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Janae Jean
Jul 3, 20248 min read
Aaron Copland: Distinctively American Part 2
In part two, we learn how Copland created his distinctly American style and how McCarthyism impacted his career.
Janae Jean
Aug 27, 20234 min read
5 Chicagoland Arts Events for the Final Days of Summer
Arts Events for September School may be back in session, the sunset's may be coming noticeably earlier, and the most precocious of the...
Janae Jean
Mar 6, 20235 min read
Music Theory and Practice – Common Practice Voice Leading
Voice Leading or Chorale Writing What Is Voice Leading? Voice Leading, also called Part Writing or Chorale Style Writing, is...
Janae Jean
Mar 5, 20233 min read
Music Theory and Practice – Figured Bass
Exploring Harmony Through Real Music Beginnings in The Baroque Era The Baroque era was a historical artistic period in Europe that...
Janae Jean
Dec 27, 20225 min read
Music Theory and Practice – So What's Bach Ever Done for us?
Or, how studying music history makes you a better musician–no matter what genre you work in. Studying the history of music is beneficial...
Janae Jean
Dec 20, 202214 min read
One Picture Is Worth One Thousand Notes – An Interview with Composer John Dante Prevedini
Our First Featured Interview! For our first interview on the Perennial blog, I spoke with composer and educator John Dante Prevedini. ...
Janae Jean
Mar 29, 20225 min read
How To Be A PRO – Performing Rights Organizations
What are a performing rights organizations they and what do they do for music creators? You’ve been creating music for a while now, and...
Janae Jean
Aug 9, 20219 min read
Music Theory and Practice – Introduction to Counterpoint
Bringing the Baroque into the 21st Century What is Counterpoint? Counterpoint refers to an argument, idea, or theme used to create a...
Janae Jean
Jul 12, 202112 min read
Music & Arts at the Movies – 5 Composer Biopics for Movie Night
5 Baroque and Classical Composer Biopics Music and movies have gone together since the earliest days of cinema. Silent films were...
Janae Jean
Nov 30, 202010 min read
Musical Innovations – Harry Partch Instruments
Inventor and Composer In previous posts, we've focused on the instruments played in the conventional Western orchestra, some instruments...
Janae Jean
Nov 1, 20201 min read
Announcement! Join Us On Patreon
New Subscriber-Only Content and More Coming Soon! Like what you read in the Perennial Blog? This blog, while a labor of love, takes...
Janae Jean
Oct 20, 20208 min read
Orchestration Basics – Understanding the Voice
More Than "Just A Singer" – Voices As Instruments In the last post, I introduced the four main voice types, as well as additional...
Janae Jean
Oct 19, 202010 min read
Orchestration Basics – Choir – Voices Types
Classifying the Voice
There are four main voice types in choral music: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.
Janae Jean
Feb 8, 20206 min read
Sample This! Part 3
A Brief Introduction to Sampling in Music: Part Three Breakbeats, Turntables, Early Hip Hop In the previous installments, we continued...
Janae Jean
Jan 29, 20206 min read
Free in February! Museums and More
Get Inspired this Winter Snow. Ice. Sleet. Slush. Wind chill factors. Here in Chicagoland, it can be tempting to stay home and hibernate...
Janae Jean
Oct 28, 20197 min read
Musical Building Blocks – Creating Melodies with Tetrachords
Just as DNA is made up of the building blocks (nucleotides) that tell cells how to make up organisms, there are building blocks that make...
Janae Jean
Jun 28, 20197 min read
What is Music Production? – Part 4 – Microphone Basics
Meet your new friend, Mike So far, on our study of "What Is Music Production?" We have discussed the various professionals roles that...
Janae Jean
Jun 19, 201910 min read
The Musical Bridge - Scandinavian Folk Music
Here in Geneva, Illinois, mid-June means Swedish Days, the festival has 200,000 yearly attendees who come from across Illinois and beyond to
Janae Jean
Jun 16, 20197 min read
What Is Music Production? Part 1 – Roles & Goals
In today's musical world, there are more options open to musicians than ever before. We have access to DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) whe
Janae Jean
Jun 1, 20197 min read
Performance 101 – Stage Fright
When you imagine a musical performance, a variety of places such as coffee houses, recital halls, college campuses, bars and restaurants, o
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