June 8 2023 - Babbel or Gospel Singing

 

"There are lots of ads for learning a new language using Babbel.  Here's the Babbel sort of promotion: "From Spanish and German to Norwegian and Danish, the next time the plane lands abroad you could be speaking the native language fluently with a little help from Babbel. Over 100 expert linguists helped create this innovative app, which can have you speaking confidently in just a month."  "In just 15 minutes a day, you can start to be comfortable in another language within a week!" And that helps if your bucket list is Machu Pichu, Mount Everest, Bali, The Eiffel Tower, Rome's Trevi Fountain, and the Taj Mahal.  That's a few languages to learn.   So many languages and so many thousands of dollars of travel seem to be involved in these over-the-top bucket lists. The alternative might be something Bing is promoting.  Gospel singing.  Your can learn how to sing better with gospel legend Yolanda Adams.  Just like you learn phrases in Babbel, you can learn belting, chest voice, head voice, falsetto and vibrato in gospel singing.   In comparison to Babbel's promise of 15 minutes a day, everyone says that Gospel singing takes a few years.  But then one Quora answer says you can be a gospel singing in a community choir within three weeks.  Or if you are just aiming for the shower, it takes 3 minutes.  Only on Quora can you get an answer that says that a clean heart is required so that Christ will dwell in you and give you great inspiration. Gospel singing is not very close to home here in Niagara.  My own thought is to learn another language that is useful right here now.   What about an app on how to communicate with cats.  "MeowTalk gives your cat a voice! " It is a free app that has the translation mode with three basic meow intents.  And there are lots of articles explaining the science behind cat translations.  There's a pie chart with the different cat sounds dataset - hunting, fighting, warning, angry, mating, happy, mother call, resting, pain, and defence. What will Baxter do with all this?  I think we'll give this one a try. And since there is also a dog in our house the Dog Translator is also available.  Here's the promo for Dog Translator: "This app is amazing it's so cool but so simple all you have to do is just press the little mic and say what you have to say and then once you do that it will talk dog talk and allow your dogs to understand what you're saying." For the reverse, My Talking Pet turns your dog barks into talk that you understand.   Who would guess this is all here now?     It is Thursday and that means market day in Grimsby.  The pandemic restrictions are gone so we are back to Main Street as in this picture below from a few years ago.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

How Many Genres of Music are there?

 

How many genres of music are there?  One article says that over 1,200 subgenera of music have been defined in the 20th century.  The  main genres vary from article to article, so I guess this isn't a scientific sort of classification, but a presentation of preferences.  We can be confident that there would be  Rock, Jazz, Country, Pop and Rhythm and Blues in the 20th century..  But what about all those centuries before?  This list goes by date giving a name to a time period: 1597 Opera 1600 The Baroque Period (1600 – 1750) 1600s Gospel Music 1750 The Classical Period (1750 – 1830) 1830 The Romantic Period (1830 – 1900) 1899 Ragtime (1899 – 1917) 1900 Blues 1920 Jazz I think that this list might not make it to  a musical encyclopedia.  I expect it would take a fair amount of work to find a reference source, given the listings from google and bing are so varied. The list is notable to me for this entry:  1600s Gospel Music.  I never learned about that in music class in school.   Wikipedia says it is a traditional genre of Christian music, and traces to the 17th century.  The first published use of the term gospel song was in 1874. But the great gospel classic, Amazing Grace,  was published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet (formerly slave trader turned abolitionist)  John Newton.  "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It is unknown if there was any music accompanying the verses; it may have been chanted by the congregation. It debuted in print in 1779 in Newton's and Cowper's Olney Hymns, but settled into relative obscurity in England. In the United States, "Amazing Grace" became a popular song used by Baptist and Methodist preachers as part of their evangelizing, especially in the American South, during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies. In 1835, American composer William Walker set it to the tune known as "New Britain" in a shape note format; this is the version most frequently sung today. This Florida sunrise seems to be appropriate for the song of the day.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca