AC Music 200 Blog

I chose to focus on a piece of music from the original Disney movie Aladdin . This was one of the movies that my brothers and I watched often when we were little. To this day, some of the songs from it will get stuck in my head on random occasions. One of these is the song Friend Like Me , which the Genie sings after Aladdin releases him from his lantern. Biographical Information:  Friend Like Me is one of the most popular songs from the 1992, Walt Disney film, Aladdin ( Friend Like Me ). It was written with the sole purpose of being part of the movie, and was incorporated into it much like any song in an animated Disney film. This song was sung by the same actor who did the voice for the Genie, Robin Williams. When the song was being written, the song writers didn't know who would be cast as the Genie, and end up singing Friend Like Me ( Criscitiello ). The image that the writers had in mind for the singer didn't exactly fit with Williams, but he was able to bring an entire

The Piano Guys are one of the musical groups that I love listening to, even though they usually don't play their own music. They change the songs that they play, often only doing the instrumental part, and leaving out the singing, or mixing different songs together. Despite this, they still play so well that I often prefer their version of a song to the original.  Biographical Information:  The Piano Guys are a band consisting of four members:  pianist Jon Schmidt, cellist Steven Nelson, videographer Paul Anderson, and music producer Al van der Beek ( The Piano Guys ). This group had a very interesting history. Paul Anderson owned a piano store, called The Piano Guys, in Utah ( About Us – The Piano Guys ). Jon Schmidt was in the store one day asking to practice on the piano. After a time, Anderson and Schmidt were making music videos together, and then posting them on YouTube ( Leggett ). Nelson also became a part of these music ventures, since Schmidt knew him from working

  Research Traditional African music is something that I find fascinating. It is deeply cultural and important to their everyday life. It is also extremely diverse, with distinctions between individual villages, as well as countries (Evens). African music is used for several different topics and events. It is an important part of religious ceremonies, and is also used to pass down oral stories, throughout several generations ( Music of Africa ). Songs and music are a very important part of African society; they are used to teach and guide, mark the passage of life and death, and even to give political guidance or show unhappiness ( Evens ).  There are a variety of instruments used in Traditional African music, but percussion instruments are some of the most common and popular. Various different types of drums, rattles, bells, and wooden sticks are often used in African music ( African Traditional Music ). African music is very rhythmic and often includes polyrhythms of varying complexi

Beginnings:   The electric guitar has an interesting history of evolution. Classical and acoustic guitars were what people had been using for quite some time, but as bands and orchestras grew, the need for greater volume in the guitar instruments also grew ( Electric Guitar ). There had been experiments with producing an electric stringed instrument as far back as the early 20th century, giving rise to instruments such as the frying pan, the first commercially produced electric-stringed instrument ( Electric Guitar ) . However, many of these endeavors resulted in quiet instruments that weren't very practical or popular ( Electric Guitar ). In about 1936, Charlie Christian, a jazz guitarist, attached a pickup to an acoustic guitar, causing what some consider to be the birth of the electric guitar, despite various other developments by other people and companies during the time ( The Origins of the Electric Guitar: The birth of the electric guitar ). Evolution: Rather than using vib

I'm Only Joking by KONGOS, is one of my favorite songs. No matter what mood I'm in, I always enjoy listening to it, despite the large amount of cursing that makes up the chorus. This song instantly makes me feel like bobbing my head and rocking out. This is mostly due to the insane drumming throughout the song and loud presentation of the lyrics.  This song was composed by Jesse Kongos, one of the four Kongos brothers who make up the band. Since they had grown up in Africa, they initially released their song in 2011 in South Africa, waiting until 2013 to release it in the US. Although it was released in South Africa first, it was written and composed in Phoenix, Arizona ( Kongos (band) ).   Here is the song. Lyrics The lyrics to this song are a little strange and confusing, but also have a deeper meaning. Most of the lyrics are just the chorus being repeated; however, there are also some very interesting lyrics during the song that people interpret in a variety of ways. Some p

I go through phases of listening to one song for quite a while, then discovering a new one, and listening to it for days . We Didn't Start the Fire , by Billy Joel, is one such song for me. Listening to this song often makes me feel a bit pumped up (because of the quick rhythm) and simultaneously nostalgic. My family would often listen to it at a friend's house when we were hanging out and having a good time. Whenever I hear it, I am reminded of being little and how things used to be. Also, "We didn't start the fire" is a powerful lyric. Things have been going wrong, and bad things have been happening, forever. No one feels like they started it though, it is just a part of history. This song was composed by Billy Joel, in the US, and released in 1989. Soon after its release, it became the number one song on Billboard's Hot 100 (Greene). Here is the song and the original video to it. Lyrics In my opinion, the lyrics to this song are the main reason that it