Episode 1 Summary:
- Amanda and Garrett introduce the podcast!
- Amanda and Garrett introduce themselves!
- Definition of melody
- Listening recommendations
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0:00 - Introducing Up To Your Ears!
- Simplifying musical definitions so that everyone can speak easily about music
2:20 - Introductions to Hosts
- Amanda has her masters in percussion performance, teaches part time at the local university, and performs a lot locally (especially in pit orchestras)
- Garrett has a build a bear degree, a minor in music, and many hobbies.
4:25 - Additional Purposes of the Podcast
- Fight pretension
- Provide a resource to Amanda’s students
- Educate listeners so that they feel welcome to try new musical genres
8:25 - Outline of Podcast Segments
- Define a term
- Make some listening recommendations
- Answer a question
9:00 - Defining Melody
- A series of single notes, one right after another
- The headliner, what you remember about the piece
- The part that you whistle/hum
- Rules about what makes a good one, what makes a difficult one to sing
- Melodies can be sung or played
- The part that has lyrics, if there are lyrics
- Melody usually sticks out more
11:35 - Melody Addiction
- Lots of styles are all about melody, but there’s more to music than melody
- Hip hop is an example
- Spaceship controls example
- Pizza example
14:05 - Leonard Bernstein Classifications
17:10 - Tunes
- Longer, closed, made up of a few small phrases. What most people think of when they think of melody. They easily lend themselves to lyrics.
- YMCA
- I'm A Little Teapot
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Tunes are not necessarily always simple.
20:10 - Themes
- the next longest type and sound open-ended.
- John Williams examples
- Themes are medium long.
- Themes can be extended into tunes.
- Often around 6-10 notes… but that’s not a rule
- They don’t have a beginning, middle, end necessarily
- Darth Vader example
- Theme from Titanic example
- Indiana Jones example (around 24 minutes in)
- Unlike tunes, themes don’t always lend themselves as easily to lyrics.
27:10 - Motives
- the smallest type of melodic material and very, very open to thematic development
- Dark Knight example (two note motive)
- Beethoven’s 5th symphony (short-short-short long)
28:50 - If you find Classical music boring...
- We used to think so, too!
- You’re not alone
- Something that will help is to expect to hear more themes and motives + development rather than tunes
31:40 - Melody recap
- Quick summary
- Lines that are melodic without being the melody of songs
- Billie Jean bass line example
- The shape of a melody is its contour
- The range of a melody is how high or how low it goes
- Close ranges are easier for everyday people to sing
- Examples: Mary Had A Little Lamb, Thrift Shop, I Will Always Love You, The Star-Spangled Banner, Danny Boy
36:45 - Conjunct vs Disjunct melodies
- A conjunct melody is more stepwise, so it’s easier to sing.
- Disjunct hops around more and is more difficult to sing.
- Not every melody is meant to be easy to sing
38:40 - Listening Recommendations: Spotify Playlist for Episode 1
- Garrett’s first pick: Aaron Copland’s Fanfare For the Common Man (38:55)
- Amanda’s first pick: Dvorak’s 8th Symphony, first movement (41:40)
- Garrett’s second pick: Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” (43:35)
- Amanda’s second pick: the chorale section of “Jupiter” from Gustav Holst’s suite, The Planets (45:40)
- Garrett’s third pick: “Concerning Hobbits” from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack by Howard Shore (47:05)
- Amanda’s third pick: Venus de Milo from “Birth of the Cool,” performed by Miles Davis (tune written by Gerry Mulligan) (48:10)
- Garrett’s honorable mention: What he thought was a selection from John Williams's score of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is actually "Leaving Hogwarts" from "Sorcerer's Stone" (50:25) Oops!
- Amanda’s honorable mention: “Love of My Life” by Freddie Mercury of Queen (53:20)