Author Archives: addiealmon

Almost (Sweet Music) is a song rooted in jazz -it references some of the biggest hits and best names in the genre as Hozier sings about learning to love again. It is no surprise, therefore, that rhythm plays a big part in the song. The introduction of the song starts off with snapping, only toContinue reading “Blog Assignment #12 -Rhythm”

Hearing Joey’s story and seeing him perform was not just impressive but inspiring. His ability to improvise is not uncommon, but completely unique; it comes from an innate ability and hours upon hours of hard work. Talent isn’t something you can measure or compare; it varies from individual to individual. Joey was able to commandContinue reading “Blog Assignment #11 -Jazz and Joey”

Almost (Sweet Music) Form: Introduction (Guitar, snapping) Theme (Clapping, higher octave with guitar) Verse 1 (Drums, vocals, guitar, clapping) Verse ending (Organ introduction) Chorus (I wouldn’t know where to start, Sweet Music playing In The Dark etc.) Verse 2 Verse Ending (Different lyrics, same melody) Chorus Bridge (Guitar, vocals. Eventual introduction of choir) Verse 3Continue reading “Form Analysis Assignment”

The famous Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived such an accomplished life that he is still well-known today. Raised with his sister, Maria Anna, from a young age to study music, Mozart’s musical career began at age three. He was able to produce his own compositions by age five and was able to play multipleContinue reading “Blog Assignment #10 -Mozart”

My favorite out of the pair of songs is Seasons of Love because of the nostalgia associated with the song and the harmony sounds more natural. The vibrato in that piece in particular is very obvious; the chorus, high, and low notes all had some amount of vibrato involved. In Muzetta’s Waltz, almost every noteContinue reading “Blog Assignment #9 -Vibrato”

In Almost (Sweet Music), dynamics are, for the most part, the same throughout the piece. The beginning of the song starts off relatively quiet with just the guitar and clapping before Hozier begins singing; the introduction of a voice causes the dynamics to leap up. It mellows out during the bridge, but when the chorusContinue reading “Blog Assignment #8 -Dynamics and Timbre”

In Hozier’s Almost (Sweet Music), there are a few examples of the music matching the lyrics with text painting. The end of the first verse contains the lyrics “the same kind of music haunts her bedroom,” while the underlying music takes on a nostalgic, haunting tone with an organ playing. The song continues with thisContinue reading “Blog Assignment #7 -Text Painting”

The two Renaissance songs, The Cricket and Il est bel et bon, were not my favorite pieces out of all the ones we have listened to. I think the combination of the language barrier and the polyphonic texture made of just voices made it hard to enjoy either of them. I had some advantage withContinue reading “Blog Assignment #6: Renaissance Songs”

My piece of music is Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier off his most recent album Wasteland, Baby! Hozier is an artist known to incorporate blues, jazz, R&B, and worship music into his songs. In the song, a little bit of all of them can be seen. The melody remains mostly consistent throughout the piece; HozierContinue reading “Blog Assignment #5: “Almost (Sweet Music)” Texture and Melody Analysis”

I actually ended up liking the Eagle Dance example. Although it checks every box for every part of music I don’t like, I think the fact that it means something important to a group of people made me end up appreciating it more than I expected. The vocal quality had little variation, both in pitchContinue reading “Blog Assignment #4: Eagle Dance and Bobby McFerrin”