Though we were there in spirit, unfortunately, we didn't make the rally down at Westlake Center this afternoon. I sure hope the Seahawks don't lose because of our absence. ;)
I've included a couple of "flashback Friday" photos from last year, when we *did* make the Westlake rally. Good times, and Go Hawks!
MORE MUSIC: We are just about done with Week 1 of our "Introduction to Classical Music" class. Today's lecture topics included discussion about what melody is, major and minor scales, the chromatic scale, mode and mood, and melodic structure. Fascinating stuff, and there is lots of math in music, that's for sure!
One of the most interesting part of the lectures today was when the professor showed how changing the third pitch of a scale is altered by a half step, it changes from a major to a minor mode. He played normally upbeat sounding songs, like 'Happy Birthday to You," in minor mode, and it sounded so dramatically different! You could just picture someone sitting alone, surrounded by drooping balloons at their birthday party that no one showed up for.
I found a couple of different "minor" versions of the birthday song on YouTube, if you're curious what I'm writing about. The professor's version was even more minor sounding than this one (if that makes any sense).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX89QpeRMIc
Extra credit: Is the "morose" sound of a minor keyed "Happy Birthday" a learned cultural thing or is it wired into the brains of everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think you could find support for either argument. Part of the lectures this week involved brain science and showed how different types of music affect the brain. Of course, then you could think about it chicken or the egg - do they impact the brain that way because of what we're taught ... Hmm.
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