Prof. Carol

Timbre. It rhymes with “amber,” not “limber.” So, if you cut down a tree, don’t yell “timbre!” (or don’t yell it too loudly…). Timbre is actually a critical element of music, so let’s look at it. Timbre is the French term for tone quality or tone color. The word goes back to a Middle Greek word for kettledrum called tymbanon. To determine timbre, simply ask: ”Which instrumental or vocal colors are we hearing?”
 
Timbre helps create and distinguish styles of music. Take Big Band Music. If you think of the bands of Benny Goodman, Harry James, or Count Basie, what timbres, or tone colors, come to mind? Perhaps you think of the solo instruments these star leaders played so marvelously, like clarinet (Goodman), trumpet (James), or piano (Basie). Or maybe you hear the overall Big-Band sound: saxophones, trumpets, and definitely trombones. And what about the rhythm section? Without it, there’d be no Swing Era.   
 
Whether we swooned over Frankie Avalon or screamed to Mick Jagger, we witnessed the evolution of a powerful new musical timbre called the electric guitar. In the early years before electric guitars entered the mix, Big-Band guitarists placed their acoustic guitars in front of microphones, so they’d be heard. That amplification added a new twist to the acoustical guitar’s timbre—one that helped define the early Swing sound. 
 
Contrast the playing of Keith Richards or the early Swing sound that to the sound of Roy Rogers playing guitar. Not to mention Jimmie Rodgers! And what about steel guitar? It goes on and on. 

And who decides all of these issues of timbre? In much of music, it’s the composers and arrangers. They usually work in silence, filling the silence with mental sounds and endless questions: Is this musical line (texture) more effective using the timbre of cellos or bassoons? How much of this chord should be played by the harp, and how much by the cellos?  Should the trombones pick up one of those notes? Which sounds better on this melody: trumpet or flute?   What happens if the flute line is doubled below by clarinet? 

If you want a picture of how intense composing and arranging can be, check out the beautiful new autobiography by Grammy-award winner Sammy Nestico: The Gift of Music. Or if you really get interested, get his fantastic and valuable compendium (book and CDs) called The Complete Arranger. 
 
Let’s face it. People aren’t brought up to hear the intricacies of timbre. School curriculums don’t routinely include units where students learn to identify the sounds of instruments, and even draw the instruments to match sounds played on recordings. Some people rarely get to hear live music-making. For them, music happens by pushing a button . . . unless (like the readers of Music After 50!) they take up the hard work of learning to play and sing.

A trained ear can hear a lot more than an untrained one. That’s not to say that music training is a requirement, but that there are ‘secrets’ of music that are revealed to an ear that is trained to hear the basic musical elements: melody, rhythm, harmony, texture, and timbre. Which brings us to the sixth element—the one that’s sometimes present in music: words, or text. Let’s take up text in our next post.

Carol Reynolds, aka Professor Carol, a former music history professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, has launched a new company, Silver Age Music. Her latest product is a multimedia course: “Discovering Music: 300 Years of Interaction in Western Music, Art, History, & Culture.” Prof. Carol now lives on a ranch, raises goats, and writes and lectures on classical music (to humans).

Kat Fulton

“There’s no wrong way to play” is usually my mantra when facilitating a drum class or music therapy session with older adults. In music, dance, and art, there is no wrong way to express yourself. Whatever comes out is an extension of yourself. (Leave the judgment and criticism behind during this article.) Truly, as much as we urge people to play the “right” notes, get the “right” rhythm, harmonize on the “right” interval, listen for the “right” chord progression, please be mindful that what’s “right” is relative.

As a classically trained pianist with an undergraduate degree in piano performance and music theory, I strongly value what we consider to be “high quality” performance, according to the genre. At the same time, I appreciate another aspect of music, something that goes beyond rules and standards. Something that touches our very core.

Today, there is a separation between musicians and non-musicians, artists and non-artists, dancers and those who say, “Oh, no, I certainly don’t dance.” The truth is that we all have rhythm, we all make art, and we all dance. The heartbeat, our footsteps, our breathing, toe tapping, finger snapping, hand clapping, and vocal rapping! You cannot avoid rhythm.

In my work as a music therapist, the easiest way to prove my point is to hand out a bunch of drums. I provide music therapy to groups of older adults in independent living retirement communities, assisted living, skilled nursing care, and Alzheimer’s/dementia care.

When I meet a new group of older adults, I always ask: “How many of you took music lessons as a child?” Usually more than 90 percent of the participants raise their hands. When I ask: “How many of you play now?” Less than 5 percent of the participants raise their hands.

When I ask them why, some common responses are “I got my hand slapped by my piano teacher or “It wasn’t fun anymore” or “When I sang in the chorus, our director asked me to lip sync” or “I was always intimidated by the requirement of playing in recitals.” After listening to some comments, I suggest that by the end of our session, negative associations with making music will be debunked. Then I demonstrate how fun, easy, and stress-relieving making music can be.

