Episode Transcript
What's up? SOS Army. See what I did there? I did. I did. I used a callback. That's a callback. I'm so sophisticated. So sophisticated, right? If you're a first time listener and just stumbled upon us, then this is the podcast that really tries hard to sound smart. But still chat GPTs, like three quarters of things. Just so we know what we're talking about. Um, I'm Pete and sitting way too close to me in our cramped little studio is Amanda. Hello Amanda. Hello. And you're such a prima donna. It's not cramped. It's cramped. Quite spacious. It's, oh my God. Speaking of spacious. Oh, no, no. Wait a second. Oh, no, no, nevermind. Oh, no, no. Don't judge me. Nevermind. I'm not gonna say it. I'm not talking about it. He good? No, but you gotta tell me I can't, I I tried to pretend like I could not bug you. Okay. But no judging. Okay. Promise, pinky. Promise me pinky. Promise me right now. Pinky promise. Okay. No judging. Okay. So, you know I'm going to Greece, right? Yes. Like tomorrow, Uhhuh. Okay. So like a month or so, ago I hired some dude to, um, you got a personal stylist? Help me pick how clothes. Yes. Where at like Nordstrom's, In South Coast Plaza? Of course, yes. Okay. You're one bougie mother trucker. Um, thank you and thanks for not judging me. I appreciate that. Okay. So, um, delight. Gabby used to help, but you know, she, um, she can't now. Okay. Yeah. For obvious reasons. But wait a second. So this is even gotta pack on the guilt there. Thanks. Okay. Yeah, I gotta throw that in there. Thanks. Um, that's not the embarrassing part, you wanna know the embarrassing part? Okay. He came over this morning to help me pack. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So, so is he also like a special friend of yours? Wow. Okay. Does he get certain benefits? No. Oh no. Oh, okay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. This is a judge free zone. Okay. But there's a reason why he came over. I have a story. Okay. I'm waiting. So I wanted to be able to get to Europe. For, we'll call it 10 days, three days in Athens, and then like seven days on the cruise, uh, with a carry-on and a personal item. That's it. Yes. I did not want to bring a checked bag. Are you insane? That was the plan. So I called my buddy up, my personal stylist, rod. Oh my god. His name's Rod. That's even worse. Okay. And yeah, he came over and he picked my outfits. Len was able to give me less outfits because I'm an idiot, right? Like whatever I bought, I bought when he helped me buy clothes, so I would just do like, oh, I need a pair of pants and a shirt for every day or whatever. Sure. No. He was like, no, no, you don't need any of this shit. He totally trimmed me down. He's like, gave me like oh 3, 3 2 of, and then he's, you're gonna launder one time while you're there on the cruise. Okay. And this is what you're gonna do. And he totally packed everything for me and it's glorious. And judge me all you want. Um, I just totally had a packing personal stylist again. I stick by my statement. You are a bougie mother trucker. I am. So, and here we are. What should I do to make, did you buy your new clothes? Yes. Okay. That's the whole point. I have a whole new wardrobe. Whole new. Yes. That's, that's how this all started. Is this outfit a new It's Oh, the outfit? I, no, this is regular. This is regular Pete right here. I literally was gonna be like, 'cause you look the same. Wow. No if you, my, my is it like for work stuff? My girls saw me and they were like, dad, dude, like. You're gonna bag somebody like it's serious. Wow, okay. I look pretty decent. Maybe Rod not gonna lie. I like Rod Rod's a good guy. Shout out to Rod. Rod Baker, personal stylist, south Coast Plaza, badass mofo. Everybody should use him. I do totally understand. It's bougie. I get it. And, um, I'll like volunteer at church or something to make up for you're privilege of showing. All right, so what are we talking about today? I'm gonna stop you. Thank you. And thank you so much, Amanda, for not judging me through all of that. Oh, I absolutely judge the shit outta you. That was very, that was very, and so everybody else is listening to this episode. Well, here we are. It's all out there on the airways. It's out there. You can't take it back now. Can't take it back. Today's episode is officially titled Don't Fear the Tempe Classical Music Debunked People. And today we're gonna No, no, no. Hold, hold, hold on. What? I got a question. What? What is a symphony? Uh, yeah, it's like the big kettle drum things that they use all the time in the orchestra. Okay. Right. Like the the percussion section Oh, okay. Of the orchestra. Got it. Yeah. The things that give rhythm and life to music. Yes, absolutely. Okay. So today we're gonna get all sophisticated on classical music and how to listen to it, and hopefully Amanda start to like it because I'm bougie and entitled and like classical music that you do. I know. So what about classical music makes us cultured? Or do I need to Google it? Uh, you're googling it 'cause I have no idea. So, oh no, that, oh, okay. Hold on, hold on. And basically, you know what I would do? Uh, well you should really chat GPT it and not Google it. 