“The simplest way of listening to music is to listen for the sheer pleasure. ” That is the sensuous plane. It is the plane on which we hear music without thinking, without considering it in any way. ” (Copland, 22). Sometimes, people say music defines who you are and your type of lifestyle.
Well for me music does shape who I am and the type of things I like and dislike. In my opinion this happens almost to everyone, I read blogs, talk to people, and we all have something in common. Music is meaningful no matter what type you listen to and there’s always going to be something you don’t like and someone who likes it; that’s the beauty of it. Music even defines what type of people you associate yourself with and are friends with. That’s how powerful music is.
Honestly, I can’t pick a music that defines me. When I’m happy, I would like to listen on modern pop, but when I’m not happy. I would turn on Pandora app, and listen to classical. Recently, I took a walk around the floor on which I live and asked anyone who I found for their definition of “hip-hop. I wasn’t able to ask everyone, but I really didn’t need to either. From the 15 or so people I asked, I got a similar answer, and each was that which I expected to hear.
Some of my friends thought that hip-hop was rap music, others said it was both rap and R&B, and only one person had a good idea of what it actually is. Hip-hop is a culture, and there is a common misconception that hip-hop refers solely to a genre of music. “Music has four essential elements: rhythm, melody, harmony, and tone color. These four ingredients are the composer’s materials” (Copeland, 29).
Likes other music, the most widely accepted definition of hip hop music is spoken words with a rhythm of bass, drums, and keyboard sounds. The words are spoken over the music and the accents and emphasis on words is important. Also, hip hop artists would use beats, rhythms, background music, and sometimes exact lyrics from previously recorded songs and incorporate them into their recordings. They often used a machine, known as a sampler, to replicate the existing sounds and tracks. In my opinion, hip hop artists create arts to express their feeling to their audiences. Jazz is the second kind of music that makes me want to do one of two things.
“As one commentator has pointed out, if the idea of rhythm is connected in our imagination with physical motion, the idea of melody is associated with mental emotion” (Copeland, 36). Depending on the mood of the jazz, sometimes I feel like relaxing and just listening to the music and letting it run through me. Other times I feel like getting up and dancing as if I have not a care in the world. The jazz have a variety used by the musicians in dynamic, rhythm, tempo, and many other aspects of music. Jazz instruments included an electric guitar, a percussion set, and an organ.
The three sounds were creatively combined to make for a wonderful concert. The first view of the music I recognized was the volume. It ranged from forte during the climactic moments to mezzo piano during the calmer parts, but mostly remained in this range throughout the concert. There were also several instances of crescendo and decrescendo, which served to build up tension or slow the piece down, respectively. The next element I discovered was the pitch of the music. Relatively speaking, I would estimate that the majority of the pieces were on the high side of the pitch, and therefore frequency, scale.
The range of pitches was moderate, but as stated previously, mostly higher notes were used. Don’t get me wrong, jazz artists create music arts for beautiful things in life, thus not only for mere entertain. Referring in Chapter 17 on “What to Listen for in Music,” I would choose traditional Chinese music for “Joy Luck Club” film. “Music can play upon the emotions of the spectator, sometimes counterpointing the thing seen with an aural image that implies the contrary of the thing seen.
This is not as subtle as it sounds” (Copeland 113). Traditional Chinese music often tells about new life, good times, and beautiful hometown and so on. People play it to show their love for country, life, nature. If you listen to the main theme for the movie “The Joy Luck Club” again.
You will have a mixture emotions of the flute and violin melody. For me, it’s the beauty of traditional Chinese music that creates a huge impact to me. In the movie, there are many sad things happen of four Asian women and their daughters reflect and guide each other. My purpose in writing this paper was to let readers know where music came from and how it has influenced the world and shaped it over time. I want people to know how our own society has been changed due to the power of music and the impact it has made on many people around the world. Music has made it possible for many people to do great things with their lives and great things to help the people around the world.
Music likes art. It portrait our life in music notes symbol. At last, what do you think if we don’t have music?
Bibliography:
Copland, Aaron. “How We Listen. ” What to Listen for in Music. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957.
39-45. Print. Copland, Aaron. “The Four Elements of Music – Rhythm. ” What to Listen for in Music.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957. 54-64. Print. Copland, Aaron. “The Four Elements of Music – Melody.
” What to Listen for in Music. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957. 65-73. Print. Copland, Aaron.
“Film Music. ” What to Listen for in Music. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957. 203-210. Print.
The Joy Luck Club. Dir. Wayne Wang. Prod. Wayne Wang, Amy Tan, and Ronald Bass. By Amy Tan and Ronald Bass.
Perf. Tsai Chin, Kie??u Chinh, Lisa Lu, and France Nuyen. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc., 1993.
