Popular stories on MusicTales

1. 

   Orchestra

   Greensleeves: the folk melody behind Vaughan Williams' Fantasia

   Greensleeves is one of the best-known English folk melodies, first published in 1580 as a broadside ballad titled A…

   May 24, 2022

2. 

   Songwriter

   Caldonia: the song that spawned the term rock and roll

   Caldonia is a 1945 song released by Louis Jordan, an American songwriter and saxophonist whose popularity in the 1940s…

   January 20, 2021

3. 

   Songwriter

   Scarlet Begonias: three major Mixolydian chords in a Grateful Dead's ballad

   Scarlet Begonias, released in 1974 by the American rock band Grateful Dead, is still widely regarded as one of their…

   October 16, 2021

4. 

   Orchestra

   Les Indes Galantes: Rameau's controversial opera as the essence of Rococo style

   Les Indes Galantes is Jean-Philippe Rameau's first stage work in the opéra-ballet form with a prologue and four entrées…

   January 23, 2021

5. 

   Classical Guitar

   Dona Monina Távora's legacy kept alive through her brilliant followers

   Adolfina Raitzin, one of the criminally hidden talents of the 20th century, was born in Argentina in 1921. Her father…

   August 1, 2018

6. 

   Songwriter

   Gimme Three Steps: the bar where Lynyrd Skynyrd's frontman almost got shot

   Gimme Three Steps is the best-known track from the 1973 debut album by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The first…

   June 2, 2021

7. 

   Percussion

   First ever composition for solo percussion by Edgard Varèse ionized Zappa to choose a career in music

   Edgard Varèse was one of the most innovative composers of the 20th century who not only developed his own concept of…

   October 30, 20191 comment

8. 

   Piano

   Lodovico Giustini wrote the first ever piano sonatas for the instrument invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori

   One of the main disadvantages of the harpsichord is its constant volume level which does not depend on the strength of…

   May 15, 20191 comment

9. 

   Manuscript

   Rich music collection of the Trecento times recovered from Florentine palimpsest

   It is difficult to imagine, in the current digital world, the serious difficulties associated with recording any…

   July 23, 2019

10. 

    Vihuela

    The first known collection for the vihuela inspired early guitar repertoire

    It is fair to call the guitar one of the leading world instruments in terms of popular demand which is only slightly…

    May 29, 2019

11. 

    Meditation

    Namo Amitabha: meaning and benefits behind the Buddhist mantra

    The Namo Amitabha mantra is a sacred chant associated with Amitabha, a celestial buddha held in high esteem in Mahayana…

    July 8, 2023

12. 

    Sitar

    Humid Kolkata air sways with Nikhil Banerjee's sitar

    Nikhil Banerjee (1931–1986) was an Indian classical musician who emerged as one of the leading masters of the sitar. In…

    July 11, 2018

13. 

    Composer

    Music for a While: Purcell's entrancing appeasement of Alecto

    Music for a While is one of the best-known tunes written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell. First published…

    September 24, 2021

14. 

    Songwriter

    Mairzy Doats lyrics inspired by 15th century nursery rhyme

    Mairzy Doats is a notable nursery rhyme song written in the 1940s when parody and humor songs were in high demand. The…

    January 3, 2021

15. 

    Songwriter

    Just Another Diamond Day: the stunning rediscovery of the hippie-era gem

    Vashti Bunyan is an English singer and songwriter primarily known for her 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day, which…

    November 30, 2018

16. 

    Classical Guitar

    Anthony Holborne: the master of Elizabethan consort music

    Antony Holborne was an English Renaissance composer whose music for lute and cittern appeared in two important…

    October 22, 2018

17. 

    Music Theory

    Popular songs showing the submediant chord in all diatonic modes

    In musical theory, the submediant refers to the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, and the triad rooted in the…

    April 18, 2021

18. 

    Music Theory

    Aeolian mode in Led Zeppelin songs

    The Aeolian diatonic mode is one of the most common songwriting techniques, allowing composers to harmonize a melodic…

    June 4, 2022

19. 

    Songwriter

    Coal Miner's Daughter was forced to remove a third of the lyrics from her autobiographical song

    Coal Miner's Daughter is an autobiographical song by the influential country-genre songwriter Loretta Lynn in which she…

    December 27, 2020

20. 

    Music Theory

    Mixolydian mode in Led Zeppelin songs

    It's no secret that Western music theory offers three major diatonic modes—Ionian, Lydian, and Mixolydian—each serving…

    October 13, 2023

21. 

    Music Theory

    The Doors songs with Aeolian and harmonic minor modes

    Known since the Baroque era, the homophonic texture remains the most convenient songwriting technique based on the…

    December 24, 2021

22. 

    Meditation

    Bharata Muni and the Natya Shastra as a formative treatise of Indian classics

    Bharata Muni was an eminent Indian philosopher and musicologist who is believed to have lived around 200 BC. The only…

    November 4, 2021

23. 

    Songwriter

    Tornerò: revealing the song meaning

    Tornerò—the 1974 debut single by the Italian pop group I Santo California—may have initially achieved only moderate…

    June 3, 2023

24. 

    Songwriter

    Savoy Truffle: cautionary song about chocolate by the quiet Beatle

    Savoy Truffle is one of four songs written by George Harrison for the 1968 album The Beatles, also known as the White…

    June 14, 2020

25. 

    Classical Guitar

    Thomas Morley's legacy in English Renaissance tradition

    The Renaissance composer and organist Thomas Morley (c.1557-1602) is best known as the father of the English madrigal…

    April 24, 2018

26. 

    Band

    The low-end sound of Morphine trio cut short by Mark Sandman's tragic death while on a stage

    Twenty years have passed since Mark Sandman’s tragic passing of a heart attack during a 1999 live performance with the…

    July 7, 2019

27. 

    Mandolin

    Boogie with Stu: origins of Led Zeppelin's song featuring mandolin solo

    Boogie with Stu is a remarkable Led Zeppelin track originally recorded for the 1971 release of their fourth album, but…

    March 25, 2023

28. 

    Sarod

    Ali Akbar Khan: the true guru of Indian classical harmony

    The first key point of Indian classical music is its structure. Unlike the Western canons, it is structured…

    March 7, 2018

29. 

    Sarangi

    The Hindustani maestro who arranged the Sārangī fiddle for a classical solo

    The sārangī fiddle, mainly used on the Indian subcontinent, is perhaps one of the most complex bowed string instruments…

    March 22, 2019

30. 

    Orchestra

    Hermann of Reichenau: disabled monk who boosted art and science 1000 years ago

    A remarkable figure of the 11th century, Hermann of Reichenau was a chronicler, composer, poet, and scientist who…

    March 12, 2019