Weekly Song Challenge for Week 42

 Since I've done a lot of music posts on this blog I thought I'd join in on a music Challenge that's been going on for a while now.  Don't forget that you can still vote on my current Battle of the Bands as well...

      This ongoing Challenge comes from Mary at Jingle Jangle Jungle.   She provides the categories of the week.  Here's what we've got for this week:

October 20 - Week 42

A Song with a Girl’s Name in the Title

A Song with the word Under in the Title

A Song with Cry in the Title

And here are the songs I came up with coming from three artists that I enjoy...

    

Bruce Cockburn    "Peggy's Kitchen Wall"   (1984)

The Church   "Under the Milky Way"  (1988)

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young   "You Don't Have to Cry"  (1970)

               What are some choices you might have made?   Have you voted on my Battle of the Bands yet? 

A Big Favor Please

 

        I'll officially be returning to my blog on Wednesday September 15 with a new Battle of the Bands post, but today I'm here to ask a favor of you who follow my blog. 

       As some of you might know, I've been taking a blogging break for over a month now while I was taking a vacation to visit family back east.  It was a fantastic trip and I hated to see it end, but as all good things seem to do my vacation has ended.  I've been home for over two weeks now and have been trying to recuperate during that time.  The trip though fun was rather draining physically and mentally.  Getting back on my blog might be a bit tough for me.  I guess I was struggling before the trip though and going on vacation probably has little to do with having much enthusiasm for blogging.

      Anyway, I'm here today to ask a favor--a big favor.

      My oldest granddaughter, Marley Lego, has been singing since she was a baby and over the past several years has taken up a number of instruments.  She's becoming a rather accomplished musician who sings solo gigs as well as playing marimba in the high school band and singing and playing in various rock bands.  She's still in middle school, but recognizing her musical abilities, her music teacher convinced her to join the high school band which she has been doing for over a year now.

       All my New Jersey grandkids came to Tennessee with their parents during our vacation.  We stayed in a wonderful camping resort called Little Arrow in Townsend TN.  Nightly Marley would perform for us as we gathered round the campfire (so to speak) and dazzle us with her singing and playing talents.  I absolutely loved having that time with Marley and all the other kids.

        Something Marley failed to mention to me while I was with her is that she has a YouTube channel with 53 videos so far.  Fortunately, her mother (my youngest daughter) posted one of the videos on Facebook which alerted me to the channel.  Marley started the channel back at the beginning of this year and for now she looks to be experimenting with the medium, but her videos provide a look at some of her talent as well as her fun quirky personality. 

         If she keeps up what she's been doing I can see a lot of potential in her future.  For now though what she needs is more exposure and more followers.  Here's where that favor comes in.  I'm asking you to please check out the video sample I'm including in this post.   Listen to it and like it (hopefully you will like it).   Then, for the biggest favor, please "Subscribe" to her channel.  It's free to do so despite the misleading term of "Subscribe".   All you do is click on "Subscribe" and follow the directions.   I've subscribed to many video channels and really it's no big deal other than occasionally getting notified when a new video is posted on the channel.  Otherwise, no obligations.

        And here's the other part of this favor:   Friday will be Marley's 13th birthday and I'd love to see her reach 100 subscribers by then.   She only needs another 30 or so to reach that goal, so won't you please help her reach it by subscribing and maybe even sharing the video with any of your friends or followers.  Then if you can "Like" at least a few of the videos and maybe leave some encouraging comments you might be an early fan of a future music star!

        Here's one of her videos. Hope you enjoy it!

             Don't forget to "Subscribe" to the channel.   Help Marley achieve her musical dreams!   Thanks to all of you!

Xylophones Are Funny ( #AtoZChallenge )

Think about the last time you saw a cartoon with a funny dancing skeleton.  Can you remember what music was being played?  I can almost guarantee you that whatever the music, the main instrument playing it was a xylophone...

A professional model xylophone

           As I had mentioned in my post for the letter 'F', my father could be quite funny.  I never got tired of watching his comedy juggling act even though I'd heard the jokes and seen the funny tricks more times than I can remember.  My dad had a boldness that I have often envied.  And he could make people laugh.

