All in All

Over all music is a really great thing, it can help people through things and it gives you something to listen to when you are bored or alone. And it even gives people careers.

          Music can be a life saver in some cases, for example people with anxiety and depression listen to songs to help them stay calm. Or in the case of music therapy it helps people with autism, it helps them stay focused and learn people skills plus a lot of other things.

          Music can help bring people together, such as school dances, a bunch of people from your school go to have fun. Or honor bands, which bring a bunch of different people from all over to come together and become one band, and it gives you a great opportunity to meet people who have similar interests as you and who enjoy band.

          Music is a great thing for many people and helps people, and if it doesn’t for you or you don’t fall into any of the groups, or if you don’t like music at all. It doesn’t mean that you are weird or different, it just means that you don’t enjoy what some other people do.

Why

The song Why by Rascal Flatts is very powerful. He sings about something that many people ignore. The whole song is about suicide and depression.

“It must have been a place so dark you couldn’t feel the light, reaching for you through that stormy cloud.

Now here we are gathered in our little home town, this can’t be the way you meant to draw a crowd”

The first verse of this song kind of hints at the whole depression thing and people who do suffer with depression knows exactly how this feels. Also when he uses the phrase “reaching for you through that stormy cloud” it is kind of referring to commercials about depression medicine because that is how they mark people with depression. Walking around with a grey storm cloud above their head.

“Oh, why that’s what I keep asking. Was there anything I could have said or done.

Oh I had no clue you were masking a troubled soul, God only knows what went wrong. And why you would leave the stage in the middle of a song.”

The chorus of the song refers back to the title of the song. Why. It kind of goes back to the whole suicide thing but it is not as clear in this verse as in others. Such as the next verse:

“Now in my mind I keep you frozen as a seventeen year old, rounding third to score the winning run.

You always played with passion, no matter what the game. When you took the stage you shined just like the sun.”

This verse makes it clear about the person who killed themselves was a 17 year old. It doesn’t say if it was a girl or boy. When he says “why would you leave the stage in the middle of a song” He is talking about life and dying too early or giving up.

“The tangled thoughts I hear, a mockingbird sing. This whole world really ain’t that bad a place.

Oh why, there’s no comprehending and who am I to try to judge or explain.

Oh, but I do have one burning question, who told you life wasn’t worth the fight. They were wrong. They lied. Now you’re gone and we cry, cause it’s not like you to walk away in the middle of a song.”

The last verses of this song is where it can hit people hard, especially if they have had a loved one or someone that they know closely take their own life or die at a young age. These verses sing about how people feel. About how it’s not fair and that they don’t understand.

Maybe this song is sad but does it really matter? It’s the words that matter because people can connect to them and that’s really what makes a song great.

Flute Choir

                We usually have a Flute Choir every year. Usually one with Symphonic Band and another one with Wind Symphony and this year isn’t any different. We have four kinds of flutes inside our flute choir. We have, of course, the normal C flute, then we have the bass flute; which is the lowest we have in the choir, then we have the alto flute; which is kind of like the bass but it is higher and not as large and heavy. And then last but not least we have the piccolo; which is the smallest and highest in the choir.

            The bass flute is huge and heavy. It curves to form the mouth piece, which makes it heavier because there is more metal. There are also a lot more keys and it requires more air because of how low it is. The high F on the bass flute is like middle F on the C flute.

            The alto flute is another version of the flute. It is wider than the C flute but not quite as wide as the bass flute. It plays higher than the bass flute but not as high as the C flute.

            The C flute is the normal flute that you see most people playing. It is the easiest of all of them to play and many times it is less expensive than the others because it is more common. For example during marching band and concert band we only use the C flutes and piccolos, and the other two are saved for flute choir.

            Then there is the piccolo, which is the smallest, lightest and the most fun to play. It plays an octave above the C flute. Playing high notes that are above the staff on the flute takes a lot of air and is usually pretty ear piercing because of the pitch.

      Flute choir is a lot of fun to be in but it usually takes a lot of work and practice because it is usually a pretty decent size group so it is pretty rough trying to get everyone to play the right rhythm at the right time. Since we usually don’t have all that much time to preform our director gives us music that we are able to get together in a pretty small amount of time.

            Our director Mrs. Fleer is “in charge” of conducting both flute choirs and helps us through rehearsals to make sure we can play through the whole thing without any mistakes. 

All City and State Music Contest

      All City and State Music Contests are great ways to see how good of a musician you are. All City comes first and State usually comes the weekend afterwards. There are many groups who can perform at either of the contests. Here are a couple of groups you can be involved in if you are a musician, and some groups depend on what instrument you play.

·       Solos

·       Duets

·       Trios

·       Quartets

·       Wood Wind Choir

·       Brass Choir

·       Flute Choir

·       Clarinet Choir

·       Percussion Ensemble

The list goes on and on. There are so many different options for both of the contests. All City is the “easier” of the two contests and State is obviously the harder one. All City contest is like a practice for State contest because the judges at State judge way harder than the ones at City.

          For City there are three scores you can get I, II, or III. Getting an I is the best and III is the worst. At State there are 5 different scores you can get an I, II, II, IV, or V. Same concept as before. A I is the best and V is the worst.

Pandora

          Pandora is a pretty great app for just listening to music if you are bored. You get to choose what types of music you want to listen to and what artist you want to hear. Also if you don’t like a specific song you can give it a thumbs down and it won’t get played at all anymore on that station.

          If you really like a song you can give any particular song a thumbs up if you like it and that station will continue playing it and it will also play others that are similar to that song.

          Pandora is a nice app if you are really picky about music or if you don’t care what you listen to at all. So if you don’t already have the app or have never tried it out or never even heard of it, I would definitely recommend giving Pandora a try.

Academic Assembly

          The academic assembly happens every year and usually drags on forever. A majority of the school doesn’t even want to go to it but what choice does many of the under class men have? They have to go whether they want to or not.

          Every year some kind of group usually preforms, this year it was the full orchestra, involving the symphony orchestra and some people from wind symphony. Also there is usually a choir group that sings for everyone, and of course improv team.

          Usually the groups who preform have to go whenever Mr. Kline tells them to because there is so many names and organizations that get recognized that it will take longer if they all go at one time. This year there is about 20 Japanese foreign exchange students here at Kennedy High School staying with various people who are in the Japanese class. So since they are all here visiting they had a little dance performance for all of us to show us some of their style of music and dance.

          Although the assemblies are usually super long and boring and nobody really pays attention, the music that is preformed there and the different groups who go up on stage and preform are usually super cool. No one really cares about the names that are being read unless they are part of the group who is waiting to get called up. The only thing that people really watch or pay at least some sort of attention to is improv and choir sometimes. Many people don’t pay attention when band plays because they are in the back of the gym so many people talk or are on their phones while the band or full orchestra plays their song or songs depending on how long they are and how much time they have.

Changes over the ages

  There have been many changes in the way music is portrayed in the last 70 years (http://gizmodo.com/how-music-has-evolved-in-the-past-70-years-1485770090) Many different aspects have contributed to the way the music has changed. The website named above listed many different things to help give reasoning and proof of the way that is has changed.

          A couple ways that music has changed in the last 70 years are: it is more energetic, less organic, louder, and faster. All of these things have different aspects but they all trace back to the one thing that they are all about, MUSIC.

          Music has started to become less organic, which basically means that it is more electronic now than it has been in the past. This is not a bad thing, because it has gotten more people interested in music, but it also takes away from the artist’s uniqueness.

          As everyone knows today’s music is faster, for example: rap. In most rap songs today it is hard to understand what they are even saying because the song is going so fast and they are talking/rapping too fast for many people to catch on to what they are saying.

          Music is becoming way LOUDER, and that is easy to understand. More and more people enjoy rolling their windows down with their favorite songs blasting on the radio, because that has been the normal way that people have become used to listening to it.

          Another change is that music has become more energetic. Although it might be a little different change and a little hard to understand. It makes sense because people and artists today get more into the music that they sing or preform and the people that listen to it enjoy it more and more.

          Throughout all the changes that are happening in music there are still things that stay the same. One of the things that have stayed the same is the people who listen to it, even though people switch back and forth in between different genres of music, people still continue to listen to it and find a certain artist, group, or just type of music that they really enjoy listening to.

