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Unity is strength
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Music allows me to elude from the real world in which I live in; all I need is a fascinating melody for me to escape for hours upon hours. Just listening is enough, but something even more captivating involves stimulating both my aural and tactile senses: making music. For years, my favorite way of making music has been through piano. The piano, the most iconic black and white keyed instrument, is both strict and abstract; time and meter interact with harmony and expression. I think it is this “union of polarity” aspect of the instrument I love that represents my personality the best. The strictness of playing piano is analogous to my reclusive attitude. I always enjoy independence: working alone gives me desired control of all factors of a …show more content…
How come? I have this very photo because it is of me during the 2017 Science Olympiad Nationals Award Ceremony with a first place gold medal in hand. This very photo captured more than just the statement that I had won my event, it captured the idea. Embedded within an idea, comes excitement, joy, and overwhelming passion undescribable by written words or spoken phrases, at least for me. I’ll try my best to summarize the feelings I had then. Ever since sixth grade, I’ve dreamed of standing on a national competition stage. The few hours before the awards ceremony, I was excited beyond words because of a small anticipation that I had thought up in my mind of me winning the event. However, because of certain superstitious thoughts, I kept that idea to myself. But finally, during the countoff of the top placing teams, my idea was confirmed. As the master of ceremonies counted off sixth place, then fifth, all the way up to second place, I had specifically noticed that my team had not been called yet. Out of 60 teams at the national tournament, it is infrequent for us to even be called up on stage. Yet, it was Ladue who was called when it came all the way down to the first place winner of my event, one-upping myself from the previous year’s second place at nationals. Every time I see the photo, I know that it represents not only my hard work and dedication, but
... themes of individualism and alienation. The chief value of living with music lies in its power to give us an orientation in time. In doing so, it gives connotation to all those indefinable aspects of experience which nevertheless helps us make what we are.
Due to the different eras between the Harpsichord and the Piano, a significant difference in their design, function and role is presented. In order to understand how each instrument developed, an analysis of each era needs to be provided first.
Berniece Charles, a protagonist in the play The Piano Lesson, is greatly affected by the history of her piano within her family’s history. She refuses to let her brother, Boy Willie, sell the piano because she feels their family history should be preserved in it, yet she actively tries to leave her family’s past behind her. Berniece fears the piano, and doesn’t want to end up like her mother, who begged Berniece to play for her every day and talked to the piano, believing it to be her husband’s ghost. In August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, the character Berniece is affected by the history of the piano that is connected with her family, which reveals the importance of embracing and remembering your origins.
What can appear to gleam and reflect such beauty and craftsmanship yet can be handled by a three year old. It’s sound so pure by a touch of a finger has been in existence for well over a hundred years and is the foundation for creating music. It’s black and white keys produce sounds when played correctly that can bring tears to one’s eyes, touch your heart and soul, bring hope, or even joy and laughter to an event. All of this power… lies in the piano. The piano from its creation to this very second had transformed the world of music no matter what class, talent, and ability.
When considering the Holocaust in its totality, historian Nora Levin believes that such an atrocity is without parallel; a perspective that can be supported by the detailed accuracy of the dramatizations that have been made based on the events of this tragedy. The extreme cruelty, destructive political and racial ideology, size of the human slaughter and overall insensitivity of the world are characteristics that make this act of cruelty, an event than can never be compared to. In The Pianist, individuals were throwing themselves out of windows or poison themselves when they felt that the time had come to be deported to a concentration camp and possibly executed in the gas chamber, so that they could at least die with dignity instead of being shot down in the street like a rabid dog or being deported to an unknown location with an uncertain future. This act of desperation is
“Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano!” a quote from Frederic Chopin. Similar to Chopin, a copius amount of musicians utilized their instruments of choice in order to express their emotions or feelings. During the Baroque Period both the clavichord and the harpsichord reigned as the most popular keyboard instrument of choice. However, by the end of the Baroque Period the piano had replaced both keyboards as being the most popular and widely used (Verotta). The piano has been derived from the harpsichord and the clavichord which had evolved continuously through the combined effort of keyboard makers.
The piano is a vital instrument in Western classical music, blues jazz, folk, rock music, film and television scoring, and many other musical genres. The piano keyboard offers an effective means of experimenting with complex melodic and harmonic interaction. The piano is an essential tool in music education. Pianos are used to help teach music theory, music history and music appreciation. Many great composers like Mozart and Beethoven have used the piano to its full potential and left behind masterpieces. Their music is played, taught and appreciated even years after their death.
