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Thesis of Music and Society

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    Music can consist of many different styles and opinions. Everyone has their own taste and opinions on music, which is why it's one of the most common things to talk about. Just like how we all hear people say "A lot can be said about a person based on their music taste," and it's fun finding people who share common interests with you, such as favorite artist, song, or even genre.    It can serve society by shaping cultures and societies around the world for generations. Music has the power to alter one's mood, change perceptions, and inspire change. While everyone has a personal relationship with music, its effects on the culture around us may not be immediately apparent. The impact of music on society is broad and deeply ingrained in our history. Music is an essential aspect of all human civilizations and has the power to emotionally, morally, and culturally affect society. When people from one culture exchange music with each other, they gain valuable insigh...

Colors of the Wind ---Music and the Fictive Dream

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"Colors of the Wind" written by Stephen Schwartz (America, 1995)     The film Pocahontas was directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Jim Pentecost, from a screenplay written by Carl Binder, Susannah Grant, and Philip LaZebnik.  The Plot Of The Movie:    The 1995 Disney movie Pocahontas is loosely based on the life of Powhatan woman Pocahontas and the arrival of English settlers from the Virginia Company. The English settlers talk of adventure, finding gold, fighting "Injuns" and settling in the new land. Meanwhile, in the Powhatan tribe, the daughter of Chief Powhatan Pocahontas, fears that she is to be married off to the tribe's best warrior Kocoum. Pocahontas thinks that Kocoum is too stern for her free will spirit. She then goes to Grandma Willow (a talking willow tree) in hopes of making sense of her dream of a spinning arrow which Grandma Willow makes known of the English settlers that were coming. ...

Role of the Performer-- Yo-Yo Ma

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 "Culture - the way we express ourselves and understand each other - can bind us together as one world." - Yo-Yo Ma Early life and career:  Yo-Yo Ma was born to Chinese parents Dr. Hiao-Tsiun Ma and Marina Ma on October 7, 1955 in Paris, France. Dr. Hiao-Tsiun Ma was a violinist and music professor. His mother Marina was a opera singer. Father studied at a university in Paris and worked a low-income job until he finished his education. Yo-yo's life was very difficult at this time. Yo-Yo was surrounded by music so it was very easy for him to pick up. His older sister played piano and violin. Parents played classical music for their kids often. At Age three Yo-Yo learned how to play the piano and violin. One day his father took him to the local university and he saw a double bass. At that moment Yo-Yo told his father "That's what I want to play!" He told his father that he didn't like the sound of the violin. His parents bought him a cello because a double...

Take a Musical Trip -- Russian folk music

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   Russian folk music has a very unique sound that portrays their culture in a way that's hard to describe. When I hear Russian folk music it puts a picture of a winter scene with a babushka walking down a road holding wood or children practicing their native dance. What really makes their music unique is the instruments they play. Russian folk music mostly has instruments like Russian Spoons, Treshchotka, Zhaleika, Balalaika, and Dorma. Each instrument brings a different element to the music. The Balalaika brings a warm, rounded sound; the Zhaleika has a piercing, nasal, sad, and compassionate sound. While the Treshochotka has a crackling, thundering, racket sound, the Dorma has toner vocal sounds, and the Russian Spoons bring the clacking, slapper, and rattles element.     Russian folk music typically uses Octatonic scales, with whistling or harmonization in the background of the main lead. The instruments also blend together insanely well, which doesn't make ...

Innovation of the Kalimba

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                                                                    The Kalimba Introduction and Background:     I first learned about the kalimba from a girl I met in a native camp held one hour down the river from Manley, Alaska. The girl I met, my bunkmate, brought her kalimba to the camp and would play it every night. She would play breathtaking music every time. What intrigued me the most was the warm sound which made any chords sound like a lullaby. It is also a straightforward instrument to play, which I found to be one night when the girl allowed me to play her "thumb piano". Later for my eighteenth birthday I bought my own kalimba and have been playing it along with my ukulele and piano practice.      The kalimba's evolution primarily involved the transition from purely plant-...

It's Been a Good Day- Music Analysis #2

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"It's a Good Day" by Ice Cube is at the top of my playlist along with many other songs from him when I am having a bad day. The song has been described as bittersweet, soothing, atmospheric, hypnotic, peaceful, and melancholic.  @mr.moseby2456  -2021  stated in the comment section of  YouTube   " This sampling is one of the best of all time. The beat is steady and relatively calm, and it can invoke both a feeling of genuine joy but also at other times melancholic feelings similar to a passed memory."   Ice Cube has been a successful artist since the 1980s. He has dealt with many hardships of life from growing up in Los Angeles California. Dealing with crime, and not the best home life he knows what hardship is very well, but he still chooses to keep his head up and give it his best shot in life, which we see in this song. Thomas Galindo stated in his article   "Sometimes it just feels good to have a good day. While surrounded by violence ...