          Many artists have also had to make a change as the music industry is changing. Sometimes it is harder to tell what ones and who have changed because they are usually not super big changes all happening at one time. They are usually smaller changes that occur over a longer period of time. Miley Cyrus, Brittney Spears; etc. The list is never ending. Even Taylor Swift has changed with the music industry. She has changed the genre that she associates herself with. Everyone used to know her as a country singer, but now she is more of a pop singer and not everyone likes that.

As music changes the overall concept stays the same. Although not all of the changes that have been made are good ones; for example take a look at Miley Cyrus and what the fame has done to her and how much it has changed her as a person as well as changing her music.

Taking music for granted

Many people take music for granted, but the music industry has come really far compared to where it started off at. In the past, only certain kinds of people were allowed to sing and perform certain kinds of music. For example whites usually sang rock and roll, while African Americans played jazz.

          Today it is much different. Anybody who wants to be a singer or performer can, as long as they have the talent and motivation to do so, and they can be in whatever genre of music they want to be in. Music changes with society. People sing about what people would expect them to sing about, but it is never the same.

          If it wasn’t for people in the past who tried so hard to make music bigger, then there is a possibility that music wouldn’t even be around today, at least not the kind that most typical high school students listen to.

          Many people out there think that music is there for anyone and it always has and always will be, but if you take a closer look into things, that isn’t quite just the case. As more and more people try to become performers and the “new top hit artist” there are more songs being created constantly. As this happens more and more there are less opportunities for new songs. There are only so many things you can sing about without using someone else’s words, rhythm, or style.

          So if you think about it, yes, the music industry is huge right now. But that can lead to a problem in the future, song writers will start using others people’s ideas or songs and leave it with a big controversy. 

Maundy Thursday

This Thursday that is coming up, the 24^th of March, is named many different things in religion. Holy Day, Maundy Thursday, the list goes on and on cause different religions have different names for it. As a youth at a Methodist Church we call it Maundy Thursday. But in all religions it is known as the last day that Jesus was alive.

          As a part of the youth leadership group, we are in charge of putting on the whole service. And music is a big part of the group. There are many musicians inside our little group of about 15-20 people. There is a clarinet player, a drummer, a guitar player, a flutist, a couple sax players, trombone players, and many singers. So since there are so many musical talents we are putting them to use.

          Opening the service, there is a flute solo, and later on we have a group singing. We will also have a guitar solo after the group sings. And closing the service there is another flute solo. So although this post might seem like it is about our Maundy Thursday service at church, it is really about how we are using different musically talents to enforce the message that we are trying to get across.

Pep Band

Pep Band is no band kid’s idea way of spending a Thursday or Friday night, but as everyone knows, we kinda have to be there. Many of us don’t watch the games. If you look over at the band section at the games, many of us are either on our phones, listening to music, daydreaming, working on homework, or just talking to each other. Most of us are in band for a reason so many of us aren’t very athletic so we barely ever know what is happening.

If it wasn’t for getting a grade for going to pep bands, I’m sure many of us probably wouldn’t go. Band is fun, but pep band sucks. No body pays any attention to the band anyway, so why do we have to waste our time to go and play for people who don’t care if we are there or not. 

The band does many different type of pep bands for different sports. For example we do every single home game for the football team, and we do most every home game for basketball. Basketball season is more complicated for pep band, because we have other things going on which make a lot of complications, for example it is right in the middle of jazz band season and during the time that the comb and show choir has a lot more practices.

Because of complications with other band events there are usually quite a few pep bands that end up getting cancelled. Many band kids who aren't in show choir combo or in either of the jazz bands are usually pretty excited, and it also gives many of us more time to get homework done. 

Having pep band on a Thursday night usually completely sucks because we all have school the next day, plus showering, eating dinner, and trying to get all our homework done, and get to bed semi early is really hard, since usually we don't get home until after 9:00 at night. Friday night pep bands are not as bad because we have the weekend to get homework done, and many high school students stay up late during the weekend cause none of us have to worry about going to school super tired the next day.

Piece by Piece

The song Piece by Piece by Kelly Clarkson has become a very moving and inspirational song in every aspect. There are so many great lyrics to this song that touches so many people that are out there. The reason behind creating this song was to tell her story in a way. Throughout the song it tells her story. As a child her father left her and her family in the past without even thinking about it. This made it difficult for her to trust guys, but as the song goes on it explains how her current husband has helped her gain more trust in men and he restored her faith in men.

"And all I remember is your back, walking towards the airport, leaving us all in your past. I traveled 1500 miles to see you, begged you to want me but you didn't want to."

This is the first verse of the song. It is important because it shows how she tried to go to her father, but he didn't want anything to do with her no matter how hard she tried to get him back her life.

“But piece by piece by piece you collected me, up off the ground but you abandoned things, and piece by piece you filled the holes that you burned in me at six years old. And no, he never walks away, he never asks for money, he takes care of me, he loves me. Piece by piece he restored my faith that a man can be kind and a father could stay.”

The second verse of the song starts to talk about how her husband has helped her gain more trust in men. In this verse she also tells how young she was when her father left her and her family. “You filled the holes that you burned in me at six years old”. As a little six year old and having your father walk out without wanting anything to do with you is really hard on everyone.

“And all of your words fall flat, I made something of myself and now you wanna come back. But your love isn’t free, it has to be earned. Back then I didn’t have anything you needed so I was worthless”.

This verse of the song is kind of explaining her feelings towards her father, and telling how she sees everything. She thinks that she has to have something to give to her father in order to have her father love her, because that is the way it seems to her, because as a child he left her, and came back when she made something great out of her life.

“Piece by piece I fell far from the tree, I would never leave her like you left me, she will never have to wonder her worth because unlike you I’m gonna put her first.”

          This verse of the song is Kelly singing about her own child and family, she is saying how she will never leave her child because she doesn’t want her child to feel the way she felt when she was little when her father left her.

Suicide by: Rihanna

Judging by the title of the song, it seems kind of gruesome and depressing but when you actually sit down and listen to the song with its entirety you come to realize that, it isn’t quite the case with this particular song. Yes, there are probably other things she could have named this song,  but I think that by naming the song Suicide it helps get the full effect of the song out there in the open.

            The song is quite the opposite of what the title implies it to be. You would think it would be about someone passing away or killing themselves, but it is nowhere near that. This song is her version of how she sees being in love with the man she is with. She wants to be with him because she loves him, but she feels like she is slowly dying at the same time.

            No matter how many times you listen to this song, it doesn’t ever really get old, because it relates to so many people on a daily basis. There are lots of people out there in the world who think they are in love with someone, but they aren’t happy; but yet they still choose to stay because they think they are in love. People who are like that or are having that sort of issue in their life with people who they love, can really relate to this song because they are in the exact same boat as her.

            Rihanna is a very good singer and performer, many people feel different ways about her, some people hate her, while some people completely love her. No matter if you hate her guts, and would skip one of her songs if it came on or change the station if you heard her voice come on the radio; this song is completely worth listening to if you are having problems with a guy, or girl, or loved one. Even if you aren’t it’s still a great song to listen to!

Lost Boy

The song Lost Boy by: Ruth B is a very Disney type of song, it is about Peter Pan. Throughout the song they talk about the lost boys, Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, and just about everyone in Never land. Just by listening to the start of the song, it seems like it could be a really depressing type of song, but the more you listen to it and the more you understand it and think about the lyrics, it becomes more clear that it isn't really all that depressing.

Throughout the song, it is kind of like explaining the reasoning so to speak for the title of the song. It's not about a child who was lost, kidnapped, or ran away. It is about The Lost Boys of Never land. Part of the lyrics in the song say "As we soared above the town that never loved me, I realized I finally had a family" I think that this is a pretty important part of the song because it says that where the person who the song was about wasn't happy and didn't feel wanted by anyone who was there, but now they had a family and was happy where he was.

It also says "when we're bored we play in the woods, always on the run from Captain Hook" this is also a important part of the song, because it shows how there are a lot of lost boys who play with Peter Pan and stay with them. And when it says "always on the run from Captain Hook" it relates back to the movie of Peter Pan so everyone who has seen the movie usually understand the reference better.

Dark Enough

The last thing that is on my blog is a video from YouTube, although this song is very gruesome and depressing; it has helped many people through very rough and hard times. Maybe for some people it is hard to understand but I know exactly where they are coming from. Sometimes it isn't what it on the outside that shows how people are.

Many people who relate to this try to hide all of their feelings because today's society doesn't care about people who suffer with depression, anxiety, self harm, anorexia, eating disorders or anything like that. If you don't meet "society's standards" of what you are supposed to look like or how you are supposed to act, you are kinda pushed aside.