          When I went on went on with my own solo career in show business, with my father's blessings I incorporated some of his gags into my own comedy juggling act.  As part of my shtick I was introduced as a serious violinist.  Well, as most anyone who has heard me play, I am not strong enough of a violinist to pull off being serious for long.  And though not a strong juggler either, at least I somewhat successfully made a living playing that role.

           There have been a number of comic violinists through the years--Jack Benny and Henny Youngman immediately come to my mind.   Not that playing a violin is inherently funny, but it acts as a humorous prop as people anticipate that they will hear some serious playing that never quite seems to come about.  A person who is not overly funny--like me for instance--will often resort to some prop as a distraction.  The audience sees a guy in a tux come out to begin a serious concert piece that devolves into nonsense--that might be funny.

          While violins are not usually thought of in terms of comedy, the sound of the xylophone is genuinely funny.  Just think about cartoon music.  Do you eventually hear a xylophone somewhere in the music?   Of course you do!  Just like slide whistles, tubas, and trombones.  Instrument sounds can be very funny.  Xylophones are indeed funny!  Hitting tuned wooden bars with a couple of mallets is a funny concept and can be quite funny to watch when performed by the right player.

          Frank Zappa--one of my favorite modern composers--used xylophones often in his music.  There is an absurdity to much of Zappa's music that lends itself well to the comic tinkling of the xylophone.  I'd like to be able to play a xylophone, but a good one can be very expensive and take up a lot of room.  Though necessity might be the mother of invention, it is a fact that I do not need a xylophone.  My wife would be very annoyed if I were to bring a xylophone into our home.  And that wouldn't be funny. 

           But the sound of a xylophone playing can bring a smile to my face as well as an occasional guffaw.  In a way xylophones are kind of ridiculous, but at the same time I find the instrument to be rife with musical possibilities. 

           Not that I'll ever play one or even be around one for much length of time--I can't say for sure right now.  However, one thing of which I have no doubt:  Xylophones are funny!

           Can you name any serious music written for xylophone?   Where can you recall hearing a xylophone used for comic effect?  Who are some of your favorite musician comics?

What Is Your Favorite Kind of Music? (Question of the Month)

       Why do you like what you like?   This is not always an easy question to answer and sometimes there is never one answer that will be consistent throughout ones life.  In my case I've gone through many stages of preferences.  What we like can change throughout our lives.  The quest in this post is to consider questions like "why do our preferences change?"

         For this month's Question topic I'll be discussing musical preference.  However, before you go on, if you haven't voted on my most recent Battle of the Bands post then I hope you will go back to do so.   The song that I've used is one that I like a great deal performed in two styles that I also enjoy.   Listening to this song doesn't answer the question of this month as it applies to me, but it offers a clue.   Well, maybe it does, but then again maybe it doesn't.

        After all, the question of preference can be a complex one that is not easily answered in a few words or paragraphs.   I'll try to keep my answer somewhat brief.

          Did you vote on my Battle?   It's here if you didn't visit yet.

           Now let's move on to the business at hand...


Question of the Month

The Question of the Month is hosted by Michael G D'Agostino from A Life Examined. The first Monday of each month I'll be answering a question posed by Michael prior to event day. Click on the link to his blog for more participants. 

This month's question

      Suggested by Alex J. Cavanaugh, here is the question for this month:

“What kind of music best speaks to you?”

         The subject of preference is one that I've explored many times with no absolute conclusion ever drawn.  Even when it comes down to the specific topic of music I can't name just one specific kind of music.  My ears perk at just about any kind of music since I'm a musically inquisitive person by nature.  Music was a integral part of my upbringing and has played a huge role in my life.  

          Some of my earliest memories involve music and music has been a soundtrack of my life.  Place, time, and circumstance play a role in whatever music I might be listening to.  The company I am keeping or what I need to feel within me can determine what music I am listening to at any given time.  Even an arbitrary intrusion of music will cause me to pause and listen--and ultimately decide if I like what I'm hearing or not.  Rarely do I associate music with any bad memory.  

