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Showing posts from October, 2021

A Musical Trip to Ireland

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Why I chose Ireland      I have always enjoyed Irish music. I have done at least 3 Irish step dances in my tap classes and I listen to folk songs all the time. I thought it would be cool to learn more about this style of music. I have a lot of Irish ancestry. I.m not too big in that sort of thing it still interests me. I plan to one day visit Ireland so this would be a good start in learning more about it. . History Of Irish Music      Irish music started developing Thousands of years ago. It began with the use of primitive instruments specifically pipes and horns. The use of these instruments didn't start out for musical use they were used as signalers to warn others of danger or to summon some one to come to another area. Six cylindrical hand-carved wooden pipes tied together have been found from as far back as 2000 BC.      Irish Music can be traced back to the Celts. They would travel around a lot. In their travels they picked up many musical things so when they arrived in Irel

The Evolution of A Cappella

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What is A Capella   "A cappella music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way." Wikapedia Beginning of A Cappella It is impossible to determine when and where a cappella first began. Anyone can sing a song or hum a tune to themselves. However, the first recorded history of a cappella originated amongst religion as far back as 20 BCE. It was used in Christian. Islamic and Jewish religious music. These religions would u se musical chants to replace instruments because many sacred texts can be interpreted as forbidding the use of instruments in worship. One of the examples of religious a cappella is the Gregorian Chant.  The Gregorian Chant developed mainly in the Frankish lands of western and central Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries.  Barbershop Style Barbershop music is one of the few exclusively American vocal styles. It is "Characterized by its taut, constant four part

Creepy Doll Musical Analysis

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 In the spirit of the first week of October and Halloween being my favorite holiday, I decided to analyze a song I listen to every October. Creepy Doll was written and sung by Jonathan Coulton was released in 2006. This is a fun song to play at a Halloween party. I always know I jam out when I listen to this in my car. When the beat drops it always makes my head start bobbing up in down aggressively.  Beat To the best of my ability, I attempted to count out how many beats per minute this song had and I counted roughly 108 bpm. I tried to confirm this online, however, I couldn't find a definitive answer. I found a website called  Song BPM  that I tried to use to find it, but it gave me a range from 70 bpm to 140 bpm so I didn't trust it.  Meter The meter I believe is in two. I think this is done intentionally to mimic the heartbeat that we hear at the beginning of the song. The two beat meter also causes what I would call almost a seesaw effect with the lyrics that add to the cr