Friday, February 24, 2012

Music history drinking game (with diet coke, of course)

I haven't written anything in a bit because I'm actually working on a super long post on a legendary weapons guide for the game Final Fantasy X that I still haven't finished (although it's published as the post after this if anybody is interested to see how it's going). Hey, I'm a nerd. Posts like that happen.

ANYWAY, after agonizing over a music history assignment last night, I decided to come up with a drinking game for music history. Obviously I'm not that  far into the semester yet, so this may be a cumulative list that builds over time. Here is what I have so far.

Take a sip if:
  • You find a written record about one composer criticizing another composer 
    • Three sips if they do it with a petty, childish remark about how bad their music is, instead of actually making an intelligent argument against the music theory and style
    • Four sips if there is some form of debate that ensues
  • You read about a composer dying before the age of forty
  • You find a quirky, unexplainable key change in the music that "doesn't make theoretical sense"
  • You find a piece where you kind of feel sorry for the viola part
    • Six sips if the viola part is difficult
  • If the lyrics to a piece you're looking at basically say the same thing over and over
  • You read about a composer who really sounds like he was an ass in real life.
    • Two sips if they're antisemitic.
      • Three sips if they're Wagner. 
  • If the composer is a woman
    • Two sips if it's Clara Schumann
    • Three sips for Fanny Mendelssohn
    • Four sips for Hildegard von Bingen
    • Five sips for anybody else
  • An opera you're listening to involves some sort of song about dying 
  • If you see a piano piece with a posthumously added nickname/title
    • Two sips if it's not a Chopin piece
  • If you see a piano piece with a cadenza
    • Two sips if it's not a Liszt piece
  •  You read the score of a 20th century piece that has really cool and edgy music theory behind it
    • Five sips if it actually sounds good when you listen to it
  • You hear a piece by Mozart and chuckle softly because you think there are "too many notes"
    • Finish the bottle if you proceed to wonder what a Salieri piece sounds like

    4 comments:

    1. Bahah! Hmm... what can I add to this...

      What about a composer being a brilliant musician/composer but a complete jerk in real life?

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      Replies
      1. that would be most of them....

        also, this is AMAZING. i approve sosososososo much. <3.

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      2. Absolutely! I also considered making one about antisemitic composers, but I couldn't think of anybody other than Wagner. Maybe I'll make that a "corollary " drink.

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      3. Thanks, Kelley! :) Glad this game has your approval ;)

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