Back in college, I had a composition professor who taught me so many great things. One of the lessons she taught me that really stuck though was about contrast. She was always saying things like “There’s too much of this same rhythm”, or “Change the melody line so it goes down this time; it’s only been going up”, or “Why don’t you change the key/tempo?” Those suggestions—sometimes really drastic and sometimes very small—were always very helpful and as a whole made my music better. In today’s article, we’re going to look at “Welcome to Wonderland”, a lovely example of the power of contrast.
STA: KHUx.13 – Arabian Dream / A Lesson in Phrygian Dominant Scale
As I briefly mentioned in yesterday’s article, I am going to be talking about the tonality of the Agrabah music today! This one is bit music theory-intensive, but please bear with me! For those of you who have read my article about the Fire Emblem Fates theme song, or have studied it in school or wherever, the phrase Phrygian Mode/Scale may be familiar. The Phrygian Dominant Scale is extremely similar—the only difference is one note. But before we get into that…
STA: KHUx.12 – A Day in Agrabah / A Lesson in Triplets (and Duplets)
Today’s article is inspired by “A Day in Agrabah”, which originally played in Kingdom Hearts I, and is also in Kingdom Hearts Union Cross as the music for all of the Agrabah quests. There are lots of cool things about this track, from the instruments that are used to the interesting tonality (which we will talk about tomorrow!), and the rhythms. This article is going to focus on the rhythms, and more specifically, on triplets. And since we’re talking about triplets, we’re also going to talk about duplets, because the two pretty much go hand-in-hand.
STA: KHUx.11 – Risky Romp / A Brief Introduction to Uncommon Violin Playing Techniques
Today’s article is quite exciting! Similar to yesterday’s article, this topic is inspired by the track we’ll listen to today, but not necessarily focused entirely on the piece itself. Today we are going to be talking about some of my favorite violin techniques: pizzicato, spiccato, and ponticello. Now I am not a violinist, so I am not a complete expert on this subject, but I remember really enjoying learning about playing techniques (for all kinds of instruments!) in my upper division classes in college. If you happen to be a violinist, please try out these techniques, and let me know in the comments how it goes! 🙂
STA: KHUx.10 – Secret Whispers / Keyboard Mallet Percussion Family
In addition to being a music teacher, composer, and video game enthusiast, I am also a percussionist! I played all kinds of mallet percussion instruments in my high school’s marching band in the “pit” section (front ensemble). In today’s article, we are going to be talking about a small family of keyboard mallet percussion instruments that all have characteristics in common, but each contribute very different things, musically.
STA: KHUx.09 – Peaceful Hearts / Instrumental Range: The Harp
Ah, the harp. A beautifully calm, peaceful instrument, capable of playing solo or with the orchestra, lovely glissandi, and with a strong and gnarly bass! …What!? In today’s article, we are going to be listening to a piece called “Peaceful Hearts”, a lovely track played by a small, intimate ensemble comprised of a few stringed instruments, an oboe, and the harp.
STA: KHUx.08 – Victory Fanfare / The Difference Between Swing and Compound Time
Today’s article is going to cover a topic that somewhat sparked the idea to write about Kingdom Hearts Union Cross music in the first place. As the music that plays after every single victory, I have heard the “Victory Fanfare” probably hundreds if not thousands of times at this point. It’s a very upbeat, playful theme, and has a strong swing feel to it—which brings me to the topic of interest today: what is the difference between swing time and compound time?
STA: KHUx.07 – Rowdy Rumble / A Lesson in Chromatic Descending Bass Line
“Rowdy Rumble” first appeared in Kingdom Hearts II.5, but it is also the “Target Battle” music in Kingdom Hearts Union Cross. Super fun fact: all plant enemies bounce in perfect time to this track. You bet I stared at the screen, not making a move in the game while the music looped a few times, to make sure their movements were indeed exactly on the beat! X’D
STA: KHUx.06 – Villains of a Sort / A Lesson in Ambience
Today’s article is going to focus on a quite dark and foreboding theme, “Villains of a Sort”. This track appeared originally in Kingdom Hearts I, but also makes an appearance a few times in Kingdom Hearts Union Cross as well. We’re going to talk about a type of music that has gained a lot of popularity in recent times—at least to my knowledge—ambience.
STA: KHUx.05 – Shipmeisters’ Shanty / A Lesson in Modal Mixture
As the music for the avatar boards, shop, equipment menus and all actions regarding medals (fusion, evolution, and keyblade medal selection), “Shipmeisters’ Shanty” is arguably a main theme song in disguise, simply because of the nature of how often you will hear it while playing Kingdom Hearts Unchained X. The bouncy, syncopated energy of this piece breathes life into and reflects the whole atmosphere the game. In today’s article we’re going to talk about a somewhat advanced but very fun and interesting music theory concept: modal mixture.
Whimsically Theoretical 