One music therapy experience that I often use is this: Everyone has a drum. I have a guitar. I say “Everyone play just one beat. On your mark, get set, *GO* On your mark, get set, *GO* On your mark, get set, *GO*… *GO*… *GO*…” By then, everyone is playing the tempo to “Blue Suede Shoes,” so “it’s a *ONE* for the money, *TWO* for the show, *THREE* to get ready, etc.” Because this tune is a standard 12-bar blues form, solo and duet opportunities occur during some of the choruses. I simply provide the rhythmic and chordal framework with the guitar and voice while every player is showcased. I encourage participants to make up their own rhythms and experiment during the music. The music-making is a successful hit on the first try!

As a music therapist, I am able to combine improvisational techniques, performance of familiar tunes, drum circle facilitation techniques, and therapeutic skills in one session. Plus, therapeutic goals are achieved and documented: increased socialization, decreased isolation, agitation reduction, enhanced quality of life, and sustained gross motor movement. And, wow, what a meaningful moment it is to see a wheelchair-bound, arthritic 90-year-old woman playing music happily for the first time since childhood!

Kat Fulton is a speaker and board-certified music therapist whose passion is to inspire others to make music. She is the founder and director of Sound Health Music, an organization that uses music to elicit positive change in medical, corporate, and wellness settings.

The wind-up metronome, shown here, works well, but a digital metronome (see photo at bottom right) is portable and may be more useful for many musicians.

The metronome is a valuable tool. It’s probably under utilized by most musicians. The benefits are many. The most obvious is the development of an accurate sense of tempo. Tempos tend to shift involuntarily. It’s important to keep a tempo steady for the accuracy and the feel of music in any field.

Metronomes, like everything else, come in many brands, models, and price points. A digital metronome has some advantages over the old wind up, pendulum-style metronome. There is no spring to wear down in a digital metronome. Most digital metronomes fit in your pocket. They all have different features, which you may or may not use. Pick one that suits how you intend to use it. Korg makes a good one. Franz has been a leader in the electronic metronome.

Slow in general is a range of 60 to 72. Medium is 120 to 132. Fast is 160 and up. These are general tempos and are highly subjective. Fast and slow is a lot like being rich – compared to what standard? Even the relativity of this concept of tempo is important.

Some use a metronome to measure and keep track of their technical progress. Others use it as a standard to prepare a song. Perhaps this song will be performed at a setting of 192. Just because you can play a song at 110 doesn’t mean that you can perform it at 192.

Developing an accurate internal metronomic sense is always an advantage and is never a disadvantage.

Visit Chuck Anderson’s website to join his mailing list and learn about upcoming concerts. Take a look at his CDs and educational materials. And of course, become a Facebook fan!

Tish Ciravolo founded Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, which makes lighter, smaller - and sparklier - guitars that are aimed at girls and women.

When I first went looking for an electric guitar I could use for jazz, the weight of the guitar – and not just the sound – was a factor in my buying decision. I ended up with a semi-hollow body guitar, rather than a hollow body, simply because the guitar was lighter. Although few men likely buy a guitar based on its weight, most women probably do.

That’s what Tish Ciravalo, president of Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, did when she bought her first bass guitar in high school. She returned it the next day because it was too heavy, and shopped for something lighter. 

Fast-forward to Tish the adult woman in 2000 - and the mother of a little girl. When Tish saw a picture her then one-and-a-half year old daughter drew of a daisy, Tish, who had played in rock bands throughout the ’80s, instinctively drew a neck and headstock onto the daisy. She then took the concept of a feminine looking, lighter-weight guitar to her husband Michael Ciravolo, president of Schecter Guitars, and suggested that Schecter put out a line of guitars designed specifically for girls and women.

It took some time for the guitars to gain acceptance. But now, 10 years later, Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, distributed by Alfred Music Publishing, has sold 150,000 guitars in 26 countries and Ciravolo hopes to put a guitar (which is often pink and sparkly) into the hands of every girl who wants one.

But are marketing pink, sparkly guitars just to girls and women a form of reverse sexism? Tish thinks absolutely not. The company’s goal is to get girls, many of whom have felt left out of rock music, playing music, says Tish. The company sponsors guitar camps for girls and serves as a cheerleader of sorts for girls in bands. Tish talked to Music After 50 about how she got her start playing guitar, and how the designs of her guitars differ from what’s out there…

LRG: When did you start playing guitar?

