Listening Log

Name:

Course:

Lecturer:

Date:

Listening Log

Daniel Barenboim – Adagio Sostenuto

The song Adagio Sostenuto by Daniel Barenboim is a classical piece that is mostly composed of playing the piano. The song has no other instruments playing and it has a slow tempo. The chords of the song are elongated melodies since from name sostenuto means ‘to sustain’. The piece was written and composed by Beethoven and it seems Barenboim is adjusting the tempo to the best of his understanding.

The song is composed of a series of chords that are slow. This is so because the original version of the piece was quite slow and in the writing of the notes, Beethoven advised performers to play the song not too romantically and not too fast. The tempo was to remain as he had set it and if varied, not by far. The piece has no vocals and its art is the way the performer expresses himself through the keys he plays and the elongation of the notes. The piece sounds as though it is a part of another larger one since its start is not a normal one. It has the C sharp minor key.

As I listen to the piece, it has no sudden movements and it is very slow. It arouses a tranquil feeling in me. The piece sounds to have been done in pianissimo and the highest sound it gets to is mezzo forte. I like the piece due to its soothing, cool and calm feel.

Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze

The song is characterized by a set of guitars that Hendrix uses. Drums are also used and a set of custom pedals that make the guitars produce a distinct sound. The pedals have the effect of either raising or lowering the guitar by a full octave. The background track sounds distant and it seems his producer used very unusual studio tricks to get the unique effect. By my analysis, I think it was done by putting a pair of headphones around a microphone and then recording it while in that position to get the echo effect. The song ‘Purple Haze’ is two minutes and fifty-three seconds long. The song starts by a guitar playing and then, the drums come in and go along with the guitar. The melody then changes and it acquires a tune followed by the vocals.

The song has an opening chord of two riffs followed by an interval of flattened fifth. This is called the d5 or better known as the tritone. The chord has long been regarded as one of the imperfect dissonances and it was generally avoided in composition for its rare characteristic. Harmonically, the chord is ambiguous. The arpeggio is an extended dominant harmony that uses the sharpened or augmented ninth. The song fits perfectly in the rock and roll genre and it acts as one of the first songs in this genre.

Since the song is about a dream, it creates a controversial question whether the musician was really in a dream or his ‘dream’ was a state of substance intoxication. This is because it bears the characteristics of both major and minor chords. It is also ambiguous since it can be found in the octatonic scale, which is tonally ambiguous. Hendrix uses this style to make it more of a jazz piece than a blues piece. The song displays the classic guitar playing skills of the musician and fabulous band work. I like the piece, first due to its guitar work, and second due to its theme; it is believed the song was written after Hendrix had a weird dream.

Yo-Yo Ma – Allemande

The piece is composed of mainly a violin from the beginning to the end. There are no vocals whatsoever in the piece. ‘Allemande’ is composed of broad harmonies that are divided into two major parts. The two parts are equal in length as they are twelve bars each. The piece begins with a short note, a style common in such music pieces, and it is followed by an arpeggio of the tonic chord. The piece is composed of semiquavers that create a melodic sequence creating a straightforward harmony.

There is a fluctuation of bass in the piece and a unique characteristic of an F sharp in the second chord. The piece has a clear sequence since its series of arpeggios and chords can be heard clearly. Both parts begin in exactly the same way and have the same texture of semiquavers. The tempos in both parts are also maintained. The piece also has a sequence of modulations and the second part of the piece has a more concrete use of language than the first part.

Although the piece was originally done by Bach, Ma brings it out very well. It has the feel of a classical music piece and it sounds ancient. The reverberation from the room in which it is performed also contributes to its good sound since it seems to have three walls and the other missing part of the wall gives space to the outside. I can hear the sound of birds chirping and some point a chopper passes noting that the piece was performed by a person living in our time. As I listen to the piece, a soothing feeling is aroused in my spirit and as the violin fluctuates up and down the feel of the music sinks in more. It almost lulls me to sleep. I like the song mostly due to its violin sound since I love violins and due to the music work done in it. The music work was done patiently and was composed to bring the exact feeling of soothing calm and relaxation.

Patsy Cline – Crazy

The song has a slow tempo and has a classical country music feel. The song is characterized by the playing of guitars, a violin, a bass violin and a bass guitar. Her last word in the lyrics that ends in an elongated ‘you’ sounds to be an echo. It sounds like in her first take she did the part so loud that it echoed through her headphones into the studio and back to her microphone. Cline has a very beautiful voice and in her delivery of the song, she gives it her best; just by the sound of it.

The song is a poem of sorts since it has a common last line in its stanzas that says ‘and I’m crazy for loving you’. The song expresses the singer’s feelings on events that take place in her life that she considers impossible. She calls herself crazy since she gets feelings that she does not expect to feel. As I listen to the song, a cool calm relaxing feeling engulfs my mood and the sadness of the singer is expressed in my feelings. Her soft voice that almost sounds like crying expresses her pain and disappointment in the person she addresses and the person whom she feels crazy for loving. I like the song since it is meant for a person who does not appreciate the love that Cline gives him. I like the song also due to its brief nature; it is straight to the point.

Bob Dylan- Blowin’ In The Wind

The song has a country music style of guitar playing. It has a balanced vocal set, which goes slightly higher than the instrumental and varies when the vocals go quiet. Dylan, sings while asking several life questions and the title of the song acts as his catch phrase since he uses it to provide an answer to each question he asks. Dylan, I think, is trying to spark thought in his listener’s minds by asking the questions. Since the song was written in the time of the Vietnam War, I think it is about peace and highlighting the hardships, death and destruction that was going on in the world then.

He never directly answers any of the questions and this is to signify that the listeners have to conclude the answers for themselves. In his lyrics, he uses the question, ‘how many’. I think that this means that the situations he talks about in the second parts of the questions have occurred too many a times and should not happen again. I like the song due to the guitar work done by Dylan and due to its message of peace love and unity.

Bob Marley – Duppy Conqueror

The song is characterized by the playing of guitars; the sound of a drum set is also heard. The sound of a percussion instrument that sounds hand held is also heard. A piano is also present from the sound of the instrumentals. The song has a reggae feel and the combination of instruments gives it the reggae atmosphere. The song is composed of the repetition of the same guitar chords composed of the notes C F G and F in different intonations. This makes the verses appear similar and the stanzas too.

The song is about the ability of Marley to fight against evil spirits. This I learn from the Jamaican myth that the soul of any man has two parts to it, the good part and the evil part. They believe that after one dies, the good part ascends to heaven and the evil part becomes a ghost or ‘duppy’, if not well protected, and roams the earth, haunting people. The song therefore is about the ability to stand against these evil spirits and conquer them hence its title ‘Duppy Conquerer’. I like the song mainly due to its originality in the reggae genre and due to its message about fighting evil spirits. I also have great respect for Bob Marley, as he was one of my inspirations to study music.