Ma Rainey's real name Gertrude Pridgett. She is known for making blues music popular for her time
where blues music wasn't as popular as well as being one of the only prominnent women in blues.
This Song uses the standard 12 Bar blues song structure. 12 bar Blues uses the I, IV and V chords of a key.
The Pattern for this is: |I |I |I |I |IV|IV|I |I |V |IV |I |I |

Take the A train became the signature song of the Jazz band known as the Duke Ellington Ochestra.
This occured due to a liscensing price increase by the ASCAP. Which is when Duke Ellington contacted
Billy Strayhorn (the composer) to write the song. Fun fact, the name 'Take the "A" train' comes
Directions given to Strayhorn from Ellington.

Rock and Roll comes from a mix of blues, jazz and country and started to show up around the early 1950's.
The song uses 12 bar blues and was written in around 12 minutes. It was written for a woman to sing.
Elvis Presley's version eclipsed all other versions and became a staple of rock and roll.
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A little help from My friends was released in 1967 and was written and performed by the band "The beatles"
Although considered a rock band the song genre is considered pop.
The original lyrics were changed because one of the concern that audinece members may throw tomoatoes at them
"What would you think if I sang out of tune? Would you throw ripe tomatoes at me?"
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Funk is known for its strong electric bass grooves and complex percussion to get an audience excited and dancing.
Although its considered a funk song it also incorperates the soul genre and uses a 12 bar blues as its basis.
James Brown widely thought of a pioneer of Funk music as well as a master of Soul and RnB music.
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Le Freak is a Disco song released in 1978. Although it sounds similar to funk it has some aspects that make it disco.
The band's look and performances were inspired by british glam rock and the band kiss.
Disco music is known for its emphasis on ever beat, harmonies and its instruments such as Violins and trumpets.
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This song is a semi autobiographical story of the lead singer (Jimmy Somerville) which covers the oppression of Gay people in 1980's Scottland.
The Key instrument in this type of music is a Synthesizer. It's similar to a keyboard, however it has alot of ways to adjust sound which allows it to be very versitile.
The song was Released in 1984 by the band. Their name Bronski Beat was actually a pun based on the band name Roxy Music.
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Björk is a singer/songwriter from Iceland who wrote and performed music. This song was written for a film called the young americans.
The song is written from the main characters point of view. To write the lyrics she asked the films director to write down words the
character would be feeling. Changing the words "sometimes its just like sinking to"It's sometimes just like sleeping".
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"Say My Name" was released in 1999 and is about a woman who thinks her boyfriend might be cheating.
The song starts with a slow flamenco style guitar.It also uses Synth strings and the 808 drum machine.
Members Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin debuted in the music video.
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Wild man is referred to in many different ways such as Kangchenjunga Demon meaning mountain demon and Metoh-Kangmi meaning yeti.
The song was released as part of an album in 2011 and then released as a single but only as a digital download.
It follows a simple band format of keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and vocals.
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Wonderwall was released in 1995 and was originally called "Wishing Stone".
The song includes vocals, tambourine, guitars, bass, piano, drums and mellotron. Their overall style led to Brit Pop
Oasis' wonderwall was incredibly popular to the point where it started to become disliked years after due to overplay.
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Fanfarra is Spanish for Fanfare. The song is captures the feeling and sounds of a Brazilian festival.
The song starts with rhythm patterns using Call and Response. Before switching into a vocal section.
Carnival is the biggest festival in Brazil and is deeply rooted in their culture. It starts with Lent, a catholic celebration.
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The song is written in the time signature of 2/2. During the song there are parts where those
singing are split into two groups singing different lines at the same time. As well as call
and response. The song was composed by Jon Rutter in 1978
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Kishori Amonkar (1932-2017) Born in Bombay, she was a singer famous for her performances of Indian classical, as well as light and popular music.
The singer is accompanied by droning tambura, tabla drums and sarangi; the sarangi and voice are often in unison or playing
'call & response' phrases. The sarangi is often considered to be the most 'human-sounding' instrument.
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What we refer to as Bhangra, is a musical style originating in the UK, based on Sikh Punjabi folk music, but utilising more modern,
Western song structures and instruments.Bhangra traditionally is a Punjabi dance form and music based around the double-ended Dhol drum;
modern bhangra can be identified by it's use of dhol, dholak, tumbi drums.
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The steel pan band has it's origins amongst the former slaves of Trinidad and Tobago, who used calypso rhythms in their
traditonal harvest festival. However, due to riots in 1881, African percussion was banned. The steel pan drum is made
by removing the lower part and hammering the bottom of the oil drum to produce a very thin playing surface.
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Babatunde Olatunji was born in Nigeria in 1927 but moved to Atlanta, Georgia (USA) in 1950 to study after being given
a university scholarship. After moving to New York, he started a percussion ensemble to help make ends meet. The performance of
Jin-Go-La-Ba in the video is from 1995 and demonstrates Nigerian percussion being played alongside saxophone, drum kit, electric guitars and bass.
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Libertango is a tune written and first recorded in 1974, introducing Piazolla's 'Nuevo Tango' to the world; tango music
incorporating many of the lessons he had learned from classical music and jazz, and employing electric guitars,
bass and organ alongside strings, woodwind and of course, bandoneon. The tune has various movements, changes of mood and dynamic.
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The Ladysmith Black Mambazo ‘sound’ is of lush, choral singing, rich in texture and harmony based on the sounds that
leader Joseph Shabalala ‘heard’ in a dream he had. The style is known as isicathamiya (roughly ‘tread lightly’ in
the Zulu language), which itself is an evolution of Mbube (meaning ‘lion’).
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Her music features traditional instruments such as various types of drums and percussion, the ancient Palestinian arghul,
the ney (a type of flute), bagpipes, but she also employs a jazz rhythm section of double bass, drums and piano plus and Egyptian
violinist and a tenor saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet player. ‘Sprinting Gazelle’ is a song Kelani learned from women in a
Lebanese refugee camp. The recorded version prominently features the arghul, a reed instrument with two pipes – one for the melody and one for the drone. Listen to the song here

