Easter is Almost Upon Us!

Dear 6/8 friends, I decided to go out on a sort of limb today and use a personal composition as my example of 6/8 this week, only because it is called "Easter Song" and it is supposed to depict all the important parts of Holy Week and what-not. Be forewarned that the song is not in 6/8 until the super-allegro part near the end, but as that part is supposed to be the resurrection, it has the most emphasis in the song anyway - so I don't think it will be hard to find if you are listening for it. Also, there is a part in the song where I hesitate because I lost my fingering, and another spot where I play a completely wrong note and have to amend completely - do not be so harsh with me, however, because this is the first composition I have uploaded. But in any case, enjoy! Happy Easter Holidays!

"In the Dark of the Night"

This, I believe, is the second post which has a song from the Disney film "Anastasia." Apparently it was a 6/8-tactular movie. Enjoy this catchy, spooky portrayal of mystic Rasputin:

VSQ to rock the World

I have succumbed to a weakness and I am going to post another Vitamin String Quartet song! This was on the same CD as the song on my previous post.

This is a really cool song, and not all of it is in three. For a good portion of the middle, it switches back to 4, and then to 3 again.

I hope you enjoy it, and it is pretty super snazy.

Un Extrait d'une Chanson en Francais

Puisque je ne pouvais pas trouver la chanson entière, je vous présente l'extrait que j'ai trouvé sur l'Internet - C'est par Naast - J'espère bien que vous l'aimerez autant que moi!

If Intense was written in 6/8, this is what it would sound like.

I have had this song on my iPod or phone for as long as I can remember. 

The first time my sister introduced me to Vitamin String Quartet in about 8th grade, and I have loved it ever since. I actually got this song from a CD she gave me back then.

Lo and behold, it is in 6/8! I never knew that back then, but I loved in despite that. 

So there we go, the most amazing song of intensity, in 6/8! 

The Day that Mozart was told that there were "Too Many Notes."

I don't really know the historical context for this piece, but it entertains me to try to imagine what sort of bad day Mozart was having at the time he wrote it, because it is uncharacteristically dark...There is a part in "Amadeus" where he is confronted after a concert, and the criticism given is that his piece had "too many notes." I like to imagine that this song would be his retaliation, because at the middle part, it has a ton of notes in it (I once started to learn this movement of the concerto). However, despite the obstacle of note excess, Mitsuko Uchida delivers her usual gut-busting performance. If I had to pick three favorite famous pianists, she, Glenn Gould, and Herr Brendel would be my favorites. Oh, and one other thing - the song is in 4/4 until about 3 or 4 minutes into the song, at which point Mozart decides to switch it to the coolest time signature (6/8) because it is the coolest part of the song - for this reason, it deserves its place among the other lovely 6/8 songs that we have on here. On that note (no pun intended!), enjoy yourselves some Mozart!

I would clearly feel blessed, If the sun roe up from the West

Today is the last day of my 4 day weekend.

And I have to work.

And I have so much homework to do.

But here is an awesome song!

"Grace Kelly"

This is a lovely little song by Mika that I happened upon through my lovely Aunt Karen, who likes good music. Apart from being in 6/8, it's also very upbeat, bouncy, and the music video is very entertaining as well. If you've never heard this group before, they are very reminiscent of Queen in their best songs, and very poppy in the ones that I'm not so overly fond of, but this is a nice combination of the two. Enjoy!

I'll go ahead and take this one

My lovely sister and fellow blog author Catherine is just the greatest. This is her little boy, Nikolai, and as cute and wonderful as he is, he is quite the energy taker. 

As I am writing this, my dear sister and nephew are asleep.

Although it is her day to post, I have a feeling that rest is calling a little more strongly. 

For now, let's let them sleep in the spirit of Three, and may they enjoy this time of peace. 

The Man of a Thousand Faces

I have very little to say about this song.

But it is the best.

So I hope you enjoy it very much.

