- Solo/Drone
- Ostinato
- A-B-A Form
In class on Monday and Wednesday, we explored all three.
We've been doing repeated patterns, or ostinati (that's the Italian plural), all along, from when we first found a nice groove drumming.
We've seen how improvising a melody can begin by starting with a single note--your note, one that is coming from the inside. And how by singing or playing that note, and listening, within yourself, it will lead to another note. That journey may take you anywhere. The challenge, and the joy, is to let yourself go where that music wants to take you.
In the large group, and in small groups, we've discovered what it is to create a background of support for each other to improvise over. Playing and singing drones, or creating those ostinato grooves.
And we've experimented with switching from one technique to another, and then back again. A-B-A (also known as ternary) form. It's one of the most fundamental forms in Western music.
Since I was late getting this up, your comment isn't due until Sunday night. When you do have time to write, comment on each structure, including what you found most interesting in the relevant "Darling Conversation," and on your experience improvising with it.
I really liked improvising over the drone. I think that was my favorite exercise because no note really ever seems wrong because we all drone on different pitches. It was also a very calming exercise. I like how Julie talks about how the drone was the start of all music. She explains that someone must have heard a drone, and then heard the overtones of their own fundamental sound they were making. People must have then picked out those sounds that's how they found the intervals which make up harmony. I think that really proves that music is truly inside of everyone. We all have our own drone of sound.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed when we formed small cirlcles in class and created ostinato grooves. I thought the instrumentalist's circle was really cool! I feel like they had a lot more variety in their circle than us vocalists. I know I was a little unsure of my ostinato, but I think that if we did that exercise more often, I'd be more comfortable and willing to be more risky with what I scat.
A-B-A form is the most natural form for humans. On the track, they sing Jingle Bells with a scat section in the middle for B form. They pointed out how in nature you always start, do something, then come home. It always comes back to the beginning. I guess this is the reason why it feels so natural to us.
I really liked soloing over a drone in class and in our small groups. Julie says it best, it teaches us to "listen carefully" because we hear all of those little incremental difference in intervals over the drone. It is really neat. And like our Julie (Strauser) said, it really does feel like you cannot possibly sing a wrong note!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite of these tracks was the Ostinato. I love that they describe it as an obstinate sound, unchanging, stubborn, if you will. We do this a lot in class, as Prof. Edberg pointed out, and I enjoy it. It reminds me of in vocal accapella jazz often the non-solo lines will do some harmonized "doot" or something that is actually an obstinate line. This is something really natural for us, I think, because there is a lot of repetition in nature, like the waves coming in and out and the sun rising and setting day after day.
The A-B-A form is interesting and definitely very natural for humans as well. Maybe this comes from how we always return to where we started: for example, babies and the very old are really similar in their need to be taken care of, weak bodies, etc. It is odd to think about, but I think that might be why we feel so attached to this musical form.
My favorite technique is a solo/drone. When one person creates a melody over a continuous note or over a continuous interval, it seems like the person is floating. It is wonderful to think that when one sings a solo over a drone, we can hear the beautiful overtones over a sustained melody. In the Darling Conversations, Julie says that when solos are sung over drones, people understand what harmony and what chords really are. I believe that is is crucial for all musicians to understand such components of music.
ReplyDeleteThe A-B-A form is an excellent foundation for musicians. When we have such a skeleton with which to work, it is easier for us to branch out and experiment with different forms - look at what Project Trio is able to do. But as Sydney said, we always return to where we start; musicians always know that if we can always return to our basis.
The ostinato technique is one that I find fascinating. Despite its repetition, it gives music a liveliness, an energy that Julie (in the Darling Conversations) calls stubborn. What an anthropomorphic way of viewing music.
I agree with Julie (Strauser) in that my favorite activity was improvising over a drone. It was fun to explore the group's creativity. The Darling Conversations made fascinating points about the drone and how important it is for harmony. I also feel strongly that drones can do wonders for helping young musicians like myself ear train!
ReplyDeleteThe ostinato technique has been interesting. It seems to be quite reflective of the overall mood of the group. It's peaceful to me, that "stubborn" sound and the variations the group explores.
