Music Theory tends to focus almost exclusively on harmony, and this blog is no exception, but the rhythmic dimension of music often gets the shaft. Rhythm is the means by which melody and harmony make themselves known. Rhythm may be the most important of the three when determining how to distinguish different musical genres. (Of […]
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Sacred Fart
Stay on the farty side, always on the farty side; stay on the farty side of life. You shall feel no pain whilst we drive you insane.
Me Chinese Melody
There is a cliché in popular music used to evoke the Far East flavor—Chinese, Japanese, Nipponese, you-name-it-ese. It goes like: “di di di di di, di, di, di, diii.” Click the score below to listen (or stop). Warning: Recorders! The Oriental Melody dates as far back as the mid-1800s. Quartal parallel harmonies in a pentatonic […]
The Mystic Chord
Alexander Scriabin, the great Russian tone poet, was particularly fond of a 6-note chord that his disciples dubbed “the mystic chord.” Drag horizontally over the bass and treble to hear the top 3 and bottom 3 notes separately, or drag vertically and lickety-quickly to hear the full 6-note chord. The Mystic Chord is known as […]
New Video
A collage video is created for “Pari Passu”, the Latin love song.
All Alone
Is life a serious and stuffy affair? With shirts stuffed for Summer and butts stuffed for Winter? Does the Hereafter call out to you, as it did for old Walt Whitman, whispering sweet salad verses of “death’s death deathingly” from the waves of the Long Island Sea? Or does the Endless Nameless dog at your […]
Olly Olly Oxen Free
“Olly Olly Oxen Free” is the penultimate song off e’rebody, and the final act of the Playground Trilogy that began with “Farted On” and “Westminster Quarters”. Built around the common melody of a Minor Third interval from the kid’s game Hide-and-Seek, “Olly” features a fun fanfare chorus, puzzle-box structure, and at eight and half minutes, […]
