From Monks to Metal: A condensed history of western music

Well, maybe not quite as far as metal. That’s a story for another day, and probably another writer. But we are going to start with monks. When Sulli asked me to think of a series, we spent a couple of late night hours trying to brainstorm and getting nowhere. Then I looked to my upcoming class schedule for inspiration. Theory IV... not a good place to start. Aural Skills IV? Can't exactly teach solfege in a blog post. Class Piano and Recital Class are completely off the table. Then it hit me. Starting next week, I’m beginning a 3 semester journey through the history of western music. And before somebody starts to freak out and think and I’m talking about country-western, this term refers mostly to European sacred and art music from the common practice period (roughly 1550-1900). 

I love history, I love music... and its a subject that would be fairly easy to translate into something fun to read while still being useful and information. So here you have it. This is the first post in a series that could potentially last a year and a half.

The foundation for this type of music was laid in the church music tradition dating back to the inception of organized Christianity. Our studies will take us from the early church modes moving through the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods to the Contemporary styles. We may even touch on some of the post-modernistic writing going on today.

Every two weeks, I will take what I have learned and condense it into a post for you all. By time it’s finished you and I (hopefully) should be able to ace any college level music history exam. That being said, today’s post will be fairly short for two reasons. First, because this is only an introduction to the series and second, because I haven’t actually learned anything in my class yet. Unless of course you count course policy and evacuation procedures.

                So what exactly are we going to be learning? Yes, there will be birth place and death dates of the important composers for each period, but that’s not really going to be the focus. Instead, we will discuss the melodic and harmonic rules of western music, and how they are added to, modified, or scratched completely as music has developed over the last 500 years or so. There will probably be a discussion of Johann Fux’s rules for counterpoint that he wrote down in the early 1700s (and don’t worry, it’s pronounced ‘fooks’), and of course the various church modes that date back to the 600s A.D.

                We’ll also find out why old chants sound mysterious and Romantic music sounds… well, romantic, and what it was about Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” that was so revolutionary that its first performance included a riot started by offended concert goers. Also, we’ll see how events and trends in history were reflected in the music of the day, and sometimes even vice versa. And of course, there will be a discussion of compositional forms and their conventions and unconventional digressions.

                If none of that means anything to you, don't worry! I'll do my best to make it as user friendly as possible. And if you have questions, or want to know more about a certain subject, well that's what the comment section is for! Glad to have you along for the ride.

Thoughts, Opinions, Rethinking and Proposals #1: The Arts and Bronies

For those who have been wondering where I mysteriously vanished to, there has been a lot of things that have arisen in my life. Some of them haven’t been so great however, others have been the most inspirational and life changing moments of my life. While in my internet vanishing, I decided to research a few arts groups online, and attend some seminars from fellow arts activists. I've also had the opportunity to study several groups of students through my involvement with community schools and from an internship with a local symphony which began me on my journey. In order to transition between now and the new year, with my New Year’s surprises I have for all my very loyal followers, I feel like I should start getting back into the swing of things involved with blogging. In order to get back into the swing of things, I must begin to write again. Between now and New Year’s, I will fulfill a transitional series about the experiences I have been through in my mysterious absence, my opinions of these events, and how I think we as artists should approach them in order to benefit from everything. I will begin with the most life changing event of my life thus far and will continue around to the ones that are the most motivational in my opinion. At the end of each article post, I will list a “proposal” that I feel is very much worth supporting and to help everyone benefit and grow as artists, leaders, and most importantly arts enthusiasts. Without further ado, let us begin with the first topic for the series: The Arts and Bronies.