The A-B-A form is a great way to familiarize oneself with recurring themes and phrases. It's fun creating an environment of sound with a group of musicians. I hope that as we practice with our groups we can learn to make very appealing music.
My favorite technique from these tracks was the solo-drone. It expands the boundaries of western music more than anything else by utilizing not only our chromatic scale, but all of the "microtones" between them. The sirening over a drone has a mystical and calming quality unlike any other type of music I have ever experienced. Their suggestion to record your own drone and then solo over it is incredible. It's not very often that we have the ability to make harmony with ourselves, but I think it has fantastic potential. I'm looking forward to trying it at some point.
ReplyDeleteThe perspective Julie (Darling Conversations) had about ostinato was unique. Like Sydney and Dana, I appreciated her description of it as "obstinate" and "stubborn". When I was listening to this track, I realized that I have been unconsciously associating ostinato with an Alberti bass pattern. In reality it encompasses a much wider variety of repeated phrases and rhythms than I had previously been giving it credit for.
A-B-A form is an excellent concept. As Julie (Darling Conversations) points out, almost everything music and non-music related has the circular feel of A-B-A form. It's cool that A-B-A can be not only a change in the feel of the music, but also a change in the fundamentals or instrumentation. For example, when they did Jingle Bells, they sang, then switched to rhythmic percussion, then back to singing. I'm looking forward to doing our own A-B-A comprovizations on Monday.
Normally when I am singing, I am not listening to myself or even thinking about what I am doing. In class when we practiced the droning with voices over it, the whole exercise made me listen and come to the realization of how cool making music and sounds actually is.I like in the darling conversations how they mentioned the idea of trying droning with sirening in different keys and to watch how we react to it. Most keys set the mood for a piece anyways.All in all it puts us in practice for paying attention.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of how ostinato can be simple or not. It gives the performer either a chance to solo or if they decide a simple ostinato, it allows another person to join and shadowing can occur.The best part is that all of it can occur over and over again. As mentioned in the darling conversations, ostinatos are stubborn.
As I attend concerts and listen to individual pieces of music I begin to see how almost everything music and non music related for example literature has a common theme of A-B-A. I think it really is fascinating how it can change the feeling and fundamentals of music in multiple ways. I really enjoyed the example of jingle bells because it reallly emphasized where the sections changed.
For me, Ostinato is like a motif that repeats itself. The concept of Ostinato was confusing at first, with the "Stubbornness" and being able to use all kinds of methods to make the sounds, it was kind of a confusing concept for me to pick up until I improvised with it in class. then it became and easier concept to grasp.
ReplyDeleteI really loved improvising over a drone, and the music on the opening of the track reminded me of my grandfather, who is scottish, and listening to Irish and Scottish music where a female singer sings over a drone. It brought me right back to a movie we used to watch called "the Secret of Roan Inish" and all of the music in the movie uses the drones and the solo singer. Drone singing like this is really relaxing to me. I could fall asleep to it because it puts me in such a relaxed state. Doing it made me feel just as relaxed too. I love that feeling when all the tension just seeps out of you.
A-B-A is a concept you see a lot as a singer, in so much of the music I am assigned I see the change of one melody to another and then comes back to be beginning. I loved that the woman talked about how you see in nature the A-B-A form. I think the project will be fun, comprovization, with our own creating and A-B-A form. I am not a composer, but I think making this project focused on improvising and switch from moods it will be easier to create music than, at least for me, having to sit down and purely being told to write music.
I love the idea of having the drone and soloing over top. I think it is very helpful, it helps the musician listen to what is happening around them and making sure that everything fits. Above that it helps you go off of impulse and feeling, you become a better musician that way.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the concept of obstinate, it is very interesting. I love that that can in a way be the drone underneath improvisation. In my opinion it can become a bit difficult because once people start to improvise you may get confused and go along with them.
A-B-A is very common among singers. I personally have not sung a song with this concept, but I have seen music that has it written .
The conversation of "Solo-Drone" reminds me of one of the activities we did in class this week. Four of us, no matter of vocalist or instrumentalist, gather together. We got to listen to each other and do some solos. It is vital to listen to others, which was mentioned in the conversation, in order to create the harmony desired.