I think that is one of the many reasons this song is important, although there are many out there that are like this or put a similar statement out there for people to see. Another reason this song is important is that it shows how people that suffer with things such as depression or suicidal thoughts, don't really have a reason. It is a mental disorder, not a choice. People who are depressed don't want to be sad, they just are so they try to make it seem like they are; even if it is faked.

So next time you hear a song that is similar to the one I published on my blog, don't just skip past it, actually sit and listen to it and think about the person who they sing about and how they might feel. And maybe then you will realize that not everyone who appears to be a happy go lucky person, might be the complete opposite of that. So yes, maybe the song might be stupid or depressing to you, but that song might have kept someone alive one more night, or convinced someone to put down that blade, or get rid of the pills they were about to take. Not everyone is the same.

Dark Enough (Original Song)

The Suite of Old American Dances

Based on the title of this blog post you can probably figure out what it is about. The Suite of Old American Dances is a piece of music by Robert Russell Bennett. This year the Kennedy Wind Symphony is playing it. This is a very difficult piece that is composed of 5 different movements. There is different stories behind each of the movements.

Movement one is the Cake Walk, this specific movement is pretty difficult. It is very much up beat and fast. There is many sixteenth note runs and trebelos. Trebelos are basically like trills but not as quick, you quickly move back and forth between the two notes.

Movement two is the Schottische, this movement is not as difficult as the first one but there are parts where it is just as difficult if not even more so. At the beginning of the piece where the flutes come in, we have to try to get 11 notes into one beat. That part is one of the worst part of this movement. There is also a lot of syncopation, for many musicians it is not all that hard, but you have to count in order to play it correctly. Triplets are also a big part of this movement, they aren’t hard and are actually quite fun to play, as long as they don’t jump octaves. This movement is the only piece that is taken in four instead of two, which means there are four beats to a measure instead of only two.

Movement three is the Western One-Step, by the title of the movement you can kind of figure out what it is. A western type piece. There are also a couple trebelos throughout the piece. Although this movement is not very hard at all, and the rhythms are pretty simple, the tempo is very upbeat and quick. This movement is the second fastest movement of the piece.

Movement four is the Wallflower Waltz, this is one of the slowest movements in the entire piece. The title tries to hint at the meaning behind the piece. For example when you think of a Wallflower you normally think of someone who stays away from the crowd and usually sticks to themselves. Bennett throughout this movement tries very hard to display that and to make the music sound like that. He makes the music sound sloppy almost but the way he writes it, still makes it sound good, while attempting to make it sound bad. It also involves an English horn, it is like a bigger oboe so to speak, normally played by the first chair oboe player, who happens to be Allison Kegel. Because of the style of the movement there are a couple musicians who sit out, for example the second flutes.

Movement five is the Rag, this is another quick song. This is the fastest song throughout the whole piece. But there is something that sets this piece apart. This movement looks like it is written in four, but is played in cut time. Cut time is when you make all the notes half their length. All in all this movement is not all that difficult if you start out playing it in four and then move into playing it in cut time. Because starting out with playing it in cut time right off the bat is going to make it way harder than it actually is.

All in all this is a very great piece of music written by a great composer. Although this piece of music is very difficult in a lot of places, it is a fun piece to play and is worth the time put in. Because of how difficult many of the movements are it takes a lot of practice time outside of rehearsal. The piece is a very fun piece to play in front of an audience because of how upbeat and fun it is.

Music in school dances

Many school dances have all different sort of music. Many of what is played is the “new hits”. At school dances such as Homecoming, WPA, which stands for Women Pay All or of course Prom; they hire a DJ and students can request music to be played. All of the music that is played is carefully chosen.

The DJ’s have to make sure top play songs that they think would be appropriate for teens and for a school environment. Many of the songs that “this generation” listens to is not appropriate for school.  If songs are played that staff or Mr. Kline thinks is inappropriate for school, things might go down.

           

            The songs that the students request to be played that are not school appropriate are usually just skipped over or ignored. A lot of people question it or get upset when a song that they want to be played isn’t played but when they tell people what the song actually is, it’s pretty self-explanatory why it wasn’t or isn’t going to be played.

            Although a lot of songs that many teens like are not able to be played at dances, there is still USUALLY some pretty decent music there. But don’t get me wrong there has been a couple dances where basically everything they played was absolutely terrible. But all in all school dances are normally pretty fun.

Different types of jobs in the Music Industry

            There is many different types of jobs inside the music industry and every job has different responsibilities and things to get done in order to help keep things running smoothly inside the music world. A couple examples are: Dance Instructor, Composer, Business Consultant, and a Club DJ. Each job involves things that are way different than others while some are similar in little ways, while others may almost completely overlap with just a few minor differences.

            For example a Composer, writes music for other groups, singers, orchestras can perform in front of an audience. This job is way more difficult than it sounds. For example they have to keep the style consistent throughout the whole piece, and if they are composing music for a specific group that have to write something that fits with that group. For example, they can’t write a country sounding song for a pop artist.

            While on the other hand there are Dance Instructors, which is basically exactly what it sounds like. They teach people of all ages certain moves and dances to fit with a certain song. And more than just teaching the dance they also have to come up with it on their own and know what their students can do and help make their students better dancers.

            There are also Club DJ’s which most people know what it is without explanation but for those who don’t a Club DJ is in charge of playing songs (usually at bars/clubs) to help keep the people there into it and to help make the bar make more money. Many Club DJ’s have signed contracts with certain bars or nightclubs so that the DJ’s have secured gigs to perform at that bar. It just varies on how often they perform there. There main goal is to keep the dance floor packed with people.

            The last one that I listed above was a business consultant these people have to have an insight to where a certain group stands with their competitors.

All in all there are many jobs in the music industry that you can choose from if that is the area you are interested in going into. There is almost garunteed to find a job that fits what you are looking foward to because there are so many different kind of jobs that you can go into.

http://www.media-match.com/usa/music/jobtypes/job-descriptions.php

The demands of an orchestral musician

Not very many musicians are able to become full time musicians in an orchestra. And the ones who do make it to that point have a long road ahead of them. According to Douglas Yeo (http://www.yeodoug.com/articles/text/procon.html) there are many pros and cons to becoming a full time musician. Douglas Yeo is a brass player in the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

For many instrumental musicians, getting the chance to be part of an orchestra as your job might sound like a dream come true, and in many ways it is, but you have to keep in mind all of the details to the job. For example there are many hours of practicing on your own to perfect the music you are given. And in some cases it involves some travel which can seem like a great thing, but it involves leaving for family for varied amounts of time.

“The average week for the Boston Symphony Orchestra involves four 2.5 hour practices and 4 concerts” (http://www.yeodoug.com/articles/text/procon.html ) for a new musician in the band that might seem way over whelming and might have them rethinking their choice in joining the orchestra. But some people in the orchestra might completely love it because of the chance to do what they love, play their instrument, and get paid for it.

The average salary for instrumental musicians is about $108,000 a year on the low side to about $143,000 a year for the top orchestra. Looking at the salary for one year of playing your instrument all day every day, all the hard work might seem worth it. Although it isn’t the highest paying job by far, it is a very good paying job even on the low side the salary is way good enough to make a living on.

Just like any other job that is out there for any type of person there are always pros and cons. No matter what kind of job you get or look for you will find that. For example a doctor or surgeon, a pro is the salary and you are helping a lot of people and a con is sometimes people come and they can’t help them. For an orchestral musician a pro is you get to play your instrument for many hours a day and get paid for it, and a con for this is, it takes up a lot of time and you have to have your music perfect with almost no mistakes.

If you are an instrumentalist and you love to play, keep practicing and if being a player in an orchestra sounds fun or like something you would want to do as a life-long career then go for it, the only thing that is stopping you from becoming one is yourself.

The music Industry

                Today’s music is constantly changing. Whether it be the new country song, or the new rap song. Artists are always working on new songs/music and looking for new ways to perform their music in front of a crowd. If an artist does not attract a decent crowd with their music or performance style they probably won’t last all that long in the music industry.

            The music industry is a very hard area to get into and to succeed in. There are already so many musicians, song writers, and artists out there; it is hard to find your own style. A lot of artists now a days kind of popcorn off of each other so to speak. All of the artists in a certain genre of music have similarities in their style but they usually have one or two things that set them apart, whether that be their look, their voice, or just the way their music sounds. It could even be the way they perform their music.