In case you thought that was a typo, it was not (I would love some brownies though!). Brony, pronounced Bro-nee, is the name given to males (and some females) who are fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I will not go into details because clicking here (in case that doesn't work, try this video. It is longer, and a lot more detailed but it will explain everything) will take you to the best summarized explanation of the fandom I’ve ever seen or heard. Here is the gist of the story: An online TV critic ranted about The Hub's shows being really low quality and was nothing short of a sales plot that Hasbro created to sell toys. After reading the review, several other TV critics decided to watch it only to fall in love with the show. They then spread their love of the show to 4Chan and other image based boards. Once it hit the image boards, the fan base exploded. However, this is not how I became invested into this phenomenon and became a follower of this awkward, nerdy social trend. A friend of mine named Robbie (better known as Pokeboss; @PokebossPony) talked me into watching the show soon after the season 3 finale, to which I reluctantly watched a few episodes in order to try the series out. Eventually I began to like the show, and admired the quality and thought that went into it. Not only did the quality impress me, but the mere root behind the characters’ lives intrigued me. They live based on discovering their special talent that propels their life to following what they want to do. This is also reflected via a tattoo like image called a “Cutie Mark” that visually reflects their talent. For example, one of my favorite pony’s talent is to party. Her cutie mark is of three balloons, which in this world is a key sign of parties. Once I knew about the show and had seen all the episodes, I decided to present myself into the fan base, but I needed an OC (original creation) and pony “alias” to go by so I could fit in. After a week or so of creating my pony self, Harmonic Inferno was born. Following this, Pokeboss and I decided it was time for me to present myself into the fandom; and, as a result, I discovered a world of hidden treasure. I began to notice the fandom that has an unconditional love of the arts and was expresses it in the form of fan art.

Being the art activist that I am, falling in love with this wonderful group of people was almost 2^nd nature. I began to push the limits of the first group of artists I could find into artistic “corners” so I could push their talents and see what there was to draw from. The visually artistic people were asked to draw Inferno to the best of their abilities and then I judged their style and questioned their choices. The more musically inclined were given some criteria to write a song, on to which I questioned their choices to see if they could handle the pressure. Writers were asked to write a story with Inferno along with other ponies and then I questioned the plot, development and overall flow. At the end of the day, or in this case two months, I discovered that these students have a lot of untapped talent. The people invested into the fandom are artists with the most pure of intentions.

Following this series of interrogation-like nit picking, I began to persuade those who wanted to know what they should do with their lives into looking at an artistic career choice. This was where I hit a bump in my own life and the love I attempted to share with the fan base was given back to me via Trav (@HumbleTraveller), Wesley (@wesmantooth02), Marco (@redflarebrony) and Auntie Smilez (@Sol_Smilez). They have been there to support me no matter what, and I thank you guys so much for that support! Along with that, I have met a group of people who helped form a group called Team Young Spark, better known as YS (@TeamYoungSpark). This is where the proposal begins.

Young Spark is a group of bronies formed by Pokeboss and I whom are leading a change in the community to create more artists from this fandom. The way I see it, the fandom's potential is like a pile of wet clay; very easily moldable to what they would like to be. They have the talent to back it up as well. Some of them have transcended the fandom to become great artists while others need some form of push to do so and that that is why Young Spark is there: To provide that push for whatever artistic path they would like to go along. The team as of the time of writing this is Pokeboss and I as founders and co-execs, fellow founders Rocking Aurora, Jake (@Jakenew711Jake) Ben (@CrazyBA_98) Taylor (@AmyLeeLoveMe) and finally additional but very valued members Princess Roxie (@Dj_RainbowWolf), Domino (@Melody_d8), Blue Ice (@DJurbancub), Thunder Twist (@ScottiFilms), Windykins (@TempestPony), Beat (@the_kongregate) and Silly Ditzy (@SillyDitzy). We have a strong crew who all are valued members to the team and I’m also honored to call a part of my team. However, we have our flaws.

The Proposal

Our team is a strong group of artists and if nothing else, a respectable team of arts activists. Though as respectable as we are, we need some help. I have a lot planned for the group in order to bring everyone the best possible education in whatever their craft is. The talents in our group range from music to art, creative writing and animation to web design and programmer but we cannot cover all art forms such as creative dancing, woodworking, metal work and fashion design. All of these, and many more, are all valuable art forms to learn from and we would like as much help in expressing them as we can. I propose that you; the reader of this post and a very valued follower of ASMTB, to help these guys out. Please spread the word about our need for help for these extremely talented people. If you are a fashion designer and feel moved to teach/mentor someone about how to design clothing then we would appreciate it tremendously. If you can bring a new vantage point to teaching music, such as teaching someone to use Cubase then we need your help. Anyone who has the proficiency in a craft and a desire to help out, we would love your time and effort. These groups of men and women are in need to know that what they do as a hobby could become a career for them. There are even a few for whom this is all they have. I worked with one or two whom have said the only thing they have in this world is the community and their art. Please help our cause to spread the arts throughout the community. If you would like to donate your time to this group then contact me through the blog's contacts (facebook, twitter, email) or contact Young Spark directly (facebook, twitter, email).

