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