I’ve always been interested in the tempo of music, and what effect that has on how we “hear” a song. We can measure tempo precisely, usually in bpm (beats per minute), but performers will often slightly alter tempo from one live performance to the next, which might indicate that the need for tempo precision is […]
If you think about melodies that are considered “beautiful”, you’re usually talking about ones that move generously up and down rather than ones that sit mainly around one or two notes. If you were to make a short list of songs that have what everyone seems to think of as beautiful, there’s another aspect you’ll […]
I want to take a moment to wish you all a very happy new year, and to thank you for being readers of this blog. I’m not a fan of making new year’s resolutions, only because if there’s something I should be resolving to do, I should start doing it now rather than wait for an […]
Music, apart from the lyrics that might be going on, tends to convey meaning to us. In other words, you can listen to an instrumental and usually find yourself feeling something, even if you’re not sure what that something is, or what the song is supposed to be about. Obviously, we use lyrics to know what […]
Have a listen to any song and put your attention on its musical energy. You’ll probably notice that it rises and falls throughout the song. In some genres, like the various dance-related ones, musical energy may seem static, as the beat and loudness tend to remain somewhat the same. But even in songs where beat […]
You seen me write about this before: the benefits of keeping several songs on the go at any one time, instead of putting all your energies on just one at a time. But also, don’t discount the value that comes from spreading your creativity around, and working on several kinds of projects at the same time. […]
