Music Appreciation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Music Appreciation - Essay Example Studying the different time periods such as the Renaissance, Baroque period, Classical period, all these time periods contributed in different ways to the music we have today. Take for example, the kind of music that was played in the Baroque period. Music at that time lacked coherent melody, was filled with unremitting dissonances, constantly changed key and meter, and speedily ran through every compositional device. Look at the Classical period as well. Music during this time was balanced. Nothing was too fast or too slow, or too loud, or too soft. The texture of this type of music was lighter and clearer than Baroque music and less complex. Variety of keys, melodies, rhythms and dynamics along with frequent changes of mood and timbre were more commonplace in the Classical period than they had been in the Baroque. One thing that amazes me is that back in these different eras, there was a distinct type of music that most people played, what was acceptable. In the baroque, it was fas t music, in the Classical time, it was orchestrated music. In the Renaissance period, there was the development of respect for rhythm and sense of the words in texting. However, in our modern time and day, you have not necessarily just one type of music that is being played or dominant, but many different kinds, and a combination of all these different rhythms make me really appreciate the generation that we live in. This can be seen in the hit charts, in music that comes out today. Look at Alicia Keys, her music is an incorporation of both classical music and pop with a slight jazzy feeling to it. Another good example is of bands, such as One Republic. When they released their single, â€Å"Apologize†, there was incorporation of their classical music instruments, and the song in itself was a very emotional song filled with meaning. This realization helps me realize that just like how we are progressing, unlike before where people were more narrow-minded and only open to thei r own ideas but now we see a blending of all these different forms of music, we should be learning from the past. We should take the good and leave the bad, and bring all these good ideas together to form disciplines that will change our lives for the better. We should take the different music from different cultures and bring it together to form songs that will unite us as one and help us grow. These days, people tend to look more to Western music as the â€Å"ideal†, whatever is being done in western music, is what should be followed, but I believe this is wrong. Every culture has a rich background that they can bring to the table. I think we should learn to embrace our uniqueness, and stop trying to urge everyone to be like us. We’re connected across the planet. We can share the views of people on music, the arts, and culture via a wide array of internet-available nets capes, blogs, and interactive venues. We can access the musical world easily, purchase it, and dow nload it. We can learn it by listening to sources, and asking questions of it, interactively. We’re also connected to cultures living locally—at home, within our families, schools, and communities. There we can quite easily make the effort to know the children we teach, the human resources that are available to give support to our teaching efforts, and the music-makers that range from the occasional and

Special Interests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Special Interests - Essay Example On the other hand, they also take note of the legislative process and the bill making process. This enables them to influence the executive, legislature, and judiciary (Wilson, 2009). This has proved significant in the country. Some of the groups have limited following while others enjoys vast membership. This has been the case in United States. This paper seeks to focus on interest groups. An interest group consists of people sharing a goal mostly of influencing the government and lawmakers (American Government, n.d.). The purpose is to offer linkage either to the lawmakers or executive. Such groups further their policies in a different arena. Moreover, such group aims to manipulate public opinion, elections, and public policy (American Government, n.d.). Their focus is to influence the government through various ways. The main ways of influence are through lobbying, donation, financial pledge, and volunteering. These groups do not engage in profit making activities. Moreover, they represent a narrow focus on their intended purposes, and hence they do not represent the general population (Wilson, 2009). Interest groups are myriad in United States today. They also exist in different forms. Some have a vast membership while others only have limited membership. This sometimes depends on available resources. In America, several interest groups exist. Examples of such interest groups include the National Manufacturers Association, AFL-CIO, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Medical Association, American Bar Association, American Civil Liberties Union, Sierra Club, National Council of Churches, Common Cause, Public Citizen, National Governors Association, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons (American Government, n.d.). These groups represent the interest of profession, field, or a group of people. These interest groups have attracted serious debates in the United States for time. These debates r evolve the merits and demerits of such groups. There exist a strong relationship between interest groups and political parties. This is seen in various aspects, in the United States. The first most important link is the way in which interest group fund political parties during electioneering period. The contributions are made through the Political Action Committees (PACs). Most of the fund is provided to the congress. This is because most of these groups have interest as to which party has the majority of seats in congress. This helps these groups in ensuring that their policies focus is taken care of in the congress. However, such donations are meant to have a little impact on the political side (Brunell, 2005). This ensure this through provision of support to the incumbent as they require little amount of money to seek reelection. These groups show preference to the party according to their interest. For example, the labor groups prefer the democrats while the corporate side prefe rs the republicans (Hays, 2001). However, PACs provide money across the political divides. Nevertheless, the pattern of donations appears to be skewed towards one side. This happens to either the democrats or republicans. Throughout history, campaign in the United States appears to be a costly affair. This has made it possible for overreliance by the congress on funding from the interest groups. However, they also rely on individual contribution, but contribution from the