Sunny Bliss: 2015

This will speed you up musically if you are a lover of music or musician especially music beginners

Take a look at this note from Onoja Sunday A.ka. Sunny Bliss.

WHAT IS MUSIC THEORY?

Understanding music theory means knowing the language of music. The main thing to know about music theory is that it is simply a way to explain the music we hear. Music had existed for thousands of years before theory came along to explain what people were trying to accomplish innately by pounding on their drums. Don’t ever think that you can’t be a good musician just because you’ve never taken a theory class. In fact, if you are a good musician, you already know a lot of theory. You just may not know the words or scientific formulas for what you’re doing.

The concepts and rules that make up music theory are very much like the grammatical rules that govern written language. Being able to transcribe music makes it possible for other musicians to read and play compositions exactly as the composer intended. Learning to read music is almost exactly like learning a new language, to the point where a fluent person can “hear” a musical “conversation” when reading a piece of sheet music.

There are plenty of intuitive, self-taught musicians out there who have never learned to read or write music and find the whole idea of learning music theory tedious and unnecessary. However, just like the educational leaps that can come with learning to read and write, music theory can help musicians learn new techniques, perform unfamiliar styles of music, and develop the confidence to try new things.

What is important to remember, though, is that music theory is to composers what grammar is to poets. Music theory can tell you what musicians and composers have done in the past and why it works, but it doesn't dictate what you have to do. Just as poets aren't limited to the strict rules of grammar, musicians, too, have the poetic license to ignore certain "rules" of music theory in order to create the piece they want to create.

However, the inescapable fact is this: you get out of music what you put into it. If you want to be able to play classical music, you must be able to keep a steady beat, and understanding how the harmonies fit together can make it much easier to play because you can see what's coming before you even get there. If you want to be a rock musician, then knowing the notes you need to play in a given key is especially important. Learning to play and understand music takes a lot of personal discipline, but in the end, it's worth all the hard work.

TIPS ON MUSIC COMPOSITION

· The first ideas are often the best.

· Study many types of music, not just the area in which you wish to compose, and allow ideas tocrossover from one style to another.

· Analyse melodies and try to find out what makes them good.

· Try inverting or reversing your melodies. Study twentieth century compositional techniques, e.g. tone rows, chance (throwing dice to choose the notes – randomising function on a sequencer).

· Force yourself to write a tune every day. Sooner or later there have to be some good ones.

· Don’t just compose with your instrument, sing or whistle as you go about your daily life and write down the good tunes. Try to remember dreams with music in them.

· Try to bring original melodic material into your improvisation rather than relying on licks and clichés. Improvisation should just be a speeded up process of composition.

· Keep a notebook, tape recorder, note down any melodic fragments

· Try to be objective. Imagine yourself not as a composer or musician but the person listening to your music for the first time. You may suddenly some superfluous passages or devices that are just there to impress people with your musical knowledge.

· It helps to be aware of your reasons for composing, whether it’s money, respect (self or from family and friends) fame and stardom, spiritual awareness or a desire to entertain or spread love and peace. Try and be aware of what emotions you are trying to arouse in the listener.

· If you are writing a pop song try starting with a title.

THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

These may seem very elementary (no pun intended) however I find they can be very useful to think about just to focus your mind at those time when you don’t feel as inspired as you think you should do. Just step back and think about what music actually is. Music is the organisation of sound into melody (pitch) and rhythm (time). This is the basic structure on which a composer (or orchestrator) will add further elements including harmony, timbre and dynamics.

Composition (on its most basic level of writing a good tune) will often involve only the rhythm and melody, however in western tonal music the melody usually implies the harmony. Exceptions to this include a lot of pop/dance or rap music of the last two decades. Traditionally a composer or composer/lyricist team wrote the basic tune (melody and rhythm) and words along with any further orchestrational development, or else would get a dedicated orchestrator to do the latter.

In vocal music either the words (lyric) or the music could be written first, or both at the same time.

Most forms of pop and jazz music combine all the above elements. The basic melody usually consists of notes of different pitches (even rapping often varies the pitch and intonation) which are organized in time (rhythm). This is usually arranged against a backing provided by a rhythm section which can consist either of musicians or a programmed track (typically drums/percussion – bass –piano/guitar). This backing often contains a complex rhythmic and melodic counterpoint to the main melody, which can be divided into three main areas:

MUSICAL COMPOSITION

can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.

Although today composition is considered to consist of the manipulation of each aspect of music (harmony, melody, form, rhythm, and timbre), according

Composition consists in two things only. The first is the ordering and disposing of several sounds...in such a manner that their succession pleases the ear. This is what the Ancients called melody. The second is the rendering audible of two or more simultaneous sounds in such a manner that their combination is pleasant. This is what we call harmony, and it alone merits the name of composition

A piece of music exists in the form of a composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance or recorded track). If composed before being performed, music can be performed from memory, through written musical notation, or through a combination of both. Compositions comprise musical elements, which vary widely from person to person and between cultures. Improvisation is the act of composing during the performance, assembling musical elements spontaneously.

Piece is a, "general, non-technical term [that began to be] applied mainly to instrumental compositions from the 17th century onwards....other than when they are taken individually 'piece' and its equivalents are rarely used of movements in sonatas or symphonies....composers have used all these terms [in their different languages] frequently in compound forms [e.g. Klavierstück]....In vocal music...the term is most frequently used for operatic ensembles..."