ReplyDeleteJulie mentioned that ostinato is stubborn - it "comes in and out" whenever the performer intends. I personally found this the most interesting conversation among the three. In fact, ostinato is somehow a form of improvisation. We could find it in many acapella performances. I am always amazed how singers managed not to lose their track and follow other voice parts.
I have to agree with Julie that "A-B-A" form is THE most common musical form. The demonstration of "Jingle Bells" with beatboxing has fully applied the tertiary structure into this fun atmosphere. I do have some songs in "A-B-A" form, yet I observed some other musical forms as well.
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ReplyDeleteSolo/Drone was my personal favorite of these 3 new techniques. It requires listening to the other people in the group, as when performing with a group. And I agree with Lisa when she said it can be used as a tool to help with ear training. I've also noticed how it relates to A-B-A in how we start on the drone and return to it as we go along. Ostinato also requires listening closely to the rest of the group to make sure your part fits and to keep track of where you are. However, unlike A-B-A, ostinato is a more complex concept to preform. I believe one key factor to this is because A-B-A is more natural to humans.
ReplyDeleteI really like these 3 styles of improvisation that we've been working on. It's nice to relax and just go with my gut instead of worrying about notes. I also really enjoy how these techniques allow us to explore whatever instrument we play without the fear of judgement by our peers.
The thing I found most interesting was the soloing on the drone. Everything you sing sounds so incredible, no matter what notes you hit. IF I could actually sing, that would be my favorite type. Playing my viola over a drone is a lot of fun. Even scales are somewhat fun over a drone.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't so sure how I felt about "obstinate". I felt that it may cause some confusion.
The A-B-A pattern is the most common thing in rhythmic music, probably ever. The notes don't have to be the same, but the theme, or mood of the beginning almost always returns in the end. It ties pieces together. Without it, certain events couldn't and wouldn't be expressed, nor would most songs make any sense.
The solo/drone reminds me of a meditation “class” I took at an opera camp a few years ago. The teacher would play music like this while we would sit with our eyes closed listening to the “drone music”. I absolutely loved listening to the drone music because it was always so calming and relaxing. I liked his idea of creating your own personal drone and finding your own note and seeing how that affects you. I always like when they put the history behind what we are listening to. I like the concept that what we know of music today came from the “original” drone sounds in nature.
ReplyDeleteOstinato sounds like what we do in class, which I have always found very fun. When I listen to any kind of music now I can actually hear some form of ostinato in almost all music. Like they said, people like repetition its part of our human nature to be drawn toward things that have repetition and order. I think ostinato can actually be a lot like scatting or babbling as well. I liked the example of the ocean tide they gave to describe ostinato, because when they played the examples you could really hear that sort of push and pull motion of the music.
I have to admit their version of jingle bells was actually very funny! Every song I have ever sang or played has always had an ABA form to it and it has always been helpful especially when the song is in a different language. I have listened to songs that don’t have the ABA form to them and they just sound incomplete. I think this goes back to the repetition thing they have talked about in previous recordings and how people like repetition.
I really enjoyed listening to the Solo-Drone because it makes you feel more comfortable about your solo and how you do it. Soloing is always making people nervous, when they discuss how beautiful music is in general it makes me feel a lot calmer about how I solo. That even if the note doesn't sound great, it is producing music and that is one of the most important things to realize.
ReplyDeleteThe Ostinato reminds me of a type of warm up actually. Even though a lot of people see it was scatting, I found that after producing all those different syllables my mouth felt ready to give a monologue! (Well.. you know what I mean). I did see it was a jazzy way of expressing one's self verbally too though. I think that something would be really interesting to hear, is someone scatting with all those consonants ... (maybe I'll try and find something! haha)
Although the ABA form is very familiar and everyone feels most comfortable hearing it, I do like songs that do not have an ABA form because it changes the pace a little and makes it more interesting. I love of the feeling of wanting to hear more. It is true however that many things are based on the ABA form they were definitely right about that. Also, the Jingle Bells was really awesome... I wish we could have taken a familiar song and done the same thing. It would have been cool to hear everyone do a different "B" section!