Saturday, February 7, 2015

Musical Tidbits

First up, what do you think is the best sounding trio, or pair for an instrument? I have been told that the best trio is the banjo, guitar, and mandolin played together. Which, I have never heard all three play at the same time, but am sure that the sound produced when combined is spectacular. (NOTE: you can enter your answer on the comments)

Second, A public apology for writing a message on the sitar, and saying the sitar originated in Africa, the instrument actually comes from India. But the "moral" of the post: expand your musical interests, it is not flawed because of a mix-up of countries.

Third, what is your favorite chord? (Yes, I am assuming you will be responding to this) Or, should I say minor chord to be specific, or favorite key to play in... basically, what is you comfort zone in music? I like a good waltz (3/4th time) in the key of F. A good example would be "My Favorite Things" from the movie The Sound of Music. (And if you have not watched the movie, I would highly advise doing so.)

Lastly, have you ever heard the song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot? It is an epic 7-minute masterpiece about the wreck of an oil tanker that sunk in 1973, killing I think it was 29 people, the song was named after the ship, and the ship sunk in one of the great lakes of Michigan. It is telling a story, is such good poetic prose, and educated style of writing, with a sad ongoing minor beat.

- Nathanael

7 comments:

Christian said...

wait, you posted this one already, cool!

Christian said...

yes, I meant to put "the wreck of" in front of the words Edmund fitzgerald, which anyhow, weeing how you did it, does that mean you have heard it

Zoë said...

Yep - it's about time I did *something* in a semi-timely fashion!

Your deduction is correct, the details of which you shall further read in the post most recently published.

Zoë said...

For some unknown reason, Nathanael, I thought you disliked The Sound of Music. Not quite sure why... :? Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you recommend watching it for all who have not yet done so!

On a different subject, have you read Alfred Noyes' poem The Highwayman, or listened to Loreena McKennit's musical rendition thereof? The poem is a fairly lengthy one, to the point that the song clocks in at ten minutes and nineteen seconds. I think you would like it, as you enjoy well-written story-telling songs. The song is musically solid - vocally it is clear yet mysterious, melodically it is magnificently minor, and the tune is instrumented perfectly throughout.

Christian said...

I liked the music to "sound of music" but thought the plot was a cliff-hanger...

no I have not read that poem

Zoë said...

What, you mean how the movie ended just as the real adventure began? ;)

I'll post the poem on the cousin blog soon, then.

Christian said...

Have you even watched the movie?