            There are different T.V shows that help promote singing and help get singers exposed to recording studios. Such as American Idol which is just for people who want to become a singer/song writer and want to become a performer. Or even the show America’s got Talent. Although the show is for anyone who thinks they have talent, many singers go on that show to try to make it through. People who audition for either of the shows have good exposure to people who are high up in the music industry. Especially the people who make it fairly far in the competition and who are in the top so many, when many people have been voted off.

             Although the music industry is very hard to get into it is still a great area of business. There are so many young children who want to grow up to be pop stars or rock stars or anything like that, and in reality maybe half of them will become good enough to even get the chance. But that should not stop anyone from trying, whether you are 17 or 35, if you are good enough you can go far.

            According to http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Musician_or_Singer/Salary the average salary for a musician/artist is $37,889 a year. The more popular you become as an artist the more money you will make. It is basically a popularity contest with all the other singers in the same music genre as you. 

Aspects of music

            There is a lot of important things when you are learning a new piece of music. You have to pay a lot of attention to the key and time signature to see the counting and what key it is in. The key signature tells you what notes are flat or sharp, but even though all pieces of music has a key signature, there is still accidentals throughout any piece of music that you have to watch out for.

            Another important thing to watch out for is dynamics, for those who don’t know, dynamics tell you how loud or soft you are supposed to play. Dynamics help add attitude to any piece of music. And it helps make a part more dramatic if needed.

            The style of the piece is also very important, for example ties, slurs, staccato, or legato. They all change the way the piece of music is supposed to sound. And it helps separate different phrases.

            Resting is one of the most important parts in a piece of music. Whether it be one beat or 20 measures you have to count carefully so you don’t come in at the wrong spot. And even though the rests seem stupid and a waste of time, it actually impacts the music greatly. If you play where you are supposed to be resting you just sound wrong and it makes everything else sound wrong as well.

Chair Placements

                           Chair placements are a big deal in band. Many times in marching band there isn’t really chair placements. You just have your part and you stay with those people most of the time. It isn’t until the end of marching band season and the beginning of concert band season that chair placements even become something you think of. And if you audition for Wind Symphony and get in then you already have your chair given to you.

            If you decide not to audition for Wind Symphony or if you do audition and don’t get in, then you are either in Symphonic or concert band. Concert band doesn’t really have chair placements, you just kinda sit anywhere. But in Symphonic band you have a chair placement test to determine what chair you will sit and what part you will be on.

            Although there is chair placements, it doesn’t really matter where you sit, as long as you know your music and put your all in. Yes, there are different parts, but it all reality there are not all that different. Second is usually lower than first and so on. And there are times that one part plays while the other part rests and vice versa. But all in all, all of the part are important in the band. If they weren’t there wouldn’t be the different parts.

            You can also challenge if you don’t like your spot and want to move up a chair. But the process to challenge is pretty difficult. You have to know your music very well and you can’t really mess up all that much. In every challenge if you win, you can only move up one chair. And there is a certain amount of time you have to prepare and to do the actual challenge. Challenging is basically based on your playing ability and who is better when you come down to it, but no one really thinks about that during a challenge.

Jazz types

In jazz band there is always a bunch of different types of songs that we play or example some songs we swing, and others are rock. Some we just play straight how it’s written and others we have to change the rhythm.

Every year jazz band is a blast. You never know exactly what you are going to play or who is going to be in it. There is also always a different arrangement of instruments because not the same people do it every year. Some people drop out of it and new people join.

While jazz 2 doesn’t play as hard of music as jazz 1 we still play pretty complicated stuff. Some parts are not as hard as others and some instruments have it easier than some of the others. But even if you have an easier part or if you think you know it, you should still practice outside of rehearsal because when it gets put together with everyone as a whole group it is a lot harder because there is so much other stuff that you have to listen for. You also have to know who has the melody (main part) and not cover it up.

All in all jazz band is a lot of fun and well worth trying it. So if you play an instrument and have the opportunity to be in a jazz band try it, if you don’t like it then you don’t have to keep going but it is worth a try.

Memorizing music in marching band

During marching band you have to be able to play all of the music without needing the sheet of music in front of you. You have to memorize the whole show because you don’t have a break where you can go and take a quick look at your music if you forgot part of it, you just have to keep going through the show until the end without stopping.

