Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you--


Does it bother you that I didn't finish? If it doesn't, sing this tune to yourself without finishing. How did you know it wasn't finished? (Besides the fact that you have probably been singing this song since you were very little.)

Every peice of music has what are called "phrases". A phrase, really, is more like a musical clause; it is a complete idea manifested in music and always ends with a cadence, just like sentences end with punctuation. In this example, the first phrase consists of "Twinkle, twinkle little star/How I wonder what you are." There is a sense of resolution at the end of the phrase. In fact, this particular resolution--or cadence--feels so complete it is used at the end as well.

But what about the middle? "Up above the world so high/Like a diamond in the sky" It sounds like the thought is complete, but not as solidified as the other phrase: it still feel like the song should continue and resolve fully. This is still a cadence, but because it still has a sense of "incomplete" it is known as a "half cadence."

There are four types of cadences: Authentic Cadence, Half Cadence, Plagal Cadence, and Deceptive Cadence.

• The authentic cadence is the one that usually ends a peice of music, or a very large section. It has a FULL feeling of resolution and the listener can push the stop button without going crazy. Grammatically, it might look like this: The young lady bought the beautiful dress.
• The half cadence, as I mentioned earlier, only sounds HALF resolved and the listener will go crazy if he/she presses stop after one of these. Try singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" but don't sing the last phrase. Grammatically, it functions like a subordinate clause and would look like this: Because the young lady bought the beautiful dress,
• A plagal cadence is also colloquially known as the "amen candence". Generally, whenever "amen" is sung after a hymn in church, it will use the chords that make this cadence. It is rare to find this elsewhere, but they are very pretty and I don't really know why composers don't take advantage of them more often. These also have a definite sense of conclusion or resolution. Grammatically, they look like this: The young nun gave the beautiful dress to the poor so they could sell it and buy food. AMEN.
• The deceptive cadence (my personal favorite) used similar enough chords to the authentic cadence, taht it makes you think you are going to end, but abruptly takes you in a COMPLETELY different direction. It is often going to a minor chord (if you are in a major key, and vice-versa.) Grammatically, it might look like this: The young lady bought the beautiful lice-covered corpse.

***

You've heard a scale played on a piano, or other instrument, right?

The scale has seven notes, known as "scale degrees". When written out, they are the number (1-7) with a little carat above them (^). But, since I don't know how to do that in typing, I'll just put the carat next to it. So, a scale written out in scale degrees will look like this:

^1 ^2 ^3 ^4 ^5 ^6 ^7

So, for a C Major scale, they would correspond like this:

^1 = C, ^2 = D, ^3 = E, ^4 = F, ^5 = G, ^6 = A, ^7 = B

Each scale degree has a triad built on top of it and those have been assigned roman numerals that correspond to the scale degree and the quality of the chord. (This is solely for the putpose of analyzing music.) For major and augemented, we use capital letters, and for diminished and minor, we use lowercase letters. So, these correspond like so:

^1 = I (C Major triad--CEG)

^2 = ii (d minor triad--DFA)

^3 = iii (e minor triad--EGB)

^4 = IV (F Major triad--FAC)

^5 = V (G Major triad--GBD)

^6 = vi (a minor triad--ACE)

^7 = vii` (b diminished triad--BDF)

Usually, when showing a diminished or augmented chord in roman numerals, there is an extra sign attached so we can tell the difference between those and normal minor and major. For diminished, it is supposed to be a little o as a superscript, but I don't know how to do that in typing, so I improvised in the vii` chord and added the little apostrophe-accent-thing. For augmented, its a plus sign. So, for an augmented chord, it might look like this: III+

--S

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Phrase: a complete musical idea that acts like a sentence or subordinate clause.

Cadence: the "punctuation" at the end of a phrase. It can be authentic, half, plagal, or deceptive.

Triad: when 3 notes with an interval of a third between them are stacked on top of eachother. When written on a staff, they are either all on lines or all on spaces.

Major: this is when the music, interval, or chord played sounds "happy".

Minor: when the music, interval, or chord sounds "sad".

Quality of a chord: whether the chord is major, minor, augmented, or diminished.

