Transcript SI ALT FOIX - Institut de l'Alt Foix

SI ALT FOIX
UNIT 1:
MUSIC… A PLEASURE
THE POWER OF MUSIC
There is always a song that seems to be written especially for us. It always exists that
song from which we are the main characters, a song where we feel identified. It is the same
with books. Or even in films where/when you feel identified with a character and the role
he/she plays.
Music is very important because it is a way of expressing all what we feel, like a prose or a
verse… It is simple, one more way of expression, but as special as the others and it has the
ability of surrounding us.
At this moment, I would not change music for anything in the world, because I need it. I
need my dairy dose of songs to feel well with myself, I need to read the lyrics of the songs
and think about what I’ve read; I need those moments of tranquility, lying on my bed doing
nothing except listening to music.
I need to evade from everything that surrounds me: the routine where all problems are, when I
want to be alone…
I need music because if there is a day when I haven’t listened to it, i feel empty, as if
I missed something… and this is… that necessity.
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It’s difficult to live thinking how we would live without music. It occupies a lot of spaces of our
lives… some wake up with a musical alarm clock, or with music from their mobiles; we have
showers and baths with music, we go to work or to school with our MP3s, we eat with music, we
buy music, we go to bed with music… something it has that it makes it essential.
• What type of music do you listen if you are
or feel..
– Angry?
– Tired?
– Happy?
– Sad?
• Bring a song and explain us what you feel
when you listen to it, how you feel, where
you listen to it…
Welfare and music
People look for pleasure because it gives well-being. We all know that there are
things which make us feel well: some of them are physical as food; others are
emotional as friendship; and even others are mental as understanding how a
gadget works.
Although they are different stimulus, it is often difficult to differenciate them
because the feeling of pleasure is located in the brain.
Among the different types of art, music is the most immediate, the one which
we perceive with a major intensity, and it is able of producing on us different
types of pleasure. Music implies the mixture of aspects: mental, emotional and,
lots of times, corporal.
When we listen to music, we don¡t know exactly what it is which makes we feel
well: we only feel it; but, sometimes, we notice we are paying attention to some
specific aspects, as the quality of a guitarist or the strength of a rhythm which
makes us dance; or we feel a sharp pain on the heart because, suddenly, we
remember a moment associated with that song.
BOOK: Activities 1 and 2
HUMAN RESPONSES TOWARDS MUSIC
People don’t get indifferent while we listen to music. In
front of the sonorous stimulus, we always react on
one way or another.
Types of responses:
a) emotional
b) corporal
c) intellectual
a) The emotional response
An emotion is an intense mental state which emerges in the nervous system
on a spontaneous way and it causes a positive or negative psychological
response.
It is an involuntary impulse started by a response to the stimulus from the
environment, which leads human or animal feelings and triggers
behaviours of automatic reactions.
Music accompanies us
There are lots of people who play music without choosing it, only to listen to
something, as people who only switch on the TV but they don’t watch it. Surely,
this happens becaus efor people it is difficult to deal with loneliness. The fact of
being alone, in silence, in the middle of a so noisy society, makes us think about
feelings and, most of times, we don’t know how to control them. There are people
who can’t go in the street without their MP3 player in their ears because they
can’t deal with the feeling of loneliness. They mistake the feeling of emptiness
for boredom.
It is different when we choose the music we want to listen to; that implies being
aware of our emotions and looking for a piece of music that adapts to them or,
even on the contrary, that modifies them depending on what we really like to
listen.
Music affects our state of mind
When we listen to a song which at some moment in time made us feel something, we
go back there mentally and it changes our state of mind.
The Greek, 2500 years ago, studied the influence of music on people. They looked for
a series of sounds, that is to say, the scales, which fitted better for each situation.
For military parades, they composed melodies with determined notes; for intimal
situations of tranquility, they used others; to concentrate on study or to help with
sadness, others…
We only have taken 2 selections of theirs:
The Major Scale, full of life and strength; and the Minor Scale, nostalgic and sad.
Composers know them very well, that’s why they use one or the other depending on
the song they are creating. Often, ballads are in minor tones because they usually
explain stories of lack of love; on the other hand, songs of more cheerful and positive
topics are in major tones.
There are also strategies to get that a song cheers us up a little bit more; for
example, at the end of the melody they place higher tones and then it results
brilliant. Composers have used this option for songs in festivals like Eurovision where
it is pretended to convince the jury that the song is spectacular.
BOOK: Activity 3: http://youtu.be/AuWpvkN-8CU
Music fills in our spare times
Our society has evoluted to an assessment of spare time, as it exists a lot of
technology that eliminates the hardness of manual work and it lets you have
more free time.
It is said that music and sport are the most common liking in the the current
society. It is not superficial thinking how we fill in the spaces of life. It is very
important to enjoy of a nice spare time because, apart of giving us a better wellbeing, it lets us rest in a more relaxing way and have better results in our
studies.
