Musicality is Music Production House based in Los Angeles, California. In 2008, High School music teacher Michael Gibson saw so much musical potential and passion in his students that he decided to start an after-school group dedicated to singing. That group became Musicality, a safe haven where students could express themselves through music. Musicality Music Store and Studios% instruments sheet music and accessories for musicians. Ukuleles from Kala, Ohana and Flight, Adult and children's piano methods and studies. Sheet music for piano and voice, methods, studies and solos for all instruments, keyboard, guitar and voice. General Music Education materials, All State Music for New Mexico.
Musicality (music-al-ity) is 'sensitivity to, knowledge of, or talent for music' or 'the quality or state of being musical', and is used to refer to specific if vaguely defined qualities in pieces and/or genres of music, such as melodiousness and harmoniousness.[1] These definitions are somewhat hampered by the difficulty of defining music, but, colloquially, 'music' is often contrasted with noise and randomness. Judges of contest music may describe a performance as bringing the music on the page to life; of expressing more than the mere faithful reproduction of pitches, rhythms, and composer dynamic markings. In the company of two or more musicians there is the added experience of the ensemble effect in which the players express something greater than the sum of their individual parts. A person considered musical has the ability to perceive and reproduce differences in aspects of music including pitch, rhythm, and harmony (see: ear training). Two types of musicality may be differentiated: to be able to perceive music (musical receptivity) and to be able to reproduce music in addition to creating music (musical creativity).[1][2]
Find 29 ways to say MUSICALITY, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. Musicality’s tracks Hashira by Musicality published on 2019-10-28T23:15:43Z. Slayer by Musicality published on 2019-09-06T09:37:22Z. Cozy by Musicality.
Music vs. musicality[edit]
Many studies on the cognitive and biological origins of music are centered on the question of what defines music. Can birdsong, the song structure of humpback whales, a Thai elephant orchestra, or the interlocking duets of Gibbons be considered music?[3] This is now generally seen as a pitfall.[4] In trying to answer this question, it is important to separate between the notions of 'music' and 'musicality'. Musicality – in all its complexity – can be defined as a natural, spontaneously developing set of traits based on and constrained by our biological and cognitive system, and music – in all its variety – as a social and cultural construct based on musicality. Or simply put: without musicality, there is no music.[5][6]
However, it is still a challenge to demarcate precisely what makes up this complex trait we call musicality. What are the cognitive and biological mechanisms that are essential to perceive, make, and appreciate music? Only when we have identified these fundamental mechanisms are we in a position to see how these might have evolved. In other words: the study of the evolution of music cognition is dependent on a characterization of the basic mechanisms that make up musicality.[7]
Colwyn Trevarthen has researched the musicality of babies, including its use in communication.[8][9][10][relevant?]
Notes[edit]
- Resources of a musician: a notable musician draws from several essential resources: musicality, material (voice, dexterity), practice, education
- Relation to dancing: Musicality is also related to dancing, since musicality is essential for becoming a good dancer.
- Relation to structure: Certain types of music have a regular inner structure, which a musical person is able to pick up intuitively. A viable musical structure is supportive for musicality.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ ab'Musicality', Merriam-Webster.com.
- ^'Musicality'. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^Wallin, N.J., Merker, B., & Brown, S. (2000). The Origins of Music,[page needed]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN9780262731430.[verification needed]
- ^Honing, H.; Ploeger, A. (2012). 'Cognition and the Evolution of Music: Pitfalls and Prospects'. Topics in Cognitive Science. 4 (4): 513–24. doi:10.1111/j.1756-8765.2012.01210.x. PMID22760967.[page needed]
- ^Honing, H. (2012). 'Without it no music: Beat induction as a fundamental musical trait'. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1252: 85–91. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06402.x. PMID22524344.
- ^Honing, H. (ed.) (2018). The Origins of Musicality. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
- ^Honing, H.; Ten Cate, C.; Peretz, I.; Trehub, S. E. (2015). 'Without it no music: Cognition, biology and evolution of musicality'. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 370 (1664): 20140088. doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0088. PMC4321129. PMID25646511.
- ^'Why attachment matters in sharing meaning - Colwyn Trevarthen', IRISS.org.
- ^Schogler, Ben and Trevarthen, Colwyn. 'To Sing and Dance Together', On Being Moved: From Mirror Neurons to Empathy.
- ^'Colwyn Trevarthen - Human Nature and Early Experience', Vimeo.com.
