Music

Repetition, Fairy Tales, and Classical Music

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Have you ever thought about how much repetition there is in music? If you read my last post on the subject (Repetition in Pop Music, Classical Music, and Poetry) then you probably have! And since you guys seemed to like that post a lot I’m back to talk about other types of cool musical repetition! Continue reading “Repetition, Fairy Tales, and Classical Music”

The Other Stuff

The Most Amazing and Bizarre Public Domain Images…

This morning I was browsing Pixabay’s collection of public domain images to make my class PowerPoint presentation a little more fun. While I did find some useful pictures to help break up the text for my project, I also found some truly hilarious and weird photos that were too good not to share. Enjoy:

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I’m not entirely sure what this is or what made someone think to create it but I’m Continue reading “The Most Amazing and Bizarre Public Domain Images…”

Books

Which Cat Would Make a Better Pet: Crookshanks or Dinah?

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I never really thought about it until I started writing this post, but there don’t seem to be a whole lot of pets in literature or YA books. (Maybe because the characters are off on crazy adventures so having a pet just doesn’t fit in the story?) Be that as it may, Crookshanks (Hermione’s cat in Harry Potter) and Dinah (Alice’s cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) are two pretty great felines. Continue reading “Which Cat Would Make a Better Pet: Crookshanks or Dinah?”

Music

Your Brain, the DJ (When Songs Spontaneously Combine)

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I’ve started realizing how weird my brain is when it comes to music. Probably everyone has had an experience where a tiny bit of a song gets stuck in your head on repeat. But have you ever had a tiny bit of a song combine with another tiny bit of a song?

For example. Continue reading “Your Brain, the DJ (When Songs Spontaneously Combine)”

Music

Repetition in Pop Music, Classical Music, and Poetry

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Have you ever thought about how much repetition there is in music, whether popular or classical? It’s so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget about how weird it actually is. If you were reading a book and the exact same chapter was repeated you’d probably be scratching your head and wondering if you had a messed up copy. But in music, that’s the norm! So Continue reading “Repetition in Pop Music, Classical Music, and Poetry”

Music, The Other Stuff

Unique Music Associations (Plus Bacon and Cotton Eye Joe)

Otherwise known as what happened last week.

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(Bacon…)

This past week has been kind of a weird one in terms of things I’ve thought about or done, so I thought I’d list them out. (If anyone’s doing cognitive research on weird brains this is the post for you.) Continue reading “Unique Music Associations (Plus Bacon and Cotton Eye Joe)”

Books

Literature’s Most Awkward Moments…

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Characters are often awkward, plain and simple. That’s why we love them, right?! Well, sometimes the “awkwardness” goes a little too far and things get a bit…interesting. So this post is an homage to some of the most incredibly “awkward” moments in literature. Continue reading “Literature’s Most Awkward Moments…”

Music

The Bohemian Rhapsody of Classical Music

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I have discovered…drumroll please…the classical music equivalent of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. And it’s so exciting.

“Tzigane (rapsodie de concert)” is a piece for violin and orchestra, written by Maurice Ravel in the 1920s, and it uses this hilarious back-and-forth between musical styles in a really similar way to Bohemian Rhapsody. Continue reading “The Bohemian Rhapsody of Classical Music”

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories: Alice in Wonderland

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Optional Bonus Challenge: Listen to the piece first before you read the rest of this post. (It’s less than 5 minutes long and you know your poor eyes could use a break!) While you’re listening, imagine who the characters might be and what they might be doing if the music was a film score to a book you’ve read. It could be Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or a different book– entirely up to you! Then you can read what I imagined below and compare the two stories (and comment letting me know how they ended up being similar or different!!).

Again, totally optional. And now without further ado: Continue reading “Classical Music Stories: Alice in Wonderland”