CymryMoving to the Beat
April 7th 2008 04:00
A fundamental, defining factor of a song for me is the beat. Not ‘the’ defining factor, for I believe in the many facets of the musical world, but as a dancer feeling the beat or finding the groove of a song is definitely up near the top of my ratings list. A beat is not necessarily (in my eyes at least) simply the drum in the background whomping out a trendy disco tune; it is the underlying rhythm to a piece that speaks to your body and asks it to move.
Whether acoustic, recorded, live or synthesised, the beat or rhythm in a song sets the precedent for mood, both lyrically and instrumentally, and of course in the listener. It is often the quicker songs that get our blood pumping with emotions such as happiness, anger, inspiration, determination. The slower ones lend more easily to maudlin emotions such as pain, sadness, loss but also to the gentler, more softly expressed loves and joys.
So why is it some songs speak to us and others don’t? As a dancer I can hear any song and pick the main beat, and even the layered beats (depending on the complexity of the piece) but that doesn’t mean it reaches in and squeezes my heart in such a way that I want to boogie on down, whip out my ballet shoes or even wail along with the lyrics. Whilst typically dancing in a class you dance to what you’re given, when choreographing our own moves or even out at a club or party, we dance most enthusiastically to the songs that resonate with us. I guess that brings me right back to musicality, but a new point thereof: as each of us is individual as a human being, it would stand to reason that our own personal musicality differs.
So some of us rock out to Rammstien while others dig Liana Lewis, but that doesn’t necessarily define an artist or listener or genre as better than any others, because our own sense of musicality will pick different things. So how accurately can any one person critique music as a whole? As layered as a musical piece can be, defining the groove within often comes down to the layers of the listener as well. Like a blind date, we put our musical hearts out there and see who they match up to.
It may sound like I’ve gotten off track, but really I haven’t. Picking a healthy beat to a song, as a defining factor of whether or not it matches our own musical souls and therefore compels us, essentially comes down to individuality. Simple and yet an interesting idea that I’d never thought to explore in the past, for all my years on the dance floor.
Whether acoustic, recorded, live or synthesised, the beat or rhythm in a song sets the precedent for mood, both lyrically and instrumentally, and of course in the listener. It is often the quicker songs that get our blood pumping with emotions such as happiness, anger, inspiration, determination. The slower ones lend more easily to maudlin emotions such as pain, sadness, loss but also to the gentler, more softly expressed loves and joys.
So why is it some songs speak to us and others don’t? As a dancer I can hear any song and pick the main beat, and even the layered beats (depending on the complexity of the piece) but that doesn’t mean it reaches in and squeezes my heart in such a way that I want to boogie on down, whip out my ballet shoes or even wail along with the lyrics. Whilst typically dancing in a class you dance to what you’re given, when choreographing our own moves or even out at a club or party, we dance most enthusiastically to the songs that resonate with us. I guess that brings me right back to musicality, but a new point thereof: as each of us is individual as a human being, it would stand to reason that our own personal musicality differs.
So some of us rock out to Rammstien while others dig Liana Lewis, but that doesn’t necessarily define an artist or listener or genre as better than any others, because our own sense of musicality will pick different things. So how accurately can any one person critique music as a whole? As layered as a musical piece can be, defining the groove within often comes down to the layers of the listener as well. Like a blind date, we put our musical hearts out there and see who they match up to.
It may sound like I’ve gotten off track, but really I haven’t. Picking a healthy beat to a song, as a defining factor of whether or not it matches our own musical souls and therefore compels us, essentially comes down to individuality. Simple and yet an interesting idea that I’d never thought to explore in the past, for all my years on the dance floor.
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Comment by GlenB
Raw Fish
The 'quicker songs' that 'get our blood pumping' are played at a faster tempo but the beat remains the same at a slower tempo.
As a dancer, you should know the difference between beat and tempo
Comment by Cymry
Musicality
It was not to the technical aspects of beat and tempo of the song that I referred to in the article but rather how the feel of an overall song reflects upon a person and their environment.
The indepth technical layout of a musical piece was not what I was discussing here, and if my use of colloquial language for the general readership confused that point you have my apologies, but your input is appreciated nonetheless