Defining Folk Music

Over the past week, a main objective of our class has been to find a suitable definition for folk music. At first glance, you wouldn't think this would be a difficult task. However, it is not that simple. Should it be defined by it's social importance, or should we define it solely by a single unique sound that it conveys? After thinking it over, I came up with what I consider a good overall definition: "Simple down to earth music created for the purpose of telling a stories and bringing people together." While I understand that most music is created to tell a story, folk music is unique in the fact that it is not limited to professional musicians. Anyone - whether they are professionally trained or not - can create music to tell their own story. 

In Bruno Nettl's essay An Introduction to Folk Music in the United States, he too attempts to provide a concrete definition of folk music. At first, he does this by comparing what is considered "folk music" to what he calls "cultivated" and "primitive" music. In this instance, "cultivated" means music created by trained musicians, often professionals. "Primitive" music is the exact opposite - music created by common folk, often what he described as "pre-literate". I look at these two types of music (primitive and cultivated) as the two extremes of folk music. Folk music can be created by people with little to no education, played for only themselves or a few people. On the other hand, we see trained professionals today who play folk in front of sold-out arenas. This is a large part of why folk music is so unique, as theres is such a large variety of types of people who listen and play it.

Two other words used a lot when defining folk music are the contrasting "simple" and "complex". Both words can have different implications when describing styles of music. Most genres - including folk - carry the best of both worlds. To me, folk is generally simple in the fact that most songs follow fairly basic chord progressions and melodies, with phrasing that is not so complex. However, as I said in my own definition of folk music the stories that many folk songs tell are indeed complex and require thought and analysis. Again, not all folk music falls under these guidelines but in general this can be considered true. This is contrasted against much of popular music nowadays. Today, even amateur bands and artists can gain access to professional sound recording equipment, making their music sound sophisticated and complex, even if the underlying message or story is rather basic or cliche. Similarly, the increasing popularity of instrumental electronic/techno music often times is produced extremely well, with amazing sound and complexity. However, it may lack any resemblance of a  story or message whatsoever. Therefore I make my case that most music has complexities, just some appear in different forms than others. This is why I don't necessarily agree with the statement "folk music is simple". It simply is not as clear-cut as that.

Concert Report #1 - Alumni Recital

Last night (Thursday, September 20th) I attended an Alumni Recital at the Hockett Family Recital Hall in Ithaca College. It was conducted by Jonathan Musgrave. The recital consisted of two pieces - Richard Strauss' Serenade in E-flat, and Motzart's Serenade in C minor. The ensemble was rather small, and consisted of only woodwinds and a few horns (however there was a contrabass on the Strauss performance. 

The first piece, Serenade in E-flat, was a classical piece composed by Richard Strauss in 1881. At first, I wasn't really sure how it would sound, seeing as the ensemble was so small, and the range of instruments was not great. Once they began playing, however, I was amazed at the completeness of the sound, and the diverse range of textures that I was hearing. The simple addition of the contrabass made a huge impact on the first piece in my opinion, as it properly accentuated the emotions of the music. In addition to the bass, the horns definitely added another important element. Although they have a completely different sound than the other woodwinds, I found that they were played with such grace that they did not overpower the music. Their solo in the beginning of the piece was simply astounding. The last instrument that really stuck out to me was the oboe. Near the end of the piece, there was an oboe solo played which to me introduced a completely new emotion/feel to the music. For some reason to me, it sounded somewhat jazzy (to a very slight extent). This solo was probably my favorite section of the piece, and it really captured my attention.

The second piece, Serenade in C minor (Motzart) was broken in to four sections:

I. Allegro

II. Andante

III. Menuetto in Canone

IV. Allegro

For this piece, the ensemble was decreased in size, as the contrabass left with a few other instruments (I can't recall exactly what left). As the program said, the piece sure enough started out in a rather up-tempo pace (allegro). The section ended, and the ensemble moved on to the Andante section, a much slower pace. To be honest, the first two sections of the piece were not so memorable to me, as everything kind of seemed to blend together. Section III, however, grabbed my attention a bit more. Now, I have absolutely no clue what "Menuetto in Canone" means, so I had no clue what was coming when section III began. The main part that stuck out to me was the 3/4 timing. It definitely had a more energized feel than the last two sections. While the solos and differing textures did not impress me as much as the firs piece, the tempo and overall sound of this section was a lot different than anything else in the program. Lastly, the piece ended in Allegro once again. This reminded me about the "coming home" concept we were talking about in class, as the piece began in Allegro, went through a couple very different sounding sections,  yet ended in Allegro, the same way it began.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at this recital. The way we've been taught to 'critically listen' to music in class over the past few weeks increased my appreciation and enjoyment of the music greatly. I found myself separating the different textures and zoning in on them individually. While I did attempt to listen for phrasing and cadences, it was extremely difficult. The style of music they played was very different than anything we've analyzed in class, as folk music is much more repetitive, making it easier to listen for cadences, etc. 

