节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-12-26
难易度:High
关键字:blend, harmony, marvel, gospel, aboriginal, a cappella, R & B







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When you think about Taiwanese aboriginal music, what do you think of?
Do you think of the kind, dark face of an old man that is singing memories?
Well, that's what a lot of people think of, and that's what our author of
today's lesson also usually thinks of.
But now he thinks of something completely different when he listens to the music
that the music group O-Kai produces.
We've been learning about them and their unique blend of musical styles.
Let's continue learning right now.
O-Kai.
You'll notice that the entire album is sung a cappella.
O-Kai's members prove that they are very capable of complex harmonies and
creative voice techniques.
And beyond a cappella, O-Kai has also planted itself in the world of jazz.
Of course, it is far from the first group to perform a cappella jazz.
In fact, O-Kai marvels at many such groups, especially gospel group Take 6,
which uses both jazz and R&B.
However, O-Kai may be first to put a lively jazz stamp on the warm, joyful music
of Taiwan's native people.
Let's keep learning about this great group O-Kai and their music.
We continue reading here after we talked about their blend of styles. We read:
You'll notice that the entire album is sung a cappella.
And a cappella just means without accompanying music.
So there's no instruments, it's just voices.
And I love listening to a cappella music.
Well, I love listening to good singers sing a cappella music.
Carolyn, have you ever sung a cappella before?
Uh, yes, Gabe.
I believe that we were singing a cappella just uh... yesterday.
As a matter of fact, you're right.
What we were singing yesterday is a cappella.
We sang along with Nathanael and Rebecca "What Child is This?" We had no
instruments.
We were singing a cappella style.
OK. Well, we have more to learn with Steve and Ken in the Information Cloud
right now about a cappella and other Italian music terms.
Not to be outdone by the French, the Italians have graciously contributed a good
many words of their own to the English language.
Remember last week's Coffee Culture lesson?
Much of English's coffee vocabulary comes from Italy.
Now where would we be without words like espresso, cappuccino, latte, venti and
Americano?
We'd be drinking a lot more tea.
Now another area where the Italian language just dominates is music.
For example, take the word "a cappella" from today's lesson.
It literally means "in chapel style." But we know it today as meaning singing
without any musical accompaniment.
And whether or not you've studied music, I'm sure you'll recognize some of these
other Italian words.
Like piano, timpani and viola.
The names of many musical instruments are Italian.
For musical voices, speed, volume and style, English borrows heavily from
Italian.
I'm sure you've heard the words soprano, tempo, crescendo and ad-lib before,
right?
Thank the Italians.
Grazie.
Why does English contain so many Italian music-related vocabulary words?
Well, one theory is that most of the important composers during the Renaissance
and Baroque periods, the periods when Western music was born and matured, were
Italian.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
There are a lot of musical terms that are in Italian.
Now we continue reading in the article:
O-Kai's members prove that they are very capable of complex... harmonies and
creative voice techniques.
Now we were talking about blending of styles earlier.
And here we see the word "harmony." Now harmony is a word from the Word Bank.
And that's when you blend voices together or musical notes to create a pleasant
sound to the person listening.
That's right. So there are many different kinds of harmonies.
Of course you might sing harmony if you are in a choir or in the chorus of some
kind.
Someone sings the melody, and that's usually the... the part or the melody that
everybody can recognize.
But then there are also beautiful harmonies that people sing to back up the
melody.
And here we're talking about complex harmonies.
If you've ever taken music courses, then you've probably learned that jazz
involves some augmented and diminished chords.
These are some of the chords that are involved in complex harmonies.
Yes. So these are not easy parts to learn.
And they do this without instruments, with just their voices.
Sometimes it's easier to just be looking at a piece of music and make an
instrument that you are playing produce those notes.
But to use your own voice can be quite a different challenge.
And I think it's a great challenge.
If you like to sing, try to sing harmony with someone else while they're singing
the melody.
It's cool to try to create your own harmonies as well.
OK, let's continue here learning about O-Kai.
And beyond a cappella, O-Kai has also planted itself in the world of jazz.
All right. They've planted themselves there, like a plant, Carolyn?
Uh, no. That just means that they have arrived there. They are established.
And people in the world of jazz or the jazz community know about them.
They are an established jazz group as well as an a cappella group.
That's right. OK.
So they've planted themselves in the world of jazz.
And that is quite a big world.
There is lots of different kinds of jazz music.
And of course, as we read here, it is far from the first group to perform a
cappella jazz.
I can think of many other groups that perform a cappella jazz.
They are far from the first group to do that.
And that is a great phrase that we want to look at: far from.
If you are far from something, well, you're not close to it or there's no real
similarity between two things.
That's right.
So this is not just talking about the distance from one place to another.
No! You can use this phrase to talk about so much more.
Maybe you talk about your... your project, maybe something that you are trying
to create.
You might say: You know, it's... it's far from perfect, but I got a good start.
I'm going to continue improving even though it is far from perfect.
That's right.
So you could even just replace the phrase with the word "not." It is not
perfect.
Or they are not the first group.
But if you want to really emphasize it, then you can say far from.
And of course this group O-Kai is not the first group to perform a cappella
jazz.
In fact, O-Kai marvels at many such groups, especially gospel group Take 6,
which uses both jazz and R&B.
OK. So they marvel at this gospel group Take 6.
Let's take a look at our word here.
It's the word "marvel." If you marvel at something, that means you're amazed,
and you really wonder at something.
That's right.
So maybe the first time you hear O-Kai's music, you will marvel at them.
You will be so surprised and just really admire their amazing musical abilities.
Well, what else can you marvel at?
Every time I go out and it's a really clear night sky, I marvel at the amount of
stars I can see in the sky.
And it's good to marvel at these things that... that amaze us.
Well, this group O-Kai marvels at groups like Take 6.
I like the group Take 6.
Have you ever heard of Take 6, Carolyn?
I have not, Gabe.
But they are a gospel group.
And that is a word from our Word Bank that we want to talk about.
Gospel - it's a style of Christian music that was based a little bit on R&B and
soul music, and it's very popular in a lot of churches.
And I really do enjoy listening to gospel music because there's always a
positive message in gospel music.
Well, let's continue here.
However, O-Kai may be the first to put a lively jazz stamp on the warm, joyful
music of Taiwan's native people.
So many people have done a cappella jazz before, but they'll be the first to put
a jazz stamp on Taiwan's native people's music.
And that is very impressive.
And right now we're going to watch a video of O-Kai singing a Christmas song.
And then we'll join Michelle in the Language Lab.
(Music).
OK.
(Chinese).
OK, let's see what our teachers are up to.
We've had a wonderful day learning about O-Kai and even getting to hear them
sing a wonderful Christmas song, so.
What do you think of their musical style?
Is it one that interests you?
Gabe, do you enjoy O-Kai's music?
Yeah. I bought their album, and I love listening to it.
Actually, I have one of their songs in my head right now.
If you have a chance to buy their album or listen to their music, please do.
They have a lot more that they have to sing about.
They do. And it is wonderful music to listen to.
Go out and buy their videos.
Listen to some of their songs.
And of course, join us again tomorrow as we continue learning all about this
group on Studio Classroom.
We will see you then.
(Music).