The shanty (or chanty -the name possibly comes from the French word chanter, meaning ‘to sing’) is a style of from the days of sailing ships.
the earliest forms of shanty were the ‘capstan songs’, chants the crew would use whilst using the huge wooden windlass to raise the anchor.
As one listens to the songs, with their ‘push-pull’ rhythms, it’s easy to imagine the crew working together to gather the sails in and rowing.
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The mazurka is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo.
The mazurka always has to have a triplet, trill, dotted eighth note (quaver) pair, or an ordinary eighth note pair
before two crotchets. The mazurka became a popular in the ballrooms and salons of Europe in the 19th century
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O Euchari is a form of Gregorian chant. This style of music was commonly found in monasteries.
Gregorian chants are monophonic meaning there is only one melody being used. This might seem like a
boring idea however by singing in unison. In later years they innovated further and added more to them like "tropes".
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This song has been used in many films and shows. It is a religious piece of music meant to celebrate the
Christian God. Parts of the lyrics are direct quotes from the bible such as "For the lord God omnipotent reigneth".
The song includes a variety of instruments that are often found in orchestras. And its the 44th song out of 53 songs in "Messiah".
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Mozart is an incredibly famous composer from the classical era and if you haven't heard of him you will have probably heard
some of his music. Rondo alla Turca which can mean turkish march. This song was part of a sonata, meaning its meant for one instrument.
Because of how famous the song is and public domain. You can find people make their own recording and remixes into new genres which they share online.
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Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 is also an incredibly well known piece. It starts with fortissimo. This means very loud and looks like "ff" in sheet music.
When music is made it often follows some sort of structure. In this song Sonata form structure is used. This is split into 3 parts.
First is the "exposition" which gives a introduction of the main themes A & B. Then the "Development" works with these themes sometimes jumping between them.
Lastly the Recapitulation. Here the themes A & B will be presented in a new and fresh way.
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Fun fact, Tchaikovsky hated this song. This was because he felt that people didn't appreciate or understand his art.
This song was written for a war celebration. This is why it feels very celebratory and regal. It also sometime features cannon fire.
The intro of the song features a crescendo. This is where the music will start relatively quiet and build up in volume.
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Night on the bare mountain (also known as night on the bald mountain) is an example of a tone/symphonic poem. This means that the song
is created to create a certain mood and narrative for the listener to experience.In this case the song is about a poem
about Chernobog deity/demon partying through the night which only ends with the break of day. This song sounds reminiscent
of boss music you might hear in a fantasy based game. (It was used in kingdom hearts for a boss called Chernobog)
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The song was commissioned by a dancer called Ida Rubinstein. If you listen carefully to the song you might notice that
the melody is played by different. Can you work out which instruments? This song was used in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
This song uses a 3/4 time signature. This refers to how many beats are in a bar.
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Starting with a Decrescendo which is when music dynamics go from loud to relatively quieter. For the
first 2/3rds of the piece the music fairly tranquil and then there is a tonal shift. By utilising minor notes and staccato they
are able to create a tense atmosphere. Staccato is a technique where you play notes sharply and separated from each note
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A deeply patriotic British Composer from Gloucestershire. The song is split into three movements.
A movement is a part of a piece of music that can stand on its own as piece but is part of a greater structure.
There are also different types of movements. In this there is a March, Intermezzo and a March. A march being
a somewhat strict tempo where as an Intermezzo is movement between other movements.
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An intresting fact about this song was a direct influence for some of the music in the starwars franchise.
The song repeats specific melodies throughout the song which is also known as an ostinato or in rock music a riff.
This song is part of songs based on the planets and the deities they were named after. Mars being the roman god of war.
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A ceremony of Carols was composed by Benjamin Britten during a sea voyage from the US to Britain
"This little Babe" is the 7th carol. It uses a harp and has overlapping vocals.
The song was originally written for two Sopranos and an Alto. The range of a Soprano is C4- C6 and alto is F3-F5.
The song is about a battle between the devil and a baby. The song becomes louder over time until the end.
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The song is written in the time signature of 2/2. During the song there are parts where those
singing are split into two groups singing different lines at the same time. As well as call
and response. The song was composed by Jon Rutter in 1978
Listen to the song here

Written for the hit film Slumdog Millionaire. Jai Ho was composed using a type of Software known as a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).
The meaning of the words "Jai ho" is "Let there be victory" making it a song of celebration and joy.
The Song is primarily in two keys. C major and F Major. However they are using something known as a Mode to change up the feeling.
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Being released in 2012, the song is heavily affected by the period it was released in. It was made with the idea of being
used in flash mobs. Hence why it does not use any instruments. The performance comes in 2 parts as well with the sound of the
performers creating percussive sounds with their voices and bodies as well as choreographed dance to go with it
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A percussive song using just body percussion and voice to create a complex rhythms.
The piece uses a wide range of dynamics. This combined with the rhythms allows for a great amount of complexity.
Regardless of the fact that the only things being used are body percussion and voice
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British-born Anna Clyne wrote this 20-minute piece for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Her compositional technique
involved the creation of seven large paintings, using the paintings to help with writing the music, and letting the music influence
her painting. The song comes across very ominous and spooky due to the key choice and the low tones and erratic sounding melodies
Listen to the song here