Listening to Music

Listening to Music

Listening to music

Listening to Music

Listening to music response 1: James Bay- Scars

First impressions:

While I thought there was no drum beat whatsoever to begin with, Sophie thought the beat was peaceful and Amber liked that "it has a good beat". By this, I assume she means that the beat is strong and clear. However, we all agree that it's an unoriginal, commercialised piece of music.

Do we like the music?

Amber and Sophie both liked the music because it was catchy, and while I liked the chorus, I found the lack of transitions very irritating. I also found it to be very samey throughout.


Emotion conveyed:

Amber felt that the song was very feel good and good for dance, Sophie also thought it was happy and feel good, however I disagree entirely. I believe it's about heartbreak and pain, shown in the lyric, "This fragile heart, so heavy in my heart it's breaking."

Compared to our usual music tastes:

Amber felt that it was similar to her usual tastes as she likes acoustic guitar music and covers, Sophie listens to similar music that has a different vocal style but a similar beat. However, for me, it's quite different. Nothing's like Phantom if we're completely honest. Some of the music I listen to, particularly the pop side, are quite similar or at very least have acoustic guitar in them.

Likes and dislikes:

Amber liked the beat, Sophie liked the melody and I liked the chorus. I disliked the verse-chorus transitions (although you'd probably guessed...) and the whiny tone of the music. Neither me nor Amber appreciated the lack of lyrics.

Analysis of piece 1

The group agreement on the commercialised sound is probably due to the cheesy lyrics about love and heartbreak ("I will always be listening for your laughter and your tears"- it's the same as any other love song!); the nasal tone, which in turn made it sound whiney; typical chord pattern (unoriginal); and emphasising the bass line to make it sound more sad and raw.

I'm not entirely sure why we all disagree about the beat or lack thereof, but it could be linked to our usual music tastes. For example, while Amber and I both listen to musical theatre a LOT, I also listen to rock music or music with a heavy, loud, often fast beat.

It sounded similar to many other songs because it's acoustic guitar and typical chords, C, G, Em, D. For example, this is basically the same as Let Her Go by Passenger. Acoustic guitar and chords C, G, Em D.

I think that Sophie and Amber felt that it was a happy song due to the major key. The fact that the notes in a major chord are a root, a major third and a perfect fifth give each chord a full, completed sound, which we interpret as happiness. On the other hand, a minor chord has a lowered third, which mimics human speech patterns to give a sad feel.

However, I focused more on the snippets of lyrics I could make out amidst the whiny mess of unclear words. These clearly echoed the true meaning of the song. For example:

You're setting off, it's time to go, the engine's running
My mind's lost, we always we knew this day was coming

 I think that this shows that the song is about heartbreak and quite a sad song.
Also, the tempo was quite slow, which often can hint at a sad song. The emphasis of the bass line also makes the song sound more raw, almost as if his true emotions were exposed.
However, a slow tempo could also be a laid back song, and the major key would also hint that it was a laid back, feel good song.
 The instruments used also conform to a typical pop song- vocals, piano and guitar. As these are often used in popular, happy songs, this adds to the mood and happy feel. It also adds to the fact that it sounds very similar to other songs.

Listening to Music Exemplar 2

Listening to Music Exemplar 3

Unit 209 Listening to Music Exemplar (2)

Analysis of Piece 2: Make Up by R-City

First impressions:

Sam quite liked the piece whereas I was pretty sure I would not. Tino was a little confused about the style and I don't think she really liked it.

Do you like it?

Sam did like it whereas I only liked aspects of it, such as the harmonies. He liked the style more than me. Tino could find no point to the song and didn't like how it switched between two such differing genres of music.

Emotion conveyed:

Sam and I both felt like it was a happy, uplifting song due to the beat. Tino felt like it was emotionless. The only thing she felt was confusion.

Compared to our usual music tastes:

It was quite similar to Sam's usual music taste as he listens to R&B, although the beat was quite different. For me, it was completely different. Tino will listen to all types of music, however she didn't like it switching between styles.

Likes and Dislikes:

Sam liked the uplifting beat whereas I only liked the end (and the harmonies but "I only liked the end" sounds better). I disliked the genre and the bridge as I felt it was too repetitive. Tino merely liked the chorus as she liked the singer's voice. However (as aforementioned) she didn't like the switching between differing styles. She didn't like the beat and she didn't like the lyrics. She didn't like how "pointless" the song was,

Analysis of piece 2


The complete difference in our first impressions probably linked to our differing music tastes. I liked the harmonies because I like music with lots of harmonies, but disliked it more than Sam as he likes that style of music anyway.

We both felt it was uplifting due to the strong, relatively fast beat. However the lyrics would contrast this uplifting style: 'I love it when we fight/just to make up'. Tino felt it was emotionless largely due to her dislike of the song and the confusion over juxtaposing lyrics.

The powerful ending, where it stopped suddenly was very effective and very sudden, almost as if it had been cropped.

Tonality-wise, well, there isn't much to comment on as not much of it was sung. However, the chorus was and as I've said before, the harmonies were lovely, which would appeal to a wider audience. the chords were mostly major, which is why Sam and I thought it was quite a happy, uplifting song.

We liked or disliked the song mostly due to our usual music tastes, although in Tino's case, she disliked it switching between genres.

The song mostly has off beat rhythms which links to the reggae style of the song. This links to if we might like it or not, as it again links back to what we may or may not often listen to.

There was not much to comment on, instrumentation wise, although there were steel drums, which links back to the origins of reggae in Jamaica. They are often featured in reggae music, which is typically upbeat and happy (see songs such as "Don't Worry, Be Happy"). I also felt that the singer sounded quite autotuned and falsified, which made the pop style chorus sound even more commercialised and pop-y.

While listening to unfamiliar music, the frontal lobe is being used. This is involved with motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgement, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior. It also is considered the home of our personality and our emotional control centre.

This suggests that whilst we listen to new music, we immediately begin to judge it- as is human nature. It also implies that our state of mind or emotions at the time may influence our perception of the music. Our personality is also likely to affect our impression of the song.

As the frontal lobe also controls memory, our emotions at the time we first listened to it, and the opinions we formed then are likely to stay with us after the event, even if we listen to it again in a different mood. It could also mean that memories of other songs of a similar style can alter our perception of that particular song.

This would contribute to our different opinions on the songs we listened to; we all have different personalities.

For example, for "Scars" by James Bay, we had similar ideas, as we are all fairly similar, but they still differed. I disliked it most and Sophie quite liked it. This is because Sophie mostly listens to pop music, which is a similar style to this song. As she likes pop songs, the memories of liking very similar (almost identical!) songs will influence her perception of this particular song in a positive way.

Conversely, I did not particularly like the song. This could be because I don't listen to pop music and dislike artists such as One Direction. As the style of "Scars" is similar to these (especially to early One Direction music), negative memories are likely to shed a negative influence over my impressions.

Amber was more neutral. While she does not listen to pop music, she does like it. This could mean that her memories were less clouded by positive or negative influences, allowing her to take a more neutral first impression.

Also, the song has very little structure. It is not repetitive, meaning our short term memory does not capture it very well. This makes the song forgettable, which could give us a negative opinion, as we deem that it must not have been very good.

For Make Up, we had vastly differing ideas. Tino hated the song, I disliked it and Sam liked it.

Personally, at that time, I hated rap or reggae music and would not engage with it. This gave me a negative perception. Also, the frontal lobe influences language. As Tino and I could not really understand any of the words, this is likely to give us a more negative opinion.

Tino has never really liked reggae music, which would mean her judgement of the piece would be linked to the negative memories she may have of it.

On the other hand, Sam regularly listens to reggae and likes the style. This means his positive memories would give his judgement a positive slant from the outset.