'cause like Google AI doesn't remember all the shit we talk about. Oh, that's true. Like chat. GPT AI does. 'cause we pay for chat, GPD. So, from now on, if you could do that please. So all of the information that instead of Google you guys get is, uh, courtesy of the premium cost of chatt. Thank you very much. Let's go. Elevated AI experience. All right. Did I, uh, sorry, did I talk long enough for you to go over this shift? No, I had to log in. Hold on. Okay, go. Okay. So classical music has long been associated with cultural refinement because it embodies centuries of artistic evolution, intellectual depth, and emotional nuance. Engaging with it invites listeners to a broader historical and philosophical dialogue. Its presence across literature, film, and even political ceremonies reinforces its role as a cultural touchstone. Appreciating classical music isn't merely about taste. It signals a willingness to explore ideas that have shaped societies, inspired revolutions, and transcendent generations. I could not have said that. Yeah. That was way too sophisticated. Just so we know. So, so from now on when we chat GBT up, we have to say, please give us the sorta of sophisticated I'm gonna do that. Okay. And see what I get from now on. Okay. From one. Let's go. Yep. Okay. Can we do word of the day now, please? Yep. Otherwise, we're never gonna stretch. Yeah. But I have one. You have one? I do have one. Oh shit. Let's go look at you. All right. I'm putting mine in the back pocket. I'm using my next week. Go. Can you use it next week? Okay, so a word of the day is eus. Bullshit. Yeah. That's not even a word. It is. You just made that up. It is. No, that sounds like something like a doctor would tell you when, like you get your blood test results or something, Amanda. I mean, well, one, it's not that sophisticated. It, it's pretty sophisticated. No. Yeah. And I'm still like, Stu you should know what, like, excuse me, Peter. Um, your religionist levels are elevated again. No. Right? Yes. No. What is it? What does it mean? It actually means swampy, marshy or damp. And it's usually used to describe places, not people. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So like you're religionist armpits basically, is what you mean. Okay. Yeah. Fair. Yeah. Offensive. Yeah. But fair. But that's absolutely right. Because we're cramped here together in this little studio, you leave the, uh, air conditioning on 85 degrees, and I smell your religionist armpits all day long. It's wonderful. Alright. Did I get that right? Okay. Sure. Okay. I don't even know why we have words like this. Here we go. Okay. Yep. Moving on. Go ahead. Tell us all about classical music. Are we ready for this? Yeah. So I don't kill you. Go for it. Yeah. You seem a little pissed off right now. Are you sure? We could go. Alright, we're starting with basics. We, because. Believe it or not, the term classical music gets thrown around a lot, and it usually means different things to different people. Most people use it as like a catchall for anything with an orchestra, with timpani drums, anything dramatic. I mean, when you say classical, I think like Mozart, Beethoven, like that is classical music. Okay, perfect. And that's all I picture, so this makes sense. I think that's what most people think. Right? But believe it or not, that's only one little slice of the whole thing. What do you mean one little slice? Right? Okay. You mean like there are many more composers, or No, you're thinking of something called the classical period, not classical music. What? So, yep. Went a little nuts. Right. You know, like a rectangles not a square. Squares not a rectangle. Yeah. Okay. Whole thing. Okay. Right. Uhhuh. So about 1750 to 1830 is the classical period, which is what you're talking about. That includes Mozart, Hayden, and some early Beethoven stuff. 'cause he spanned over two different places. We'll talk about that. Super clean, super pretty stuff. We're gonna call that classical with a capital C. Okay. Okay. But the term classical music, what we're gonna go through today actually refers to the broader time period from 1600 all the way up till today. Literally 500 years. So more of like a type of music than a period of music? Correct. Okay. Yes. Alright. There are different periods inside of what you call classical music. One of those periods happens to be also called the classical period with a capital C. With a capital C because we're too stupid and couldn't think of another word. Yes. Okay. Does this make sense to you? Yeah. I'm tracking. Okay. Breath. Huh? Um, the more you know. Yeah. Do I know that? Okay. Basically now classical music is like all Western music that isn't regular stuff like pop rock, r and b, jazz, country alternative, like whatever. Like you get the idea. Basically anything that has an orchestra and trained musicians. Okay. Okay. So. The classical lowercase. Yes. Classical music, yes. Is starts from the 1600 till today. Bingo. And within that timeframe there is the capital classical. Yep. Period. Yep. So then what? Are there other ones in between here and there? Okay. Quick and dirty. You ready for this? Yeah. This is how we're gonna do this. All right. So you have