Thank you for the first post in this series. I hope to see you next time and if you've like this post then please share the site with your friends or follow us on the social medias.

Episode 9: Understanding Intervals Part 2

(pic from icawa)
Hello and welcome back everyone! Now as I left off with this series, we talked about the basic intervals; Major Minor and Diminished. Now I'm going to add two more intervals to the set that you know and a a couple of special cases you may have heard of. As always, if this interests you then don't be afraid to add to the friend pages on Twitter and Facebook!

Now to review what we talked about last week, we went over the intervals and how to tell them apart from one to the other. As I showed with the chart at the bottom of the post, it is nothing more than following the half steps between the notes. So in case it was a little confusing that way, here is another way of thinking about it.

Original Chart:


       Minor         Major        Perfect
1                                                    0
2        1                 2
3        3                 4
4                                                    5
5                                                    7
6        8                 9
7        10              11
8                            12

Simpler Chart:

       Minor         Major        Perfect
1                                                    0
2        H                 W
3     W+H             2W
4                                                  2W+H
5                                                  3W+H
6       4W             4W+H
7       5W             5W+H
8                            6W

H= Half Step

W= Whole step (2 Half Steps)

Now the new material I wanted to mention to you is a Diminished (o) interval and Augmented (+) interval. A diminished interval is an a half step below a minor interval and an augmented in a half step above a major interval. So for example we have a G-Bb which is a Minor 3rd (G-Ab-A-Bb), then a step below that is a G-Bbb (B double flat). Another example would be an D-Fb because a D-F is a minor 3rd, but lowering it down a half step makes it a diminished interval. Another way to look at the same interval is a D#-F. D-F in a minor 3rd, but raising the base note still closes the gap in between the notes. Now looking at augmented intervals, let's take a G-B which is a major 3rd. If you add a half step to the B you have a G-B# which makes it an augmented interval. Another way to see it is a Gb-B would be an augmented 3rd. Don't let the enharmonic spelling throw your answers off. A B# might sound like a C, and is an enharmonic spelling of C, if the note they write is a B then the notes around it must fit the occasion. Another example of augmented intervals is a G-C#. G-C is a perfect 4th, however with the addition of the sharp we have an Augmented 4th and the first of our special conditions.

The example mentioned above (G-C#) is an augmented 4th, but it is also a tritone. A Tritone is the a series of notes that are the exact middle of our 12 tone interval system. G-C# is 6 half steps from either tonic and give a very dissonant and very identifiable sound to music. A tritone consists of either an augmented 4th or a diminished 5th. Both are in the middle of our scale system.

Another way that I think makes learning intervals easier is the use of inversions. An Inversion is the process of moving one note an octave higher or lower to find an interval. The rule of inversions is if an interval is major before the inversion then the inverted interval is minor. The reverse is true as well, if an interval is minor then inverting it will result in a major interval. So a M6 would invert to a m3 and a m7 would invert to a M2. Perfect intervals always invert to perfect (P4 inverts to a P5, and PU inverts to a P8). Then Augmented always inverts to Diminished. That's why there are two notes that make up the tritone, augmented 4th and diminished 5th. 

Video Posted On Youtube! I would like some reviews on it!

Someone suggested I start a video series on the blog, so I posted what will hopefully be the first in a series. If you want to view it, click here. If you like it or have some ideas for the series then let me know. I would love some ideas for it at the moment! And don't forget to follow me on the Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, or add the RSS feed to however you follow RSS feeds There will also be an actual post later today in case someone was wondering if this was the only one today. *hint, hint*