The song that requires the greatest musical interpretation ?

[stewart38]

Ok im no expert to this and probably couldn't recognise the subtle variations within some records re the beat/Tempo etc but me thinks

The Pink Panther theme song !! and Hey Big Spender !!! have to be top contenders :sick:

[Andy McGregor]

You haven't got to be great at musical interpretation to find something interesting in The Pink Panther or Big Spender. It's all there, out in the open, for anybody to hear. It requires far more musical interpretation to find something interesting in Slow by Kylie or Call on Me or even Dance the Night Away.

[Dreadful Scathe]

You haven't got to be great at musical interpretation to find something interesting in The Pink Panther or Big Spender. It's all there, out in the open, for anybody to hear. It requires far more musical interpretation to find something interesting in Slow by Kylie or Call on Me or even Dance the Night Away.
I agree. Theres not much subtleness about the Pink Panther Tune :) Thinking it through in my head, I imagine most people would dance to it in a very similar way :)

[Blueshoes]

Temptation (Dianna Krall) has multiple themes running through it. Lots of breaks and different ways to interpret the music. Superb to dance to.

[Gav]

You haven't got to be great at musical interpretation to find something interesting in The Pink Panther or Big Spender. It's all there, out in the open, for anybody to hear. It requires far more musical interpretation to find something interesting in Slow by Kylie or Call on Me or even Dance the Night Away.

Really? :really:

Now I have no musical background at all and have only just started experimenting with musicality, so forgive me if my terminology/instrument recognition is a bit off.

Listening to Mancinis Pink Panther theme, I hear:
bass
triangle?
trumpets (solo and grouped)
drums
flutes
something smooth in the background (no idea what?)

All of these instruments are rising and falling, fading in and out and doing other stuff that I have no words for.

I would think that given the amount of different things to dance to, each breaking and swelling in it's own independant time, if you put it on a room full of musically aware dancers, I'd be very surprised if they all did the same thing.

Put it on in a room full of less aware dancers and they'd probably all do the same thing (but that's probably true of any song! :devil: )

[stewart38]

I agree. Theres not much subtleness about the Pink Panther Tune :) Thinking it through in my head, I imagine most people would dance to it in a very similar way :)

Everyone dances to it in a totally different way and hears it totally differently wish makes it a top contender in my humble little book

saw this at Camber

[ducasi]

Really every song has its own challenges, and none *require* more musical interpretation than any other.

Faster songs require quicker wits. Slower songs require bolder statements.

Simpler songs require greater attention to the subtleties. More complex songs require greater attention to the structure.

[Sparkles]

You should ask Amir - his take on this is very interesting...
... he says that he finds the greatest musical interpretation possibilities in the most simplistic songs/tunes/tracks - because it's what *isn't there* that means you can put in your own interpretations.
He can undoubtedly explain that much better than I just tried to :blush:

[Andy McGregor]

Really? :really:

Now I have no musical background at all and have only just started experimenting with musicality, so forgive me if my terminology/instrument recognition is a bit off.

Listening to Mancinis Pink Panther theme, I hear:
bass
triangle?
trumpets (solo and grouped)
drums
flutes
something smooth in the background (no idea what?)

All of these instruments are rising and falling, fading in and out and doing other stuff that I have no words for.

I would think that given the amount of different things to dance to, each breaking and swelling in it's own independant time, if you put it on a room full of musically aware dancers, I'd be very surprised if they all did the same thing.

Put it on in a room full of less aware dancers and they'd probably all do the same thing (but that's probably true of any song! :devil: )Gav has confirmed what I said. There's loads to play with in the Pink Panther - and it's all easy to find.

As Sparkles says. IMHO, it's finding the parts to interperet in uncomplicated music that is the real challenge.

[CJ]

Some good stuff...

:yeah: :yeah: That's my boy!!!:rofl: (sorry, I can't rep you...)

FWIW, I would think El tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge challenges most dancers.

Funnily enough, I've heard there's a musicality workshop on 3rd Dec which is going to tackle exactly this subject!!:whistle: :whistle:

[Dreadful Scathe]

I agree. Theres not much subtleness about the Pink Panther Tune :) Thinking it through in my head, I imagine most people would dance to it in a very similar way :)

I really didnt state that very well at all. Yes Pink Panther is not subtle, the instruments are striking and different as Gav says but there is a very strong path for those that do not listen to respond to, which caused me to think that for your average "cerocer" certain parts of the music will lend themselves to certain moves e.g. a dip. I suggest people that go to weekenders are better at listening :)

er...if anyone knows what im talking about - please let me know :)

[Gav]

I really didnt state that very well at all. Yes Pink Panther is not subtle, the instruments are striking and different as Gav says but there is a very strong path for those that do not listen to respond to, which caused me to think that for your average "cerocer" certain parts of the music will lend themselves to certain moves e.g. a dip. I suggest people that go to weekenders are better at listening :)

er...if anyone knows what im talking about - please let me know :)

think i know what u mean.

for those with the "skills", you could do something very interesting, otherwise it's too easy to follow the obvious signals like everyone else would.

oh and fwiw, there are plenty of people that would just dance straight through it without even following the "cricket bat round the head" signals. Up until recently, I would have been one of them!

[stewart38]

You should ask Amir - his take on this is very interesting...
... he says that he finds the greatest musical interpretation possibilities in the most simplistic songs/tunes/tracks - because it's what *isn't there* that means you can put in your own interpretations.
He can undoubtedly explain that much better than I just tried to :blush:

He dances the same to anything ??

runs to the corner :whistle:

[Ghost]

Silence

[Beowulf]

El Tango de Roxanne ??

[tiger]

Many of the tunes that are usually described as thud thud by the elite forumites have masses of room for interpretation if you listen between the thud thud.:wink:

[straycat]

Requires the greatest interpretation? Hard to say...
Off the to of me head, some songs which encourage fantastic amount of interpretation include...

Sweat (Popa Chubby)
Angoisse (Serge Gainsburgh)
Heart Attack and Vine (Tom Waits, ideally not the SJH version)
Cecom (from the Crossing the Bridge soundtrack) - actually, this one does require musical interpretation, as it has no beat.

[littlewiggle]

Temptation (Dianna Krall) has multiple themes running through it. Lots of breaks and different ways to interpret the music. Superb to dance to.

I agree with Blueshoes - it's just gorgeous - lots of scope to play!

[Daydreaming Diva]

You haven't got to be great at musical interpretation to find something interesting in The Pink Panther or Big Spender. It's all there, out in the open, for anybody to hear. It requires far more musical interpretation to find something interesting in Slow by Kylie or Call on Me or even Dance the Night Away.

Now I have to agree with you Andy. For one thing the thread says 'the SONG that requires the greatest' etc. So Pink Panther doesn't count surely. Are there words to the Pink Panther?

I would say that the hardest track to dance to would be one where the beat is totally regular and predictable with no breaks. Add to that words that are meaningless and undecipherable (we ladies tend to take more notice of words than you guys, so I am told). A clever composer will make the music reflect the words; this makes it easy to interpret, a unrewarding song to dance to would be one where the music does not tally with the sentiments in the words, and these rarely become popular unless they have a really catchy tune.

A well composed song is not only easy to interpret from a dance point of view, but would also be easier to perform from a musicians point of view. That is why certain songs get covered successfully more often than others.

So I guess it is much easier to answer the question the other way around - i.e. which tracks (songs) do you find easy and rewarding to dance to because they allow so much scope for a variety of interpretation. These songs show up a good dancing partnership from a less good one. I think it isn't necessarily about how good a dancer each individual is, but more about whether the dancers naturally feel music in the same way. (Not too much the same for the experience to be predictable and boring though).

[straycat]

I agree with Blueshoes - it's just gorgeous - lots of scope to play!

Also her version of Peel me a Grape. Sooooo much fun...

[David Franklin]

I would say that the hardest track to dance to would be one where the beat is totally regular and predictable with no breaks. I'm not sure that's relevant to the question, though. Creating a good dance when dancing to a metronome might require musical creativity, but I don't see much interpretation being required.

I think tracks that challenge us are ones where we can hear there's all this 'stuff' to be interpreted, but we don't (yet) know how to do so with our dancing. (Of course, different people will hear different things, but if all the subtleties are going over my head, so that all I hear is a 'bang-bang' 4/4 beat, I'm not going to find it challenging). Simply put, it's the tracks we feel we never really do justice to.

Personally, "All That Jazz" is a track that comes to mind. The accents are very easy to spot, but I find it very hard to do justice to them when dancing. Other people clearly differ, I know lots of people love this track, but I usually leave it feeling dissatisfied.

[Yogi_Bear]

Temptation (Dianna Krall) has multiple themes running through it. Lots of breaks and different ways to interpret the music. Superb to dance to.

Indeed - and definitely one of my favourites! - but the more boring, tedioius and repetitive the song the greater the challenge to make anything of it by way of musical interptretation. Temptation would be easy. I don't want to think about any of the difficult ones, it would get too depressing!

[Andreas]

El Tango de Roxanne ??

I couldn't say which song I find most challenging but I have to say that the possibilities in El Tango are almost endless. :cheers:

As for Pink Panther, it is certainly one of the songs that inspire me most to play around a lot rather than actually 'dance' with my respective partner at the time. So yes, it stimulates different sort of creativity.

Big Spender, the challenge lies in not to get fed up with the incredibly huge amount of accents in the music. I don't like to dance to it particularly because if you really want to focus on each of those accents there won't be any room for fluidity in the dance. Though, it is a great piece of music.

A song that I love dancing to and that challenges me or my patience, to be more precise, is "La Vida Es Un Carnaval." It has a couple of breaks in it but keeps fooling your anticipation. :D

[Yogi_Bear]

Personally, "All That Jazz" is a track that comes to mind. The accents are very easy to spot, but I find it very hard to do justice to them when dancing. Other people clearly differ, I know lots of people love this track, but I usually leave it feeling dissatisfied.

yes, I would agree with you on that one. It's definitely a challenge - so many different speeds, and somehow more so because you know there's some great Bob Fosse choreography to that number in the show to live up to!

[Blueshoes]

Also her (Diana Krall's) version of Peel me a Grape. Sooooo much fun...

I love listening to Diana Krall but I can't take that song seriously.

"I'm hungry, peel me a grape."????

It would make more sense to say:

"I'm hungry, make me a bacon sandwich with some brown sauce and a large mug of tea on the side."

I'm sure that's what the writer meant but it wouldn't scan or something.

[Andy McGregor]

Personally, "All That Jazz" is a track that comes to mind. The accents are very easy to spot, but I find it very hard to do justice to them when dancing. Other people clearly differ, I know lots of people love this track, but I usually leave it feeling dissatisfied.I love this track. I played it and danced to it about two and half hours ago :waycool: Of course it does need to be the Ute Lempur version otherwise you risk a huge talky bit in the middle were the best thing to do would be order a drink at the bar.

This is always a difficult track to do justice to because there is so, so much in there to use. I play this track at least once a month if not more and I'm still finding places I didn't know were there. And I'm pleased to say my hard work with this track has paid off - Nina Daines tells me I am absolutely her favourite person to dance with to All That Jazz :clap:

On the subject of musicality, I have had a bit of an epiphany recently. I've been looking for, and finding, musical accents in less likely tracks, mostly pop tracks. Some of them require you to pretend that they're there. They are there but they're a sort of Zen presence that's there without being played or sung - it seems like it's all in your head, but others are in the zone with you so they must be able to hear/feel it too :confused:

[Frankie_4711]

{snip} Sweat (Popa Chubby) {snip}

Oooh YES. Definitely lots of scope in this one - just listening to it now ... :drool:


{snip} Personally, "All That Jazz" is a track that comes to mind. The accents are very easy to spot, but I find it very hard to do justice to them when dancing. {snip}

All That Jazz immediately jumped into my head when I read the thread title. Can be quite challenging, mostly because as a follower I'm more (but obviously not entirely) reliant of the lead's musicality and interpretation. I will try to 'guide' them and add my own if they appear to not be hearing the music at all. If they are 'able' to do something with it themselves, I tend to use what they offer as two interpretations can sometimes conflict and turn the whole thing into a bit of a mess, whereas something like Sweat works better with both partners doing their own thing (so to speak).

[Gav]

On the subject of musicality, I have had a bit of an epiphany recently. I've been looking for, and finding, musical accents in less likely tracks, mostly pop tracks. Some of them require you to pretend that they're there. They are there but they're a sort of Zen presence that's there without being played or sung - it seems like it's all in your head, but others are in the zone with you so they must be able to hear/feel it too :confused:

Sheeesh! I'm finding it tough enough picking out things that are there, never mind things that aren't! :sick:

or is it just a cunning excuse for messing it up? "I'm dancing to Zen presence of the music!" :na: :D

[Sparkles]

I love listening to Diana Krall but I can't take that song seriously.

"I'm hungry, peel me a grape."????

It would make more sense to say:

"I'm hungry, make me a bacon sandwich with some brown sauce and a large mug of tea on the side."

:rofl:
Someone has totally missed the point of this song, me thinks :rolleyes: :flower:

[straycat]

:rofl:
Someone has totally missed the point of this song, me thinks :rolleyes: :flower:

:yeah:
You beat me to it... though Blueshoes' version was probably a classic male interpretation of it. :devil:

[Lynn]

I think tracks that challenge us are ones where we can hear there's all this 'stuff' to be interpreted, but we don't (yet) know how to do so with our dancing. Agree, and I love being challenged this way. Even if I'm not sure what to do, I learn from trying!

What I find personally most challenging is how much MI to put in - it very much depends on my partner. So even if I hear a challenging track I might limit myself to what I do. With a less experienced lead, I don't want him to be left feeling inadequate because he doesn't know what to do, but I do want to challenge him a little to hear the music in a different way. With a very experienced lead I feel they are probably used to dancing with very creative follows so I'm a bit less comfortable with just experimenting. With leads who experiment a lot as well, that's when I'm most likely to get creative.

[TheTramp]

Ummmm....

All of them? :rolleyes:

[Andy McGregor]

Sheeesh! I'm finding it tough enough picking out things that are there, never mind things that aren't! :sick:

or is it just a cunning excuse for messing it up? "I'm dancing to Zen presence of the music!" :na: :D It's the sound of one hand clapping. There's still a hand, but it makes no noise. It's in the voices that you can hear whispering to you in the music ...

.. can't you hear them? They're talking to me now.

[Chef]

Songs that I love for musical interpretation are

All that Jazz (Ute Lemperer and a breathy version by Jessica Molaskey)
Sweat by Popa Chubby
Friday 13th by the Royal Crown Revue
From Russia with Love by Count Basie
Fever by Gwyneth Herbert
Better the Devil you know by Kylie (big band version with Mr Garcia)
Santa Maria by Gotan Project

And so, many more. When I first started to be aware of musical interpretation as an aspect of dancing I was more than happy to just to able to hit breaks. Now I look for more and more elements within any piece of music for potential for interpretation. As you get some skills sorted out within your dancing to the point where they do not constantly occupy your brain it frees up mental capacity to be aware of other elements with a piece of music. The hardest music that I have had to dance to and interpret has been those tracks where I cannot YET hear all the nuances within it.

It was, and still is, very frustrating when I watch some dancers and can see that they are feeling/hearing aspects of music and interpreting them in real time in a way that eludes me when I am actually on the dance floor and have lots of other stuff going through my head at the time. Standing at the side of the dance floor and watching someone interpret music within their dance is one whole bunch easier than actually being on the dance floor trying to do it while leading someone else and avoiding the other dancers.

A little while ago, when my dancing was feeling unbearably stale, someone said something that made me feel that things weren’t so bad after all. After finishing dancing to All That Jazz another dancer came up to us and asked where we had learnt the routine that we had danced. The thing was that it hadn’t been a routine, it had been led freestyle. If occasionally we can make a freestyle look like a routine then perhaps things are progressing.

Progress, however slow is still progress.

[Gav]

It's the sound of one hand clapping. There's still a hand, but it makes no noise. It's in the voices that you can hear whispering to you in the music ...

.. can't you hear them? They're talking to me now.

The pretty coloured lights tells me to ignore the voices. :whistle:

This, for me, is the exciting thing about having only just got to the point where I can relax and listen to the music. Not that I'm suddenly a great dancer, but I suddenly have so many possibilities open to me and so many opportunities to improve that I couldn't even consider before! :clap:

[Blueshoes]

Personally, "All That Jazz" is a track that comes to mind.

This is the first song that came to mind when I saw the thread title but I didn't mention it because it isn't very subtle. I've recently done two dance demos to "All that Jazz" and love dancing to it. The music speeds up so you can put all your slow moves in at the begining and the faster ones later on and there are so many breaks and recurring breaks it's a dream to think up ways of doing it justice.

The version I did the demos to is from the Chicago soundtrack with the talking at the front removed leaving 4 1/2 minutes of great music to play around with.

[Gav]

Boing! :D

I'm not sure it would count as one that's hard to interpret because it's a bit obvious and the signals are a bit of a slap in the face, however, I heard this track recently and I'd love to dance to it to practice musicality. Just got to convince the local DJ's now.

You + Me = Love by Undisputed Truth.

Have a listen if you can, it's a really funky soul track with crescendos and breaks leaking out of every orifice.

All that aside, it's got that really funky, bouncy beat that makes you want to get up and dance every time. Well, it gets me like that anyway :blush:

[Yogi_Bear]

I've heard heard this a lot recently - Secret by Maroon 5 - just crying out for great musical interpretation every time...

[Lory]

I've heard heard this a lot recently - Secret by Maroon 5 -

Where are you hearing it a lot? It's still a nice track but was released over 3 years ago, in Jan 04 ;)

[Tiggerbabe]

I think it was 2002 that "Songs About Jane" was released. Secret is lovely, lovely track, but not one I play on a normal class night.

[Lory]

I think it was 2002
.

I stand corrected :flower: its even older than I thought :really:

[Yogi_Bear]

Where are you hearing it a lot? It's still a nice track but was released over 3 years ago, in Jan 04 ;)
Ah, I should have been more specific - I keep watching two of Jordan and Tatiana's (WCS) video clips to that song, I'm addicted to watching them :wink: