Romantic Music Vs Swing Music

There are many different genres in music. Each genre of music has its own distinct musical form and style. Different genres use different tempos, melodies, harmonies, pitch and dynamics to emphasize a certain theme or direct the music to a certain audience or purpose. Examples of different genres of music include rock and roll, jazz, classical, reggae and punk. Despite not even being created in the same era, certain musical genres have similarities in tempos, melodies, harmonies, pitch and dynamics. Romantic music from the romantic era, jazz and pop are all musical genres that have many differences but may also contain some similarities.

“Romantic music is a genre of music that began in the early 19th century and ended in 1850. Romantic music

The origin of Swing music can be traced back to 1920’s jazz. Swing music was the type of music that arose during the swing era. Swing music uses a strong rhythm of bass and drums as an anchor to support brass instruments such as trumpets, trombones and saxophones. They were sometimes accompanied by stringed instruments such as violin and guitar and played at a medium to fast tempo. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody depending on the musical arrangement. Big Bands was a musical ensemble that arose in the United States that contained brass, woodwind and percussion instrument played by up to 25 musicians”(“Jazz in America”, n.d). “The word “Swing” was used to describe the strong rhythmic grove caused by the weaker pulse in the music which made swing music very danceable to. Dancing to swing music seemed to reduce stress and worry among people which made swing music very popular especially during the Great Depression. The term “swing” also represents the particular rhythmic style based on the beat. Swing music began to decline during World War II since it became difficult to create a band because many musicians were fighting in the war. By the late 1940s, swing music had evolved into traditional pop music. Famous swing musicians include Count Basie, Gene Krupa, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra” (“Swing Era”,

Another similarity between the songs Erlkönig and I Gotta Feeling is that both songs use different tempos at different times during the performance to show emphasis on certain sentences, words or actions whereas Duke Ellington’s song contains a constant medium tempo to create a steady, groovy feeling. Another similarity between the songs Erlkönig and I Gotta Feeling is that the dynamics are changing to help alter the mood, create an atmosphere or represent the voice of a character “I Gotta Feeling” and “It don’t mean a thing” are both performed by a band except that Duke Ellington’s band is considered a swing era “big band”. Both songs also implement the use of repetitive notes to develop a beat and both songs also use repeating phrases in the lyrics. The only instrument used in Schubert’s composition of Erlkönig was the piano. The instruments used in Duke Ellington’s “It don’t mean a thing” are the saxophone and trombone. The instruments used in “I Gotta Feeling” are more modern instruments such as synthesizers, drums and the electric