• Major: made up of a major third on the bottom and a minor third on top. (Ex: CEG)
• Minor: made up of a minor third on the bottom and a major third on top. (Ex: ACE)
• Augmented: made up of two major thirds stacked on one another. These are pretty rare and are never found in the original scale--you always have to alter a note. (Ex: CEG#)
• Diminished: made up of two minor thirds stacked on one another. These are more common than augmented, but less common than major and minor. (Ex: BDF)

Anacrusis

For those of you who do not know, the term "anacrusis" refers to a rhythmically incomplete measure at the beginning of a piece of music. More often than not, it is either one beat of part of a beat, but can occur with any number of beats, as long as it is less than than the number of beats per measure, as determined by the time signature. Colloquially, it is known as a "pick-up" or a "pick-up note". However, if you want to sound more sophisticated the next time you go to church choir, use "anacrusis".

I decided that that would be a great way to start this blog--at the beginning of a piece. You are probably familiar with the "Moonlight Sonata" by W.A. Mozart, or at least with the first movement (most people don't make it past there). But, since that title was taken, I decided to call this little excursion of mine after the next-best thing: Starlight Sonata. I hope that it proves entertaining at the very least for you, but I am striving to enlighten and possibly inspire.

***

I am a music major. It is the only thing I can see myself doing for the rest of my life, and I have a sincere passion for music. I want to be a high school choir director. However, if I had the talent to make it as a composer of programmatic scores and choral pieces, I think that's what I would choose instead. But, perhaps not: not many people appreciate or even get along with teenagers, and they are certainly the ones who need respect the most. At such a whirl-winded age, with flurries of homework, relationships, and drama, teenagers can feel so flustered they feel they do not belong. But feeling and being are not the same.

In my opinion, it was music, particularly choir music, that saved my in my teenage years. Music caused me to feel less flustered, less alone, less trivial. Instead, I could feel the solemn ponderings of a wanderer, the fast love of two young hearts, or the joyful praises to God who mercifully gave us ears and hearts to hear. It took me for a few moments out of my world and placed me in the center of another, and that in itself was refreshing. It put me in a position with other members of my choir where we could create this world as a combined effort. And that was amazing.

It was then that I realized the power music could have on young minds and how important it is that we take advantage of that. As a music educator, I will be able to. Who else has the power and passion to command a riser-full of flurried teenagers--who want nothing more than to understand and be understood--and create beauty and art and music within the tiled walls of a school?

WHO DOES THAT?

Conductors. Directors. Teachers. Creators.

It is said that some people are born great, some have greatness thrust upon them, and some create their own. It is also said that "through small and simple things are great things brought to pass." If I can, with a small and simple wave of my hand, encourage a small and simple student to pursue the great things they are capable of--if I could change one students' life for the better--I would find joy in everything and would die very happily.

***

This blog is for those who have a passion, or even a curiosity about Music. I want to share the knowledge I have with others, and this seems like a good way to do it. The bolded words will always have a definition given at the bottom. Some of the definitions may be redundant, but that's a risk to take because I will never know everyone who reads this. However, this is a blog and not a music class, so if I end up being wrong, I'm sorry.

--SS

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Anacrusis: a part of a measure at the beginning of a piece of music; aka: "pick up note."

Programmatic: music (or art) with a story behind it. Specifically, this can include musicals, opera and movie scores. In some eras (especially the Romantic, int he 1800s) it branched out to other genres as well: overture, oratorio, symphonies, and other forms of works.

Overture: the orchestral music that is played before a show starts. It sets the tone for the story that follows, and in some cases foreshadows events. It is found most often before musicals or operas, but has also been used before plays (with out music in them). During the Romantic era, it was particularly popular to compose an overture for a literary work (IE: Mendelssohn's overture for a Midsummer Night's Dream) that will never be played with the work, but is simply for the listening pleasure of the audience who is familiar with the story and/or characters.

Oratorio: A performance primarily for vocalists that had no acting, but told biblical or religious stories through a choir, soloists, and accompanying instruments. There is no set, costumes, or staging. This was very popular in the Baroque era (about 1650-1750ish).