All right, I need to let you all know something. Amy is a totally kick-ass singer! I heard her sing last night, and it's not like I was expecting her to be bad. But I was not expecting her to be this good. And her songs rule too. When she first played the chords to them for me, I was like, "okay, that's cool." But then when she sang along everything clicked. It totally ruled. It makes me a little jealous that a beginner is all ready way more talented than I am after years of practice. Oh well, I'm happy for her and I encourage her to make the most of her potential.
So, I learned something cool today. Beethoven was the first rocker. Honestly, all his music was about was breaking the rules of the time, while making music that was still way better than anything anyone had ever heard. His music was so advanced at the time that he was widely disliked by the general population. All the people wanted was stupid, simple music that didn't make them think. Only a select number of advanced music listeners were able to truly appreciate his music. (I guess history repeats itself, no?) Beethoven made a mockery of the whole rule-based system composers had to go by at the time. (He even renamed his minuets "scherzos" which is Italian for "jokes.") Music was supposed to be organized and balanced, and that little bitchass of a virtuoso named Mozart happily followed these rules. But Beethoven was like: "Fine, I have to play by the rules? Well check this out!" Then he would go about mixing things up so bad, trying things never tried before, and doing it all at a tempo so fast that nobody could tell what was supposed to be going on. And the best part is that it really rocks. Beethoven used to play so hard that the piano strings would break! Contemporary "owner's manuals" for pianos described his style of playing as misuse of the instrument! Find me someone today who is so daring and so brilliant. If you do, I guarantee that he or she will never get any radio airplay. Ha!
