Monthly Archives: November 2021

Music – November 15 – 19

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21-22 – General Ed – Week of 11/15 – 11/19

Instrument of the Week

The String Family

The Viola

The viola (/viˈoʊlə/ vee-OH-lə,[1][2] also UK: /vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə,[3][4][a] Italian: [ˈvjɔːla, viˈɔːla]) is a string instrument that is bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. It is slightly larger than a violin and has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the violin family, between the violin (which is tuned a perfect fifth above) and the cello (which is tuned an octave below).[5] The strings from low to high are typically tuned to C3, G3, D4, and A4.

In the past, the viola varied in size and style, as did its names.[citation needed] The word viola originates from the Italian language. The Italians often used the term viola da braccio meaning literally: ‘of the arm’. “Brazzo” was another Italian word for the viola, which the Germans adopted as Bratsche. The French had their own names: cinquiesme was a small viola, haute contre was a large viola, and taile was a tenor. Today, the French use the term alto, a reference to its range.

The viola was popular in the heyday of five-part harmony, up until the eighteenth century, taking three lines of the harmony and occasionally playing the melody line.[citation needed] Music for the viola differs from most other instruments in that it primarily uses the alto clef. When viola music has substantial sections in a higher register, it switches to the treble clef to make it easier to read.

The viola often plays the “inner voices” in string quartets and symphonic writing, and it is more likely than the first violin to play accompaniment parts. The viola occasionally plays a major, soloistic role in orchestral music. Examples include the symphonic poem, Don Quixote, by Richard Strauss, and the symphony/concerto, Harold en Italie, by Hector Berlioz.[citation needed] In the earlier part of the 20th century, more composers began to write for the viola, encouraged by the emergence of specialized soloists such as Lionel Tertis and William Primrose. English composers Arthur Bliss, York Bowen, Benjamin Dale, Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten, Rebecca Clarke and Ralph Vaughan Williams all wrote substantial chamber and concert works.[citation needed] Many of these pieces were commissioned by, or written for Lionel Tertis.[citation needed] William Walton, Bohuslav Martinů, Tōru Takemitsu, Tibor Serly, Alfred Schnittke, and Béla Bartók have written well-known viola concertos. The concerti by Béla Bartók, Paul Hindemith, Carl Stamitz, Georg Philipp Telemann, and William Walton are considered major works of the viola repertoire.[citation needed] Paul Hindemith, who was a violist, wrote a substantial amount of music for viola, including the concerto Der Schwanendreher.

J.S.Bach, suite nº1 para viola sola. Irina Yonkova.

Beauty and the Beast – Evermore (Viola Cover)

Musical Fact Of The Week

What is the most popular string instrument?

Plucked (or Picked) String Instruments

  • Guitar. At this point, the guitar is probably the most popular stringed instrument. …
  • Banjo. In its essence, banjo also relies on the same basic principles as the guitar does. …
  • Bass Guitar. …
  • Harp. …
  • Mandolin. …
  • Ukulele. …
  • Violin. …
  • Cello.

Michael Jackson – Beat It – Electric Guitar Cover by Kfir Ochaion – Spark

EMINEM ON GUITAR (Lose Yourself) – Luca Stricagnoli – Fingerstyle Guitar Cover

Music – November 8 – 12

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21-22 – Gen Ed – Week of 11/8 – 11/12

Instrument of the Week

The String Family

The Violin

The violin, sometimes known as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular use.[a] The violin typically has four strings, (some can have five), usually tuned in perfect fifths with notes G3, D4, A4, E5, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its strings. It can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and, in specialized cases, by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow (col legno).

Violins are important instruments in a wide variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in the Western classical tradition, both in ensembles (from chamber music to orchestras) and as solo instruments. Violins are also important in many varieties of folk music, including country music, bluegrass music, and in jazz. Electric violins with solid bodies and piezoelectric pickups are used in some forms of rock music and jazz fusion, with the pickups plugged into instrument amplifiers and speakers to produce sound. The violin has come to be incorporated in many non-Western music cultures, including Indian music and Iranian music. The name fiddle is often used regardless of the type of music played on it.

The violin was first known in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries to give the instrument a more powerful sound and projection. In Europe, it served as the basis for the development of other stringed instruments used in Western classical music, such as the viola.[1][2][3]

Violinists and collectors particularly prize the fine historical instruments made by the Stradivari, Guarneri, Guadagnini and Amati families from the 16th to the 18th century in Brescia and Cremona (Italy) and by Jacob Stainer in Austria. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or equal it, though this belief is disputed.[4][5] Great numbers of instruments have come from the hands of less famous makers, as well as still greater numbers of mass-produced commercial “trade violins” coming from cottage industries in places such as Saxony, Bohemia, and Mirecourt. Many of these trade instruments were formerly sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers.

