[Monday Notes no. 161] Kiss of Life is a song by British singer Sade Adu that has a typical 90s sound. This piece is very peculiar because it apparently does not even contain a cadence. Let’s try to analyze it to find out if there really can exist a pop song without cadences.Continue readingSade, Kiss of Life. A song without cadences?
Tag: cadence
[Monday Notes no. 130] Irving Berlin is one of the greatest American songwriters. He was born in Belarus and emigrated to America at the age of five. Despite having a poor musical education, he achieved success thanks to his tenacity and his ability to invent simple and effective melodies. Let us listen to and analyse…Continue readingIrving Berlin, What’ll I Do. The secrets of a good song.
[Monday’s Notes No. 125] Hey Jude is one of the Beatles’ most famous songs, one of those ones that you just have to hear once and you never forget it. I wondered why, what in this song is so special. I tried to analyse it to understand its secrets.Continue readingThe Beatles, Hey Jude. How does a song become a classic?
[Monday Notes no.66] Billy Strayhorn wrote many songs and arrangements for Duke Elllington’s orchestra, always remaining in the shadows as he had a reserved and shy character. Lotus Blossom is one of his most beautiful songs, here performed by Duke Ellington who did not even know it was being recorded.Continue readingBilly Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, Lotus Blossom. 30 years of music side by side
[Monday Notes no. 44] John Lennon was an imaginative musician who constantly broke the mould. Some of his songs have become an anti-militarist and libertarian symbol and make us miss a time when music had the ambition to change the world.Continue readingJohn Lennon, Imagine. A white piano for an everlasting song
What is a cadence in music? In this lesson, you’ll find out what the three most important cadences are and where they are used: the perfect cadence, the plagal cadence and the minor cadence. We will also talk about a special type of cadence called a turn around.Continue readingPerfect cadence, plagal cadence and minor cadence