Thursday, January 30, 2020

Blues and Jazz Essay Example for Free

Blues and Jazz Essay Blues and Jazz are both very popular genres of music spanning almost a century of culture, aesthetics and spirituality. As the blues and jazz are horribly interrelated, this paper will try to differentiate the two great genres of music. A. What is Blues? Per definition, blues is the name given to both musical form and genre of blues. First coined by the African-American communities in the South of the United States of America by the end of the 19th Century, Blues was inspired by spirituality, work song, field hollers and chants- uncomplicated narrative ballads that rhymes. Its form is defined by the use of specific chord progressions- the most common being the twelve-bar blues chord and the singing is for stimulating purposes at slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale. Blues can be divided in several subgenres ranging from country to urban blues to electric blues to blues rock to punk blues. The term â€Å"the blues† refers to melancholy and sadness. The blues lyrics often refers to depressed mood as it embodies the African laborer, whose hardships and spirit is wed to the songs. B. What is Jazz? In contrast, Jazz sprung from the confluence of African and European music traditions. The African heritage evident in the use of blues notes, improvisation, polyrythms, syncopation and the swung note. The term â€Å"jazz† originated from a West Coast slang term and first used to refer to music in Chicago. Jazz has spawned plenty of genres from New Orleans Dixieland to big-band style swing to bebop to latin jazz to Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz to jazz-rock to acid jazz. The spread of jazz cultivated music and aesthetics around the world, hence, giving rise to plenty of unique styles. II. History A. Origin of Blues The Blues was born just after the civil war in North Mississippi. A singer would sing a line, and a guitar would answer. For many years, Blues was recorded only by memory, depicted and told live and in person. It was first made popular by the black composer, W. C. Handy in 1911-1914 The publication of Handy’s â€Å"Memphis Blues† and â€Å"St. Louis Blues† has made Blues popular. By the 1920s, Blues became a national craze. Mamie Smith recorded the first vocal blues song, â€Å"Crazy Blues†. The later 40’s and early 50’s saw the like of Willie Dixon playing what was Mississippi Delta blues backed by bass, drums, piano and occasionally harmonica and so began the popularity of blues on national television. Meanwhile, T-Bone Walker and B. B. King pioneered a style of guitar playing that combined jazz technique with the blues tonality and repertoire. In the 1960’s, bands like the Rolling Stones had picked up the Blues and brought it to young American white men. Rock, since the 1960’s, went through several blues revivals. The latest generation of blues players has drawn a new generation listeners to the blues. B. Origins of Jazz New Orleans is often credited as the birth place of Jazz. African-American music, through the Blues began the improvisation of Jazz. The most influential man is Louis Armstrong, the father of modern jazz. The swing era (1930s-40s) is the most popular and accessible time of Jazz, during this time, Jazz was the most popular music in America. What followed the swing era was one of the most important creative eras since the inception of Jazz. Mid 1940’s to mid 1950’s saw the birth of bebop. Quicker pace and complex harmony were combined with popular melodies to create this kind of subgenre. Jazz in the 1960s was inspired by the avant garde movement. Jazz musicians took the genre to the boundaries of creativity and began to speak out on social issues. The current era of jazz can be deemed to be a combination of the avant garde and neoclassical movement. Through improvisation, current musicians keep pushing jazz to the boundaries of music, experimenting with hip hop and other forms of music. III. Instruments and Musicians A. Instruments/Musicians in Blues Blues uses just about any musical instrument- guitar, piano, harmonica, bass guitar, drums, saxophone, vocals, trumpet, trombone. Different performers use different kinds of instruments. For instance, performers such as Frank Stokes, and Memphis Minnie utilised instruments such as washboard, fiddle, kazoo and mandolin. Musicians who have been famous in Blues include the like of Josh White (1914 or 1915-1969), Sonny Boy Williamson I (1914-1948), Gladys Bentley (1907-1960), T-Bone Walker (1910-1975), Roosevelt Sykes (1906-1983), Memphis Slim (1915-1988), Arnold Moore (1914-2005), Baby Face Leroy Foster (1923-1958), Lenny Kravitz (born 1964). B. Instruments/Musicians in Jazz Just like blues, jazz uses just about any musical instrument- saxophone, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, flute, piano, guitar, double bass, tuba, drums, vocals, vibraphone. Famous jazz musicians include Louis Armstrong (1901–1971), Thelonious Monk (1917–1982), Maynard Ferguson (1928-2006), Herbie Hancock (born 1940), Benny Carter (1907–2003), Glenn Miller (1904–1944), Charles Mingus (1922–1979). IV. Audiences A. Blues Audience The Blues originally was sang by the African-American laborer, to express his emotions on the general hardships in life. However, blues has reached the whole world. All the drama is still there but it is spread for those who can appreciate it. Anyone or everyone can be the audience. B. Jazz Audience Jazz, was spawned by the blues and since its inception, has now gathered millions of audiences around the world. There is no selective audience for this genre, anyone who appreciates jazz music is welcome to be its audience. V. Conclusion Blues is considered as the forerunner of Jazz, given that it started earlier and it actually spawned jazz music. Blues also speaks of traditions and personal experiences (the African-American laborer). Hence, Blues is more of a feel-based kind of music. It is very free, the only purpose is to relay the feelings, expressions of the artist. Jazz, for its part, is considered as dance music and improvisation is at its core. Jazz also incorporates more color, this is tricky for non-musicians and is far more technical in its aspect. Jazz is an exploration on how to make music more colorful, hence jazz spawned a lot of subgenres. When it comes to audience, there is only the matter of appreciation. Anyone who appreciates blues is welcome to blues. The same principle applies to jazz music. Works Cited: History-of-rock. com â€Å"A Short Blues History. † n. d. 27 Jul. 2009 http://www. history-of-rock. com/blues. htm. Unc. edu. â€Å"A (very) brief history of jazz. † n. d. 27 Jul. 2009 http://ils. unc. edu/~jnvicker/inls181/final/histpart2. html. Wikipedia. â€Å"Blues. † n. d. 27 Jul. 2009 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Blues. Wikipedia. â€Å"Jazz. † n. d. 27 Jul. 2009 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Jazz.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest :: Essays Papers