External links[edit]
- AABA: The Map to Swing Music (Rusty Frank)
- Understanding Musicality, academic symposium 2012.
- Musicality and Genomics, academic symposium 2019.
The relationship between music and poetry is romance—so much so that the “musicality” of poetry endeavors as much conversation and analysis as the intricate movements of today’s best composers. Today, we’re going to dig deeper into how musicality is built according the classic critic Kenneth Burke—explore the gritty details of concealed alliteration, acrostic scrambling, diminution and augmentation.
Musicality
To consider the musicality of a poem in English is to consider two essential ingredients: the tonal sounds of the vowels and consonants, and the rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables. Rhythm (or meter) is fascinating and worth your research, but not our concern today. We’re going to explore here the tonal sounds poets use to build musicality.
Kenneth Burke and Sylvia Plath
Some techniques of tonal musicality you likely already know from school: alliteration, assonance, rhyme, etc. These show up in every poet’s glossary, for good reason.
However, some techniques are more obscure in analysis, though nearly as prevalent in practice. Kenneth Burke, one of the founders of transformative New Criticism movement, wrote poetry, literary theory and criticism until his death in 1993. Part of that great body of work is a small essay, originally published in a 1940 issue of Poetry under the title “On Musicality in Verse.”
Within his essay, Burke—like the surgeon who has forgotten more about anatomy than any of us will ever learn—dissects some lines of Coleridge in order to answer a riddle we’ve all faced in our readings: “There were many passages that seemed to have a marked consistency of texture,” he begins, “yet this effect was not got by some obvious identity of sound, as in alliteration.”
Musicality Definition
Here, we’re going to bring his analytical discoveries to light not through Coleridge, but rather Sylvia Plath & her poem “Morning Song,” a beautiful work about the birth of her child. We’ve made it a rule to never miss the chance to talk about Sylvia Plath’s poetry.
Concealed Alliteration
Read Burke’s original essay to learn more about the concept of phonetic cognates, but essentially, the argument for concealed alliteration is that the repetition of phonetically related consonants is a subtle and effective way to build musicality.
The basics: the same way we make the m sound with our mouths, we make both b and p, and further, the v and f sounds. The sounds d, t, and th similarly are related to the n shape of our mouths.
“All night your moth-breath”
In the 10th line, we see this concealed alliteration play out.
n _ t _ _ th _ _ th
And here, in line 13, we see the splendidly concealed alliteration of m cognates beginning with the m in “stumble:”
“One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral”
m b f _ m b _ , _ _ v _ _ f
Acrostic Scrambling
Acrostic scrambling, as described by Burke, is when a pattern of consonants (and their cognates) is set, then repeated in a scrambled form.
Line 15:
“A far sea moves in my ear”
We can see the consonants of the first half as:
f _ r s m
And the second half following with similar sounds, in a different order:
v s _ m _ r
Can you find the acrostic scrambling in the lovely phrasing of 16th line?
“Whitens and swallows”
Diminution and Augmentation:
Diminution and augmentation, Burke explains, are musical terms describing the ways that composers draw half notes into later quarter notes, or vis a versa. This happens with consonants in musical poetry—producing those textures of sound we know are good but can’t quite put our finger on why.
Diminution shows up in that stunning first line when the space between consonant sounds is shortened in later repetitions.
“Love set you going like a fat gold watch”
Notice how the consonant patterns of v – t, f – t repeat with a shorter space between:
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Love set > fat —— v_ _ t > f _ t
And similarly with the g and l sounds.
going like > gold —— g _ _ l > g _ l
Augmentation is the opposite, when the space between the sounds is stretched, as in the second line:
“The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry”
midwife slapped > footsoles —— f s l > f _ _ s _ l
America's Got Talent Musicality
Keep Going
Examine poetry with this focus on tonal patterning and you’ll begin to see why some poems are held more preciously than others. By no means is this an exhaustive list of ways in which poets manipulate sounds to land pleasant on the ear—Burke even includes more on tonal chiasmus and guttural repetitions. We highly encourage you to explore his thoughts further.
A note: did Sylvia Plath set out to use concealed alliteration and augmentation effects in her lines? We can’t know, although probably not. But—as hollywood wisdom has it: practice waxing cars and you’ll learn kung fu.
Musicality Singing Group
Read poetry for cognate families and phonetic reversals and you might learn how to make music.