Do you ever have one of those days when you remember your parents taking away all of your baseball cards or all of your comic books because you got a bad grade in one of your classes? You feel a little depressed and your priced possession has been stolen. This event is the same as August Wilson’s, The Piano Lesson. The story is about a sibling rivalry, Boy Willie Charles against Berniece Charles, regarding an antique, family inherited piano. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano in order to buy the same Mississippi land that his family had worked as slaves. However, Berniece, who has the piano, declines Boy Willie’s request to sell the piano because it is a reminder of the history that is their family heritage. She believes that the piano is more consequential than “hard cash” Boy Willie wants. Based on this idea, one might consider that Berniece is more ethical than Boy Willie.
(maybe a transition) So many people praise the ability to play a musical instrument—the outlet it provides for the emotions we keep pent up inside, the thrill of being able to transfer printed ink into song. Yet for many years, I couldn’t see the appeal. I lost the ability to enjoy music in my desire for easy results.
We see it in homes, schools, restaurants, and in various other places, but not many people know the changes it had to go through to touch our hearts with the endless possibilities the piano provides. Not many people know the origins and changes the piano has gone through to get where it is today. The truth is it was invented around the year 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori DI Francesco. For example, not many people know that the average piano started with sixty-six keys and changed to the average eighty-eight keys. One thing is for sure, pianos have gone through some major changes since they were first made.
Music is one of the most fantastical forms of entertainment. Its history stretches all the way from the primitive polyrhythmic drums in Africa to our modern day pop music we listen to on our phones. It has the ability to amaze us, to capture our attention and leave us in awe. It soothes the hearts of billions, and it is so deeply rooted in my life that it has touched my heart as well. Everyday I walk to the beat of the song stuck in my head and hum along to the melody. For me, to listen to music be lifted into the air by the hands of your imagination and float around for a while. You forget about your worries, your troubles and find peace within the sound. Every chapter in my life is attached with a song. Every time I listen to a certain song, thoughts of my past come flooding back
The pianist is a film made in 2002, directed by Roman Polanski and it circles around the life of Waldyslaw Szpilman which was played by Adrien Brody. This movie is a true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who, during the 1930’s, was known as the most talented piano player in all of Poland. As the Second World War begins, Szpilman becomes subject imposed to the anti-Jewish laws by the Germans who want to take over Poland. By the beginning of 1940’s Szpilman has witnessed his world/the community go from piano performance halls to the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw. In addition, Szpilman was obliged to suffer the calamity of his families’ exile to German concentration camps, at the same time he is recruited into a forced German Labor Compound by a police guard named Itzak Heller, who had earlier captured his brother in jail. Then he goes hiding in buildings/apartments, but sooner or later ends-up looking through blown-up/burnt buildings at night for food and hiding throughout the daytime. Then one day, a Nazi Officer by the name of Captain Wilm Hosenfeld, discovers him in a building looking for food. Szpilman tells the captain that he is pianist but Hosenfeld doesn’t believe it. So Szpilman proves to Hosenfeld that he is a pianist by playing it on the piano. Szpilman starts out by playing a solemn and concise version of Chopin’s “Ballad in G Minor”. Hosenfeld impressed by Szpilman’s playing of piano, helps him stay alive, but later runs away from the building he is in when Russian army advances. Later it is shown that Hosenfeld is captured by the army and put in concentration camp where he hears the name of Szpilman and tells an officer that he knows Szpilman, after that we are given the assumption that Hosenfeld died in the camp. On the other h...
Piano for Pleasure is a text book for the adult beginners without musical background. Each chapter has seven sections, including listening, rhythm, technique, theory, reading, improvising, and performance. The MIDI files for the text and sound files in Mp3 format will be available on the Web site to download. You will also find much of materials and additional examples in PDF format which may be printed for easier study. The teacher could choose this book for the beginners who must have a very high comprehension.
For me personally, music appreciation is defined as looking at different pieces of music and musical forms, and learning to find appreciation for them. This appreciation is formed not only by listening to several pieces of music, but by learning to understand what you may be listening too. This involves introducing yourself to many pieces of music and learning to interpret, what makes each piece different and unique. Understanding the historical background and societal changes that have taken place during the creation of the musical piece, is also an important factor to consider. Music is not only creative, but it also makes up part of a societies history. Music is an art form that connects different societies and cultures together, it possess the amazing ability to make us into one.
Music, a form of art, made up of unique and special sounds containing elements of pitch and rhythm can powerfully soothe one’s soul. Firstly, there are different types of music, and each has its own features. These sounds and features are what I admire in music because to me it creates a new form of communication to one’s consciousness. It stimulates our mind and gives it a sense of harmony and peace through the hardships that life poses for us. As a kid, I would always listen to music from any genre, deciding which genre would complement me the most as I grew older. In middle school, I remember going on the computer and finding a website/program where I could make my own beats. From that day on, I spent countless of hours each day making sure the tune sounded proper and pleasurable for my ears. At first, it wasn’t good, but eventua...