TC: I was 15, and my best friend Barbara Haughey taught me how to play the guitar. Soon after that, I found myself in love with music, and I was touring with a band called Plateau and dating the guitar player. I hopped from band to band in the ’80s in L.A., including Rag Dolls, The Velvets (a female Psychedelic Furs-type outfit), They Eat Their Own (new wave pop), and eventually, my own group, Shiksa and the Sluts. I even had a “big hair metal phase,” with a band called Lypstik. We had a billboard on the side of the Roxy and everything. It was fun!  My first bass was a competitor’s bass, which I immediately took back to the store I bought it at the next day. I ended up with the smallest bass on the market, a Yamaha BX-1. Now I play the Daisy Rock Diamond Sparkle Rock Candy Bass.

LRG: Did you have any competitors (guitar companies aimed at women) when you started in 2000 and do you have any now?

TC: It’s shocking to me that before I founded Daisy Rock in 2000 that there were no other girl guitar manufacturers. Once I came into the marketplace other companies tried to compete, but they eventually dropped off. Daisy Rock is still the only girl guitar company on the market today. We’re proudly heading the girl rock revolution!

LRG: Is yours a word-of-mouth business or did you invest substantially in advertising?

TC: It’s a little bit of everything. We’ve never done big advertising, just guerilla marketing. I have done interviews with USA Today, CNN, and some other big media outlets, but our passion lies with sponsoring girl rock camps throughout the world by donating guitars and letting the instruments speak for themselves. Word-of-mouth is very important and we’ve even added a component on our website that allows a customer to log into the site and post their thoughts on the guitar model they play.

LRG: How much are your guitars?

TC: Daisy Rock Girl Guitars is trying to be the solution to every girl guitarist. Keeping that goal in mind, our catalog ranges from beginner models priced at $99 USD to a professional model that can go upwards of $3,000.

LRG: What colors sell best?

TC: Pink. Sparkly.

LRG: What percent of your customers are girls and teenagers and what percent adult women?

TC: Since we do not sell directly to the consumer since we are a manufacturer, it is really hard for us to know what the ages are. We think our largest growing customer is between 11 and 25 years old.

LRG: What is your best-selling guitar among adult women?

TC: Most of the older women love the Retro-H-Deluxe Ruby Sparkle and the Bangles Signature Model.

LRG: Do you provide any training to the retailers in how to sell your guitars?

TC: We had to in the beginning… it seems like things have gotten a lot better at the store level since the company started. And we still go into retail stores and make sure to connect with the managers to see if they have any damaged guitars they need to swap out for new guitars and to see that our models can be seen and accessed by the store’s customers.

LRG: What retailers carry your guitars?

TC: We are available in 26 countries and retailers small and large. Everything from your local music store to the bigger chains. You can visit our dealer locator online.

LRG: What about your guitars makes them most suitable for girls and women? Are they smaller? Designed differently?

TC: Yes. When we decided to make a girl guitar, I thought about all the things that frustrated me with my own instruments. So Daisy Rock Guitars feature a lighter weight design, and a ‘Slim & Narrow’ neck profile, so guitarists with smaller hands can easily wrap their hands around the neck to play. We also put a lot of emphasis on the aesthetics. Our guitars are available in every color from pink sparkles to black.

LRG: Do you sell only electric guitars or acoustics as well?

TC: We sell acoustic guitars, acoustic/electric guitars, electric guitars, and electric basses.

LRG: Do you still play guitar?

TC: Hell yeah! I actually just played with my band sASSafrASS on the 18th, while we were shooting a spot for Beta Records TV and we had a gig at the Joint on Feb. 28. It’s a fun group of people I work with at Daisy Rock, and we play a genre we like to refer to as “Cowboy Punk”. You can check us out on myspace.

LRG: How old are your daughters? Do they play?

TC: Yes, they both love to play. Nicole is turning 12 and plays bass, and Sophia is almost 10 and loves guitar.

LRG: What’s in Daisy Rock Guitars’ future? 

TC: Daisy Rock’s mission is to help every girl enjoy playing guitar and making music, so that’s what we intend to do. Guitars for the singer/songwriter, the metal rocker, the pop star. If there’s something missing from our line today, our goal is to make that type of guitar in the future. We are in charge of the Girl Guitar Revolution!

Most women singers need to transpose songs up two or three keys. Collage: "A Tribute to Ella" by Meg Frank

Most singers are familiar with the concept of transposition. This is the process of changing the key of a song. All songs are based in a key. That key can be major or minor. The key in which a song is written is called the original key. From there, any song could be played in any key.

The most common reason for a key transposition is a vocal performance. Since most standard songs were written in a “male” key, female vocalists usually transpose a key two and a half or three and a half steps upward. This could be considered a standard gender transposition. Since individual vocal ranges vary widely, this is certainly not a rule but it holds up pretty consistently.

Transposition software is not necessary. It’s an easier process than you might expect. This is a situation where the math side of music comes into play. Here’s how you do it:

Identify the original key of any song. You can do this by looking at the key signature or by determining the central chord of the song. Decide whether you want to transpose to a higher or to a lower key. Decide how many steps you would like to use for the transposition. In some situations, you may know how many steps and in which direction. In other situations, it’s completely experimental.