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest Cuckoos Nest There is much strength associated with both speech and silence. One can use either to their advantage in a power struggle. In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Randle Patrick McMurphy and Nurse Ratched employ the power of speech and Chief Bromden uses the power of silence until the end of the novel when he gains the power of speech. These cases prove that the greatest power is not held in speech or silence alone, but in the effective combination of the two. Many people believe verbal communication to be a very powerful way of expressing oneself. Words gain there power when the volume is raised and lowered alternatively to make a point. Additionally, the influence of speech can manifest itself in a number of ways. It can be used to humiliate, to intimidate, to flirt and to threaten, all of which are integral and pragmatic strategies to win a power struggle. McMurphy uses his power of speech to rally his fellow patients against Nurse Ratched who is constantly revoking their privileges. He also uses it furtively to acquire all that he desires, by conning the other patients. Throughout the novel he is very loud and is known for his unwavering ability to speak his mind and confront those that oppose him. Nurse Ratched uses her voice throughout the novel to intimidate the patients. She is the antagonist of the novel. The patients obsequiously follow Ratched’s command, until McMurphy comes along. They all fear that she will send them for shock therapy if they don’t obey her. Nurse Ratched is the most daunting persona of the novel, due in large part to the use of her voice. Throughout the novel both McMurphy and Nurse Ratched are continually trying to pull each other down. Nurse Ratched using her dominant speaking skills tries to prove to the patients that McMurphy is conning them with his vocalizations, â€Å"Look at some of these gifts, as devoted fans of his might call them. First, there was the gift of the tub room. Was that actually his to give?

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

The Perception of Beauty

The Perception of Beauty Today the world we live in is very reliant on the media. The media contributes to us updates on our economy, news on events, the weather, and other important information. The media also dispenses influential images and messages. The media is so intertwined in our lives that we do no truly comprehend how much influence it really has on us. Some of the messages and images we receive from the media can be positive as well as negative.Most often than not, we are exposed to images that are so unrealistic and unattainable by the average person that we become discontent with our lives and with ourselves. This is when the media starts to distort our thoughts on the normal way of life and what true beauty is. The mainstream media’s perception of beauty is thin and glamorous. Most of the people displayed in the media have unrealistic body types. With the constant exhibit of these airbrushed to perfection bodies the audience becomes desensitized, especially the y outh, making people believe that it’s normal.This constant reminder can cause great guilt, making one think they are unattractive and below average. The negative body image being portrayed in the media is on display for everyone and it’s continuously being supported by the rest of the population. With this distorted perception of beauty many people have become unsatisfied with themselves. This persistent image of what you should look like can lead to poor physical and mental health.With people becoming insecure with their body image things like low self-esteem, depression, eating disorders, and even suicide can occur. In source 1 (Effects of the Media on Body Image), it states that the National Eating Disorder Association (2006) reports, â€Å"In the past 70 years national rates of all eating disorders have dramatically increased. † To some, being thin becomes everything. Deception of reality invades people’s lives and with media being just a turn or a cl ick away, the influence of the media starts at an early age.According to The Journal of Adolescent Health, â€Å"Teenagers that are overweight, or believe that they are overweight, appear to have a higher risk of suicide† (This information is stated in source 3: Teen Suicide Attempts Linked to Body weight and Body Image). Each year the models in the media are growing thinner and the advertisement of dieting and exercising is increasing. Beauty is being manipulated again and again. People’s physical and mental health is at serious risk and it’s time for a change.Perfection does not exist and for someone to try to attain such a thing is not healthy. The images in the media have profound effects on our lives and with that in mind, the media should rethink their perception of beauty. Just because someone is not stick thin doesn’t mean they’re not beautiful. Just because someone doesn’t look like the model on the cover of a magazine doesn’ t mean they’re not beautiful, and just because someone doesn’t acquire the characteristic of what the media insights as beautiful, doesn’t mean they’re not beautiful; it just means they are realistic.We continue to take a walk down a dangerous path in our culture. Not enough is being done to deter the false images that are being portrayed. The media’s perception of beauty is both unrealistic and harmful to one’s self. As a collective society, we need to accept our flaws. We need to accept people for how they look, stop trying to live up to an unrealistic image in the media, and just be ourselves. Why do we give the media the right to say what’s beautiful? Their exhibit of beauty is not real. It’s time for a change in media for the sake of society’s health.

