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Music as a language
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I am familiar with the bass harmonica. A couple of years ago I attended a concert by a Beach Boys tribute group, and at one point between songs one of them picked one up and said, “There are only two places you’ll ever hear bass harmonica: Green Acres and Pet Sounds.”
So much to learn about harmonicas! A whole new side road, if I choose to explore it. But I’ll stop harping (heh, heh) on the topic for now.
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I have heard of the harp term reference in regards to harmonicas a long time ago, and I could never quite figure out why it was used, I can where the confusion comes into play…
I thought at first bass was another guitar as well, until I was old enough, around 8-10ish back in the 70s, when my 2nd oldest bro told me about guitars, bass, drums, harmonicas, etc…my bro as a teen, well into his 20s, beforevhe moved outvforca time only to move back home after Dad had stroke after a few months after Mom died…., he hadcwknd Jam sessions at our house in basement…I usedcto fiddlecaround on his guitars when he wasn’t around and around and even went wild on his buddy’s drum set when he was not home either…and at home…he did give me hang for touching guitars and drums when he wasn’t home but when he was and saw me playing around, he saw potential, saw I had a keen sense of rhythm going….impressed by his baby sister’s knack of it….
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Okay, here’s a mode video that’s no talk and all action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN6inDNBgKY
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David, that’s a great example of all the modes! Can feel it getting darker and darker. Each subsequent mode sounds feels more and more unpleasant and dark. By the time it gets to the last 3 modes, it feels more like a funeral party. The last one like house of horrors.
Perhaps a drum set could be in your future Jacki. I found this short video that shows you how to get up playing the blues harp in 10 minutes. Teaches 2 chords, how to bend a note, and tongue tap.
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This playlist is definitely for you, Jung. It’s Beethoven and Chopin translated into Locrian mode:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxq2c1XUCtV3CFM5mScfy70aGY3e01S3y
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That’s interesting David listening to that movement of the Moonlight Sonata converted to the darkest mode of Locrian, it feels like all the passion and feeling I normally would get from it is sucked dry to a passionless numb experience. It’s not unlike when something really horrible happens and all your senses reduce to just feeling numb after the initial pain. It’s no wonder they say Locrian mode is hardly ever used in music. In contrast, Mixolydian and Dorian evokes a sense of longing and beauty, or a pain or hunger needing to be quenched, you feel something.
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Sorry if I ruined your day, Jung! When I said it was “for you”, I didn’t mean I was trying to depress you; I just meant that you could really appreciate it. I’m so unfamiliar with the original versions that I found these fascinating as songs in their own right. They didn’t disturb me nearly as much as the Locrian “Happy Birthday”, probably because I didn’t have the brighter versions in my head to contrast them with.
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David, quite the contrary, didn’t mean to sound depressing! 🙂 I was just fascinated. The modes are very effective is what I meant to express, and I’m glad you found the example. Thanks for posting it!
In classical music, some of the greatest musical pieces are the ones that convey sadness and pain, but it is done in a beautiful graceful way, which it seems the Dorian and Myxolidian or even the Aeolian modes do. In some of Beethoven’s greatest works, there is a struggle from extreme pain or suffering to joyful bliss. The opening bars of Symphony No 7 2nd movement is one of Beethoven’s most well known, and darkest compositions, but so beautiful at the same time. I find it so moving. It so perfectly expresses sadness and struggle. After listening to it, it is cathartic like after a good cry. It would be interesting to know what mode this movement is done in.
The first movement of the Moonlight Sonata for me is about someone dealing with great pain or loss, asking why. By the 3rd movement the pain is consoled.
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David, here is an excerpt from the pages of the book “Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology”. It talks about the use of modes in their music and how much further ahead they were than their peers in their music innovation.
click to enlarge image
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Amazing! And to think they were doing it all basically by instinct.
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Here is a great way I read songs described recently:
“Words make you think a thought
Music makes you feel a feeling
A song makes you feel a thought”Seems to fall in line with what Leonard Bernstein said about the meaning of music in one of his talks. All about expressing feelings.
So far all the music that has moved me the most are the ones that seem to express all the feelings of the human experience. Joy, pain, loss, triumph, love, expresses all those feelings. That’s what music seems to do for me.
The music theory to enable musicians to express all those feelings is fascinating.
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I think I’m starting to see concrete examples of how the brain processes music and language similarly. I’ve just learned about the “resolving” process in music. For example, the Beatles’ “For No One” ends on an unresolved chord: you’re left hanging, expecting a repeat of the previous chord to bring a sense of closure to the song. It seems analogous to hearing someone end a sentence with the word “the”. The WHAT? Finish the thought!
I’m developing the sense that the brain reacts to a composition moving repeatedly toward and away from resolved chords in the same way as it follows the structuring of sentences in speech.
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David, never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense the similarity in music and speech to end with a sense of hanging or lack of closure. If music is a form of expression of feelings/emotions vs speech being a form of expression of thought, then I can see the same process happening in the brain. I can feel it in “For no one”. Maybe a left brain (analytical thoughts) vs right brain (emotional feelings) thing too. It’s so interesting the concept of resolving in music, as it’s present in every scale and chord progression, and in all music structure. It keeps getting more intriguing the more you think about the theory and mechanics that make up music.
In the movie “Immortal Beloved”, they try to explain the meaning of music in this scene, which I always thought made a lot of sense. Music takes you into the mental state of the composer, expressing his feelings.
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Here is another favorite movie scene about music. Imagine someone hearing music, with all the intense barrage of passion and emotion, for the first time in his life. This Christian Bale sci-fi movie is about a dystopian society that has outlawed music, art, and literature to prevent passion and emotion in people to maintain civil order. Christian Bale is a police officer sworn to uphold this law hunting down all those who break the law, until one day he comes upon a fugitives home and experiences music for the first time. It’s a brilliant movie worth seeing if you haven’t yet.
I posted these videos last year in the forum, but here they are again for those new to the club.
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