Let’s say that you need to transpose something up two whole steps. If it’s chords you have to transpose, change the root of each cord by a distance of two whole steps upward. If the chord was G, then the transposed version is B. If the chord was Am, then the transposed version is C#m. Don’t change the chord type – just the root.

If it’s melody that you have to transpose, move each note up by two whole steps. Keep the original rhythm. The only technical issue deals with the actual notation of the note, ie, sharp or flat. This is ultimately determined by the new key of the transposition.

Transposition can be done at sight by a professional musician. For most musicians, it is usually done in advance of the playing situation.

Visit Chuck Anderson’s website to join his mailing list and learn about upcoming concerts. Take a look at his CDs and educational materials. And of course, become a Facebook fan!

Prof. Carol

Texture. It applies to music as well as fabrics! Actually, texture is one of five parameters used to describe style in Western music. These five dimensions are taught in music appreciation courses, so perhaps you’ve encountered them already. They’re: Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Texture, Timbre, and the sixth one, if there are words, Text.

Melody, harmony, and rhythm are more familiar concepts. But what are texture and timbre? Texture, in music, is the “thickness” or “thinness” of the musical lines. In short, texture concerns the number of lines the ear takes in simultaneously. 
 
Think of a sandwich. A sandwich can be thin, with a layer of peanut butter (and maybe some jam squished in). Or you might eat a jumbo Italian sub with four layers of meat, two kinds of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, sauces, and a final layer of jalapeños (that’s how we eat Italian in Texas). Neither sandwich is better or worse—both have a place and an audience. 

Moving the sandwich idea to music, think of music sung by a barbershop quartet. Here, our ears absorb a four-part texture: four singers move together as a unit. Sometimes their lines coincide (four-part harmony) and sometimes they move independently. Either way, we hear four layers, or a four-part texture.

When a composer composes music, he or she thinks about texture. Should I make this part thinner or thicker to convey a different emotion?

To make a thicker, and more interesting, sandwich, we pile on more “stuff.” In music, we’d call it “thick texture” when we pile on more musical lines. Contrast this thicker-sounding texture with a smear of peanut butter, which translates to a single melody line.  Perhaps the composer would choose a thin texture for a scene in a film where a child is walking down a lane.  If other people rush in, then contrasting musical lines could be added, thickening the texture. And intensifying the effect. 

The contrast between thick and thin creates musical tension and release. It’s one of a composer’s favorite ways to create musical excitement.
 
In our cowboy town of Bowie, Texas, we’ve assembled a vocal ensemble. We call ourselves the “OK Chorale” (I know, it’s corny). We sing mostly a cappella, or unaccompanied, vocal music. We’ve been rehearsing a three-part Mass by English Renaissance composer William Byrd. There are just three musical lines (or voices, as they’re called). 
 
With only three vocal lines, how much textural contrast can there be, you might ask? You’d be surprised. Byrd was a genius with sound. One of his favorite tricks is to drop out the top voice—the highest voice—and let the two lower parts keep singing. It’s fantastic how the sound explodes when that high line comes back in!  
 
If Byrd can create tension-release with just three musical lines, think how much more tension-release Beethoven could cook up with a full orchestra. Now here’s the challenge. Take a piece of music and see if you can track the texture. First, separate, in your ear, the musical lines. How many are there?  If it’s a small group, maybe a singer, bass, guitar, drums, keyboard: basically a five-part texture (although the guitar and keyboard can layer extra musical lines into the sound). 
 
Once you determine how thick the texture is (how many layers are in the sandwich?), listen to the song and track the changes in texture. Every time the singer drops in and out, the texture thins or thickens. But what about the other instruments? Does the bass ever drop out?  The guitar?  The drums? And if so, what is the effect on releasing energy, or musical tension? And what happens when those instruments come back in? What emotions did it evoke?
 
It’s admittedly challenging to start listening to music this way. But it’s enlightening, too. Remember, whoever composed or arranged the song thought exactly in these terms. 
 
And if you don’t find enough tension-release in the songs you usually listen to, switch over to something else, perhaps jazz, classical, or Big Band. Take Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo (1930), or the opening of Stravinsky’s Firebird (1911). Remember, every sound counts. 
 
In fact, “sound” is where we’ll start when we take up the topic of timbre in my next post. Happy feasting.

Carol Reynolds, aka Professor Carol, a former music history professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, has launched a new company, Silver Age Music. Her latest product is a multimedia course: “Discovering Music: 300 Years of Interaction in Western Music, Art, History, & Culture.” Prof. Carol now lives on a ranch, raises goats, and writes and lectures on classical music (to humans).