MUS 150
Chancellor Johnothan Bennet is also known as "Chance The Rapper". Chance is 23 years old and has been making music since 2011. He is a well-known hip hop artist from the western part of Chicago, Illinois. Chance is not signed to a record label. He has been very successful for the past 5 years without one, and he is determined to keep it that way. In his mixtape entitled "Coloring Book" (May 2016), he wrote a song that expresses how much he wants to stay away from record labels.
- Chance raps about his life, problems, wife, daughter, etc. He is also a religious person, so some of his songs are all about the many blessings in his life and how he thanks God for giving them to him. - He uses many different extra vocals in his works. He uses church/gospel and childrens choirs, and many other vocalists. - Chance has collaborated with many well-known artists such as Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, Justin Bieber, and 2 Chainz. - He also uses other orchestral instruments like trumpet and piano in his songs. - Some of his songs are "chill", but then some of them are also very lively and upbeat. Analysis: - All of Chance's songs tell a story. He is very poetic and expressive with his lyrics. His expressiveness is his theme. - His pieces are full of experiences, feelings, and opinions. He freely expresses how he feels and isn't ashamed of it. - Chance uses rhyming lines and electronic beats and autotune to help convey his message to his audience. In the future, I can teach my students about the different genres of music that's out there. Much like myself, maybe this will open to eyes to a world of music that isn't just classical. This will hopefully make them more aware of music in general. Until this assignment, I wasn't a fan of Rap/Hip Hop. The closest I had been to liking this genre was after I listened to Hamilton. (Yeah. I know) I had even been introduced to Chance's music by my boyfriend. He tried to explain to me the meaning and stories in his lyrics, but I still couldn't bring myself to become much of a fan of Hip Hop. It wasn't until I was studying and being completely absorbed in this music that I discovered the true emotion behind this Genre. Hopefully everyone can one day put themselves out of their comfort zone and give other genres a try. Maybe they'll end up like me. This assignment opened my eyes and expanded my love for music even further. So, thank you! #MUS150I don't typically listen to pop music all that much, but scrolling through and trying to decide what song to use as my cover, this song came to mind. This might be sappy, but it reminds me of the times my boyfriend and I will be driving around in his car listening to the radio. Every time this song came on, without fail, I would exclaim "I love this song!!" and proceed to crank up the volume. I just loved the opening part of this song. I loved the key it was in, and how simple the background music was. I loved singing it (even though I did it very poorly.. which is why I chose to play the lyrics on my primary instrument.)
This process started off with me learning how to play the intro on the piano. It didn't take that long, considering how much my Aural Skills class has helped me with ear training. Once I was done fiddling around on the piano, I decided to write down the different parts I would need. 1.) Piano 2.) Rhythm #1 3.) Rhythm #2 4.) Piano #2 and 5.) Saxophone. After I had decided these things, I got straight to work. I decided not to go with any vocals, because, I mean, I'm not a vocal major for a reason. I put all of the melodic parts either on Piano or Sax because those are the two instruments I can play best at the moment. With the rhythm, I thought about doing different sounds with my mouth or my body, but as I was noodling around with some options, I found that the knocking and pencil-tapping on the piano bench sounded better than any sound I could produce myself! This experience was actually something that I'd always wanted to do, but just never did, because I couldn't sing very well. But this allowed me to express my creativity in a way that I always wanted to. It's helped me create a different version of something, to make it my own! This experience will help me in the future because now that I've learned to step out of my comfort zone and make a cover of a song that includes ZERO singing, I feel like this is a lesson I could teach to my future students one day! |
EricaThis page will be used for music-type things such as videos of myself playings, pieces I have composed, pieces I would like to play, and concerts! Archives
November 2019
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