Take A Musical Trip: Norwegian Folk Music

Norwegian music is very enchanting and mystical. Their voices are able to carry forever. Norwegian culture comes from the Vikings. Many of these folk songs and chants tell a story of the old times and traditions. The Nordic culture has survived from their storytelling abilities.

Norwegian folk music may be divided into two categories: instrumental and vocal. Instrumental is Norwegians dance music.

The most important folk music instrument in Norway is the Hardanger fiddle. It is only to be found in Norway, primarily in the western and central part of the country. The Hardanger fiddle dates back to around 1700.

Instrumental

Other Norwegian traditional instruments include:
  • bukkehorn (goat horn)
  • harpeleik (chorded zither)
  • langeleik (box dulcimer)
  • lur (an older, trumpet-like instrument)
  • seljefløyte, a willow flute.
  • tungehorn and Melhus (clarinets)
  • munnharpe.

 

 

Vocal

Many of the times in tradition the Nordic people sang in large Cathedrals which makes for amazing acoustics.

 

One more: I really liked this one. I wish I know what instruments were played in this it is beautiful.

 

Work Sited:

“Folk Music in Norway.” Folk Music in Norway – Listen to Norway, www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2002100912335347083543.

“Music of Norway.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Oct. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Norway#Traditional_and_folk_music.

INNOVATIONS AND EVOLUTIONS Electric Guitar

 

The history of the electric guitar starts with the acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar was a great way to enhance music in small venues such as home and around the fire. In 1920’s-1930’s “big band” music became popular and guitars were used as Rhythm instruments.  As the music venues began to grow, there was a need to be able to make the guitar louder to be heard over the louder horn instruments, in order to carry those sweet musical notes to the furthest listener in the back.

George Beauchamp and John Dopyera were the first to manufacture the first electric guitars in the 1930’s. This electric guitar was known as the, “frying pan” because of its shape. What made this guitar special was they designed it to have an electromagnetic pickup, this one used two horseshoe magnets.                                                                                                                                             

The electric guitar continued to transform. Orville Gibson created the first modern electric guitar, the ES-150. This model was a huge step to the electric guitar we know today. The biggest difference was it still had a hollow body like the acoustic guitar, this caused feedback, and distortion from the vibrations being amplified.

 

Les Paul had solved this problem in the 1940’s by creating an electric guitar with a solid body labeled the “log”. Les Paul paired up with Leo Fender and changed the sound of the guitar forever.

By the 1960’s the electric guitar was a staple in country, blues, and rock and roll. Since then there has been a large number of makes and models of the electric guitar made and sold allowing for some of the greatest songs to be created.

In the 2000’s the most recent history of the electric guitar, a video game named guitar hero came out allowing the most novice of guitar players to shred some cords and rock out like the pros.

Image result for guitar hero

This video is known as one of the first recordings of a true electric guitar by Big Bill Broonzy, on March 1, 1938.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Published on Oct 26, 2009
The electric guitar can be heard very well in this song. It has creat runs that stretch and pierce the ears in a pleasant way.

 

Work Cited:

nospaulatu. “History of the Electric Guitar.” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Apr. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAEqhnUKuVc.

Guitar.”, “Electric. “Electric Guitar.” How Products Are Made, Encyclopedia.com, 2018, www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/performing-arts/music-history/electric-guitar.

https://bajareview.com/2018/04/27/first-recorded-electric-guitar-solo/

 

 

Musical Analysis #2

Elle King-No One Can Save You

Published on Apr 20, 2009-USA

Music Video by Jason Druss Music

Lyrics by Elle King
Please enjoy by clicking the link below:
From the moment I heard this song, I fell in love with it, this song continues to ring in my ears and heart well after listening to it. Elle King puts so much emotion into this song in a simple way but yet her voice and the rawness of the song captures the struggle of love, relationships, letting go and gaining self-worth.
“I gave you my everything. And you threw it all away, away”
“So you enjoy a life of lonely misery”
Harmonic texture:
This song is an example of Homophonic texture. It is just her and the guitar. Very simple and clean making it very easy to listen to the melody.
Chords/Form:
No One Can Save You, is arranged in AB form with two contrasting sections. The Verse consists of four Chords and the Chorus has five Chords for a total of nine.
Timber:
When I listen to this song and think of a cool blue tone, bluesy. Elle King has that “cool” soulful tone to her music that is recognizable to her fans.
Pitch:
In the intro and when she starts to sing she is very relaxed and rather low pitched and as she starts to get worked up in the lyrics, her pitch starts to climb to almost a point that it adds strain to her voice. This is where that rawness comes from. Some people on the youtube comments referred to her voice as winy but I feel it as heartache/struggle.
It almost sounds like they are recording with an autotune.

Sources:

“Elle King – No One Can Save You (Chords).” Explore Tabs @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com, 4 Feb. 2014, tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/elle_king/no_one_can_save_you_chords_1460583.

“Elle King – No One Can Save You.” YouTube, 20 Apr. 2009, youtu.be/FKHgzYqEUWs.

https://bbook.com/music/singer-songwriter-elle-king-breaks-away-from-a-troubled-adolescence/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musical Analysis #1: Chris Cornell, Nothing Compares To You.

Christopher John Cornell (Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist for Soundgarden and Audioslave. Cornell is considered one of the great contributors to the 1990s grunge movement and is well known for his extensive catalog as a songwriter, his nearly four-octave vocal range and his powerful vocal belting techniques. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cornell

https://youtu.be/IuUDRU9-HRk

Please click on the video above to listen to the full song-

Lyrics:  Many may not know this song was written and composed by Prince.

According to Wikapedia, “Prince’s original 1984 recording of the song was not released until 2018, when it was issued as a single by Warner Bros. Records in conjunction with his estate.[9]In addition, the Prince version was given its own music video, released in conjunction with the studio recording on April 19, 2018; the video consists of edited rehearsal footage shot in the summer of 1984″.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Compares_2_U

This ballad was made well known in 1990 when Sinéad O’Connor did a cover making the song world known, and Chris Cornell made this recording the day after Prince’s death.

Beat: The beat of this song is very slow but is pretty consistent through the song.

Chords: The cords in Nothing compares to you are simple, but sweet. Chris Cornell plays his guitar in this song consisting mostly of 3 cords.

Intervals: The music and lyrics for Nothing Compares to You, don’t demonstrate many leaps but changes gradually and builds towards the end of the song.

It is hard to listen to the lyrics of this song without feeling something if you have lost someone either emotionally or physically and the harmony seems to resonate with you and hits home.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cornell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Compares_2_U

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Compares_2_U