baroque that ran from 1600 to 1750. So that was Bach, Handel, Vivaldi. That's like really complex, really fancy sounding stuff. Like a lot of shit going on at one time. Every instrument's doing its own thing, but like somehow it all works together. Okay. Then you have the classical period, the one we just talked about, going from 1750 to 1830. That's Mozart and Hayden, it's like cleaner than Baroque music. It feels like organized. Like it's controlled. You know what to expect. That's like the point of classical music, capital C like super structured. Um, then you have the romantic period that's from 1830 to 1900. This is when music gets way more emotional. Like it's big, like big, big. So that's older Beethoven. Young Beethoven was classical older. Beethoven was romantic. Um, Tchaikovsky and Chopan. The volume changes like crazy. Even people who don't like classical music, will feel something with the romantic period. Like you cannot help it. Okay. And then finally you have the modern and contemporary periods, which, uh, well. I guess modern technically goes from 1900, 19 75 and contemporaries anything from like 1975 till now. Um, and this is all over the place, stuff a lot of these composers tried like breaking all the old rules and trying new shit. Sometimes they even throw in electronics, but it all still counts as classical music. Okay. Not classical period. You're with me. I am. Okay. That's kind of a pretty big range. I know. So even though the sounds change. It's all considered classical. Yes it is. But I mean that kinda makes sense. 'cause if you think of like hiphop, it has evolved and there's different hiphop style. This is exactly the same thing. The same thing. But we just, we think of it as just one type of music versus we think of Mozart like you just said, periods within. That's all correct. Okay. So to be classical, It has to be composed intentionally. It has to be written down. It was meant to be performed mostly by an orchestra, but not always. And it's part of what they call the western art music tradition. That's it. Then it's called classical. You with me? So wait, are we talking about all of this today or just the classical period in like Mozart or, oh, no, we're talking about all of them today. All of them. I mean, maybe one day we could talk about it. It's a lot. Yeah. But like if we go too narrow and deep, like we're not gonna get everybody. Okay. Yeah. The whole idea is sort of sufficient general. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Global view. Well, we wanna know how to listen like a fancy person. We're sort of sophisticated. Okay. You get the idea. All right. Here you go. So, I don't think a lot of people actually listen to classical music. I think people think that it's boring or intimidating. I do, I, it's excellent. Do you know what? Of course you do. Did we just already established how you are? Do you know? You were so busy. Do do you know when I listen to classical music? I don't know when I'm working on our podcast. Okay, well, so how do you like that? So in theory, hold on, hold on. So, yes. I mean, there is, and I mean all classical music, not just capital C copy. There is lots of studies of like when babies are in utero, put the headphones on. Bingo, play classical music. Thank you. You should play classical music when working or learning, because it helps build all these synapses. So like I understand the beauty of classical music and the need for classical music. Yes. But I feel like people don't normally listen to classical music. You know? Why? Does that make sense? I'm gonna tell you why. Why? Because they think there's some sort of secret code they're supposed to figure out while they're listen to it. Well, there is because every song tells a story. Spoiler. There's not, Yes, no. Nowhere does it say you actually have to understand classical music to enjoy it. I mean, you don't have, it's like art. Remember when we did our whole like art appreciation episode and we just said go to a museum and start looking at shit. And we sort of gave people the basics, like sort of like the blocking and tackling of how to look at art. Same thing with classical music. We're do the same thing. You just notice what you notice. Just listen for patterns, repeating melodies, like changes in energy. It doesn't matter, dude. It's a vibe. We're vibing. Smoke some dope and listen to some classical music. Okay. Okay. All right. I would, that was not where I thought you were gonna go with that, but here we are. Here we go. I have a, I have a hack. Okay. Can I give you a hack? What is a hack? Okay. Somebody told me about this hack like a long time ago, and I think it helped. Okay. You know what? I must have known somebody bougie who helped me. Fair bougie. Okay. Think of each or just more sophisticated than us. Let's, let's just say that. Here we go. Yeah. So you remember how you just said like the whole, it's part of a story. Yes. Right. So somebody else told me about that and they said, think of each instrument like as a character, a specific character in a movie right? So think about it the strings. Those would be the main character. That's the emotion in the song, or I guess like the piece instead of the song to be sort of sophisticated. Violins. Cellos, right? They're the guy or the girl falling in love or crying in the rain. They bring all the drama. Mama. Yeah, the strings. But it is so much more. I mean, I know you're not gonna say it's not. So much more sophisticated, but it really is because it's not just this harmony of music. No. But it is all of these instruments coming together and they tell a story. Okay. So specifically the classical capital C. Okay. Absolutely. Okay. Right. Oh my God. Amazing. So just No, not, no, not just, okay. I'm just saying specifically. Okay. The others oh, all the same. Okay. You could use this construct of storytelling, like you said, with all of them. For sure. I'm just saying classical capital C is like the best one. 