It's finally that time of the year!

It's finally Christmastime! 

I am inordinately excited about Christmas this year.  I'm not even really sure why! It's possibly because I'm due to have our little boy not long after Christmas, so Christmas coming means he's almost here too--but I also just feel excited about the season :)  And now that Thanksgiving is over, I can allow myself to listen to Christmas music nonstop! 

Something great about Christmas music is that SO many Christmas songs are in 6/8! I'm going to spend the next few weeks reveling in them, and I'll be sure to share some of them with you here :) 

This week I'm really loving Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album Songs for Christmas. I listen to it online every year and always thinking about buying it, but I never do.  But this year, I finally caved and bought it! And man, am I glad I did.  2 hours of music for $16? Totally worth it. 

Today I'm loving his song "What child is this anyway?"  I've always loved that Christmas carol and it's even more enjoyable with that folky Sufjan vibe. 

Take a listen!

And enjoy this holiday season!

Oh Snap, I think He's a Pirate

Aside from me almost forgetting that today is my day to post, I'm now in a great mood!

I'm in my High School in orchestra, and I've played lots of music from today's repertoire. Stuff from Bach, Beethoven, Gershwin, and to lesser known, but equal as snazy music such as rosin eating zombies from outer space, wipe out, and the themes to the Chronicles of Narnia and Indian Jones.

I really like sea chanteys. They are often recognizable more than not bringing in elements if not the tune of Greensleeves. And guess what.

They are almost always in 6/8.

Not only does 6/8 create a ever moving, and ever flowing feel to a song of the high seas, it also appears to be easier to sing to when you are drunk.

So to combine both a sea chantey, and a very very famous movie into one great 6/8 experience, here is, "He's a Pirate"!

The Merry Meeting of Country Folk

Here, ladies and gentlemen, we have the third movement (which was nicknamed "The Merry Meeting of Country Folk" by the composer) of Beethoven's ode to nature, his "Pastoral" Symphony (#6). This symphony was written at just about the same time as his fifth one, nicknamed "Fate," which is sort of strange because of how different in tone they are. I read somewhere that the only reason they were numbered as they are is because of their concert order when they debuted. But in any case, if any of you didn't know, Beethoven adored nature - he and Thoreau probably would have been good pals. In a letter to the Baroness von Drossidick, he said, "How happy I am to be able to wander among bushes and herbs, under trees and over rocks; no man can love the country as I love it. Woods, trees and rocks send back the echo that man desires." And later, in 1814, he said, "My miserable hearing does not trouble me here. In the country it seems as if every tree said to me: 'Holy! holy!' Who can give complete expression to the ecstasy of the woods! O, the sweet stillness of the woods!"
The Pastoral Symphony was his attempt to channel the joy he felt out in nature. Enjoy one of the more upbeat movements in the piece, played by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Bernard Haitink.

An album of epic proportions

Friends, I have a new favorite album.  It's Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay, and it is rocking my socks off! (check out some of their songs here: link!)

Coldplay's sound is so open and awesome, and one of the songs on their new album is even in 6/8! 

Ahh.  Just close your eyes and soak it in.  

(And be sure to look up the rest of the album--it's not in 6/8, but it IS awesome!)

Spotlight: 3/8

As a dear cousin to the signature of 6/8, 3/8 is as worthy in its merits.

The point of all this is that this past week, The final installment of the Harry Potter films was released. As a die hard potter fan, I immediately took the opportunity to watch it on DVD as soon as the opportunity arose.

It makes me cry, time after time.

Any way, in honor of such a great master piece, and the ending of an era, I decided to do a spotlight on one of the most recognizable tunes of the past decade. Hedwig's theme characterizes everything that I love about music. It has great swells, enchanting dynamics, and great timing. And it is in 3/8!

As a note, the theme goes into 4/4 at about 1:40, and returns back into 3/8 at about 4:08.

