Matthew Bellamy Music 1010 046 By Missuky BuiCervantes

Matthew Bellamy Music 1010 -046 By: Missuky Bui-Cervantes

Biography • Matthew Bellamy is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and pianist of English rock band “Muse”. • He writes most of all the songs and string arrangements.

• Matthew James Bellamy was born on June 9, 1978 in Cambridge and later moved to Devon, England where he grew up. • His father was a musician. He was in a band called “The Tornadoes”.

• He learned how to play the piano at age 6 but it wasn’t until the age of 10 or 11 that Bellamy had a desire to learn the piano. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=c 02 g. Bve. Kq 70 • He fell out of playing the piano for a while as he turned his interest to guitar.

The Early Days • The beginning of the band was formed by Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard, and Chris Wolstenholme, they were called “Rocket Baby Dolls”.

• Bellamy described them looking like “The Cure” but sounding like “Rush”. • He learned to write music and wrote hundreds of songs.

• Philip Glass, Rachmaninoff, Lizst, and Chopin were his introduction to discovering the mystery side of music. • The band changed their name to “Muse. ”

• In October 1995 a guy by the name of Dennis Smith (owner of Sawmills Recording Studio) discovered them. • Their first recording and a selftitled EP was released on the Dangerous label in 1998. • Another EP followed but in spite of their success no English label record wanted to sign Muse on due to Bellamy’s “vibrato-laden” high pitched vocal.

• The American label Maverick Records decided to take a chance on the band, giving them a number of gigs in the US and in the end signed them on. • John Leckie, the producer of Radioheads’ hit album “The Bends” produced Muse’s first album “ Showbiz”. • Their first single from the first album “Plug in Baby” hit number 11. • Their second single “New Born” was in the top 20.

Musical Influence • Bellamy is inspired by pianists from the Romanticism period. • Jimi Hendrix • Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine • Queen • Freddy Mercury

• Won “Best Live Band” at the Kerrang Awards. • They have also been featured on all three of the Twilight soundtracks. • Their third album “Absolution” topped the charts in the U. K. and France. • They recently received “Best Rock Album” for “The Resistance, ” their latest album.

Composition History • I Belong to You (+Mon Coeur S'Ouvre A Ta Voix) • Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture) • Unintended

“I Belong to You (+Mon Coeur S'Ouvre A Ta Voix)” • Written by Matthew Bellamy, recorded, produced, and performed by Muse. • French part of this song is an excerpt taken from the French opera “Samson et Delilah” by Camille Saint-Saens. • This track has a bit of classical and jazz influence. • Was recorded between 2008 -2009 in Moltrasio and Milan, Italy. • Released on September 15, 2009 in the U. S and Canada.

“Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture)” • Track number nine on Muse’s 2009 album “The Resistance. ” • Presented as a “rock” symphony. • Written by Matt Bellamy over the course of several years, recorded, produced and performed by Muse. • Was released on September 14, 2009 in the UK, and released in the United States on September 15, 2009. • Is a symphony about humanity coming to an end and scientists researching to find another planet for humans to live in.

“Unintended” • This song is on Muse’s first recorded album “Showbiz. ” • Was released on September 28, 1999 • Produced by John Leckie. • Mixed by Paul Reeve, Muse (Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard, ) and John Leckie. • They were included in Q’s “ 50 Best Albums of 2000. ” • Was Muse’s first single to hit the top 40.

