MtH #7B Exciting Conclusion

The Exciting Conclusion    _{72 hours later}

Okay, okay! Stop it! I’m being pummeled, nay, strafed, by criticism after publishing the first half of this blog on Saturday. Generally, some readers are concerned that I’m straying from the original idea which was…………._{I’m thinking}…………_ahem………….     Doesn’t matter, whatever the hell it was, some of you are thinking I’ve lost my way. 

Let me ask you    “Do the words parenthetical and digression not mean anything to you?”

Oh, and that reminds me to tell you the story of Melisma who gets quite old (sorry, is quite old), but has this unique ability to redeem her reputation after repeatedly showing up late at events (meetings, parties etc.). so late, in fact, that everyone else is leaving. Which is just as well for when she is on time, everyone else wants to leave. But not at first. She is fascinating at first……….

The Story of Melisma        To the chase

Melisma was part of a tightly knit group of friends. There were three others in her group, Coloratura, Vibrato and Curlycue. They didn’t always show up together, but in some combination or another, they were ubiquitous.

Oh boy, this doesn’t suck, does it?

I was going to continue on with this cutesy personification but I started gagging on it.  

Melisma is a compositional technique in which a syllable of lyric has more than one note of melody. 

You think you’ve lost your love
Well, I saw her yester  day-ay-yay
It’s you she’s thinking of
And she told me what to  say-ay-yay

day-ay-yay and say-ay-yay are simple melismas using 3 notes. The other extreme would be a plainchant 

version of Allelujah in which each syllable has at least 24 notes (cite needed: I’m low-balling here as I’m unable to find the source) and anything by Reba McEntire, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mariah Carrey. Also, almost every female performance on the TV program, Idol.

How does this tie in?

Just like exclamation marks and laugh tracks, these embellishments add baggage. Music is the coolest of the arts. At it’s best, it can be interpreted differently by each individual listener. Even with lyrics added the actual messages are debatable. Shake Your Booty, Junk In The Trunk and Its All About The Bass aren’t great examples but are still up for grabs……………………._sorry

I Am A Minimalist

I make no apologies. See you soon.