Monday, January 6, 2020

English 101 Made Me a Better Writer - 761 Words

Everyone on the planet has a goal set in life, but only a handful attempt to improve to obtain their goal by studying the subject their goal is in. In my English class, English 101 this quarter I was astonished by how much I had progressed as a writer sharpening my writing skills and also learned a lot about writing that I hadn’t learned before. In my writing portfolio for this quarter I had to write an autobiography essay, a research essay, and this reflection essay to develop my writing skills better. The writing assignments were fun to do because it challenged me to work on essays of different styles that were new to me. The essay assignments helped me grow as a better writer that gave me the self-confidence and skills to take on the world on my own. During the beginning of the English 101 when we began the writing process: I thought at first that we spent too much time on our essays but I soon realized how important it was spending time on the essays to improve them . The revisions that my teacher and classmates made on my essays were truly helpful for me because it allowed me to better my writing. For every week in the entire course we went over the MLA formatting process, annotating, citing within the essay, and how to make the paper flow better. I had the most troubles in this quarter when I started writing some of my essays for my portfolio because I didn’t have a clue how to start them at first. After a while of brainstorming ideas and seeing examples the teacherShow MoreRelated My experience throughout English 101 Essay599 Words   |  3 Pagesthroughout English 101   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As writers, many students write to the expectations of their professors and not to their fullest potential. Throughout English 101 I had been writing only to please my professor or to fill the basic requirement to pass English. I always felt that my writing ability was never enough for my professors throughout the previous years. They always wanted clear and concise essays, which for some reason was unreachable by me. However, starting college and taking English 101 helpedRead MoreAs my freshman year of college comes to a close, I reflect on my two English courses this year. I600 Words   |  3 Pagesreflect on my two English courses this year. I have learned a lot these last two semester in my english 101 and 102 classes. English 101 focused a lot on different types of papers, while English 102 focused mainly on taking what we learned from a reading and analysing and interpreting of stories and poems we read. Looking back at my high school English days, I belie ve I had made major improvements in my writing abilities between these two semesters. Personally, I favorited my English 101 class. The mainRead MoreThe Debate Over Marijuana And Legalizing It857 Words   |  4 Pagestime to prove that I have become a better writer because of English 102. I grew as a writer in English 101 and I was curious if I would continue to grow as a writer in English 102. In my opinion I have become a better writer through English 102. The reason I believe I grew though English 102 is because; I am able to write critical analyses, gather information and use it rhetorically, and accurately proofreading my own work. One major way I have developed as a writer is being able to write about controversialRead MoreMy English Class Is A College Student, And As A Person1334 Words   |  6 PagesQuarter of English 101, such as: punctuation, critical thinking, how to carry out a proper seminar discussion, how to properly use journals to better retain course materials, and writing tools such as outlines. All of which I believe will help me excel as a college student, and as a person. This English 101 class was very rigorous. Dr. Faucette told the class, from the very beginning, that it wouldn’t be easy. 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I have also learned how to argue both sides of a argument, and how to look for reliable sources and to properly quote andRead MoreReflection Paper836 Words   |  4 Pagesgiven the opportunity to grow as a writer in my English 101 class. This course gave me more knowledge of numerous different elements in the wr iting world. One example would be my use of transition words and integrating quotes. Before my papers were full of â€Å"she said† and â€Å"she would say†; which was boring and showed poor ability to lengthen my word choice. I also had a tendency to just throw quotes in and not integrate it into my writings. By the end of my English 101 class my papers began to present