In class today, we talked about the different ways to stray from the traditional ways of combining notes and creating melodies. Many composers, like Wagner and Schoenberg, got rid of traditional melodies and created music that seemed to just meander along and not have a distinctive melody that ends up going somewhere. Schoenberg also created… Continue reading Different Composing Styles

To express an inconceivable God is beyond human language. We cannot understand Him, nor can we describe Him accurately with our made-up human language. Likewise, the process of writing music can be the same in our minds. We use music to express something that we cannot convey with human language. Moses und Aron is an… Continue reading Moses una Aron

Arnold Schoenberg’s Jakobsleiter is a work that we looked at in class about his wrestle with humanity, religion, himself, and finding meaning. The music correlated with his store in a way that made it seem like a never-ending battle between him and these interesting theories and ideologies that he was battling with. The song was… Continue reading Jakobsleiter

This week we started by reading and learning about Arnold Schoenberg a musician who pushed the boundaries and experimented in new ways to create new music.  He is known for having first pioneered free atonality which is music without a specific tone that is the guide, and also for music known as “serialism”.  Serialism is… Continue reading Arnold Schoenberg

My main note that I have to offer regarding children’s music that are designed around the Bible, is how they are designed for accessibility. They are not generally produced in order to teach a lesson and be accurate as much as they are for kids to have fun and be introduced to the Bible. It… Continue reading Children’s songs

All of the childrens’ songs that we talked about on the zoom class related to a bible verse in some way. I thought it was interesting because the song, “This Little Light of Mine,” was used a lot throughout the class. I think that it was used because it relates to a lot of differnet… Continue reading Children’s Music Related to the Bible

Exodus- Moses was sent to free slaves by Jesus. Confronts the Egypts king and says let them go, they chase after him and that’s when the Red Sea is parting. When listening to let my people go, I’ve heard it once before in a movie about racism. In the example that I’ve heard, it was… Continue reading Spiritual and Exodus( 10/21 class)

I find it extremely interesting how much history hides in some pieces of music. From children’s music, to spirituals, to heavy metal, we often find that a lot of musical pieces have huge backgrounds and tell stories much larger than the songs themselves. Many times, the history of these songs have originated in the Bible.… Continue reading The History Behind Music

On my trip home for fall break, I went to church with my dad on a Sunday morning. It was an interesting perspective to listen to the music that is used now to worship compared to the works we have been listening to from a long time ago. It feels like the music they created… Continue reading Contemporary Christian Music

Something I have learned throughout this class so far is that songwriting, singing, and instrument playing is worth doing at all levels. I have played the guitar for 4 years but I am not a very developed instrumentalist. I have really only learned how to play in order to sing with it. But as I… Continue reading Gaining Confidence