          Taking for example, as referenced in my current Battle of the Bands post, I have an affinity for Latin flavored music--especially the music of Mexico.  When I was a child my parents often played Latin style music around the house.  I can recall often listening to an album of bullfight music.  My mother used to do housework listening to Perez Prado.   My father was on a continual quest to find catchy fast-paced juggling music which typically would contain lots of Latin style percussion.  Part of my musical fabric was dyed with music from South of the Border and now hearing any of that style of music catches my musical attention as well as takes me to some comfortable emotion within me.  

          Similarly classical and pop music is something I was weaned on from an early age to the extent that listening to either style is now a steady part of my musical diet.  Years of listening to rock music has instilled within me a deep appreciation for all forms of that style and other related styles of music.  Now I long for music in the same way that I feel a need for food, air, and a comfortable place to sleep.  Sometimes the music sets my mood while at other times I decide the playlist. The music is almost always there.  And when the music is not there in the physical realm then it is often playing in my mind.            

            So what specific type of music speaks to me best?  This is a case where superlatives are variables.   The music that speaks best to me depends on me at the moment.  There are times when I don't want to hear any music at all--a rarity, but it has happened.  But then one might argue that this is when the music seeps through the silence--the wind, nature, street sounds, industrial clanking, or even the beat of my own heart and the blood coursing my veins.  

            The music that speaks best to me is whichever music happens to be speaking at the moment.

             What types of music are you most drawn to?    What is the most specific part of music that appeals to you?   Did you ever or do you now play an instrument?  

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What Is The Ultimate Melody?

Personal preference (Photo credit: kevin dooley)

        In my previous Battle of the Bands post I presented a song based on a movement of a string quartet by classical composer Alexander Borodin.   I purposely resorted to using a classical piece with two more poppish versions of the same melody.  I was pleasantly surprised to see some preference for the original version, but as expected many voters were not overly excited about classical music.

Ask Arlee:

        A frequent commenter at Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends and sometimes commenter at Tossing It Out, one who goes by the name "Sheboyganboy Six", posed this question to me:

 What do you think, Arlee? Is there a musical style that you can think of that makes you feel noble?

        This is an interesting way to think of how music might affect me. If I think of "noble" in the sense of an upright feeling evoked by  that which is of lofty nature with higher ideals and greater intellectual value, then generally speaking classical would be that music.  Most other forms of music--rock, jazz, country, etc--appeal firstly to our more physical nature and might be more apt to relate to the rootsy aspects of humanness. That is not to say any of these styles cannot touch us on a higher intellectual, emotional, and spiritual plane.  There are rock songs, country songs, works of jazz, and other music that I've heard that elevates me in some special way, but as a rule the more popular music styles would not elicit any feeling within me that I would call "noble".   Keep in mind that I am generalizing not only popular musical forms, but also classical music--I don't consider all "classical" music especially "good" or at least not all of it appeals to me.

"The Ultimate Melody" by Arthur C. Clarke

        In the same comment where Sheboyganboy Six posed the above question, he introduced me to a science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke.  You can find this story at The Ultimate Melody if you might like to read it--the story is very short (scroll down to about page 24).  The story is about a scientist who is considering what it is that makes a song become popular and speculates what might happen if the one perfect song were ever to be discovered.

          So much music now seems almost manufactured as though it had been composed by a computer program  I suppose there is some music that actually has been computer generated.  Is this music good?   Has music become better with computer enhancement?   Where might we be headed with music in the future?

How Does Musical Preference Come About?

