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Blog 2 Felorian

Melody is a unit of pitches (or tones) sounded in succession. One of the assigned pieces, Alapana from “Sitar, Sarode, and Tabla” demonstrated this well. The melody in the song overall had a lower sound. This means that there were wider waves, whereas in rare moments of the song the pitch got higher, and there were thinner waves. For most of the song there was a long distance between pitches or a disjunct. Rhythm refers to the ways in which music is organized into distinct time units. Throughout the song, the tempo, or the speed at which a piece of music was played was slow and steady. And to help support the melody and rhythm a veena was used as an instrument. It comprises a family of chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. The timbre, or the particular sound of an instrument made this song different since in modern day songs veenas are not used. It creates a unique sound that one can hear if they go through the process of close listening with the musical instrument in mind. It is almost as if someone is pulling you into a relaxed and zen environment.

On the other hand Kyrie from “The Pope Marcellus Mass” had a higher range in melody. This is because not only did the singers try different pitches but having male and female vocalists present at the same time makes it clearer to notice the highs and lows. The harmony, or the sounding of two or more pitches at the same time was consonant. The males and females sounded pleasing together. Also throughout the song one can hear various chords, or three or more pitches that sound at the same time; built according to specific rules. However the form or the overall shape and structure of this piece of music was not so clear. Although it was published in 1567, and has been studied for centuries as an example of Renaissance polyphonic choral music, there was no chorus after a verse to which modern day music is similar to. This also has a calm feel to it that the listeners can enjoy.


4 Comments

  1. When I listened to Kyrie I also thought it had a very calming sound. It’s interesting that you mentioned the male and female voices when I heard this song I didn’t notice that. I just heard it as voices harmonizing together.

  2. In the first piece discussed, I liked how you described the melody particularly adding that “to help support the melody and rhythm a veena was used as an instrument. It comprises a family of chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent.“ I previously didn’t know about this instrument but can see how it plays a crucial role in the melody throughout the song.

  3. I also reviewed Kyrie from “The Pope Marcellus Mass” and did not research the harmony. I found it interesting how you put emphasis on the difference between the male and female voices and researched into what those two together made the song sound like. I agree and notices the calm and simple sound of the song, swell as the unclarity of the shape/structure.

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