For my week 1 familiar music for my music journal I choose to do "Africa," by Toto. To be honest, the first time I had heard this song was from "Family Guy." It was the song that played when Joe and Bonnie first met, but then our mom said she liked it and then this song was played on YouTube more and more around our house. This song's time doesn't quite reach five minutes, more like 4:48 minutes, but I love this song so much I thought it would be nice to share. It has a very catchy tune. Additionally, the Ottawa Township High School recently had their annual Pop Concert and performed an interesting version of it; the conductor of the choir, Mr. White, even had the audience join in the performance in the beginning. First we rubbed our hands together, then snapped, then patted our thighs. Soon, the auditorium's audience made these sounds, and it sounded like there was rain inside of the building. It was actually a very cool effect because of the size of the audience as well.These sounds would probably be indefinite pitches because it would be a little difficult to match the pitch on the piano. This song is well known to many people. Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon created a funny skit that involves this song in a skit on Jimmy Fallon's show. I have included a link to that below as well. They seem to have fun creating that skit with this song.
I also love the lyrics of the song. My favorite line is, "It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you, there's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.." The singers from the band Toto also sound very soulful when they sing this song. The lead singer has an interesting sound to his voice that makes the song sound unique. It is a very soothing and calm sound that the lead's voice produces. It adds a nice quality to the song. I also like how throughout the song, the introduction continues to play as the accompaniment to the lead singers. The leader has the melody throughout the song and the band in the back. At 1:42, what sounds like a gong plays and adds a cool effect as the sound of it fades away, leading into the instrumental solo that follows. It sounds like the majority of the band accompanying the singer have chords and intervals that make up most of the harmonies in the background. At around the three minute mark, the solo that is played there sounds like a piece of electronic equipment performing that adds to the imagery that the song is trying to portray of Africa. There are a lot of little percussion equipment that are involved in the making of this song to get it to sound like a forest or jungle of Africa. In the beginning I also hear some type of mallet instrument as well setting the scene for the song titled "Africa." I am not quite sure at 2:12 the reference of Kilimanjaro, Olympus, and Serengeti, and have not had time to do a thorough search on it. I think it's comparing the knowledge that he must do something right to the sureness that the mountain's height in Kilimanjaro towers over the flat plain of the Serengeti.
"Africa" by Toto.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDLJ3pUZm9A
"Africa" by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9F86cAoi3o
For my week 1 unfamiliar music for my music journal, I choose to listen to "Piano Concert No. 21- Andante" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I believe this song consists of three movements, and the andante part is the second of the three. I am familiar with a few classical pieces of music myself because I play piano. The Ottawa Township High School participated in Solo and Ensemble contest every year and the piano soloists could only take classical pieces to have the points added to the contest. I never played much Mozart, so that's why this is unfamiliar to me.
I did enjoy listening to this song. The piece sounds like the normal orchestra, nothing strange or different pops out like the violin in the blues song we listened to in class on Thursday. Starting at :25, I hear a little what sounds like to be brass, possibly a few French horns, which, in my opinion, should have been featured a bit more. The stings, piano, the oboe, bassoon, and the flutes seem to be favored in this piece; they are quite easy to pick out. What is interesting is that the piano sounds like it has the melody more often than not and the rest of the band plays accompaniment for that. It sounds like, on the piano, the melody is with the right hand and the left hand softly plays chords, which is how classical piano songs are mostly written. The melody is soft and quiet in this song and no dramatic changes in dynamics are present. It sounds simple, which makes it unique, and is uplifting and delicate. It also has a few runs in it that are quite beautiful. This melody is interesting because at some parts it sounds major, and at other times the piece sounds like it is written in a minor key. It is likely that he has changed between writing in a major key and a minor key in the different measures of the sections because it is a little difficult for me to pick one certain key over the whole song. The first and last chords are in a major key which makes me think that the whole song overall is written in a major key and a few certain places are written in a minor key.
"Piano Concerto No. 21-Andante" -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df-eLzao63I
