Rhythm + Harmony = Music

Kirk breaks down the two most fundamental aspects of music: rhythm and harmony. There's the Y-axis, harmony, which tells us which frequencies we're hearing in which combinations. And there's the X-axis, rhythm, which tells us how those frequencies are playing out over time. Much like most music, it's a mix of math and magic that takes many moons to master.

REFERENCED/DISCUSSED:

"I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton, performed by Whitney Houston
"Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin from Led Zeppelin IV, 1971
The Pentatonix cover of "Havana" from Top Pop, Vol. 1
"Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, 1977
"Countdown" by John Coltrane from Giant Steps, 1960
"The Waltz of the Flowers" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky from The Nutcracker, 1892
"You Really Got Me" by The Kinks from The Kinks, 1964
"Use It" by the New Pornographers from Twin Cinema, 2005
"Take Five" by Paul Desmond and "Blue Rondo a la Turk" by Dave Brubeck from Time Out, 1959
"Cory Wong teaches audience to count 25/8" posted by Arlington Hayne to YouTube
"Weni" by Timnit Welday via YouTube
"Janie Runaway" by Steely Day from Two Against Nature, 2000

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January 2020 Whole-Note Patrons

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