The Importance Of Bananas

Bananas are a great food for all round health benefits, for the average person, dieter or even athletes bananas may provide greater benefits than most fruits. The combination of carbohydrates and B vitamins present in a banana helps provide an energy boost which makes them great to eat 30 minutes before a workout, or even at breakfast to help boost energy at the start of every day.

They’re also handy to carry thanks to their thick skin and easy to eat without getting it all over your shirt. They’re also a pretty silent snack.

Bananas will boost you into a fantastic performance in an exam or concert, so make it part of your pre-concert and exam routine.

Three cheers to bananas!

MUSICAL EMPHASIS IV - EXTREMES

Extremes are another powerful means of emphasis: A moment of silence stresses the solemnity of a memorial service; blaring sirens alert us to the dangers of a fire. A solitary figure on the street highlights the late hour; a standing-room only crowd draws attention to a show’s success.

Musical extremes include fastest and slowest, longest and shortest, highest and lowest, loudest and softest, densest and most spare.

Example 12
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto begins with the following melody.

Musical Example: Ludwig van Beethoven, Violin Concerto, I, melody

Later, the soloist emphasizes the melody by playing it in an extremely high register.

Musical Example: Ludwig van Beethoven, Violin Concerto, I, emphasis of the melody

Example 13
Gyorgy Ligeti’s Desordre presents a melody in the upper register, echoed in the low.

Musical Example: Gyorgy Ligeti, Désordre from Etudes, Book I, melody

The melody is particularly emphasized when both of the pianist’s hands play in a very high register.

Musical Example: Gyorgy Ligeti, Désordre from Etudes, Book I, emphasis of the melody.
The longer an extreme is maintained, the more emphatic it is.

MUSICAL EMPHASIS III - CHANGE

Change is a second way of creating emphasis. We change into our pajamas to indicate we’re ready to go to sleep. We all notice when the weather changes. If the lights go out, it will catch your attention. If the crowd noise suddenly rises at a sporting match, you will want to know what happened. Likewise, in music, a change—of register, texture, density, speed, dynamic, etc.—will create an emphasis.

Example 7
In the Berlioz: Requiem, the text “Hosanna in excelsis ” is first sung by high voices and instruments. When low voices and instruments enter, the change in register creates an emphasis.

Musical Example: Hector Berlioz, “Agnus Dei” from Requiem

Example 8
Similarly, in Kristof Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, each string entrance is emphasized by a change in register.

Musical Example: Kryzsztof Penderecki, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima

Example 9
The greater the change, the greater the emphasis. In the Finale of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2, the change in density is sudden and dramatic.

Musical Example: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 2, IV

Example 10
In “Danse de la fureur” from Olivier Messaien’s Quartet for the End of Time, a sudden change in dynamics creates a strong emphasis.

Musical Example: Olivier Messiaen, “Danse de la fureur” from Quartet for the End of Time

The longer a particular state has been maintained, the greater the emphasis of the change.

Example 11
The opening of Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 begins with spare sounds played on the prepared piano (a piano with objects inserted inside the instrument to make its pitch more undefined). The solo violins enter quietly. But after such a long introduction, a well-marked emphasis is created by the change of instrumentation.

Musical Example: Alfred Schnittke, Concerto Grosso No. 1

MUSICAL EMPHASIS II - DURATION

Music is a time-art: Therefore, if you want to emphasize something in a piece of music, make it last. The longer something is before the listeners’ ears, the greater the importance it assumes.

Example 1
The ends of phrases in this Bach Chorale are emphasized through duration.

Musical Example: J.S. Bach, Chorale: “Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn” from Cantata: Ein feste Burg ist under Gott

Example 2
Duration is used to emphasize the words “Rote fürßtliche Rubine” in this movement from Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire.

Musical Example: Arnold Schoenberg, “Raub” from Pierrot Lunaire

Example 3
Repetition creates a durational emphasis. As in the Bach Chorale above, the ends of phrases are emphasized in Chopin’s Prelude in A-Major, only this time the chords are repeated rather than held.

Musical Example: Frederic Chopin, Prelude in A-Major

Example 4
Repetition is used to create two powerful durational emphases in this excerpt from Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

Musical Example: Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring

Through repetition and other means of prolongation, durational emphasis can span a whole section of even an entire composition. Marriage is a form of durational emphasis: A favored relationship outlasts passing acquaintances. Similarly, in a piece of music, that which endures has a priority over that which is fleeting. A melodic idea, a rhythmic pattern, a particular texture all may be sustained throughout an entire work.

Example 5
A rhythmic pattern is prolonged throughout Frederic Chopin’s Piano Prelude in c-minor.

Musical Example: Frederic Chopin, Piano Prelude in c-minor

Example 6
In the third of Elliott Carter’s Eight Etudes and a Fantasy, a single chord is held throughout the entire piece. The instruments constantly shift so that the chord is never voiced the same way twice. Nevertheless, throughout the subtle surface motions, one sound is clearly emphasized by duration.

Musical Example: Elliott Carter, Eight Etudes and a Fantasy, III

When listening to music, concentrate on what is most persistent. That which lasts longest is most essential; everything else is supporting. In a non-verbal, time-dependent art form, duration is the composer’s primary means of emphasis.

MUSICAL EMPHASIS I

Emphasis is very important in communication: It helps to establish what is of primary importance, versus what may be supporting or of secondary relevance.

Verbal communication contains a variety of strategies for creating emphasis. For instance, you’re instructing your children on pool safety: Don’t run next to the pool, no splashing in other people’s faces, etc. But most important of all: No children allowed in the water without a grown-up. How would you emphasize this statement’s import? You might repeat it several times; you might raise your voice; you might grab your child’s hand and look him or her in the eye; you might sit the child, down, pause, and then speak.

How is emphasis created in a piece of music? Being able to recognize and interpret such emphases is essential to active listening. When a composer is communicating with you through music, it is very helpful to know what he or she considers to be of primary importance.

Musical emphasis may be created by duration, change and extremes. When emphases are coordinated to help illuminate musical structure, rhetorical reinforcement is created.