Listening Guide

“I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S’Ouvre A Ta Voix)” • 0: 00 Intro: Begins with a catchy and lively piano riff, conjunct melody, quadruple/simple meter. • 0: 24 Verse 1: Sung in a melodic manner that goes nicely with the moving piano rhythm and upbeat tempo of the drums. • 0: 46 Verse 2: Similar to verse 1 except towards the end the tempo and the drums sound a bit faster than the first verse. • 1: 03 Chorus: Begins with “ah ah” each “ah” becomes forte and longer. The music is still very much like verse 1. • 1: 27 Verse 3: Bellamy sings with much emotion, “ah’s” come in preparing for the chorus while the drums do a fill. • 1: 43 Chorus: Same sound as the first chorus but near the end drums descend as well as Matt Bellamy’s vocals the piano is diminuendo then stops. • 2: 16 Bridge: Bellamy sings in French in a very delicate manner, he plays the piano line with such devotion and gracefulness, adagio tempo. The crescendo by the piano turns forte and fast in tempo. • 4: 35 Instrumental Solo: Bass Clarinet, very unique sound, low timbre, forte sound. • 4: 58 Chorus: Bass Clarinet gets softer or the drums and piano get louder, fades out. • 5: 38 Ends

“Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture)” • 0: 00 Intro: Starts with the violins in arpeggiated chords in minor key. Harmony is dissonant and grave tempo, accompanied by the rumble of the drums and brass instruments, ascending giving a dark feeling. String instruments are diminuendo and the deeper string instruments are crescendo both playing in and out. • 1: 42 Verse 1: The drums are played mezzo-grave tempo while the string instruments give it the intensity and is medium-fast in tempo. • 2: 30 Chorus: The chorus sounds very much like verse 1, in the chorus he questions everything “who are we, where are, when are we, why are we. ” The drums are still played mezzo-grave tempo but they fade out at the end of each beat that is played. The guitar joins. • 2: 59 Verse 2: Bellamy sings in a haunting manner in this verse while the backup singers sing in homorhythm. The searing of the guitar gives it that rock-n-roll sound and the drums start to pick up in tempo towards the end of this verse. • 3: 42 Chorus: In this last chorus the string instruments play as cymbals are heard and the fast rolls of the drums, then, breaks into a very quick roll of the drums and the string instruments descend as the vocals do. • 4: 18 Ends

“Unintended” • 0: 00 Intro: Begins in major key with a melodic acoustic guitar riff, medium-slow tempo and a consonance harmony. The guitar becomes lento and diminuendo. • 0: 15 Verse 1: Timbre of the guitar increases in volume but remains lento, melody is conjunct. • 0: 42 Verse 2: Sounds like verse 1 but with synthesized sounds at the end of this verse. • 1: 09 Chorus: Acoustic guitar is accompanied by a backup guitar and the sound of the drums can be heard in the background. Volume is more forte and in minor key. • 1: 37 Verse 3: Drums are more prominent in this verse presenting a harmony in major key, while the rhythm of the acoustic guitar still remains slow and steady. • 2: 04 Verse 4: Sounds similar to verse 3, however, the lyrics are particularly the same as verse 1 except, “you could be the one I’ll always love” from verse 1 is replaced with “you should be the one I’ll always love. ” • 2: 32 Chorus: This chorus is exactly the same as the first chorus but backup vocals are added. Bellamy sings more forte in this chorus along with the backup vocals. • 2: 59 Chorus add-on: Chorus add-on music is the same as the previous chorus as well as the lyrics but adds “before you” at the end of this chorus and backup vocals are singing “ooh ooh. ” • 3: 57 Ends

Bibliography • Lyrics Hall. (2011). Retrieved February 14, 2011, from Lyricshall. com: http: //www. lyricshall. com/lyrics/Muse/Exogenesis+Symphony+Part+3+Redem ption/ • Bellamy, M. (2009, August 24). An Interview With Muse's Guitar Hero, Matt Bellamy. (L. Parker, Interviewer) • Ferrin, C. E. (2002 -2011). Listen To The Music. Retrieved from Kendall Hunt Publishing Company: http: //webcom 3. grtxle. com/musicapprec/index. cfm • Kaufman, G. (2009, September 21). Muse To Provide Exclusive Remix For 'New Moon' Soundtrack. Retrieved February 14, 2011, from MTV News: http: //www. mtv. com/news/articles/1621942/muse-provide-exclusive-remix-new -moon-soundtrack. jhtml • Raymond, M. (1999 -2011). A Muse Website. Retrieved February 14, 2011, from microcuts. net: http: //microcuts. net/uk/biography/