Blog Post 10

Elliott:

1. Has Beyonce always had these messages in her music, or is it more of a recent trend?

Beyonce has always really had these messages in her music, but now they are becoming more upfront and noticeable.

2. Do you think Beyonce’s name is one of the main reasons people listen to her protest songs?

I think the name does have a lot to do with it. Since she is already famous, people already listen to her songs and therefore her message is spread very easily and quickly. 

3. Do you think that movements created by people of color in power are less effective than those made by people who truly experience the “struggle?”

I think to an extent that is true, but I am also a large advocate and believer in helping people even when you don’t know exactly what they might be going through. If you are a rich person, does it mean less when you give to charity than when a poor person does? I don’t think so.

I am going to be more specific and overall look and revise for flow of my paper in my revisions. I realized through your comments that I ramble a lot when I am writing and so I am going to make my paragraphs and sentences more concise and right to the point. Another thing I am going to do is provide more examples to back up my claim.

I have really learned to not judge a book by its cover this term. especially through the presentations about how rap positively influences society, I have learned that not everything is as it seems! I really learned a lot about constructive listening and problem solving in this class too.

Blog Post #9

1. I think a good protest song needs to have a good hook, not be too “in your face” about the issue, and make you want to listen to it. The article references Bob Dylan’s protest songs, and they are described as “oblique” and subtle in their meanings. 

2. One band trying to make a positive impact is the band Joseph. The have a song entitled “I Don’t Mind” about how a person can love you with your faults and problems, and that brings about awareness of mental illness and helping people accept the things about themselves that they are ashamed of. Another one of their songs, on the  album entitled I’m Alone, No You’re Not”, the song “Honest” says that even when you think you are alone, you aren’t; there will always be someone there to help you in your time of need. The band released merchandise with this lyric on it,. and a portion of the proceeds went to funding facilities that help people with anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. 

3. I think it is very effective. Through their songs, and performances, you can see the emotions behind the messages in the songs and you can tell they really mean what they are saying. Also, before “Honest” is played at concerts, the band says that this song is dedicated for all of the people who don’t think they are enough for the world.  

Interview with other person

1.The necessity of the item for my day-to-day routine.

2. Concert ticket

3.The concert was my favorite band, and they were fairly cheap!

4. I enjoy a lot of different music, but I mainly listen to Indie-style and alternative. I also listen to a lot of showtunes because I love theatre.

5. I really only listen to music on spotify, but there are times that I go on youtube to watch music videos or live performances.

6. I don’t have a fairly strong stance about the music industry, but it definitely favors one genre (pop), since it is the most popular. I think they try to look for what will sell, versus how much the actual music may mean to the audience.

7. My favorite musicians have a fairly big influence on me, because their messages in their music is what I go to for comfort or advice or whatever.  

8. Well, considering I use spotify (which is free), I don’t spend that much money on music. I will buy CDs sometimes for my car since my aux cord isn’t the best quality.

9. For the most part, no.

10. There are multiple artists that mention or even center their song around a current issue in society.

11. Artists realize - or at least they should - that their fans look up to them, so their music reflects them.

12.  Logic’s song “1-800-273-8255″ is all about suicide awareness, the title of the song is literally the suicide hotline number.

13. Yeah, actually I went to a MisterWives concert Saturday night, and before this one song called “Out of Tune Piano” the lead singer - Mandy Lee - made a speech about loving yourself and staying true to yourself.

14. No

15. An artist that keeps a balance between making profit and inspiring their fans.

16. Yes

17. Yes

18. No

19. If a band or person is more socially responsible then his/her product is more likely to be bought.

Blog Post #8

Interview Questions:

1. Functionality and price.

2. I bought Spotify Premium for unlimited streaming music

3. I hated listening to commercials and I can download as many songs as I want to listen to instead of using data

4. I like basically everything except heavy metal.

5. I use Spotify. I am almost always listening to music (walking anywhere, doing anything, etc.)

6. I don’t really have an opinion on the current music industry. But, I do feel like everything is very oversexualized in lyrics and music videos.

7. A lot. I really look up to them, but them doing something wouldn’t make me want to do it too.

8. Not really a whole lot.

9. Yes if a song goes against my beliefs/views I will not listen to it.

10. No not really.

11. Yes whenever I go to concerts or music festivals I try and be an upstanding member of society.

12. A person with good composure in public who is an overall nice person.

13. Yes because they are idolized by so many people, so they need to be good role models.

14. yes

15. no

16. I think the more socially responsible the musician is then the more likely I will buy their music.

Article Questions: 

1. Consumers are more likely to not buy someone’s music or endorse them if they are being socially responsible people for the good press (ie if it’s not genuine). But on the other hand, if the person is socially responsible for the “right reasons” then people are more likely to buy his/her music.

2. An example from the reading is M, 25′s quote saying it’s hard to imagine the people making millions upon millions of dollars each year actually caring about the tragedies of the world, like the poverty in Africa, because their life is so much different than that.

3.  Inauthentic support for an organization could be a celebrity doing a commercial for something not important like acne treatments. And something that shows someone actually caring about an issue is Beyonce caring about the Black Lives Matter movement by having her dancers all be black and proud to be (ie no fake hair, etc.)

Blog Post #7

1. This basically means that each side of the issue is unwilling to listen to what the other side has to say because they each believe their own thoughts and beliefs are the only solutions to the problem. This is a problem because with this kind of thinking, nothing will ever be resolved, since often times to end a conflict, there has to be some sort of compromise to come to a solution. This happens a lot in American Politics when one side of a debate will not listen to the other side’s points because they believe themselves to be the supreme keepers of knowledge. And usually, both sides are guilty of this, which makes the situation even more frustrating and complicated to fix.

2. For the Jewish faith, Jerusalem is home to “the Wailing Wall”, the Second Temple, and the holiest place in the Jewish faith. To Christians, it is the place where Jesus died, was buried, and rose form the dead, and where their religion was founded. For Muslims, it is the home of their “Noble Sanctuary” where the Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven. 

3. The first three stanzas are about how amazing and beautiful Jerusalem is with all its temples and holy attributes. The fourth stanza shows the connection between the faith of Fairuz and the Christian faith. The mood drastically shifts after that to criticize the Israeli army disrupting the peace and turning Jerusalem into a warzone filled with horrible injustices like intolerance and fear. Finally, the last stanza represents Fairuz claiming Jerusalem for himself and his religion.

4. Palestinian and Israeli popular music are very different than the popular music from the United States. Palestinian music most commonly relates back to Arab history, and language. It is performed at major ceremonies, and often the lyrics shift from classic to modern Arab. There is a lot of body movement and exclamations like yelling or screeching involved as well. Another important element is improvisation using poetry as references. The songs are mostly homophonic with ornamentation and percussive beats. The most common themes include nationalist ideals, and resistance of Israeli occupation. 

Israeli popular music has a lot in common with Palestinian music like the monophonic nature and ornamentation. The main difference between the two involves the orchestration of the pieces. The themes of their music involve social and cultural problems within Israeli society. It is judged on how well it communicates and promotes Israel and its ideals. Musica Mizrakhit is very important to Israeli popular music. It has to do with the many different cultures inside the Jewish Israeli culture as a whole. Within this style, there is debate on whether people should conform to the “melting pot” of immigrants’ cultures that Israel is slowly taking in, or if they should stay true to their own cultures. This style of music is a reflection of the social and cultural buildup of modern day Israel. 

5. The Israeli government is censoring Palestinian artists and songs that combine the Western style of music and the Arab style. The border guards are confiscating tape recorders and cassettes of music that is not allowed in their country. Being a songwriter or poet is considered dangerous work now due to the persecution and possible government retaliation if your message or way of thinking does not align with theirs. People are being arrested for this. The Israeli government has control of the broadcasting networks, so they have control of what is played on the radio too. 

6. I noticed the song stuck mostly to the Western instrumentation and arrangement, but as the song progressed, slowly but surely there were elements of the Arab culture and Palestinian popular music in it. The beginning was Western instrumentation and Arab text, and then it was with English text and Arab ornamentation, and finally it was Western text with Arab instrumentation. I think this song fits very well with the purpose and circumstance because it talks about dreaming about a time when there isn’t a divide between peoples and everyone is just one big happy family.   