The components of a violin are usually made from different types of wood. Violins can be strung with gut, Perlon or other synthetic, or steel strings. A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier or violinmaker. One who makes or repairs bows is called an archetier or bowmaker.

N. Paganini Caprice no. 5 | Sumina Studer

Sumina Studer, 19 years old, plays Niccolo Paganini’s Caprice no. 5 from his 24 caprices for solo violin, Op. 1 in November 2016 at the Konzerthaus Berlin. 

Can’t Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley – Violin cover

This was the song my parent’s danced their first dance at their wedding.  They were high school sweethearts.

Musical Fact Of The Week

What Is the Most Popular Instrument to Play?

  • #1 – Piano. It might surprise you to know that 21 million Americans play the piano! …
  • #2 – Guitar. …
  • #3 – Violin. …
  • #4 – Drums. …
  • #5 – Saxophone. …
  • #6 – Flute. …
  • #7 – Cello. …
  • #8 – Clarinet.

Tchaikovsky – Waltz of the Flowers (The Nutcracker Suite)

Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah (Piano Cover)

KIDZ BOP Kids – Levitating (Official Music Video) [KIDZ BOP 2022]

KIDZ BOP – Levitating #Shorts

Music – November 4 – 8

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21-22 – GE – Week of 11/1 – 11/5

Instrument of the Week

The Woodwind Family

The Ocarina

The ocarina is a wind musical instrument—a type of vessel flute.[1] Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body. It is traditionally made from clay or ceramic, but other materials are also used—such as plastic, wood, glass, metal, or bone.

The ocarina belongs to a very old family of instruments, believed to date back over 12,000 years.[2] Ocarina-type instruments have been of particular importance in Chinese and Mesoamerican cultures. For the Chinese, the instrument played an important role in their long history of song and dance. The ocarina has similar features to the Xun (塤), another important Chinese instrument (but is different in that the ocarina uses an internal duct, whereas the Xun is blown across the outer edge).[3] In Japan, the traditional ocarina is known as the tsuchibue (kanji: 土笛; literally “earthen flute”), whereas “ocarina” comes from the Italian for “little goose”. Different expeditions to Mesoamerica, including the one conducted by Cortés, resulted in the introduction of the ocarina to the courts of Europe. Both the Mayans and Aztecs produced versions of the ocarina, but it was the Aztecs who brought to Europe the song and dance that accompanied the ocarina. The ocarina went on to become popular in European communities as a toy instrument.[1]

Ocarina, c. 1900, Museu de la Música de Barcelona

One of the oldest ocarinas found in Europe is from Runik, Kosovo. The Runik ocarina is a Neolithic flute-like wind instrument, and is the earliest prehistoric musical instrument ever recorded in Kosovo.[4] The modern European ocarina dates back to the 19th century, when Giuseppe Donati from Budrio, a town near Bologna, Italy, transformed the ocarina from a toy, which played only a few notes, into a more comprehensive instrument (known as the first “classical” ocarina). The word ocarina in the Bolognese dialect of the Emiliano-Romagnolo language means “little goose.” The earlier form was known in Europe as a gemshorn, which was made from animal horns of the chamois (Dutch: gems).[5]

In 1964, John Taylor, an English mathematician, developed a fingering system that allowed an ocarina to play a full chromatic octave using only four holes.[1] This is now known as the English fingering system, and is used extensively for pendant ocarinas. It is also used in several multi-chamber ocarinas, especially in ones that are designed to play more than one note at a time.

The ocarina features prominently in both NES and Nintendo 64 games, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask and Earthbound Beginnings. The games have been credited for increasing the popularity of ocarinas and the sale of them.[6] In the 1953 Finnish children’s book Tirlittan, the title character also plays an ocarina.[7]

The Hobbit – Misty Mountains Cold on STL Ocarina

Believer – Imagine Dragons – Ocarina Cover || David Erick Ramos

Musical Fact Of The Week

Question

Which rock band is the most popular ever?

Answer

The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the Eagles sold the most albums, as measured by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Here comes the sun with lyrics The Beatles

The Beatles Hello, Goodbye ( Lyrics )

KIDZ BOP Kids – Get The Party Started (Dance Along) [KIDZ BOP All-Time Greatest Hits]

KIDZ BOP – Dynamite #Shorts

Lyrics: “For the First Time in Forever” (Disney’s Frozen)