When I read Kerouac's poems, I imagine that a man is reading with an expressive tone, as though many of his words are weighted and contain great emotion. He seems to be noting the details of his surrounding city. This is also how I imagine it would be read aloud, as an attempt to convey his thoughts and emotions. I find it interesting to call these "jazz poems," because I'm not sure I'd immediately think of jazz while reading them. I find it appropriate to put the poems to jazz though, as it seems to flow and give the poem more meaning and depth. In this sense, I would agree that the poems and the jazz background interface well together. The theme of the poem connects well with jazz because jazz begun in the city, where the poem is taking place. this helps to tie everything together. The way that the poems form varies and the way it's voiced, is similar to the changing style of jazz and it's improvised solos. In the audio with Kerouac and Zoot Simms, the interaction between his voice and the saxophones is a nice combination. The timing between when he speaks and when the saxes play is well coordinated. I also feel as if I'm walking down the street with him as he describes his surroundings "Dont' bother the cat!" The saxophones create a feeling of everyday bustle among the streets and also the emotions of those in passing. the way the poem is incorporated in with the saxophones makes it seem as if the poem were the soloist with sax accompaniment.
Jazz lovers everywhere value Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker's music (as in "West End Blues" and "Bloomdido"). The two are both highly talented jazz musicians, but with two different styles. Armstrong's "West End Blues" is famous for the introduction, which not only showed his talent as a trumpet player, but his skill as a composer of jazz. The two styles of jazz might be different, big band vs. bebop, but they are still very similar. Both styles are swung and incorporate improvised solos. Louis and Parker play their solos as if it was written in the music, making each solo sound like it was rehearsed. The difference between these styles is that bebop is played at a faster pace than big band. It was made to incorporate instrumental virtuosity. The instrumentalists would get together to play, and took turns trying to show the others up with their musical talents. In big band style, much of the music is inprovised and it's taken at a much slower and relaxed tempo than bebop.
I personally prefer Armstrong's "West End Blues" to "Bloomdido," for many reasons. The style of it appeals more to me. I like the relaxed feeling of it, and it draws me into the mood of their song more than "Bloomdido" does. I love the solo at the beginning. It makes me want to learn trumpet just so that I can attempt it. Every note feels like it has meaning, with emphasis on many notes, and the fact that he takes his time with it is really enjoyable to me.
How to write the Blues (simple five-step instructions):
1. To write a blues song, the first thing you need to know, is that the blues are based on feelings. It's common for the blues to be about something sad, but it can be about something positive, too.
2. Next, you don't have to worry about being grammatically correct. "I ain't had.." or "I ne'er liked dat..." are perfectly acceptable, so take advantage of that! This isn't for your English 101 professor.
3. Let's talk about the form. The blues are typically written in AAB form. for example:
"there's a red house over yonder..."
"there's a red house over yonder..."
"well I ain't been home to see my baby..."
So pick a theme for your song, repeat the first two lines, create a third line, and try to make the ending of each line rhyme.
4. Create the name for your song. Be creative! This is about your feelings, not some classical arrangement that needs to begin with "Concerto No..."
5. Make sure you keep the pattern going. The blues is typically written in patterns of four bars. You could write 12-bar blues, 8-bar blues, etc. Just make sure you follow whatever form you choose, and use simple chord progressions, such as 1, 4, and 5.Easy!
From what the introduction of Slave Songs of the United States describes, we can see that the authors clearly have a good opinion of black people. They praise their musical works, and style, but their view of them is warped. They stereotype blacks by calling them "half barbarous." The authors wrote certain lyrics down in a fasion to display the African-American dialect that was used, such as "sperichils." It is interesting how much they try to promote the black's work, but then view them as a lower class. I feel that the introduction is very back and forth between views. The authors are good-willed towards the African-Americans, and like their "soul," but at the same time they make the race out to be uncivilized and uncultured, below them, if you will.
Kate Chopin's title, "The Awakening," is fitting on many levels. Edna is a wife and mother, who tends to neglect her family in attempts to find herself. She begins to see herself as an individual woman and starts to become unhappy in the domestic world around her. The awakening itself is happening to Edna, not just of her own doing. In the novel, there are many different kinds of awakenings. Edna beings to realize that she enjoys painting, as well as music, and she sees that up until that point, her life had been unfulfilling.
There are also a few symbolic elements throughout the novel, such as birds, houses, and the ocean. The birds represent the freedom that she wants, and also that she is strong, yet delicate at the same time. Also, the fact that birds are caged symbolizes Enda's entrapment. She is expected to play the role of the wife and mother, and not to think for herself. ."A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over: `Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That's all right!'"
The houses are a reflection of the inhabitant. Edna has muliple homes, and this represents the fact that her mind is always changing. They also represent the different changes and stages the she goes through. Edna never actually feels "at home" anywhere.