Most of the time there is about 3 or 4 different pieces of music in one marching band show. It all depends on what the show is and what the director wants to put in the show. And it also depends on how long the songs are and how fast you have them going.

Memorizing your music is a MUST, it is very hard to make through a show if you don’t know it, for a couple different reasons. For example many people know where they are supposed to be on the field by where they are in the music, it is kind of like a que in a way.

Also knowing your music and where it changes tempo or dynamics is a big thing, cause if the music slows down then so does the marching and if you don’t know where that is then you are not gonna know the marching slows down as well so you will stand out.

You also have memory tests with one of the directors during marching band, usually during the first or second week of school. If you don’t know the music there is a big possibility that you will fail you’re playing tests and there are multiple tests for everything. So if you fail you’re playing tests there is a big chance that you will not pass the class with a very good grade. And it is not easy to fail band. So just do yourself a favor and memorize the music.

Learning words to a song

Many people are able to memorize song lyrics quickly and without thinking. For example if a song comes on the radio, you can most likely just start singing, but if you try to sing to the same song later by memory it is probably a little more difficult.

Many people don’t even really think about it when a song comes on the radio they just know the words to that particular song, and I’m pretty sure this is mostly accurate for a lot of people. A lot of people need a song playing while trying to sing a certain song and those that don’t have probably heard the song a lot and practiced it or focused on the words.

For example a couple of people that I know will try to sing a song even if they don’t know it. So in the car, if a song comes on that they don’t know they will mumble words that sound like they fit. And they will do that again and again until they can sing the song through it without messing up. And even then they still need the song playing in order to sing it.

It’s always weird when you learn a song because you are never quite sure when and how you learned it and memorized all the words and rests and stuff.

IBA

IBA is kinda sort of a big deal for all high school bands, and all band directors basically everywhere. IBA stands for Iowa Band masters Association. Some of the best bands, and band directors go there every year.

Last year the Kennedy Wind Symphony was selected to go to IBA and preform. The band had to work their tails off to perfect their music. It’s not very often one of the Cedar Rapids High School Bands get chosen to go preform at IBA.

2 years ago the Kennedy Wind Symphony and the flute choir went to IBA. The Wind Symphony played in a little clinic thing with a very well-known band director and a couple inspiring band directors.

There were some people in the flute choir who were not in Wind Symphony, so those people were able to watch while the Wind Symphony had their clinic. Then later that day the flute choir held a little performance in the lobby in the building everything was being held at.

If you are a musician or love music and have the chance to go to IBA, TAKE IT! Its well worth the time and money. It’s such a great experience and you see a lot of really cool things and a bunch of really great bands that you have never seen, or probably even heard of before.

Associating songs with everyday things

Many people use everyday songs, or lyrics to help them remember things or help make something seem more real. Some people probably think that it’s stupid, or a waste of time, but to those people who do associate things with music or song lyrics, it’s just another daily thing. Just like going to school or work or sleeping.

Some people even associate people with songs. Like many relationships have their “song” that they share together. That way when they hear the song, they can think about that person and all the great times that they have had together, or why that person makes them happy. And why that song is theirs.

Other people connect songs with promises, such as my cousin and I, the song, Break Away by Kelly Clarkson has become to mean a lot to both of us for multiple reasons. Such as that is our “getting out of here song”. So every time either of the two of us hears that song, we think about the future and getting out of here.

Maybe associating things with music is hard for people to understand. Next time a song comes on just listen to it and think. Just see what comes to your head, and see if you think the same thing the next time it comes on. The results might surprise you, you might be doing it without even realizing.

Music in religion

Many churches use music during their service or mass to make a message stronger, or just to get a point across. In some cases they use music before, during, or after communion, or at the start of the service, or even before or after the pastor and or priest gives their sermon, or the message of that day.

            Although everyone has different views on religion, and how they go about worshiping their religion. For example, some people go to church, while other people worship from home and some people don’t worship at all. It is all a matter of what you believe in and what you think is true. Everyone believes in different things and thinks different ways about religion.

            Within the thousands of different religion, a majority of them, if not all of them, use some sort of music to help with their worship. Whether it be a church choir, or a little band playing different instruments. Music is a big part of the way people worship. It just isn’t one of the first things people think about when talking or thinking about religion.