          The question of why people like the music they like is huge--much bigger than can be fit into one blog post.  Instead of trying to answer this question with my inadequate research, I will offer some basic premises based on what some of you have said and what I have surmised based on my own observations.  For some of you I am probably stating the obvious, but this list is a place to begin:

• Cultural--We will be typically inclined to prefer music of our cultural heritage and ethnicity, or at least have a sentimental attachment to it.
• Regional or Geographical--A good many Americans from the South might prefer country while people from urban areas might prefer urban, club, or jazz.  Or certain areas of South America will have specific musical styles.   This is generally true in many parts of the world.
• Musical upbringing--If music played an important role in our household as we were growing up we might be apt to appreciate the styles of music we grew up with.
• Peer influence--People are likely to gain an affinity for the music their friends are listening to as well as whatever is trending with those of their generation.
• Media and influence of popular culture--This would be related to peer influence.  Whatever begins to trend in certain groups may be pushed further by media, public events, and the entertainment culture.
• Educational influence--Music appreciation classes and music academics introduce styles of music that are embraced by members in those strata of society.
• Conditioning by repetition--We may hear music played repeatedly until it becomes familiar to us and we associate it with various feelings and memories.
• Positive sensory effects produced by music-- When music causes a pleasant sensation then we are apt to like it.  This can be evident in rhythms, tonal progressions, or harmonies.  Is it easy to dance to or sing along with?   If we respond positively to a piece of music then we probably like it.
• The Unknown Factor--This can be a result of a combination of two or more of the previously mentioned concepts or something not mentioned in this list.

What About Music We Say We Don't Like?

      By no means is the previous list definitive.  There are undoubtedly many other reasons we like what we like.  When we hear something and immediately know that we like the music we are hearing, it is most likely rooted in some aspect of the list that I've offered.  But what about those things we don't like?   Here's another similar list that might explain the other side of preference:

• Unfamiliarity--Music that is unfamiliar or unnatural sounding to us because of cultural, regionality, or style that we are not accustomed to hearing might initially be rejected by our ears and mind.
• Musical antagonism--This could be rooted in a sort of prejudice or a discomfort with particular ethnicities or cultures.
• Peer or familial rejection of a style--We may not like something because our friends or family don't like it.
• Not part of musical mainstream--If a particular style of music is not popular in the media or with the public in general we might be apt to reject it as well.
• Lack of understanding or education about a musical style--This is particularly true of classical and jazz.  If we haven't taken time to learn something about the music and haven't tried to understand it then we might decide that we do not like it.  Some music is more difficult than other kinds and requires a certain amount of musical education which in turn requires patience and a willingness to learn.
• Preconceived notions--Sometimes we might reject certain music because we have an unfounded or unreasonable opinion already devised within our minds.
• Stubborn refusal to like a style of music--Many people will just say they don't like such and such style of music because that's what they've always believed and said and they are unwilling to make an honest attempt to learn to enjoy a certain musical style.

  

What's the Conclusion?

   

          Sure, I've generalized greatly on both the like and dislike aspects of music, but this is only a place to start.  There have undoubtedly been a number of studies done and books written on this topic.  In my future Battle of the Bands posts I'm sure to get more negative comments about the songs I choose, but I hope that more often those negatives will be accompanied by some sound reasoning.  

        When you start wondering why you like what you like and don't like what you don't like, you might just start to realize that you are dealing with some illogical reasoning if there is any reasoning to be had at all.   I find it difficult to accept "just because" as an answer.   It may have worked for me when I was a kid, but when you dig down deep you realize that there is never a "just because". 

Coming This Sunday June 15th!

          The next Battle of the Bands entries will be presented this coming Sunday June 15th.   My song selection and versions chosen will be unlikely to create as much controversy as my previous Battle.  Instead I will be sticking with an appropriate Sunday song that is more rooted to the Earth in musical style, but looking into the furthest reaches of the universe and the infinite span of time.  The song is by one of my favorite singer/songwriters.   He is an artist classified as folk/rock who has been recording for about 40 years and continues to maintain an almost cult-like following.   It is not Bruce Springsteen.

          With the clues I've provided does anyone care to guess the artist and song?   I think Larry Cavanaugh might have a good idea who it is since he is so knowledgeable about modern music and has a sense about my musical taste.  Anyone else?

          Do you have any other like/don't like reasons to add to my lists above?   What song do you think comes closest to being an "Ultimate Melody"?   Other than to appease the questions of a child, do you think that "Just Because" is ever a reasonable answer or is it just an easy way of not having to think more deeply about a question?

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