With All possible love,

Aaron

Ok, GO!

Hello friends! 

Sorry for my absence, I've been a little busy with this little guy lately: 

so I haven't had much time to post! 

Motherhood is a new and very different experience, but I'm figuring it out as best as I can!

Part of motherhood in this early stage is a lot of sitting on the couch being sleepy in between feeding the baby, which leaves a lot of down time for watching Hoarders and other such monotony on Netflix--but thankfully, this week, it also left me time to find a new song in 6/8! 

If you're not familiar with the band OK Go, you should check them out--their music is excellent, and their music videos are even better! 

Their latest song is in 6/8, and also happens to be their craziest music video yet.  Get ready to watch in disbelief at all their crazy antics--and enjoy the awesome swinging time signature along the way :) 

When New Years comes around

I know it is already Febuary, but I'm still settling into this whole idea that it is 2012.

One of my favorite tunes of New Years is Auld Lang Syne. I'm sure you recognize it by its melodic emotion of endings and new beginnings.

This tune is also the first 8 notes of Sophie's "When new years comes around"! I love this girl, and I really love this song. Awesome-swag-sauce incarnate.

(Also, I feel the need to apologize! My two fellow blog authors, Catherine and Robyn are very preoccupied. Catherine is enjoying her lovely baby boy who is in constant cycle of crying, pooping and sleeping, and my dear Robyn is in Colorado this week! So alas, I get to post twice in a row!)

Human Again!

This past Saturday night, me and my friends got to go down to the Gateway mall and watch Beauty and the Beast 3D!

I actually thought that going to watch a classic Disney movie in 3D was just a cheap way to make me spend $10.25 on a movie, but there was that Tangled short before it, so I had to go. In reality, I loved it in 3D! All the lines and the songs were the same, but visually it felt like I was watching a completely different movie.

When Disney released the extended version of Beauty and the Beast, they included a song that had originally been cut from the first release. After watching the extend version, I fell in love with that song, and it is one of my favorites.

Here is Beauty and the Beast's "Human Again!"

Sonata 13 "Scherzo"

Beethoven evidently thought that 6/8 was a laughing matter, because so many of his 6/8-sounding movements are scherzos, which I think is Italian for "joke." I also find it amusing that a lot of these 6/8 movements don't seem very funny to me - they are beautiful and very serious and full of grandeur. This is one that is pretty dramatic in parts, so I hope that you enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Nikolai!

So we all know that little tune.

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Nikolai,

Happy Birthday to you! 

Admit it, you just sang that. 

Today is my little nephew's Birthday! My sister and fellow 6/8 society author had her little boy at 6:40 this morning, and they are currently doing very well at the hospital. I got to head over there and meet the little guy, and boy, is he cute.

In honor of his first day in the world, I found this lovely rendition of the old tune that we all know. Although this song is traditionally sung in 3/4, this rendition has a 6/8 version in it. 

Happy Birthday Nikolai! 

"But Technicolor Pachyderms are Really Too Much for Me!"

I'm sure you all remember the reason why the Disney production "Dumbo" should have been rated at least PG-13. About mid-way through the movie, after the scene set to "Baby Mine" in which Dumbo is only temporarily reunited with his quarantined mother, Dumbo and his mouse companion are subject to the most interesting hallucinations while under the influence of alcohol. The following sequence in 6/8 (which has been stuck in my head all day) reveals the effects of intoxication - they should really use this video in all the "TRUTH" anti-drug commercials:

Alas

Friends, I hate to say it, but I really wish I weren't posting today.  

I wish I were having a baby instead.

Our little boy is two days late and I have been going out of my mind trying to keep myself busy while I wait to go into labor! 

One thing I've done is played a whoooole lot of Mario Kart Wii.  

You can only guess how surprised I was as I was racing the Peach Gardens course, only to realize that the background music is in 6/8! It's everywhere! 

Have a listen:

And here's to hoping that next week I have a little baby in my arms! 