7. I very much agree with the author’s words because music is an art form that is able to connect with people from all different backgrounds and beliefs. It gives people a chance to speak their minds about anything they want to: issues they believe are important to them, people they love, or of times past, and many others. Instead of debating and yelling and fighting, people could listen to each other’s points of view through song. The author states that obviously music isn’t going to fix the whole problem, but it could help, if the people let it.  

Blog Post #6

The 1.   This land is your land This land is my land From California to the New York island; From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and Me

As I went walking on the new football field

I remembered where I saw some paint peeled

It was the arts rooms, they’re underfunded

But that fund was made for you and me

2. a) At it’s most basic form, this chapter is about the different songs that were used in the war and how they were made and their significance.

b) The songs were played on independent radio stations and were played by studio bands and vocalists as a way to get around the ASCAP ban and taxes.

c) One hardship was at a point, the president of the AFM banned all of his musicians from recording and making records. There were rations for certain materials that were essential in making records.  

d) They were looking for songs that supported the war, or at least to keep the kind of music that is against the war in check until they could find songs that they deemed appropriate for wartime. The songs should focus on the enemies of the United Nations, and those songs should not be humorous. They wanted to make sure the American public had the right impression of the war.

e) Songs that didn’t meet the criteria of the OWI songs were essentially forbidden.

f) One key difference between the wars is that WWII was a lot more personal of a way than WWI. For example, due to the staggeringly large number of people in the army, it was very likely that everyone knew someone who was serving his/her country in some fashion. Also, WWII was much bigger than WWI, but the personal aspect still played a large role in it.

g) The song has a very detached message, where the people are “over there” so it makes it less personal and like they are foreigners. Also, the song really makes America seem amazing like we are the best and we are going to beat everyone who tries to get in our way. 

Blog Post #5

1. Binaural Beats

This type of musical therapy interested me because I think the brain hearing a different ‘note’ from the two different frequencies is super interesting. Also, I use something similar to this sometimes when I have trouble sleeping because I find it very soothing. I obviously didn’t watch the whole thing, but I listened to it when I was going to sleep and it made me have really funky dreams. 

2. Like I said in the first response, I sometimes use music to fall asleep when I am not very tired but I really need to go to bed. I also use it to make me feel better sometimes when I am sad or not feeling very good. I have never seen music therapy being used in real life.

3. It is about music being more than just a form of entertainment. It also goes into how music can bring different groups of people together from all walks of life. 

4. Here are six sources:

interview with Bobby McFerrin

interview with Maestro Daniel Barenboim

interview with Kay Kaufman Shelemay

interview with Richard Hawley

interview with Lawrence Parsons

and a book by Aaron Berkowitz

this list is interesting because almost all  of the sources she uses are interviews. I think she uses these kinds of sources because the topic is a very personal and subjective one, so having interviews form people are pivital to support the topic and claim.

Blog Post #4

1. I do not think this is music. The video sounded like static coming from a car radio. It had no pitch or rhythm or pattern. I think in order for it to be music there needs to be one of those things if not more. 

2. My favorite song is Toxic by Brittney Spears. There is not any moments of silence really in the song. This is appropriate because the song is fast paced and doesn’t really have any need for pauses. The song transitions from part to part with an overlapping technique instead of silence. First of all . Keehn I love this song!! Hide and Seek is my favorite Imogen Heap song. The silence in this song allows the listener to focus on the lyrics that the singer just sang. They really add an element of seriousness to the song. It helps with the tension and release aspect of the song too. For example, at the end of the second verse to the refrain, there is a big build up of dissonant sound and then a moment of silence before starting the refrain. 

3. 1-Perfect Pitch Dogs

2-Bonobo

3-Snowball

I think those dogs were the most musical because they internalized the note before they hit it on the piano.

My thesis statement: Music has the power to bring about social change.