Beethoven's "Scherzo" from Symphony 3

Ah, ladies and gentlemen, tonight we observe a revolution - and no less! This piece, Beethoven's Symphony 3 (nicknamed the "Eroica"), was the music which immortalized Beethoven as the bridge between the Classical and Romantic eras. There is risky innovation throughout this whole symphony, as well as great tides of emotion, ranging from the supremely joyful (as we see in this movement) to the deeply despairing (look for movement 2, or the "Marcia Funebre"). An interesting fact: this symphony would have been far more scandalous than it actually was, had Beethoven follwed through in dedicating and naming the symphony after Napoleon Bonaparte, whose Republican values Beethoven admired. However, after hearing that Napoleon had crowned himself emperor, Beethoven viciously erased Napoleon's name from the dedication page and said, "So he too is nothing more than an ordinary man. Now he also will trample all human rights underfoot, and only pander to his own ambition, he will place himself above everyone else and become a tyrant!" Ferdinand Ries' whole account of the symphony's creation can be perused here. So, after the composer's decision to remove Napoleon from the score, the symphony merely came to be called "Eroica," or "Heroic." And boy, is it bold - this symphony would surely go in my saving-the-world playlist, if I had one of those on my iPod.
In any case, for another perspective on this third movement specifically - there is a part in one of my most favorite books, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, in which one of the main characters, teenage Mick Kelley, is sitting beneath the window of someone's house, someone who owns a radio. Here, the music-loving girl encounters Beethoven for the first time in the form of this mind-blowing symphony. I shall not describe her entire experience with the music, as everyone should read this book and I don't want to ruin it - however, as for the movement you are about to hear, it is described (paraphrased) thus: "(The third movement) was like all the greatest people in the world springing up in a hard, free way." Enjoy the 6/8 amazingness.

The pace of 6/8

In rummaging through my library of 6/8 music, I realized that many of the songs on the list are ones that have been pretty significant or moving to me at some point or other in my life.  The moving part, I feel, comes from the nature of 6/8 itself--unlike many other time signatures, 6/8 feels to me like an eternal loop--never really beginning, never really ending, and always driving forwards.  The pace set by the time signature often lends the music a meditative air, which is possibly why so many ballads seem to be written in 6/8.  

One song in 6/8 that I've liked longer than any other is Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.  There was a time in my life when the lyrics ("And I don't want the world to see me / Cause I don't think that they'd understand / when everything's made to be broken / I just want you to know who I am") really spoke to me, and I feel that the 6/8 time signature really helped that sentiment settle in and influence my thinking. 

Take a listen:

"But I was so much Older Then..."

Greetings 6/8 Society Readers! My name is Robyn, and I come from North Carolina - I was most graciously invited to contribute to this site by my dear music-loving friends, Aaron and Mrs. Catherine.
Tonight, in my haste to find something swingy, I came upon a wonderful little-known tune of Bob Dylan's called "My Back Pages." It is sort of slow, so the critical listener might contradict me and say, "This is 3/4, Robyn." But oh contraire! I think that this song is just...punchy enough, let's say, that it can be considered a 6/8 piece (I mean that there is enough of an accent on the first beat of every triplet to make it more 6/8 than 3/4).
In any case, here is the song that a traveling guitarist played at our homecoming tailgate last year, when I jogged up in my marching band uniform and requested Bob Dylan.

Oh what Joy!

One of my favorite things to happen while listening to music, is as I am tapping to the beat it occurs to me that it is in 6/8!

It really just makes me want to meet the artist and pat them on the back, and say, "Good job!"

The other day at a debate tournament, waiting through finals, I was listening to one of my favorite artists, Regina Spektor. I do love her style, and she is such an amazing musician.

Any way, as I was listening to one of my favorite songs by her, I began counting, as I always do.

And it hit me.

You're only what you give back

In my excitement to write my last post, I realized I never introduced myself!

My name is Catherine.  I'm a soon-to-be college graduate, wife to my amazing husband Jesse, and soon-to-be mother to our little boy, who's due in January! I love playing music (on violin, guitar and piano), listening to music, reading, playing games and crafting, and I write about my adventures over at Her Romantic Mind.

So in preparation for writing this blog post, I went through my whole iTunes library and made a playlist of all of the songs I own that are in 6/8. It turned out that I own 86 songs that are in 6/8, which makes up 3.6% of my iTunes library.  (86 songs in 6/8! it's meant to be!)  In doing this search, I actually discovered that I had more songs in 6/8 than I realized, and that many songs that I love but haven't listened to in awhile are in 6/8 as well.  It was pretty exciting! 

In my hunt, I was reminded how much I love the song "Earth" by Imogen Heap. It just makes me want to move--dance, sway, or at the least tap my toes! See if it does the same for you! 

I slip on the Sidewalk, and fall on my face!

Although he is not of my favorite repertoire, Owl City has published more songs in 6/8 than any other current pop artist. Some are more romantic, while others are simply fun.

This evening, as I was driving back from a party, the first snow of the year began, and is proceeding to cover all the grounds. Having been born and raised in the good ol' south, snow came only at the very end of December, but mostly in January. And in my mind, snow has always been connected with Christmas. Although, I have only lived through one white Christmas, in 2010, and after doing a little research, the prior white Christmas in that city was in 1947. Now that I am living in the mountainous west, I do believe I will be getting used to the snow.

So despite it still being November, I am more than ready for it to be Christmas. I love that spirit of love, happiness, and fun. And in honor of that fun, and in the spirit of 6/8, I present Owl City's Peppermint Winter!