Jono Starsmore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2014-05-20 08:34 am
furnaceface) wrote in fandomhigh2014-05-20 08:34 am
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Music Appreciation, Tuesday, Period 2
//Wikipedia,// Jono began, once students seemed to have settled in the music room for the day, //defines folk music as both traditional music, and the more modern genre of music that evolved from it in the 20th century. The traditional sort is also generally defined either as old music with no known composer, or music that has been passed around orally, or performed according to custom over time.//
Thank you for that, Wikipedia. Jono would have had a hell of a time defining it otherwise.
"In practice," Hannibal added, "this means that most of the medieval and Renaissance music we have, apart from religious music, falls under this umbrella. And that we are limited in our knowledge, since so much wasn't written down. So, we have both chansons - songs that tell stories - and dance music, and many things in between. And to clarify, we are speaking here of Western European music for the most part. It's unfortunately so broad a topic, we would be lost otherwise."
//Contemporary folk, or folk revival music, is, of course, much newer. Creating a new genre based on old styles of music began in the mid 20th century, and really hit its stride around the 1960s. Contemporary folk is characterized by its style more than its history, and generally uses traditional instruments to accompany vocals that often tell stories that are more indicative of the lives of the working class of their time.// A beat, and then Jono was doing something that was more or less close to a smile. //It also gets fused with other modern genres in ways that work far better than they sound like they should.//
"Some of the same people, you will find, do both - it isn't uncommon for a musician or band to cover traditional music and create more of their own." Hannibal queued up the first song. "This band does a wide range of things, but this is a traditional Medieval dance song. You'll note the main instrument is a pipe," it was very difficult for him to simplify things like this, but if he got into musical theory, they might never leave, "and there is a strong drum, to keep the beat for the dancers."
After they had listened to that, he continued. "Of course, a lot of music was sung as well. Particularly the ones that tell a story. Unfortunately, learning all of the Medieval languages is somewhat beyond the scope of this class," he said, chuckling, "so let's just enjoy the music." And he played another song.
Then he turned a smirk on Jono. "I thought for my other examples I might throw you a bit of a bone. First, one that has been famously covered by a modern folk group, but in a more traditional version. After that lovely, gentle song, he queued up a video instead of more audio. "And finally, I assure you all that this is a traditional song, but I thought Mr. Starsmore might appreciate their fashion sense."
//You certainly don't see many men wearing little more than leather kilts playing lutes these days,// Jono allowed, blinking at the screen as the video ended. //I've just got audio for you lot this week. Some contemporary music that just falls directly under the 'folk' heading, without muddying up the water with all of the little subgenres just yet. That's a rabbit hole that would be difficult to come out of if I were to start heading in that direction.// He put a CD into the stereo, and hit play on some Dylan. Pretty textbook folk, really. //Note how straightforward the musical accompaniment is. It's not uncommon to see a contemporary folk artist perform solo, with just an acoustic guitar or a fiddle on hand. And the lyrics generally tend to lean toward introspective questions, such as Blowin' In The Wind, there. Or narratives or political statements. Sometimes all three, tied into one.//
He switched CDs, and this time the music that began to play was purely vocal, no instrumental accompaniment to be heard. But that was fine. The man who was singing, Stan Rogers had a strong voice and a fairly compelling story to tell.
//While a lot of modern music exists either for the sake of a catchy rhythm or even just venting out into the void, Folk is generally written with speaking to their audience in mind. It strays a bit from that, again, once you start getting into subgenres such as folk rock and folk punk, but the general feel of it generally follows a similar tone. It's actually fairly easy to determine around when a good many folk songs were written simply by listening to the lyrics. There are ones that frankly discuss the aftermath of wars on the soldiers who fought there, or protest the draft that sent those soldiers there in the first place. Other songs have a more environmental message as people started to realize that, surprise, pollution is actually bad for the planet. Every major event since the mid 20th century almost certainly has a folk song written about it, reaching out to the audience with a message, a warning, an emotion.//
Jono nodded out toward different seats around the room, set next to listening stations, mp3 players, mostly, with headphones attached, of course.
//Today's activity is to just listen to different examples of the various types of folk that have been set out for you to sample. Some are more traditional than others, some you might listen to for a few seconds before wondering what in the world the writer was smoking when they wrote it.// He was looking at you, Arlo Guthrie. //Listen to as few or as many as you'd like, and then feel free to discuss the songs you heard. How they made you feel, what they're talking about, whether or not they spoke to you or turned you off, flat-out.//
"And please feel free to ask questions," Hannibal added, smiling.