'cause it's the easiest to predict. Got it, got it. Okay. Okay. Makes sense. Okay, then you got the brass section. Um, think of them as like the villain or the antagonist in the movie. So those are the trumpets, the trombones, the tuba. Right. So when you think about them, the ones who bring the dun, dun, dun. Yeah. They're Yes, absolutely. Oh my God. Darth Vader, Imperial March. That is absolutely, that is trombones. That is trumpets. That's Tuits. Yes. That's his like Don cheating Doom is coming, right? Okay. Look at you are like a pro in like two seconds. You got this figured out. Okay. No. So truth be told, what I only know about this. Why? 'cause it was on Baby Einstein. You know what baby Einstein does? Teaches little kids. Teaches little kids about classical music. Let's go. It's true. Okay? Then you have the woodwinds. Okay? The flutes. The clarinets. The oboes, right? These are the comedians. These are the sidekicks. If I came back. My next life as an instrument, you would be, I wanna be a woodwind. A woodwind? Yep. I don't know if I'd a Goodwin, but I wanna be a Okay. Think of like, you would be the one who was like Dee. Right. I'd be the clickers. Okay. Think of like the animal sidekicks in Disney. Okay. Like Sebastian. Yep. In a little mermaid or Timon and ooba and the lion King Abu in Aladdin. Yeah. You get the idea. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They sneak in and sneak around. They liven everything up. Okay. Those are the woodwinds, right? And then finally of the drums, the percussion, the timi. Okay. Drums equal tension. Not like a character. Exactly, but when you hear drums, some shit's about to go down. Okay. Amanda? Especially the timi. Anytime those drums show up, dude, strap it on. Shit's about to get real if you pay attention. They use this stuff in movies like all the time. All right. I think everyone's tracking. It really, it just flows so well. Um, if you look at it as a different instrument sections on how it's telling the story, I think everyone just needs to realize like, we don't have to analyze everything to be good at listening. Yes, correct. To classical music. Totally. Completely. Um, we just kind of just need to listen for some stuff and kind of hear the vibe on. It's the vibe. It's the vibe. Yeah. So like, when I listen to classical music, I pretend like I just close my eyes and I pretend I'm watching the movie that has no words. So I just make up the story as I go along. Like I don't have to explain it to anybody. I don't even give a shit. It's just my story, the one I make up. You know? Like when you dream you, I mean, you were a true musical person. You know, when you wake up what every composer wants, listen people to do, you dream all the time and you wake up and it's like your dreams are crazy, right? By the way, you never started a dream with saying like, Hey Peter, I had a really normal dream the other day, right? It's always like, oh my God, I had a crazy dream. Because all these thoughts are just flying through. Yeah. And none of it necessarily connects, do you know? That reminds me of what. And for people, this might be easier, like visual for them of what it is, but Fantasia, oh my god. Fania perfect with Mickey and he's like, the conductor and shit just goes, and there's like the mop and then there's the elephants and there's the, the, the whales in the sky. Yeah. Yeah, that's my point. It's just. It's my, it's you're dreaming. It's your story. It's my story. We get to make up it as we go, and nobody get, I love it. There's no fucking judging. Remember at the beginning where you were judging the shit outta me? Yeah. I mean, I still am, but, right. Okay. So don't be judging me when I listen to classical music, I, I don't. Okay. And, and part of it is hard because everyone thinks classical music, I feel like, is like, oh, it's a snooze fest, right? Oh, totally. But I think if we got into the habit of allowing ourselves to dream or be creative or tell a story from what we're hearing. Though it sounds super uber sophisticated, it's really not. Nope. Just start. Just feel the vibe, and if we do it that way, I feel like we all could appreciate classical music a little more. I love it. Absolutely. While we're talking about it, and I know that we're kind of making it sound like it's just so easy and I mean it is really kind of like the juvenile way to go about it. So I know how we were just talking about how it's so