This week’s pieces take us into a new style of music. Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train” has us traveling very close by, through Harlem, in the 30s. The lively, fast-paced feeling of the song creates a melodic dancing ambiance. The piece has repeated notes in AABA form with a quick rhythm. Additionally, this song is mainly in consonance, as a contrast with the music from last week, which engaged the audience through its dissonance. The instruments to some degree incarnate the sounds of the train as described in the title. According to certain sources, the diminuendo at the end of the song symbolizes the rolling away of the train, while the brass instruments represent the train’s horns. The narrative of the train is developed through these many musical means.

Louis Armstrong’s beautiful composition, “Potato Head Blues”, is characterized by a stop-start rhythm, which is not found in “Take the A Train”, which has a continuous sound, without empty spaces. There is a very spontaneous feeling to this piece as it also has an enjoyable swing style, and a long solo. It is in a 4 meter just as Duke Ellington’s piece is and it’s short-long rhythm create a very vibrant ambiance.