[Open! So, so, so many YouTube links within.]
Thank you for that, Wikipedia. Jono would have had a hell of a time defining it otherwise.
"In practice," Hannibal added, "this means that most of the medieval and Renaissance music we have, apart from religious music, falls under this umbrella. And that we are limited in our knowledge, since so much wasn't written down. So, we have both chansons - songs that tell stories - and dance music, and many things in between. And to clarify, we are speaking here of Western European music for the most part. It's unfortunately so broad a topic, we would be lost otherwise."
//Contemporary folk, or folk revival music, is, of course, much newer. Creating a new genre based on old styles of music began in the mid 20th century, and really hit its stride around the 1960s. Contemporary folk is characterized by its style more than its history, and generally uses traditional instruments to accompany vocals that often tell stories that are more indicative of the lives of the working class of their time.// A beat, and then Jono was doing something that was more or less close to a smile. //It also gets fused with other modern genres in ways that work far better than they sound like they should.//
"Some of the same people, you will find, do both - it isn't uncommon for a musician or band to cover traditional music and create more of their own." Hannibal queued up the first song. "This band does a wide range of things, but this is a traditional Medieval dance song. You'll note the main instrument is a pipe," it was very difficult for him to simplify things like this, but if he got into musical theory, they might never leave, "and there is a strong drum, to keep the beat for the dancers."
After they had listened to that, he continued. "Of course, a lot of music was sung as well. Particularly the ones that tell a story. Unfortunately, learning all of the Medieval languages is somewhat beyond the scope of this class," he said, chuckling, "so let's just enjoy the music." And he played another song.
Then he turned a smirk on Jono. "I thought for my other examples I might throw you a bit of a bone. First, one that has been famously covered by a modern folk group, but in a more traditional version. After that lovely, gentle song, he queued up a video instead of more audio. "And finally, I assure you all that this is a traditional song, but I thought Mr. Starsmore might appreciate their fashion sense."
//You certainly don't see many men wearing little more than leather kilts playing lutes these days,// Jono allowed, blinking at the screen as the video ended. //I've just got audio for you lot this week. Some contemporary music that just falls directly under the 'folk' heading, without muddying up the water with all of the little subgenres just yet. That's a rabbit hole that would be difficult to come out of if I were to start heading in that direction.// He put a CD into the stereo, and hit play on some Dylan. Pretty textbook folk, really. //Note how straightforward the musical accompaniment is. It's not uncommon to see a contemporary folk artist perform solo, with just an acoustic guitar or a fiddle on hand. And the lyrics generally tend to lean toward introspective questions, such as Blowin' In The Wind, there. Or narratives or political statements. Sometimes all three, tied into one.//
He switched CDs, and this time the music that began to play was purely vocal, no instrumental accompaniment to be heard. But that was fine. The man who was singing, Stan Rogers had a strong voice and a fairly compelling story to tell.
//While a lot of modern music exists either for the sake of a catchy rhythm or even just venting out into the void, Folk is generally written with speaking to their audience in mind. It strays a bit from that, again, once you start getting into subgenres such as folk rock and folk punk, but the general feel of it generally follows a similar tone. It's actually fairly easy to determine around when a good many folk songs were written simply by listening to the lyrics. There are ones that frankly discuss the aftermath of wars on the soldiers who fought there, or protest the draft that sent those soldiers there in the first place. Other songs have a more environmental message as people started to realize that, surprise, pollution is actually bad for the planet. Every major event since the mid 20th century almost certainly has a folk song written about it, reaching out to the audience with a message, a warning, an emotion.//
Jono nodded out toward different seats around the room, set next to listening stations, mp3 players, mostly, with headphones attached, of course.
//Today's activity is to just listen to different examples of the various types of folk that have been set out for you to sample. Some are more traditional than others, some you might listen to for a few seconds before wondering what in the world the writer was smoking when they wrote it.// He was looking at you, Arlo Guthrie. //Listen to as few or as many as you'd like, and then feel free to discuss the songs you heard. How they made you feel, what they're talking about, whether or not they spoke to you or turned you off, flat-out.//
"And please feel free to ask questions," Hannibal added, smiling.
[Open! So, so, so many YouTube links within.]
Discuss!
Re: Discuss!
Which was a little more honest than she'd initially prepared to be, but, well, Rapunzel was bad at hiding her feelings anyway.
Re: Discuss!