The ocean is also a symbol of freedom for Edna. This is when she realizes that her life is not as she wants it.This is also when she learns to swim. By doing so, she becomes more aware of her sexuality, and who she truely is, rather than what society says she should be.
Edna is able to separate herself from the expectations of the "mother-woman" because she never thought as she "should" have in the first place. Edna was always and independent woman, it was only when she began to act on her ways, that she found her obligaitons to conflict with the lifestyle that she wanted. Edna committed sucide in an attempt to escape giving up her "self." She preferred giving up her life than conforming to society's will.
I think my favorite musical sceen from the video was the the Nana/Soleas for "the woman." I like how simple the scene is, with just the woman singing alone, then a single guitar playing. She is very passionate about what she's singing, and the woman dancing presents her emotions strongly through her dancing.it is a very big dancing sceen, with the dancers mostly mirroring what the other is doing, with slight variations according to gender. The style fits in with the Flamenco concepts we discussed in class, one way being that it does this is by presenting a single melody, with no harmony. Then a single melodic line is played by one guitar.
I think the style of the music throughout the piece is very fitting to what the dancers/actors are trying to portray. The guitar is mostly present throughout the video, with little accompaniment. When accompaniment is added, it is usally when the sceen becomes more dramatic and is focused on more than just a few people. A melody is usually established for each sceen, and then repeated throughout.
Father: "That one's looking for trouble. He's not of good blood."
Mother: "What blood would you expect him to have? His whole family's blood. It comes down from his great grandfather, who started in killing, and it goes on down through the whole evil breed of knife wielding and false smiling men."
They seem to have the same outlook on names, inheritance, and blood. Someone's bloodline and name seems to be very important to them, and they judge based on that information before knowing personality or character. A name seems to be greatly valued in this play.The mother assumes that because one person from that bloodline killed someone, that all of the others have that in them, too. She's not basing leonardo's character on anything but his blood, when she has no right to do so, since blood has nothing to do with one's personality.
Discovering foreign music can have many pros and cons. I believe that in order to broaden your horizons, you should take the time to at least familiarize yourself with music outside what you would normally listen to. There are so many different styles of music, how can we just limit ourselves to what we know, and are "comfortable" with? I love today's music, but I have classical pieces on my ipod, too. Just because I'd generally prefer to listen to today's "crap," doesn't mean I have to stay focused on just that. Especially for music education majors, we will probably have to teach some sort of music history class at some point, so why not start familiarizing ourselves with outside music now, so that we can better teach our students later? Depending on how you look at it, listening to foreign music could be a pro or con, if you were a composer and were trying to stick to a specific style of music, knowing so many different styles may influence your work. I think it's important to narrow your focus of music a little, depending on what instrument you're majoring in. If you are a pianist, you would focus more on classical pieces and generally music that fits your instrument's style and abilities, therefore you should familiarize yourself with that type of music to better yourself in that area. At the same time, I don't think anyone should be limiting what they listen to.
With corridos, much like The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, much of the original song is shortened in length over time. Many verses are left out due to the discretion of the person singing it or it simply having been forgotten. The main theme will stay throughout the different variations, while unimportant details will be left out. As in The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, the main theme had to do with him killing someone, therefore, that never left any of the interpretations, and instead unimportant details are left out. Corridos always tell a story, and often are about a historical event. The composer uses the event to tell a story, and the audience will continue to spread the song around, thus creating different variations. The songs are often quite repetitive, because the main point is to get the story across, so they are more focused on the lyrics. Corridos are meant to be sung, and it's easier to memorize something that continually repeats. Because the original song is taken on and changed by so many authors, it may lose some of it's original context, but it also gains insight from someone else's perspective. I believe that in today's society, we look at how these songs are formed and frown upon it because we are used to everything being handed to us. We have technology and written music, but we have to remember that they didn't necessarily have those things available to them. Also, the fact that one song could be passed through so many hands, and still keep some of its original intent and purpose, is a pretty amazing achievement.
I feel like the collective or anonymous authorship of a piece effects our relationship to it as an audience by tying us in to it more than if it were just a single author. When there is one author, it's one opinion, but with many different authors, you have more lenience on what your view of the piece is. In a sense, I think it both gains and loses something. It gains many differnt views and thoughts, but at the same time, loses a strict viewpoint and perspective that you'd get from one author. As interpreters, I think it makes our job of analyzing harder, but giving our opinions easier.
The inflection used in the human voice shows emotion and gives meaning to a poem. Someone could be reading you a poem, and just by changing how they say one word, it can change how you feel or interpret the entire thing. That's the thing about poems though, it's up to the reader a little bit as to how they want to interpret it. Not everyone will read it the same. In the poem "reis glorios," I like the effect that the repetition of "et ades sear l'alba" gives (and day comes on). It gives the poem good balance and a feeling of closure at the end of every stanza.
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