User talk:Monkalot12

Musical Investigation

The two musical pieces that I chose to do my musical investigation research on are: "Beat It" by Michael Jackson, and "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Peter Tchaikovsky. “Beat It” is a pop cultural song, while “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” is a ballet song. The musical link that binds them together is the sense of rhythme, and how in the songs’ own cultural background it ignites performers to dance. In “Beat It” the meter is in 4/4 meter. You could argue that any piece in 4/4 could be in 2/4 as well. Throughout the whole entire piece if goes at a moderate pace. There are drums in the background that helps keep the steady beat in place, the bass adds a little texture to the piece and helps amplifies the voice of the singer. The bass also sets the melody of the piece, the melody is consonant and is conjunct, so it is formal and isn’t all over the place. Being a rock kind of song the key shifts at various parts of the piece but there definitely are harmonies in the piece, you can tell when the piece changes key.

In “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” the tempo marking is andante non-troppo, and is in a consistent 2/4 meter, it doesn’t change meter at all throughout the whole movement. For the most part it sounds as if it is in a minor key of E, the celesta is displayed in E minor, all the other parts (including the bottom part of the celesta) seems to be in E minor as well and is used in a softer tone to bring out the celesta. The phrase length is very formal and there is a distinct melody, which starts off with the celesta. Since Tchaikovsky was in the Romantic era his music is well mannered and not all over the place. And this piece, being a ballet, has to dance have like qualities, in order for the dancer to dance to the music.

In both pieces there is some sort of bass continuo in the Tchaikovsky piece, there are: basses, cellos that not only help set the rhythm of the piece and maintain it also provides the music the figured bass, which helps the players understand what key they are in. scan.

In “Beat It” there is also a bass continuo, which is being played by the bass itself, and the drums which helps set the beat of the song, and helps guide the song’s steady pace. There are a lot of instrumental background in the Tchaikovsky: (Flute 1, 2, 3/ Oboe 1, 2/ Corno Inglese/ Clarinet 1,2 in A/ Clarinet Bass in B/ Fagotto 1, 2/ Corni in F 1, 2, 3, 4/ violin 1, 2/ viola/ Cello/ C- bass) and in the Michael Jackson song there are: (Guitar, bass, drums, vocals, synthesizer, and electronic keyboard). The instruments in both pieces are meant to be accompaniments and help bring out the melody. In both of those cultures the instrumentals are dense in both pieces regarding their own culture. For the Tchaikovsky piece he utilized the orchestra and even added a new instrument the celesta, and in Michael Jackson's piece he used the standard full band of the pop culture.

Probably the most significant similarity in both pieces is their meters, “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” is in 2/4 and “Beat It” is in 4/4 or (2/4). 4/4 is a famous meter to pop culture and in many modern music videos common time (4/4) is almost always being danced to in those videos. This meter was probably influenced by history’s musical dances and Tchaikovsky’s ballet is one of them. Though in the Tchaikovsky the dancing in the ballet in this movement is slower than that in ”Beat It”. Both songs are visual performances but in “Beat It” there are actual lyrics and in “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” there are no lyrics involved just background music. In Tchaikovsky’s ballet being published in the Romantic era makes it so that it contains a lot of dynamic ranges. The first four measures only string section is playing (pp) and on the fifth measure Celesta comes in mezzo forte (mf). The string section is switching from (pp) to (p) until measure 20 which suddenly becomes (sf) then (pp) and so on. (Look at score for total dynamic ranges)

scan

Unlike in “Beat It” the dynamic contrast is not that significant; it usually stays pretty loud. From the score of the Tchaikovsky a big difference from "Beat It" is the form of the piece. Tchaikovsky's piece is a theme and variation which makes sense because in a romantic era dance it wouldn't be in sonata (classical era) form which is ABA usually. "Beat It" how ever is in ABA form there is a verse then a chorus and a verse again. This is a standard pop music form, were the chord quality is the same for all the verses and different only in the chorus.

"Beat It

Em                                             D They told him, ?Don?t you ever come around here. Em Don?t wanna see your face, D You better disappear.? C                                       D The fires in their eyes and their words are really clear Em So beat it      Em Just beat it Em You better run D You better do what you can Em Don?t wanna see no blood D Don?t be a macho man C You wanna though D Better do what you can Em So beat it             D But you wanna be bad

Chorus Em Just beat (beat it) D Beat it (Beat it) Em                                 D No one wants to be defeated Em                                D Showin? how funky and strong is your fight Em                             D It doesn?t matter who?s wrong or right Em Just beat it       D Just beat it        Em Just beat it        D Just beat it Em They?re out to get you D Better leave while you can Em Don?t wanna be a boy D You wanna be a man C You wanna stay alive D Better do what you can Em So beat it       D Just beat it Em                                                    D You have to show them that you?re really not scared Em You?re playin? with your life D This ain?t no truth or dare C                                                               D They?ll kick you, then they beat you, then they?ll tell you its fair Em So beat it            D But you wanna be bad (Repeat Chorus and fade)

Chord Tabs Em: 022000 D: 000232 C: 032010"

Jackson, Michael. "Beat It" _Thriller Album_ 2004