easy to go about listening to classical music and telling the story and it's a little bit juvenile. Um, but I think it's a good place to start. But how about like when we are with somebody who's actually in the classical music world who like are professional. Um, what are they called? Classical music listeners? They're CMLs. I'm sorry. CML. They're CMLs. Is this a new thing? You're T Ming. I am CM l tm. That's okay. But you know, like there are people who are like in the realm of classical music. Yeah. So how do we relate to them? How do we connect with them without just, you know, being like, oh, I see whales in the sky. Hmm. That's a, so you, basically what you're saying is you wanna fake it to look smartly. Is that what you're trying to do? Actually, we gotta fake it till we make it. Let's go. Woo. Okay. So this sort of depends 'cause if you're hanging out with a bunch of like pretentious a-holes, which is basically what you tried to say okay. A little bit. Yeah. You're screwed. You better just keep your mouth shut. That's what I would say. No. 'cause there's like, there has to be certain like buzz words or words that I can help a little, that can help make you feel a little sophisticated. But we're only sorta of Let's do that. That's fine. I need enough to sort of, you know, seem like I know what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you do me a favor though? Would you mind turning down the air conditioning a little bit? I'm getting a little religionist in here, do you mind? Well played. Okay. It actually is quite nice today, but continue. Is it okay? I, I feel like this is a pattern in this new studio that we're in. I, I think I just need to get you like your own personal little fan. It's a little swampy. Can we point the fan in very specific areas? Okay. Yes, you can. Can we move on? Alright. Here we go. Some jargon. Yes. Yes. Okay. Some classical music jargon. Yeah. How about this? I'll give you a word and then I'll give you the normal human way of saying it so you don't look like a try hard. Does that make sense? Like, I'll give you the sophisticated way and then I'll give you the normal human way. Okay. Okay, let's go. The first one is called Counterpoint. That's when two or more melodies happen at the same time, but like on top of each other. So you would say something super pretentious or super sophisticated. Like the counterpoint here is so layered, but since we're only sort of sophisticated, try something like the way the instruments layer over each other is really interesting. That way you look smart and you don't look like a try hard. Okay. Okay. Got it. Yeah, makes sense. Okay. The next one is called a crescendo or dynamic development. Think of a crescendo, like a buildup, right? Duh. We should have used crescendo as our word of the day. When the sound starts soft and slowly gets louder and louder until it's all big and dramatic and dynamic development just means the music changes in volume throughout the piece. So it's like up or down, it just doesn't stay at one level the whole time. Okay? So the sophisticated, pretentious asshole way would be this piece has the ultimate crescendo. But me in the more sort of sophisticated way of not looking like a douche would be. I love how this builds up kind of slowly. You can like really feel the tension rising. Is this helping, like at all? Are you getting this? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. I got a few more then. Okay, so the next one's called, I'm taking notes. Come down, come down. Oh, wow. Let's go. The next one is called call and response or instrumental dialogue. This is when one instrument or a group of instruments plays a musical idea. And then the other one answers it. So sort of like a conversation between two people. It's super common in classical music. Well, actually all music really, but it's not always super obvious, but when you hear it, you'll start noticing it everywhere. Kinda like, you know, you bought a red tesla, now all of a sudden everyone has a red Tesla. You get the idea. So if you want to sound super sophisticated here, you would say, I love the column response happening between the strings and the woodwinds here. You remember the main character and the comedians, right? Yes, yes. But since we're only going for sort of sophisticated, we would say. It kind of feels like the instruments are talking to each other in this part. I like it. Okay. All right. Um, two more. The next one is something called cinematic. Seems pretty self-explanatory. It's when the music feels like it should be in a movie. Right? Duh. Kind of reminds you of a soundtrack. Uh, it's not a technical term, but it's a good word to use when the music gives you a strong vibe. So if you wanna sound sophisticated, you would say there's something really cinematic about the way this part of the score is unfolding. But that that's something bougie, I would say. Right? We don't wanna say it. So if you're only going for like something you're looking for, it would be this totally sounds like it could be in a movie scene. Super visual. Alright. Alright. The last one finally. It's called ous. You're so full of it. Just kidding. It's not. No. I'm so funny. You