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Merit Badge Chit Chat:  Beginner music badge  |
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ManyLeaves
Farmgirl in Training
17 Posts
Susan
WA
17 Posts |
 Posted - May 31 2020 : 10:07:04 AM
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I am definitely not a professional musician but have played piano and guitar since I was kid. However, my dream was the flute. Since we had an upright piano, and basic guitars are much cheaper than a decent flute- the parental response to the flute request was always an emphatic NO! I started on this merit badge a couple of years ago. Rather than just learn the definition of harmony rhythm and melody, I bought an “Alfred’s Music Theory Self study course”. Took me a year to do all three books, but I have a much better understanding of what I am playing.
Rhythm – speed or pace of a given piece – basically in beats per minute. The rhythm is further divided into meter – think of a waltz, which is a three beat rhythm, the march which is 2 beats.
Rhythm can be regular, irregular, or even regularly irregular (think of syncopated rhythms).
Melody is a sequence of notes the listener hears as a single entity.
Harmony is generally thought as 2 or more notes played or sung at once. It can be pleasing to the ear, or discordant.
A course in theory goes into so much more – intervals, keys, etc.
The three genre I compared are very different.
The first is Boogie Woogie Boogle Boy sung by the Andrews sister. It was the beginning of “jump blues”. It made number 6 on the pop charts in 1941. The harmony is close, 3 note harmony, and also ranked number 6 in Songs of the Century. The song first appeared in the film Buck Privates, starring Abbott and Costello. This song has a regular, driving base with the melody carried in a upbeat rhythm, with much syncopation. The harmony is close 3 part. There a solo in the middle of the song – as opposed to solo singer/chorus refrain composition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8of3uhG1tCI
Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother
Jerry Jeff Walker’s Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother is country/western in genre. It was composed by Ray Wylie Hubbard and first released by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1973. It came out of Ray’s encounter at a bar in Red River New Mexico – he was the hippie in the “red neck bar”. Two of the customers in the bar were a man and his elderly mother. The base is kept by a guitar strumming – note/chord in a regular rhythm.
The melody is more regular in rhythm than Boogie Bugle Boy. The verses are solo, the refrain is multivoice, in harmony. The harmony a fifth above the melody rather than 3 part. The lead singer’s melody is always heard over the harmony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBOcwgb4OA
Beethoven Ninth Symphony – Fourth Movement
This was Beethoven’s last symphony. It was composed between 1822 and 1824, and first performed in Vienna May 7, 1824. It is still one of the most performed symphony in the world. He was completely deaf by this stage in his life. The text for the 4th movement is taken from Ode to Joy written by Friedrich Schiller. The rhythm is the piece is very regular. The harmony is 4 part – soprano, alto, tenor, base. The melody is carried by the soprano
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The piece builds to a huge finish. Similar to Bugle Boy is the fact that each part is blended into a whole sound that carries a melody. Where as in Red Neck Mother the main part is always heard above the melody.
One of the best renditions of the 4th movement is a flash mob.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbJcQYVtZMo
So that was a fun journey - now for the intermediate level
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Edited by - ManyLeaves on May 31 2020 10:12:26 AM |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
7108 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
7108 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2020 : 11:11:23 AM
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Susan I enjoy reading your post. You did a lot of work and it shows. Good luck on your obtaining the badge.
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
7108 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
7108 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2020 : 08:11:32 AM
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Susan I just saw where you were awarded your beginner music badge. Good job!
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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katmom
True Blue Farmgirl
17161 Posts
Grace
WACAL Gal
WashCalif.
USA
17161 Posts |
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MaryJanesNiece
True Blue Farmgirl
7227 Posts
Krista
Utah
USA
7227 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2020 : 1:27:24 PM
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Susan, some how I missed this one. Congratulations on completing you’re beginner badge!
Krista |
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jillyd
True Blue Farmgirl
728 Posts
Jill
Saanichton
British Columbia
Canada
728 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2020 : 11:40:46 AM
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Wow Susan, good work. I'm not musical at all, but I remember testing Cubs when I was a cub leader for their badges and I had to look up all those terms.
Jill
Farmgirl #6748
"When life gets super crazy, do your art. It helps you remember the exquisite, imaginary, delightful, lovely side of what is otherwise sometimes a bit much" Sylvia Olsen |
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Tchr66
True Blue Farmgirl
502 Posts
Terri
Clarington
Ohio
USA
502 Posts |
Posted - Jul 09 2020 : 7:34:20 PM
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Susan, thank you for including the sites. I need to hear the symphony. It refreshes my soul.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord
Joshua 24:15 |
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Merit Badge Chit Chat: Beginner music badge |
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Beginner music badge