Findings: I had no trouble finding articles and websites to support my thesis. I found examples from the civil rights movement, I found newspaper articles from companies such as the NY Times, Forbes and more. I also found some blog posts from some random people that would not really be useful for this paper. The vast majority of the sources I found had some sort of acknowledgment to the person/people that the information came from either in the form of a works cited or just naming the person in the writing. 

This article seems really interesting and definitely something I would want to include in my paper.

 https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanmcpherson/2017/06/20/how-spotify-uses-music-to-drive-social-change/#6c9955b1bf55

My thesis has evolved from my initial search. Originally I wanted to write about how music can be used to help cure patients with mental diseases, and then I wanted to write about how programs like El Sistema have changed the lives of the children in those troubled communities, but ultimately I felt like this topic is the best one for me.

Chapters 7&8

There is evidence that supports the claim that music is human just like language, but there are also claims that refute it. One dissenting opinion says that since there are people with brain lesions who can speak perfectly but are completely “amusic” so that they don’t have any musical abilities whatsoever, that the language of music and the language of speech are completely separate. Another opinion believes the opposite. Larry Parsons found that the same region of the brain was activated when trying to improvise speech and improvise on a melody line, thus coming to the conclusion that music and language are connected. The difference between reading music off a page with the words and notes in front of you and making music is that in the first the words and melodies seem disconnected and unrelated, but when you only make the music and don’t think about how or what you are doing, they are connected. Overall I side with the people who believe music is part of being a human. I think the most compelling argument was made by Steven Mithen at the end of the chapter when he brought up the point that is music is not connected to us as humans then why do we feel so much emotionally when we listen to it?

Mannes transitioned by using a source from the previous chapter and reintroducing him in the very beginning of the next chapter. I don’t think it was very effective because it seemed very jumpy and not connected. 

One piece of evidence is the ancient instruments the archaeologists find on digs, like the flutes carved from swan bones in Ulm. The flutes are very sophisticated instruments which suggests that music was important in the culture. 

Also, Darwin said that music has to be an evolutionary adaptation because the males who were able to make music were more likely to find a mate, and thus continue their lineage. 

Another piece of evidence is that the Neanderthals had similar skull and vocal tract build as we do, and thus they were able to make the same sort of sounds as us. There is no evidence that they were able to speak or had the capability of using a speech based language, so the next logical way to think they communicated was by using noises, which could be considered music. Mithen believes that music was not necessarily a part of their culture, but that they had musicality.     

Blog Post #2

1.  Pieslak uses examples from all over the course of time to support his claim that music was used as a form of inspiration for soldiers to fight. He said that battle cries were among the first forms of music played on a battlefield to serve this function, and it evolved from there to include regiment bands that included drum and fife, and radios. American bands would play patriotic music and when they did the soldiers would be very motivated to fight and they would often fight better than when they did not have music playing. The German military radios would play Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” to inspire their soldiers to fight in WWII.  

2. The most common genres of music that were played during the Iraq War were rap and heavy metal. I would assume because they are loud and they drown out the loud noises like IED’s and helicopters, and also they agitate the soldiers so they are more likely to fight. The music helps to pump them up before having to go out and risk their lives.

3. I would say the radio changed the way soldiers can use music as an emotional tool. With this invention, the solders were able to hear music from home; the same music their families would be listening to. It helped them stay connected to the place they left behind. Also, the invention of the MP3 player, because then the solders coujld listen to their favorite music anywhere, so that could help boost their morale.

4.  Music has been used since the earliest forms of war came to be to inspire soldiers to fight. Its first mention is the battle cries from multiple different cultures including the Spanish and the Finnish. It evolved into the American drum and fife bands which led every battle the American soldiers fought in the Revolutionary War. It then evolved into the radio which was used during WWI and WWII to inspire all soldiers in the war to fight on.