already got it in one. I don't know why you gotta try again. No, Peter. No. Okay. Anyway, so this last one's called Tension and release. This is when the music builds up. Like this is when the music builds up suspense or tension, and then lets it go like releases. Okay? It's a way to make the music feel more satisfying. What is happening? Hold it together. Think of it like a movie where everything gets super quiet, then all of a sudden, boom, like resolution. Okay. It's the way that they keep you engaged. So if you wanna sound sophisticated, you might say. This piece has a really strong tension and release arc. But if we're staying true to the whole sort of sophisticated thing, then you would say you can almost feel it building up and then letting go. It's like super satisfying. All right. I don't know if any of that helped you feel. Like you could be more sophisticated, but I feel like I gave you four or five different things to use to make you keep up with pretentious a-holes. Okay. Okay. Well I feel like that that was actually pretty legit, so thank you. You went hard and fast That was actually really legit and you had like some solid tips right there. I, you're unbelievable. Oh my God. Oh my God, Wow. Okay. And back on track. Okay, fine. Okay. That was actually totally legit and much more put together than I was expecting. And I feel like I can probably keep up with some of my friends now who professionally play like the bass and the cello. Um, it's all about that bass. About that bass. About that bass. Yes. Yes. So here is in hope of me being able. To potentially sound educated enough, cultured enough to keep a conversation going. But what if I actually want to know what I'm listening to? Like how do I tell if it's like from the romantic period or the capital C classical period, or like the weird modern stuff or baric? That is a good question. A manita. Yeah. Each period has its own style. And once you learn how to listen for it, it's actually kind of easy. Do you wanna actually listen to each one? Like, do you want me to, okay. You know how you usually gimme a quiz? Do you wanna, do you want me to just like play it and I can explain it to you? Sure. It's not gonna be a quiz. Let's go. I'll just explain it to you. Yep. Yep. Alright, so let's start with Baroque. Okay? Okay. This is the box stuff. We'll also handle in Vivaldi, like we said earlier. So 16 hundreds, 1750. This was the really fancy and intense stuff, but like, in a good way. Okay? Every instrument's doing something different, but it's all fits together. Not one melody that carries this, okay? It's about overlapping. So I'm gonna play something called Brandenburg Concerto number three by Bach, and you'll see what I mean, okay? Okay. Alright, so hang tight here. Do you see how it's fast with like a ton of detail? Yeah. Right. Like this is a good way to hear Baroque music. It's like pick one section, like the violins or something and just follow them for a bit and then sort of zoom out, and then listen for the next one. That's sort of how you listen to it. Makes sense. Okay. It makes sense. Yeah. Okay. That's fine. So that's like specifically for Baroque music? That's specifically Baroque. Okay. Overlapping instruments. There was a lot going on there. All right. Now let's do the actual classical period, right? Capital C Mozart, mid 17 hundreds, uh, early 18 hundreds. You'll notice. I mean, it's gonna be like more simpler. More balanced instead of five things happening at once. Like in Baroque, it's gonna be like one, like way more organized. Okay. We're gonna listen to Aina Kina N Music by Mozart. Okay? Okay. All right. We ready? Okay. Do you see how super polished, super symmetrical. Remember we were talking about storytelling before? Yes. And I said classical with a capital C is like the most, the storytelling one of all of them. Yeah. Right. Super. Awesome. That one's like, totally my favorite. Um, all right, next you have the romantic period. This was the late 18 hundreds. Okay. A little Beethoven, uh, Chopin. And Tchaikovsky. Uh, everything's gonna sound bigger here and louder and way more dramatic. Okay. Are you ready? Yes. All right. We're gonna listen to something called the finale of Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. It's like a freaking movie soundtrack. Here we go. Okay. Right. Making sense. Super theatrical. Totally. Awesome. Really loud. You getting you picking up what I'm putting down here? Yeah. I mean they're all very distinctly different. Yes. This is making sense, right? Yeah, absolutely. You can start to tell the difference between the periods. Okay. I love this. Almost done. Then you have the modern period, 1,919 70. This is when shit starts to break apart. Stravinsky goes nuts and starts pushing all these boundaries that nobody thought could be pushed. And I'm mourning you for this one. The rhythm's gonna get a little weird. It's not all clean and pretty. It's like pretty random. Okay. We're gonna listen to something called the right of Spring by Stravinsky. Okay? Okay. Do you see how this one sort of is like. Sort of frustrating, I mean, it's a little boring. It's little start slow, right? Start slower. But it sort of demands your