Homework 2

First off, I have nothing to say about the minstrel shows because every time I tried to watch one I just felt an overpowering sense of rage and had to fight the urge to break things. That is all there is to say about that. A little less than 3 and a half minutes long, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair was composed by Stephen Foster and is considered now to be a Parlor Song... Performed by the Columbia Symphony Orchestra there is a heavy accent on the violins with very little notice of the piano and cellos in the back. No rhythm exists as there are no percussion instruments used. The harmony and melody are both sweet and compelling. Dynamically the song is quiet. The mood I'm left with is a calmness hard to acheive otherwise. I quite enjoyed it. Steven Schwartz composed the 6 minutes of music for Broadway's Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked. Performed by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, the music lacks syncopation but has a dominating rhythm for the first half of the song before the trumpets and violins start to make a mark. The melody is fun, the harmony fantastic. You can't help but feel uplifted and want to sing loudly just to show you can. Only when the chorus comes into the back do you feel sad because you realize it's about to end. I absolutely adore this song. Jimmie Rodger's Waiting for a Train was composed and performed by himself. It lasts for approximately 3 minutes if you are able to find it in its completion. Lacking in a rhythm, there are no drums. The guitar is whiny – for lack of a better description – as he yodels along with it. The harmony is difficult to catch but the melody obvious. It's a sweet song which makes you sway mindlessly, totally at ease with your surroundings. I didn't enjoy it though because, whether it be his voice or the guitar seemingly out of tune, it made my skin crawl. Sometimes older isn't always better. Carrie Underwood & Mike Elizondo worked together to compose the music to the 4 minute song Carrie wrote called Cowboy Casanova. Contemporary Country is one of my favorite genres. The rhythm is steady and slow – making it a tad difficult to realize its sometimes-but-not-always tendacy towards syncopation. The guitar is like a dancer with its chords, the electric guitar creates a snake-like tone which helps emphasize her lyrics. The violin makes the listener want to dance and it's hard not to sing along with such a fast melody. The harmony is simple. It makes a person want to go out dancing and drinking, you feel happy and like having fun. This is by far my favorite song by her if only because it reminds me so heavily of Eric Northman from the books by Charlaine Harris... and, yes, HBO's True Blood. Composed by Holland-Dozier-Holland and performed by Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stop in the Name of Love is a Motown Hit. About 3 minutes long, the drum's rhythm is steady and easy to catch. The harmony is sweet and the melody is catchy. Diana has a unique voice which complements the piano and xylophone quite well. The deeper voices of the Supremes does wonders for Diana's high voice. The trumpet is almost unnoticed until you hear them say "Stop!" I love the feeling of sweet delight and adore this song. Rhythm & Blues song It's Raining is performed by well-known Irma Thomas and composed by Toussaint in the 1980's. The trumpets and keyboard go great with the bass guitar. The drums have this semi-syncopated rhythm which is easy to follow. The melody and harmony are amazingly simple to grasp. The electric guitar is almost not noticed except for a few solos occuring just before Irma puts power into her voice. Silky smooth like whisky or vanilla ice cream, this song makes you happy and sad. I love it. Sugar Hill Gang's Rapper's Delight is a Hip Hop song which they not only wrote but composed the music for. At 3 and a half minutes long, you definitely can feel the bass guitar and the drum working in syncronization. The lyrics are funny and the rhythm is easy to follow. The music is uplifting and all you want is to dance. I simply love this song and this group. Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns composed the hit song Piece of My Heart as performed by Janis Joplin. An amazing piece of 60's rock and roll, the electric guitars and bass guitar go well together with the drum and keyboard. The riffs on the electric are nothing short of pure genius. Janis is known for her unique and scratchy voice which so few people are able to even come close to imitating. The music makes you feel broken hearted and angsty, as though the emotion is grabbing you and shaking you to make a point. I love Janis and this song is flat out awesome... even if it is only a little longer than 4 minutes. There is no getting enough of Janis.