Song Form Analysis: C  V  P C  B  C  A N C A

6. I really think this is the hardest kind of question to answer. I think people connect with this song for a lot of reasons. I personally connect with it because this is one of my favorite bands and their rendition of it is beautiful, but another reason is because it is so simple, yet so deep at the same time. The message of the song is able to be applied to many different kinds of people; the theme of giving up because you have lost everything and you only have one thing to turn to, for instance God. The melody is very simple, yet it does a wonderful job text painting the message and important parts of the lyrics. Another thing that is very moving about this specific rendition of the song is that you can see just how much feeling the singers put into their singing. The timbre is very soothing and their voices blend really well together which creates an atmosphere of good sounds around the listener. The rhythm is simple, so the listener can catch onto it easily, which could give them emotional attachment because the simplistic nature of the song allows them to sing along with it and help them to experience it personally. The harmonies are very tonal which is pleasant sounding to the listener which invites him/her to listen more closely, and when he/she does this more attention is payed to the text and then the listener can really delve deep into the meaning of the song and how he/she can connect to it emotionally. The piece (or at least the original piece) was written in C Major which is the most simple of all the keys, which again allows the listener to engage in the music making since it is so simple and easy to play. 

Blog Post #1

My name is Elliott Peterson and I am 19 years old. I love singing and photography. My hobbies include shooting and editing pictures, hangin with my buds, and watching copious amounts of Netflix when I should be doing productive things. I have three brothers and a dog, and out of them all my dog is my favorite. 

I have played the alto saxophone from fourth grade to my senior year. I have also been involved in choir since I was around 8 and have been in (at least) one ever since.

I am very comfortable listening to Western Classical Art music. 10/10.

(4.) I am an intense music nerd, so any kind of music that shows off someone’s technical ability to produce amazing harmonies and super compelling chord progressions is probably on my playlists. My favorite genres of music include pop, a cappella, dance, and really anything I can groove to or belt. Some of my favorite bands include JOSEPH (AMAZING VOCALS and super amazing lyrics and harmonies), Pentatonix (amazing a cappella, blend is insane, songs are so cool), Cheat Codes (really fun to dance and sing to), ZEDD (favorite since I was in middle school because of their catchy songs and beat drops), Sara Barellis (really amazing lyrics and all of her songs are super fun to sing when you’re alone in your room), Hillsong United (I really love praise and worship music and they combine really amazing and inspiring messages with equally amazing beats and chord progressions and vocals so it’s kind of like the whole package rolled up into one band:) ) and anything from Pitch Perfect (my a cappella guilty pleasure). My least favorite genres include trashy rap and hip-hop music with a lot of swearing and derogatory messages (I feel like they are all the same, unnecessarily inappropriate songs with the same beat pattern and message), country (because I just really don’t like it. I don’t really know if I have a concrete reason why to be honest) (except Carrie Underwood), and boring music (because I just really need something that is going to keep me interested and make me want to listen on repeat for hours on end). 

5. The melody of this piece is shared between all of the singers, but mostly Meegan (the singer in the middle) has the melody. The range is HUGE for this piece and all of the singers’ belting ranges are amazing and so big! The harmonies are mostly stacked in the chords (so they all move together most of the time). The blend on the harmonies is so smooth because they are all sisters, so their voices all blend really well together. 

Part 2

1. One reason is because the terms “low and high” are relative to each person, so someone’s definition of high might not line up to another person’s definition and likewise for low. For example, for a bass singing Middle C could be pretty high, but for a soprano it could seem low. And, “low” and “high” don’t really mean anything by themselves (without context they don’t really have meaning). Also, one reason the notes were called either low or high were based on where the sound was made. An example from the reading says that bird’s songs were called high because they sang them in trees which are high off the ground, and low pitched sounds come from things like bears which are big and on the ground.

2. The first question I would ask is “how does the person asking this question know the bird actually made a sound if no one was around to hear it?”. But, I would say yes because a sound is a sound even if it is made while the bird is the only one around. Also, if I am in New York and someone screams in California, they still screamed, even though I couldn’t hear it. 

3. True. The only ways a person would be able to tell is if he/she had perfect pitch, really good relative pitch, or was extremely familiar with the song.

4. What would happen is it would sound like a beautiful and harmonious chord. The root of the overtones would come through the loudest, and all the other overtones would provide support. If you made certain ones louder than others then those notes would stick out more from the chord.