Pet peeve: "song" vs. "piece"

[xocd]

(Old man yelling at cloud.) It annoys the heck out of me when people, who should know better, use the word "song" to refer to what should be called "piece". If there are no words, and there were never any words, it not a "song".

What are your pet peeves?

 

[Rosie C]

I use "piece" for classical music. I mostly play folk and use "tune", but never song if there are no words.

However, there is Mendelsohn's "Lieder ohne Worte" !

 

[colinm]

If you play it, it,s a tune, if you sing it it,s a song

 

[Tom]

I’m your worst nightmare. I call everything a song. But t every song has a tune….

 

[OuijaBoard]

Don't forget, choice "C" i.e., "tune." In Irish/Scottish/Quebecois, if it's instrumental dance-form trad, it's neither a "piece" nor a "song," it's a "tune." This usually applies in the pre-bluegrass oldtime music too.

 

[Zevy]

My teacher used to call it a “number”!

 

[Ventura]

"when people, who should know better"

so my peeve would be when people seem to think there is a world, even universe wide,
"way" to do or say something or to define something, that the end result of,
or understanding in practical use, makes no difference to the general
populace "getting" it

now if you want to agonize over when people call an intro a verse or a chorus
a refrain or how they should know better because didn't everyone get that
summer class on scholarship at Berkely school of music

the universe does not disperse many truths universally nor equally

..oops was that a universal truth ?

some of us get some big clue in high school about something
while another doesn't receive their enlightenment about it
until their dotage (if ever)

so what can we reasonably expect to take for granted ?

.

 

[John Doe]

my peeve would be when people seem to think there is a world, even universe wide,
"way" to do or say something

Sort of like the one and only way to properly repair a given accordion issue...?

 

[pentaprism]

>> Wondering how many accordions is 'too many'?

n+2 accordions is too many. n+1 is ideal.

n is the current number of accordions.

 

[Ventura]

Sort of like the one and only way to properly repair a given accordion issue...?

take out the word "properly" and you could be right

things which have codified, proven, and reliable guidelines in place for,
that are collectively relied upon by a skilled guild of craftsmen, in that
those materials or methods work and do no harm for future repairs
seems quite reasonable to me... you are free to continue to find them
unreasonable of course

 

[JeffJetton]

What about musical works that have lyrics that are rarely, if ever, used? Lots of TV themes fall in that category:

* Star Trek
* Bonanza
* The Andy Griffith Show

Are they "theme songs" or "theme pieces"?

Not to mention music that was originally instrumental, but had lyrics added sometimes years later, such as "Speak Softly, Love", "Stranger in Paradise", "Freddie Freeloader", etc.

Does "Sleigh Ride" (lyrics added two years after it premiered) exists in a sort of musical quantum superposition of both "piece" and "song" simultaneously, only collapsing into one or the other at the moment it's performed with singers or without?

 

[Ventura]

i remember seeing Lorne Greene on the Tonight Show and he
burst out singing "We're not afraid of no pretty little maid BONANZA"
and so forth.. Carson nearly fell out of his chair

Sleigh ride is tough.. i have to take a beat and set my mind to Breath Control
or i die trying to sing those long phrases without a stop "Pop Pop Pop"

 

[Frank Barocco]

I like the way it is in my native language (Portuguese): you call all of it just music (música). It's even countable. You could say "I'm going to play two musics for you"
If you want to make sure the listener understands that you won't sing you can specify that it's instrumental music.
I don't make promises though, if I want to sing along to instrumental music I'll sing. It suddenly became a song

I understand the desire to differentiate song vs piece, but whereas the word "song" actually conveys a meaning, "piece" is a meaningless term. Almost makes you want to say: you told me you're going to play something interesting, so play the whole thing, not just a piece of it.

 

[Walker]

When my dear North American and Canadian accordionist friends say "I'm gonna play a song now", I think to myself... well of couse you are buddy - because no matter what you play, that accordion's gonna sing!

Say it your way, and play it your way.

​

 

[Frank Barocco]

My teacher used to call it a “number”!

Number is funny (I catch myself calling tunes a "number" too sometimes)!
I'm going to do a number for you - means one thing.
I'm going to do a number on you - not quite the same?

 

[Zevy]

Number is funny (I catch myself calling tunes a "number" too sometimes)!
I'm going to do a number for you - means one thing.
I'm going to do a number on you - not quite the same?

When the saints go marching in I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in

 

[Tom]

When the saints go marching in I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in

Tide is high but I’m holding on.
I’m gonna be your number one.

 

[JKJ]

…". If there are no words, and there were never any words, it not a "song".

Birds and whales may object. From Merriam-Webster:

One accepted definition of the word “song” in English
4: a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale)

Considering just the whale “songs”: although there are complex frequencies and tonal qualities present, one could argue that whales are simply enunciating whale “words”, that the whale song comprises only communication, lacking anything that might even remotely be considered music (tune, number, piece, …)

But I think I’ll ponder on things other than the etymology and evolution of the word “song” in the English language, such as why do fire ants consider my horse pastures the perfect place to build their colonies and mounds? Headed out now to treat another one…

JKJ

 

[brna]

When André Minvielle turned Indifference into a song ...

 

[brna]

When Anna Moffo sings without words ...