If you have a melody and a lyric, it's a song!
Mrs Rogers & Mrs. Hammerstein were at a party, someone came up and said
to Mrs. Rogers, Did your husband write "Oh What A Beautiful Morning", to
which Mrs H. replied, no her husband wrote, Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da!
Essentially I agree, but riding down RT 81 to my parent's house during a
rain storm (I mean rain storm) the windshield wipers were writing their own
music and I just added lyrics. Is it a song or music? Certainly the wipers
didn't gush out a melody. Lyrics give song it's melody. Instruments lend
themselves to a melody invoked only by the instrument. It might actually
not even be present, but still the melody is there.
I think it's more problematic than just trying to define what is a song and
what is a piece of music. Each has their place, their ability to define
what they say to the listener, and neither is more appropriate than the
other.
--
Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio
"Is our children learning yet?" George W. Bush
http://blogs.salon.com/0004478/
"Tommy B" wrote in message
nk.net...
Tom
wrote in message
...
On 21 May 2006 05:36:48 -0700, "geezer" wrote:
rickymix wrote:
I also think of a song as something that is sung, or could be sung.
Instrumental music, some of which is great, especially Bach, usually
has at least sections with singable, memorable melodies.
To expand on what Rick said, here's a quote from Fats Waller. If you
don't know who Fats is... well you should fill that hole in your
knowledge base immediately.
"It is my contention, and always has been, that the thing that makes a
tune click is the melody, and give the public four bars of that to dig
their teeth into, and you have a killer-diller...It's melody that gives
variety to the ear."
I have no argument with Fats assertion, but as a composer of "tunes",
I perhaps annoyingly, correct folks who call them songs. The Fiddle
Tunes I write are mostly meant for dancing, usually contra dance, or
Irish cedhli, reels, jigs, hornpipe, waltz, polka, and square dance
and although quite rhythmic they most attempt to have that
killer-diller memorable quality. I also write the odd Aire which is
generally a tribute to someone ho has passed and is meant for
listening.
I have had lyrics set to a few of these by a songwriter who liked the
tune and went on to record the song, sometimes with a new title.
My biggest hit has remained a tune and has been recorded by 9
different groups and is played all around the U.S. My second most
popular is both a tune and a kids song.
I go to a festival in Port Townsend called Fiddle Tunes and hang for a
week playing traditional and newly composed tunes from a half a dozen
or more different cultures with a 100s of other players on diverse
instruments.
This is one of many festivals where we meet and play. There is a whole
subculture of tune players.