Motivation and Goal
As soon the genius project was assigned, my interest was immediately directed towards my greatest passion; music. For nine years I have played a total of five instruments including guitar, piano, bass, cello and drums. When the time came to choose a topic, it only seemed logical for me to relate my project to music. However, after all these years of taking music lessons and performing at recitals, it never occurred to me that I had never written a full and complex piece of music. Granted that I would occasionally write a simple melody here and there, but it would only be for the duration of a few measures. Because of my lack for applying what I know about music theory, my aim for these upcoming weeks is to successfully compose and perform a major musical composition (with a twist).
Breakdown
Here is a short description of what I intend for my project to look like:
1. Concerto Format: A Concerto (by definition) is a form of western classical music, usually made up of three sections or movements. Originally I was planning to do four movements but I would not have had enough time or resources to compose them all. A concerto also exhibits a particular instrument such as the violin or flute. However in this case I will be using the piano, mainly because of its easy access to all the notes on the musical scale.
2. Medley: A medley is a mix of songs or melodies, usually connected by transitions similar to the way that paragraphs are connected in an essay. Each of the songs relate to each other in some shape or form, whether they're from the same genre or same composer. For my piece in particular, the songs will be connected by time period. In other words, each of my movements will consist of songs from the same era. For example, it will start with classical music from the 1600s-1800s, then jazz and classic rock from 1900 to 1970s and finally modern music from 1980s-2015. In my eyes, these are the most influential styles of music, which is why I am choosing to include them in my piece. My classical movement will contain songs by composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Bach where as the movements from the 20th and 21st century will be from artists like Oscar Peterson, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Eminem, Nirvana, Fall Out Boy and other major artists.
3. Original Transitions: Like I said before, the songs within the movements will be connected by transitions. However, these transitions will be composed by me, for the sake of originality. Like the simple melodies I used to create, these transitions will not last long but will prove to be effective in terms of making the piece my own (and not just a jumble of songs thrown together).
Conclusion
I have high hopes for this project and predict that it'll be very successful. My only concern is time management. Getting any kind of work done on time has always been on my mind but since I am doing a different kind of work for this project, I am worried it will disrupt my work ethic and therefore my ability to finish my assignments on time. However, working with music may be easier instead and I might be able to complete my movements earlier than expected. Overall, I am going to enjoy this project no matter when or how I do it.
This Week's Comments
Sieanna: Animation
Christy: Violin
David: Card Tricks
Thanks for reading and be sure to check back for more posts!
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor-Bach: If you've ever watched a cheesy scary movie, the creepy guy in the haunted house playing the organ is most likely playing this piece. As complicated as the title sounds, this song is actually really cool. It was originally composed by Back for the organ, but a managed to make it work on the piano. If you listen to this, you can really tell the difference between composers. Bach's style is choppy and extremely melodic whereas Beethoven is much more smooth and emotional. Here is what it sounds like:
