What and how is a song?

One of the most familiar things in this world to any human being is a song. From the moment we are born, and even before, we listen to them and with them we learn to speak, to express ourselves, to communicate, in short. But what and how are the songs?

Sing and what else. What makes them so special? In addition to the obvious answers that simply identify them as melodies, lyrics or verses, rhythm and similar matters, we can delve a little deeper and ask ourselves what makes a musical creation, for example, a song; or what distinguishes it from other artistic works such as a poem or an instrumental piece.

What is a song?

Good. We can find many definitions of a song. Some limit themselves to pointing out that they are made up of music and lyrics, others delve into and distinguish rhythm as something fundamental in them, other sources focus on their structure, on the parts that compose it and thus, many more visions on the same topic: the songs. If we consult Wikipedia, our digital companion for so many things, we find the following definition: “A song is a musical composition for the human voice, with lyrics and commonly accompanied by musical instruments.” It is a short summary, but true, and practically complete. You can listen to this episode of Podcast that talks about the topic:

The elements of a song

In any case, this minimum definition can be easily expanded by pointing out some of the characteristic elements that appear in most songs. The classics rhythm, melody, harmony and letter They are probably the first ones we think of when distinguishing different pieces in the mechanism of a song. Each of them will usually provide a type of information and impulses that will make us activate different areas of our body and react in one way or another. The melody will seek to cling to our memory, the rhythm will activate our basic instinct of movement, the harmony will add complexity to the sound set and the lyrics will try to mean something valuable or attractive to us. All of this is very generic, of course, and the reality is that the inner forces of a song enhance each other, at least ideally, and try to reach our memory in every possible way.

Mixer Furthermore, and as a consequence of the evolution of songs throughout the history of music, some forms, blocks and structures have been added and consolidated as the authentic gears of the songs. The chorus or chorus, the verses or verses, the bridges, interludes, introductions, codas and others are finally something recurring and recognizable in the vast majority of songs of any style or genre. The structure of a song almost always has a chorus in some of its forms and a few verses, at least. It is customary to say that the chorus or drop is the essential structural element of the songs, the narrative and musical climax and the most memorable fragment of a song. For their part, the stanzas will present and develop the theme in question, provide context to the story or description and prepare the ground for the apotheosis of the chorus. Once again, this is a generalization and, in practice, many songs exchange or play with the expected functions of each musical block, with expectations, seeking extra expressiveness and surprise in their approaches and development. In addition, as we have said, pre-choruses, bridges, intros and endings or codas and other pieces are available to put together a complete song and satisfy the purpose for which they were written.

How do the songs really work?

If we abstract from all this we find two large groups of elements that coexist and must complement each other in each song: the sound and the meaning. He sound It is that quality, that natural phenomenon that allows us to receive and recognize air vibrations with their different characteristic properties. The volume, pitch, timbre and the different nuances that a musical sound can present, specifically.

The sound is part of the songs meaning It is, for its part, everything capable of carrying information beyond its own intrinsic characteristics. For example, a word or a phrase, or also some purely sound referent that, due to its repetition in a cultural context, has acquired a certain meaning. For example, a hymn or the sound of an ambulance.

Types of songs

The classifications that we can make of something as varied as songs are, logically, multiple. If we consider the themes that the lyrics deal with, we will find songs about love, battle, work, life and death, among many others. If we pay attention to music we will probably end up using genre labels or musical styles. We will say that there are Pop or Rock songs, or Jazz, or Latin, or Metal or any other word that defines a group of songs with a common and recognizable musical orientation. From any characteristic of a song you can generate a different classification, if that is what interests you.

Some tools for making songs

Conclusions

To summarize and make clear the basic function and objectives of any song, we can say that the communication and the expression They are the key to these musical devices. Songs are a kind of bridge between the personal world of an individual and a certain community. These artifacts have the capacity to make that double path between the subjective and the objective, between the personal and the collective. On the one hand, writing songs means having lived in some type of social environment and having experienced things, feelings, emotions and ideas that can crystallize in a musical composition of this type. A person will transform their experiences in a community into personal expression determined by a specific place and time. And that song, that particular way of explaining how a collective context resonates with an individual, will eventually return to the community and be recognized as something true and also intimate and personal by similar others in it. This round trip is the natural cycle of songwriting. Supported by the oral transmission and the memory From the musical cultures of each given region or community, songs are born, find their audience and their purpose, sometimes for a short period of time and, at other times, for centuries or generations. All this, and much more, is what songs are. #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_column_with_background { padding: 10px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph { line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_segment_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_radio_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox_label, 3 .mailpoet_list_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_label { display: block; font-weight: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_month, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_day, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_year, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date { display :block; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea { width: 200px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_submit { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_divider { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading { width: 30px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading > span { width: 5px; height: 5px; background-color: #5b5b5b; }#mailpoet_form_3{border: 1px solid #fcb900;border-radius: 40px;text-align: center;}#mailpoet_form_3 form.mailpoet_form {padding: 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3{width: 70%;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message {margin : 0; padding: 0 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph.last {margin-bottom: 0} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 {background-image: none;}} @media (min-width: 500px) { #mailpoet_form_3 .last .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:last-child .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} Please leave this field emptyDo you write songs or would you like to?

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