Song: Colder Weather
Artist/Composer: Zac Brown Band
Time: 4:33
This is a familiar song I have heard many times. What I like about a familiar song is just that..it is familiar, I know the words and melody and I can sing along if I want. I feel more connected to a familiar song. This song is by the Zac Brown Band, a County style band which is composed of six members with Zac Brown singing lead vocals. When I hear this song I usually listen to the words and the instruments are just in the background. I really tried to listen to see what I could pick out for instruments this time. I can hear piano ( which I think is the only instrument during the opening of the song), and as the song progresses it seems to add some guitar which I believe would be called a dynamic change. Dynamic change is also used throughout the song as the vocals and instruments get louder and then softer. I am not sure why the artist/composer decided to use so few instruments but I do like how simple it is. I like how the music becomes more intense as the vocals do and then slows down again with them. I think the performance was very good, the instrumentation seems very skilled and the vocals are great with just enough background vocal support in key parts of the song. I will say it was hard for me to really listen to this song and not just sing along mindlessly.
Week 1- Unfamiliar music
Song: Symphony No.104 DM-London: Allegro spirituoso
Artist/Composer: Mozart
Time: 4:58
This was the first time I have heard this piece. I listened alone so I did not have to block out much but I did struggle to keep my attention on it and had to listen several times. Without words I found it harder to relate and maintain attention. I heard many instruments but I am not sure I could pick out each one. I am sure there was a flute and other wind instruments. I think maybe a few sting instruments like a violin and cello maybe???. The music was very pretty with all the wind instruments and their unique sounds and the way they repeated with the chorus. There was an orchestra performing this piece and as the music was very smooth and clear I assume they were highly skilled. It did seem there were brief breaks in the music, I am not sure why they were put there, they were very short but noticeable enough I guess. There were also periods of greater and lesser intensity which I think added to the song and helped to maintain my interest/attention. I do not have attention issues in general but I found I did somewhat with this. I am hoping with more exposure this will not always be the case.
I love Zac Brown Band! I have never heard this particular song, but I think I am going to go listen to it! I agree that just a few instruments is simple, but can still be amazing. Would you recommend someone with a little bit of an attention issue listen to Symphony No. 104? I may have that attention problem...slightly. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding Paige!! Colder Weather is a great song I hope you enjoyed it!! As far as the Mozart I think it depends if you like classical music. I have a hard time focusing on music without words but I think if a person listened to it enough they would enjoy it the same as any other music.
DeleteHi Peggy! The guy in the video I watched for your familiar music looks like Liam Hemsworth, which is really cool. I don't know if you heard of him or not, but I just thought I'd comment on that. :) I don't know if this is the one you listened to, but here's the link I listened to.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oouFE51HcqM The beginning of your familiar music song reminds me of the song "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe. Here's the link to that.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwzItqYmII Is this country music? My family doesn't really listen to much country music, but I think that I actually do like it. Whenever there's nothing good on the radio in the recent pop music station that I usually listen to, I switch the dial to the country music station because, to an untrained ear, it mostly sounds the same, and that's ok with me because I like country music. I don't know what it is about it, but it sounds calm and soothing to me. Anyway, I really, really like the harmonies at about the :50 mark. I haven't heard of the Zac Brown Band before, but I think I might like them if all of their songs are this type of sound. I have heard of a few country singers before, like Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift(when she was younger), Carrie Underwood, Shania Twain, and a few others, but not much of bands. I really enjoyed it. It makes me want to live on a farm and have a hoedown with my neighbors and their guitars and friends! This song has a beautiful melody in it as well. I heard the violin, piano, and voices as the most prominent. I like how the higher resister piano notes end the song too. This is a very beautiful song, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI am a little confused on the unfamiliar music because I looked up the title and Mozart didn't come up, Joseph Haydn did. So I just listened to this one.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=610ro47p8zI ..because the title looks the most similar to yours. Is this the right song, or no? And if it's not, could you please post a link to the one you listened to? Thanks!
Lindsey,
DeleteYep Zac Brown Band is country and that song is very typical of their sound. As for the Mozart I took it off the list Ms. Mills emailed us and just typed it into google so I don't have a link for you. It was Mozart Symphony 104 on her list.
Week 1 Response ~
ReplyDeleteHi Peggy,
Nice choices for the week! I, too, enjoy Zac Brown's music. He has stated that he loves James Taylor and often listened to his music and vocal style when he was younger. If you know Taylor's music, you can hear his influence on Brown's music. I don't know how much you know about him or this song in particular, but I found this little write up on it, and thought I would share: http://theboot.com/zac-brown-band-colder-weather-lyrics/
I looked up the Symphony 104, it is a Haydn piece. Mozart only wrote 41 symphonies, so I knew it couldn't be him, unless I had made a mistake. Haydn's Symphony 104 is one of his most famous pieces. In our text, page 203 discusses the structure of the classical symphony, and starting on page 205, there's an entire section dedicated to Haydn himself :) which we'll encounter soon.
The moments of "greater and lesser intensity," (nice choice of words, by the way!) as you state, is a technique used by composers of the day, which we call "contrast of mood," creating a variety of emotions conveyed through the music. Haydn was also known for "unexpected pauses," which are evident in Sym. 104 - good ears for noticing these!!
Good work this week!
~JM