In short, My Process

So after picking out an amazing song to post about today, I'd though I'd like to tell you a little bit about my relationship with 6/8 outside of this bog.

So here, go ahead and listen to the song I have picked out, Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie.

By the way this is such an amazing music video.

I'd have to pinpoint my relationship with 6/8 when I first saw my sister and brother in law dance at their wedding reception. It can be found here. 

Later, as my friendship with the most darling Robyn grew, we decided that both of us would like to learn to waltz. So one evening we taught each other how to waltz in her home, listening to some amazing 3/4 and 6/8 music. We got as far as teaching our selves the 6 point turn, and enjoyed it so much. 

Alas, I could find no photo of me and Robyn, but here is myself with Ashley! 

After I moved to Utah, I suddenly discovered that ever one in my school already knew how to waltz. Feeling incredibly behind, I decided to join my school's swing dance club. It is tons of fun, even if I'm not terribly good at it. Well after I began writing for this blog, I suddenly became entranced by all music in 6/8. Because of this, I decided through the power of youtube instructional videos that I was going to teach myself the Viennese waltz. And eventually I did! With the help of my good friend Andrea, we became masters of that dance. 

Swing Club! (And I'm even in the background of this photo!) 

And I've been in love with 6/8 ever since! Even today, at swing club we played my play list of 6/8 songs so that I could help instruct people in the Viennese waltz. 

Ta ta you beautiful people!

"Red"

Here is a sad but pretty, little song called "Red" by the Okkervil River band. I don't know how my mother came across this band, but for a while, I would listen to "Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See" (the name of the only album of theirs that I've ever heard) every night to go to sleep. This is the first song on the album and, quite possibly, the only one in 6/8. Enjoy.

A day or so late..... Maybe it's not so bad.

Sorrrryyyy!! I had to work yesterday, and despite the fact that I have had my song for this week choose since last Wednesday, I forgot to post. Yowzas.

One of my particularly favorite memories from my Middle School years is oddly enough watching my sisters watch their chic flic movies. Honestly I find them rather drawn out and single subject oriented, but the are cute little movies.

One of them my sister and mom liked in particular was Amanda Bynes' What a Girl Wants.
It takes place in England, where she finds out she is the daughter of a British Lord, and she attends numerous fancy balls blady blady bla.

She is also in love with this British musician, who happens to play at or work at every single one of these events. What a coincidence. One of the songs he plays is called "Long time Coming" by Oliver James.

6/8, oh yes.

"I'm Just Sitting Here, Waiting for You"

I've only ever heard a few songs by Ms. Norah Jones, but this was the first one that I heard, in a slow dancing scene from "Love, Actually," which is an interesting film. The song itself has a very mellow, jazzy feel to it, and though the lyrics are a little cheesy, I like her voice quite a bit. Enjoy the 6/8 loveliness, everyone!

A new year and new experiences

Do you have any big new plans for this year? Are you graduating?  Are you planning a big trip? Getting married? Finally writing that novel? Trying something new?  

As for me, I'm going to become a mother.  Our little Nikolai is due almost any day now and to keep from getting anxious, I'm distracting myself with homework, crafting, and soothing music. 

Bon Iver is exactly my kind of soothing.  It's got a kind of husky, mellow voice and haunting accompaniment that fits perfectly with 6/8.  

Here's Michicant, friends.  Have a listen, and relax with me. 

In the night, where I live.

Currently, it is 41 degrees out side my window, and as you can imagine, I am craving summer heat. And humidity, but that is another story.

This is one of the least snowiest winters Utah has seen for a long time, and I have been very greatful for that. But gosh dang it, I miss summer!

One song that really reminds me of driving home from a friend's house on a warm Carolinian summer night is "I got" by Young the Giant. I listened to this song with my windows down, and the warm summer air flowing though my car, as the music blasted out of my speakers.

I hope you enjoy this beautiful 6/8 song of summer, I Got.