Theory in the Wild

     Amy Beach's Piano Trio in A minor Op. 150 was written in 1938, this reminiscent piece features 3 movements. The first movement (the movement I focus on in this blog) is an extremely lyrical and expressive movement with a stark contrasting A and B phrase. The second movement, Lento espressivo also has a contrasting A and B phrase, the A phrase is a slow and expressive lament while the B phrase is a bouncy more joyous theme which is similar to the happy finale movement Allegro Con Brio. This final movement features many different themes and tempo markings expressing many different characters. The Piano Trio in A minor was likely one of Amy Beach's last written pieces as she wrote it in the years leading up to her death (1944) which is likely why the piece sounds so reminiscent. Stability and Instability in Amy Beach's Piano Trio      When examining Amy Beach’s Piano Trio No. 1 I focused my study towards the shifts from stability to instability throughout...

 Tatsuro Yamashita's music sits as the ground zero for city pop, a genre of Japanese pop music that emerged in the late 1970s and is characterized by its urban feel, wide range of styles, and western influences. Regarded as the "King" of city pop, Yamashita's music stands out from the rest and holds qualities of other genres - jazz fusion and disco. His song "Love Space", the first one on the album  Spacy , displays how layering can create complexities within what is an otherwise simple form.  The form of "Love Space" is AABA - a common musical form. The beginning and end are very distinct, creating a clear prefix and suffix: opening with a vamp and a coda with a long closing section and outro. "Love Space" combines a standard and repetitive form with a fluid feeling from Yamashita's vocals. Following the same chord progressions and phrasing, each period within the A section stays almost the same. "Love Space's" form is ...

Focused Musical Element: Vocal Timbre by: Carissa Lee "Blue" by yung kai premiered on Apple Music on August 1, 2024, but a couple months later it became known worldwide. After becoming a viral sensation on multiple media platforms, the song has accumulated over 500 million streams across multiple streaming platforms. Although the song may seem simple or seem to only have a cool electric guitar riff, there is so much more to dive into! In the song, yung kai maintains a consistent overall vocal style, but the subtle variations in his vocal timbre helps differentiate the verse, bridge, and the chorus.  When the singer changes vocal ranges, the instrumentation or accompaniment pattern changes as well. As yung kai sings in his chest voice during the verse (shown below), there is a faster accompaniment pattern, playing on each eighth note. But when he changes vocal timbre to his head voice in the chorus, the guitar begins strumming only on the down beat, opening up the space for th...