COMPOSITION AS MUSICAL FORM

In discussing the structure (or organization) of a musical work, the composition of that work is generally called its musical form. These techniques draw a parallel to art's formal elements. Sometimes, the entire form of a piece is through-composed, meaning that each part is different, with no repetition of sections; other forms include strophic, rondo, verse-chorus, or other parts. Some pieces are composed around a set scale, where the compositional technique might be considered the usage of a particular scale. Others are composed during performance (see improvisation), where a variety of techniques are also sometimes used. Some are used from particular songs which are familiar.

Important in tonal musical composition is the scale for the notes used, including the mode and tonic note. In music using twelve tone techniques, the tone row is even more comprehensive a factor than a scale. Similarly, music of the Middle East employs compositions that are rigidly based on a specific mode (maqam) often within improvisational contexts, as does Indian classical music in both the Hindustani and the Carnatic system.

COMPOSING MUSIC

People who practice composition are called composers. Compositional techniques are the methods used to create music. Useful skills in composition include writing musical notation, music theory, instrumentation, and handling musical ensembles (orchestration). Other skills include extended techniques such as improvisation, musical montage, preparing instruments, using non-traditional instruments, and other methods of sound production.

METHODS

One method to compose music is starting with a chord progression. These chords could be selected arbitrarily or with specific purpose to reflect the tone of the emotion being conveyed. For example, selecting a minor key, but with mostly major chords (i.e. III, VI, VII) might convey a hopeful feeling. Once the series of chords is selected, additional lines are added to embellish, adding depth to the music. Usually this includes at least a lead melody line and often one or more harmony lines. Popular music is often written this way (see: Song structure (popular music)) where a selected series of chords forms the structure of each of a particular section of the song (ex. Verse, Chorus). The melody line is often dependent on the writer's chosen lyrics and can vary in detail from verse to verse.

Another method involves free playing of your desired instrument. For example, a pianist might simply sit and start playing chords, melodies, or random notes that come to mind in order to find some inspiration, then build on the discovered lines to add depth.

As technology progresses, new and inventive methods of music composition come about. One such method involves using computer algorithms contained in samplers to directly translate the phonetics of speech into digital sound.^[^{citation needed}^]

STRUCTURE

MUSICAL FORM

Composers may decide to divide their music into sections. In classical music, one common form of songwriting is Sonata form. This form involves an Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation. The end speaks to the beginning, concluding things, while the development allows for deviations from the norm of the exposition.

Many contemporary songs are organized into sections as well. These sections are usually alternating verse and chorus, often with a bridge before the last chorus. The differing verses will share chord progressions while the chorus is often exactly the same throughout

COMPOSITIONAL INSTRUMENTATION

Instrumentation (music) and Arrangement (music)

The task of adapting a composition for musical instruments/ensembles, called arranging or orchestrating, may be undertaken by the composer or separately by an arranger based on the composer's core composition. A composition may have multiple arrangements based on such factors as intended audience type and breadth, musical genre or stylistic treatment, recorded or live performance considerations, available musicians and instruments, commercial goals and economic constraints.

Based on such factors, composers or arrangers must decide upon the instrumentation of the original work. Today, the contemporary composer can virtually write for almost any combination of instruments. Some common group settings include music for full orchestra (consisting of just about every instrument group), concert band (which consists of larger sections and greater diversity of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments than are usually found in the orchestra), or a chamber group (a small number of instruments, but at least two). The composer may also choose to write for only one instrument, in which case this is called a solo.

Composers are not limited to writing only for instruments, they may also decide to write for voice (including choral works, operas, and musicals) or percussion instruments or electronic instruments. Alternatively, as is the case with musique concrète, the composer can work with many sounds often not associated with the creation of music, such as typewriters, sirens, and so forth.

In Elizabeth Swados' Listening Out Loud, she explains how a composer must know the full capabilities of each instrument and how they must complement each other, not compete. She gives an example of how in an earlier composition of hers, she had the tuba above the piccolo. This would clearly drown the piccolo out, thus giving it no purpose in the composition. Each instrument chosen to be in a piece must have a reason for being there that adds to what the composer is trying to convey within the work

ARRANGING

Arranging is composition which employs prior material so as to comment upon it such as in mash-ups and various contemporary classical works.^[2] The process first requires analysis of existing music, and then rewriting (and often transcription) for an instrumentation other than that for which it was originally intended. It often (but not always) involves new supporting material injected by the arranger. Different versions of a composed piece of music is referred to as an arrangement.

Sunnyraggae. ^28TH MAY, 2015

Sunny Bliss

Wednesday 14 October 2015

Uni Agric mkd suspend resumtion

Tuesday 8 September 2015

latest single

Wednesday 19 August 2015

Sunny Bliss doing it live On 18TH JULY 2015. AT STARHIGH TECHNOLOGIES OTUKPO. Birthday tins.

Thursday 28 May 2015

Music Tips for Beginers

COMPOSITION AS MUSICAL FORM

COMPOSING MUSIC

COMPOSITIONAL INSTRUMENTATION

ARRANGING

Saturday 7 February 2015

Thursday 29 January 2015

Onoja Sunday

Friday 23 January 2015