attention nonetheless, right? Right. You have to listen hard to like figure out what's going on, pay attention. Right. So that's, that's modern, okay. It's one's a little bit messier. I mean, there's always, like with modern anything, I feel like I'm not always. You know, the most on board? Not, not for everybody, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay. But like, that's kinda like the musical version of modern art, right? That's true. I go to Modern Art Museum. I'm not like, super into everything. So anyway, you get the concept. I guess maybe we just don't have an appreciation as much for modern stuff as the classics. Maybe that's it. Should I do the last one, or no? Are you bored or can we, let's, should we do one more? The last one? Yeah. Should I do contemporary? Let's do it. Okay, fine. Okay. So contemporary is like in our lifetime stuff 1975 through today. They add spoken word, in this case no orchestra to start. So like shit might get crazy here, the one I'm picking. Okay. Okay. So don't freak out. Okay. We're gonna listen to Almond from Partita for Eight Voices by Caroline Shaw. You ready? Okay. I don't know if I'm ready, but here we go. To the side. To the side. To the side. And around. Through the middle. To the side. To the side. To the side. And around. Through the middle. To the side. To the side. To the side. To the side. And around the side And around and around and around. Then around. To the side, right? Like no music, like no orchestra, this is all vocals. Totally different than Mozart. Okay. But I still totally love it. Right? Once you hear the patterns, each era has its own personality, totally cool. Yeah. Uh, no, I don't, I don't know if I love it. I mean, I see, oh, you didn't like it? No. I see how they're all like. Just a little different. Yeah. Um, but no, I don't, that is not, my favorite at all. Okay. But that wasn't the goal of this. The goal of this was to make us feel more sophisticated that we could figure out all five periods, correct? Yes. Did we do it? Yes. And we did. We did. We did do this. Okay, good. That's for sure. Good, good. Good, good, good. Okay. So do you have anything else or are we just going to go to fun facts? All right, Fun facts. let's go classical music. Fun facts. 'Cause we've had enough of this whole, trying to get sophisticated. I'm locked. I'm ready. Number one, did you know that listening to classical music actually lights up your brain like a workout? Okay, so neuroscientists have found that classical music activates multiple parts of the brain at once. Emotion, memory, even motor function. It's especially powerful because of its structure. Your brain has to track patterns, predict what's coming next, and responds to unexpected changes, which builds focus and cognitive flexibility over time. That's probably why you like the classical period. Mozart, right? Yeah. Because you have to predict what's coming next. Interesting. So when, when people are into modern or contemporary, they can't predict it. So that's probably some left brain, right brain shit, right? I wonder if it has That's true. True. I wonder. I wonder, okay. More pattern versus random. Yes, for sure. Okay. Number two, Tchaikovsky once conducted. An entire frigging orchestra with one hand because his other hand was holding his chin. How do you like that? Because I think he had too many chins Just kidding. So I guess he had this irrational fear, okay, I'm not making this up, that his head might fall off while conducting. So he literally used to hold it in place with one hand. It sounds like a joke, but it's totally dead serious. Look it up. Okay. Couldn't believe that one. I thought that was a, I thought that was a fun, fun fact. Okay, number three. How about this one? The composer, Johannes. Brahms reportedly slept with a dagger under his pillow. Like, not for drama or anything, but because he had deep anxiety and irrational fears. Dude, romantic era composers did not come to play. Seriously. Tchaikovsky like freaking thinking his head's gonna fall off. Brahms with the fricking knife under his pillow. What the hell? I mean, beautiful minds, Peter, beautiful minds. Okay. I guess you're right. Uh, number four. So when Stravinsky's, the Rite of Spring, the one we just listened to, literally premiered in 1913. It was so unmusical and rhythmically jarring to the audience in Paris that people rioted. Okay. People threw things, Amanda fights broke out. They almost couldn't continue. The performance police were called in, and I quote, several people were arrested. And here we are a hundred years later and it's iconic masterpiece, and I'm playing it on our sort of sophisticated podcast, ghost Stravinsky. All right, Number five. Frederic Chopin hated big public concerts and did not typically play for large crowds. He preferred small gatherings in big mansion homes, usually in front of like aristocrats and artists and all his close friends. Through his whole career, he only gave 30 public concerts. 