sleigh bells but one interesting characteristic is that the original song is sung by kids, sang by kids for kids.

Fight the Power was originally was on the soundtrack for Spike Lee’s “Do the Right thing”.,  but the song definitely stood its own ground as it stays one of hip-hop most recognizable and quoted lines. This song and its lyrics were huge for the civil rights movement, the lyrics are quoted by artists and social activists everywhere.  It is in the hip-hop/rap genre, rap genre is used as a response form of music, for example rap battles. The lyrics go into depth attacking racism and classism straight on its head. Starting with the title of the song “Fight the Power” is kind of the clean way of saying F*** the police and bring against those in power not those with authority. The people in higher positions that take advantage of people’s skin color and their class so they can get away with more. One of the most shocking lyrics, till this day, is when Public Enemy said:

“Elvis was a hero to most But he never meant sh*t to me you see           Straight up racist that sucker was Simple and plain Mother f*** him and John Wayne”

Many Black people felt that Elvis stole elements from black music and culture. His music and his lyrics suggest so.  Later in the song PE says:

“What we got to say    Power to the people no delay Make everybody see In order to fight the powers that be “

The “Power to the people” line is in reference to the slogan used by the black panthers in protests, working to help the powerless and cross racial lines. These were protests to the people of corporate America and the racists who exploit all their power. One musical characteristic that this piece can’t be without is rhythm. One of the most recognizable samples in the piece is the Funky Drummer break that comes in about 20 seconds in. James Brown’s Funky drummer was a commonly sample song at the time but more effectively used because James Brown was a large civil activist at the time, Public Enemy actually samples The Funky Drummer another 7 times. 

A Sema Ceremony symbolizes stages on the passage to God with rules along the way that “ultimately leads to a mystical ascent to God’s Side”. This is a Mevlevi tradition filled with its music and the culture, it is the Mevlevi worship ceremony. They use usul rhythmic patterns in the music that can aid memory and provide a sonic map of rhythmic progress during the cycle. The music is meant to engage the listener and guide them on their path as they are following along, this music helps them connect with God on a spiritual level. 

Amazing Grace is a Christian hymn and Is the “ultimate musical testament to the Christian doctrine of salvation”. This is Christian usually sung at a mass or a funeral for a catholic event. It is sung usually after something has passed and is a sign of overcoming a struggle or hard time. Like most catholic worship music it has a simple melody and one voice singing the lyrics, the lyrics are usually the most effective part of this song that the listeners resonate with. Both the Mevlevi songs and Amazing grace are played for religious purposes and on a path with God. Amazing Grace is a very melodic piece with lyrics and the soundscape consists of  (usually) a piano and a voice singing the melody. Unlike Amazing Grace, the Naat-i-Sherif piece started with a kind of dissonant sound of a flute, soon after comes in more instruments and there are no lyrics in the piece. A major difference usually between western art music and maqam can be told by the distance between pitches: “maqam uses intervals that are both smaller and larger than the half- and whole-steps of the Western system”. Throughout this, I learned that music plays a role in deepening the connection between the person practices their religion and deepen their spiritual connection to their actions. 

My mother is Brazilian and I grew up listening to all types of genres of Brazilian music. One of my favorites is Sertanejo, I call this the broken heart genre. The instruments used are usually an acoustic guitar, the accordion, sometimes keyboard/synth and a drum set. It falls in what into the category of modern-day pop/country. They became pretty popular in the 90s-2000s, its popularity now rises as a majority of the Brazilian population enjoys this music, it is commonly played on the radio and Brazilian novelas. It is very versatile, Sertanejo can sound like so many genres and even be mixed at the same time while still falling into the category of the genre. Typically you wouldn’t think an accordion would be heard in day to day pop music but it falls so perfectly into this genre. This music is for everyone, everyone feels heartbreak, everyone has feelings and can relate to the lyrics in this genre. It’s the “In your bag” music of Brazil but still manages to be boppy. Sometimes it even reaches out outside of the Brazilian language. A popular one I know a lot of Americans know is “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” by Michel Teló. But, my current favorite is Tijolão by Jorge & Mateus. 

I feel like the environment of a Jazz club would be more comfortable for me, it’s chill, there are people talking, singing, dancing and watching the performance. If I walk out, it wouldn’t even be noticed. You definitely don’t want to look like a bum at a jazz club but dress well or casual. The audience is usually drinking, chatting, dancing and watching the performance so I would definitely feel okay in that environment. The only difference is that the people around d you aren’t totally focused on the performance so that leaves you open for chats and conversation. 

The least comfortable for me would probably the Chamber orchestra concert because I feel like if I got up and left it would come off as disrespectful and disruptive.  Usually, in a concert hall, you come in before the performance, grab a program, and take your seat. There’s no eating in a concert hall, you can’t record the show (or at least it isn’t respectful to), if you talk, cough or sneeze you will get looks. The performers have their set program list, dressed in the usual concert black and correct posture. I’ve been to several shows at Carnegie hall and I always feel like I’m walking on eggshells from when I’m choosing what outfit to wear up to the point I take my first step into the train station. 

In the opening scene from Get Out, we see the character, Andre, walking in what seems to be a sketchy neighborhood late at night and he’s on the phone with somebody. A white car seems to be following him, the music gets louder and louder as he turns the other way to avoid the car, but he then gets kidnapped. The film itself is about a black man who goes for a weekend getaway with his white girlfriend and they end up trying to kidnap and brainwash him. 

The diegetic sounds I picked up were: Talking on the phone, Crickets, Dog barking, Car engine, Wheels screeching. There was no non-diegetic sound. I noticed that the music started off as diegetic, it came from the car and then became non-diegetic (it was both). 

I did some research and the lyrics are “Sikiliza Kwa Wahenga” translating to “listen to your ancestors” serving as a warning to Andre to get out, but then he got kidnapped. The music intensifies the scene and creates an unspoken implication of the situation and for what was about to happen. The music got louder and louder with a crescendo building up that suspense. You can tell because it was really quiet at the beginning of the film, you could hear crickets. Then Andre gets kidnapped and we watch the kidnapper shove Andre in the trunk and drive off, the music keeps playing like nothing ever happened.

A violin/viola mute is a small rubber piece that can be attached to the bridge of a violin/viola to dampen the sound of the strings. The rubber restricts the vibration of the strings giving it a darker, lower sound. I don’t really think people use it for much else, it is rubber though so I’m sure it could be of good use in an impractical way. I used to use the mute to practice my viola at home and also whenever it was needed in music when I played in orchestra and pit band. 

In Phantom of the Opera’s, Angel of Music backstage scene in Act 1 the strings use mutes after the tremolo while Christine is singing. It says mutes on the 3rd beat of the first measure. In measure 11a it says “con sord”, which means “with mute” in Italian, this tells the musicians to put on their mutes. I believe the purpose of the mute is to make a darker and somber sound especially with this being a moment with Christine and the Phantom it’s meant to be a quiet and connecting scene. This adds mystery and emotion to the scene.

I picked Kyrie (monophonic) and Kyrie from the Pope Marcellus Mass. The first element I want to discuss is harmony. Harmony is when at least two different pitches and sounds at the same time. In Kyrie (monophonic), there is no harmony, simply just a melody, since it’s a Gregorian chant, It several people singing in one voice. In Kyrie from the Pope Marcellus Mass, the harmony is prominent. You can here the different singers: Alto, Baritones, tenors and so on. They each also have different textures, it’s the way the musical parts fit together. Kyrie (monophonic, is monophonic, it has one voice and no accompaniment. There’s more than one voice but they’re singing the same lines and notes. In Kyrie from the Pope Marcellus Mass, there is a Homophonic texture. There’s the melody, the harmony and other voices including the organ playing accompanying the voices. The last element I chose was the Melody because both Kyrie’s seem to have this in common: their melody is similar in the sense that there’s no part in these songs I’d necessarily want to go singing, but it does have a noticeable angelic, flowing feel to it. Listening to it as a whole was different than listening to it with an intention for specific parts and descriptions of the pieces. There were the noticeable things you could pick put and the things you’d pick out only after close listening. 

The renaissance is a period of renewal and enlightenment a lot of great works were created during this time period. Great art, music, philosophy, and books. The renewed interest is the best part that something old was brought back and kind of re-invented in a way. 

I know that during the renaissance Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, the printing press was invented and that the Protestant Reformation was led, also around this time everyone was building their own sorts of Christianity, dividing from the mentality of the church being the one church. These are all historical events that happened in the Renaissance, you can gather from that that it was really a time of reconstruction and reveling, evolving into a new mindset and a more modern ideal. The textbook describes the music from the renaissance as characterized by textures of complex intertwining melodies. A lot of music in this time period was written for mass. 

One of the composers from this time period is Guillaume Dufay, his music is very much chorale music and focused on the voice. Usually, there is more than one voice accompanied by an organ or some instruments. It has a very angelic sound and you can tell it’s for a mass. It is unusual in comparison to other mass music since there are multiple harmonies. It sounded exactly as described in the textbook, he defied the ordinary by placing a borrowed melody in the tenor line of each section, also known as cantus firmi.