Porchfest

Yesterday afternoon, I took a little trip down to the commons with my brother to grab some lunch and go on a stroll around the Porchfest festival. I honestly wasn't really sure what Porchfest was going to be like, all I thought was that there would be a lot of fiddles, banjos, and old-timey folk music. And while I did in fact see fiddles, banjos, etc. when I got there, I was very surprised by the variety of music that was actually played. Even though I didn't stay for long (only strolled around for around 20 minutes) I was bombarded by a a large variety of musical genres and instruments. Everywhere I walked, I would encounter very different sounds.

For the most part, none of the music I heard was very refined. Now that's not to say there weren't great musicians, it's just that it was usually very relaxed. The musicians took their time, and just had fun with it. It was a very different experience than most concerts, as it felt like there was more of a connection between performers and listeners. Because of this, I definitely found it harder to listen analytically to the musical phrasing and whatnot. So, in general, I just listened casually and enjoyed the music. 

The most interesting thing I saw was this 3-piece band with a sort of 70s funk-rock guitar sound. (sort of like "Phish", jam-band esque) I don't recall the name, but It was just so completely different from anything I would have expected to see there. Again, these didn't seem like the most refined musicians, it was just some guys having fun doing what they loved. That relaxed atmosphere is  what I thought was really cool Porchfest, and made me really enjoy my brief stroll through.

HW #2 - Phrasing in "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker, 1961

The process of finding a good song for this blog post was quite troublesome for me. After a solid amount of time rifling through my iTunes library, I realized it would probably be easiest if I narrowed my selections down to a specific genre and time period. While not necessarily the style of music i listen to on a daily basis, rock and roll from the 1960s (specifically bands with a soul/swing style like the Temptations and Chubby Checker) seemed to have the simplest metering and phrasing patterns to keep track of, thus leading to my decision of the 1961 song "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker. 

This feel-good summertime hit single begins with a simple beat being kept on the kit, as Chubby Checker provides a spoken intro. We can immediately pick up on the 4/4 meter of the song and after about 10 bars the intro ends, Checker says "We're gonna do the twist and it goes like this!" and the chorus begins.

The chorus consists of four phrases, and each phrase consists of 4 bars. In the first phrase of the song, Checker sings "Come on let's twist again, like we did last summer!" The word "summer" signifies an open cadence, as it feels incomplete. I believe it is an IAC, as it doesn't feel quite as incomplete as a half cadence. I tried to figure out the tonic and dominant, and I tried to sing do and sol along with the song, however I was unsuccessful. I guess my ears still are not quite sharp enough to pick it out. The following two phrases have open cadences as well. It is not until the final cadence ("twisting time is here!") that there is a closed cadence, a PAC. This concludes the chorus. The same basic pattern is repeated throughout the rest of the song, even in the different verses.

The Use of Texture and Meter in: "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" by The Band

Genre: Roots Rock

The song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (or simply, "Dixie") by The Band is a story about the downfall of the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War. The lyrics are sung from the point of view of a Virgil Cain, a man working for the confederacy and living in the south during the time of their defeat. The following version of the song is a live recording from The Band's last concert together in 1976, titled "The Last Waltz". "The Last Waltz" is said to be one of the greatest live albums in the history of rock music.

The song begins with a slow, somber introductory tune from a horn section, foreshadowing the depressing nature of Virgil Cain's story. At this point, there is no obvious meter. However, as the last note of the horn section rings out, drummer Levon Helm plays a four-count with the kick drum, signaling a 4/4 meter. One the next beat, the brass instruments come back in along with the piano, playing a punchy-sounding upward scale. This provides an an intro to the first verse, as it smoothly transitions the song in to the 4/4 timing. This same basic 4 count bar is seen before the start of every verse in the song, and is used for the same reason every time- a transition, to get the song back on track in 4/4.

At the end of every verse, Helm (vocals) holds a single note for an 8 count, accompanied by the notes held by the other instruments. These long notes create a sense of desperation in his voice, as the background instruments seem to fade away. However, right after the 8 count, Helm sings the first line of the chorus, "The night they drove old dixie down". Unlike the verse however, he now has two backup vocals providing a three-person chorus. The chorus, along with the re-introduction of the brass section further expresses the desperation and fight shown in Virgil Cain, the narrator. Although he knows the war is over, and his side has lost, he seems unwilling to accept the fact and continues to press on.

I chose the live version of this song as opposed to the studio recording mainly because of the added texture. The studio record does not include the massive amounts of horns and backing instruments, which is what I feel makes this song so great. It seems as if every time the chorus comes up (the song has 4 in total, 2 separated by verses, with the last two repeated) the brass section, piano, guitar, drums and bass all seem to become more evident and loud. This chronological addition addition of texture further reveals Virgil's anguish as he seemingly reaches a breaking point throughout the song.