30, that's it. He was quoted saying concerts are never real music. You have to give up the idea of hearing in them all the most beautiful things of art. So, yeah. Not a concert guy, huh? Random. Yeah, that was not for him. Okay. Number six. Beethoven used to dunk his head in cold water before composing a ritual he believed helped him stay focused and mentally sharp. Some biographers think it was his way of shocking his senses wake, kind of like today's cold plunges or ice baths. And it wasn't just a quirk. This man was going deaf, battling illness and still composing some of the most complex music in history. So yeah, some raw genius shit for sure. There, man, there must've been something behind it. Absolutely right. Dunking your head in cold water. Let's go. And finally, Mozart. It wasn't just a musical genius, he was also kind of a troll. Okay, check this one out. One of his lesser known works is a six part vocal cannon titled Mick I'm a, which, yes, literally translates to lick me in the ass. Oh my God. Yes. And that's not a mistranslation or a joke. It was real sheep music written for real singers. Turns out Mozart had a famously juvenile sense of humor. Like you, yeah, thank you very much. But also deeply unserious in the best way possible. Right. My idol, y'all would've got on along. Okay, so well, all right, so we got some cold plunges, some butt jokes and musical brain workouts. And honestly, I did not have any of those on. I like the butt jokes. Bingo card, right? Yeah. Well I didn't even know we were playing bingo. You're playing bingo over here. I was just trying to keep, always play bingo. I'm the one doing all damn research. You're playing bingo. Whatever, you know, just anticipation of what you're gonna say. Okay. But before I lose you and your headphones and your classical playlist, like turns on, I already have it on. Why? You Go ahead. I already have it playing in the background right now. Ahead. Give us some key takeaways, like, what do I actually need to remember from all of this? If I want to sound halfway cultured, All right, here we go. For those of you who didn't like this episode, um, all I can say is we can't help you. We did our best. What can we say? You're just not into classical music. Please try harder. Okay? But for those of you who did, here's a few things you could do to dig a little deeper. First. You could start your own curated playlist of classical music and start jamming while you're making dinner. Look for intro into classical music or classical essentials on Spotify, apple Music, YouTube. I don't care. They're great for getting a feel for like each period without getting overwhelmed. Um, second, maybe take a risk. Go watch a live performance. Search up concerts by major orchestra, Berlin, Phil Harmonic, la Phil Harmonic, New York, Phil Harmonic. Any or better, right? Just go to your local symphony near you, right? I go all the time. It's excellent. Don't worry. You don't have to like wear a tuxedo or dress up really good. Um, or you could just check out classical podcasts, try sticky notes or classical breakdown or NPRs performance today., They're like really short, sort of smart takes on specific pieces or specific composers if you want to get into that stuff. That's more for like. The really sophisticated, but nonetheless, I try one of them. Then just remember these key takeaways to sound sort of sophisticated. So first, classical music isn't just Mozart. We learned that now it covers 500 plus years from the Baroque period to music still being written today. Second, each era has a vibe. Baroque fancy layers. Classical, clean and balanced. Romantic, emotional and dramatic. Modern, edgy and experimental and contemporary. Weird but cool. Third, you don't need to get it. If there's anything to take away from this, you don't need to get it. Just chill out and feel it. Listen for patterns, mood shifts. Which instruments are talking, Think soundtrack without the movie. Fourth, just remember these phrases and you're golden. Ooh, that's very cinematic. There's a real tension and release feel here. People. I love how layered this counterpoint is and finally memorize these three names and they're fun. Fact for each. Bach built a foundation for all of Western music, like a 17 hundreds remix. King Mozart child prodigy and chaos Gremlin, who once wrote a song called Lick Me in the Ass. Beethoven composed masterpieces long after going deaf and started each session with a cold plunge. Well, and there you have it, a not so stuffy dive into the world of classical music From Mozart's elegance to Stravinsky's chaos. Classical music isn't some relic, it's a living, breathing soundtrack to human emotion. And if we did our job today, hopefully you're walking away a little more curious. A little more confident and maybe ready to throw around words like counterpoint and a crescendo at your next dinner party. Whether you're listening to a symphony on vinyl streaming, something cinematic while you work, or just recognizing that symphony means something's about to go down. The big takeaway is this, classical music isn't for the experts. It's for anyone willing to listen. As always, if you like this episode, subscribe, leave a review and share it with that one friend who swears they hate old music, but cries during movie scores. Until next time, stay curious. Stay classical and remember the fancy stuff's not that far out of reach.