BOOK: ACTIVITY 5: Do you like going to concerts?Have you been at any concert
recently. Which one?
ACTIVITY 6: Would you like to take part in a group of musicians? Which
instrument would you play?
b) The corporal response
Most times, while we listen to music, we do little movements without being
conscious; but what really makes you dance is rhythm, which, in
addition, beats the dance style.
Each style of music has rhytmics patrons which normally are repeated. The
bass and the drums are the ones which beat these patrons. In rock
music the second and fourth pulsations of each compass are marked; in
funky there are combinations of semiquavers and pauses which makes it
very broken; in walz it has three pulsations per compass and the second
and the third tempos are marked; the bachata has a company of guitar
and arch rhythms, etc.
There are people who love dancing any type of music; others like dancing a
concrete rhythm or type; others who don’t like dancing. Sometimes, it is
influenced by the grade of acceptation of the body or the shame of
feeling not very harmonious.
c) The intellectual response
Most times, while we’re listening to a song, we notice some aspect that
attracts our attention: the voice of the singer, how the drummer plays
the similarity with another song from the same singer or another, the
melody, the rhythm, the tones…
When we do it, we are having an intellectual response. We use our mind to
pay attention on how different elements of music are composed or
played in a determined music work.
This facts of noticing the elements of the music language:
- improves our perception and comprehension of music
- it increases the pleasure we obtain of it
MUSICAL GENRES
Music can be classified by different
aspects: if there is a voice or not; if it is
composed to play it on stage or not... This
is the genre, a classification.
Composers, before composing their works,
choose among the different genres. The
most general distinction is the one
between the vocal music and the
instrumental, and their correspondent
subdivisions.
a) Instrumental music
1. Pure music or abstract music:
It is the one which have no meaning at all. Its beauty lies in
its own sound.
Most classical music is instrumental: concerts,
symphonies...
2. Descriptive music:
It draws with the musical language settings, people,
environment and pictures. This type of music looks for
closing to the capacity of playing or representing the
artistic works.
Films are an application of descriptive music.
b) Vocal music
1. Dramatic:
operas and musicals
2. of concert:
not played or represented: the text usually is
poetic and talks about feelings and emotions.
Songs usually belong to this type of music.
3. A capella
4. With instruments
MUSIC STYLES
The terms genre and style are often confused.
We talk about style when the elements of
music are used in a piece in a similar way: type
of rythm, melody, selection of instruments...
For example, pop music is composed with alife
rythms, melodies with personality; it is sung
with an accompany of electrical instruments
or digital sounds...
• To consider:
- there are lots of styles in each style or
category.
- The same music can be classified in
different ways: e.g. The theme 'Titanic' can
be a film soundtrack, a pop commercial,
dancing music...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKS5DwSC0fo&feature=related
- There are some “musics” which are a mix of
styles: for example The Corrs write and
play Celtic music that at the same time is
pop music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxbBPFEewLs&feature=relmfu
ACT. 10 Styles and Genres
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/different-types-of-music.html
Different Types of Music
Music is a form of art. Edgard Varese defined it as "organized sound".
Music expresses our feelings as well emotions in a melodious and
pleasant way. Is there anyone who doesn't like this form of art? Read on
to know the various types of music.
To
remember:
Music is the most immediate of all arts, the one we
perceive with greatest intensity, and it is capable of
producing on us different kinds of pleasure.
• TYPES OF RESPONSES:
- EMOTIONAL
- CORPORAL
- INTELLECTUAL
EMOTIONAL RESPONSE:
- Music goes with us
- Music modifies our humour.
CORPORAL RESPONSE
- Little movements following the pulsations.
- Dancing following the pulsations with the style that marks the
rythm.
Each style of music has some rythmic patrons which are often
repeated. These patrons are marked by the bass and the drums.
INTELLECTUAL RESPONSE
When we listen to a song, we often notice an aspect which we pay
attention to. When we do it, we are responding in an intellectual
way, using our mind to notice on how the different aspects or
elementsa of music are worked in a determined musical piece.
This fact of noticing the elements of the musical language:
- develops or improves our perception and comprehension of
music
- increases the pleasure we obtain
The analysis of a musical work or piece can be
done from a lot of points of view. The most
common form is following the next procedure:
- specifying the work info: title, composer,
singer…
- analysing the musical elements: rythms,
melody, etc…
- defining the context of the work: situation
of the work and the composer in his/her social,
cultural or even historic environment.
Music can be classified having into account different
aspects: if there is a voice or not, if it can be
represented or not… This is the genre, a
classification.
Composer, before writing their works, choose among the
different genres. The most general distinction is the
one made between vocal music and instrumental music,
and their corresponding subdivisions.
The words genre and style are often confused, but we
are used to talk about musical style when the
elements of music are in a piece in a similar way: type
of rythm, selection of instruments, the way of
displaying the themes…