Music Wise

Below I present a summary of my notes on Western Music History. It was also one of my assignments for the OCA Music Foundation course. I hope this is of some use to you. A Timeline of Western Music - Medieval Period

1. Stuff done this week - Read up on music theory: Scales and the Tonal System. - Read Chapter 6 from A History of Western Music  by Burkholder et al. (2014). - Here a clip of me an Crimson Inc. performing for Sofar Amsterdam:  Crimson Inc. - The day we got lost 2. Listening done this week Andrew Bird - So Much Wine This is Andrew Bird's cover of a song written by The Handsome Family 's Brett and Rennie Sparks. Bird is a an accomplished violinist and has made an album featuring only cover versions of the work of The Handsome Family . I love Bird's minimalist arrangement and I think it does create more unity with the lyrics of the song. It must convey the sadness and loneliness of two lovers being separated by the madness of alcohol addiction. The text is graphic and leaves nothing to the imagination, adding to the sense that this miniature drama is about two simple, working class people: it is Joe Bloggs speaking to us.  T

1. Stuff done this week - Played in Amsterdam for Sofar. In due time a video clip will be released. Here, some rough  footage . - Handed in my first project work for OCA's Music Foundation course. - Still reading and studying Burkholder et al. (2014). 2. Listening done this week Listened to some beautiful Folk tunes. Black Ace - Christmas Time Blues (1937) Just to get into the season's spirit. Matty Charles and Katy Rose - One Hundred Years Such a beautiful song by the Portland based Matty and Kate. We played support for this pair some time ago in Utrecht. Lovely and generous people. Jason Molina - Hammer Down (2006) Some footage by the late folk singer Jason Molina. A severe alcoholic he died of liver failure at the age of 39. Portraying someone who has been beat, who has become alienated from his fellow man and who is now coming to terms with his mortality in a final surge of love, I find this song so moving and personal: Hammer d