Yummy Notes ♫

Last weekend while I was in Toronto for a New Year’s celebration, I saw The Phantom of the Opera live for the first time…and I think I have fallen in love a bit. Now back in Ann Arbor, at every moment that I can, I slip on my headphones and succumb to the Phantom’s music of the night. Then, I fiddle with the cord to make sure that my portals to his world are plugged in wholly, so no dramatic organ scale can escape onto South University’s public scene.

The songs are addicting and have moments within them (certain sounds, chords, and melodies) that can pluck my heartstrings no matter how many times I listen to it. The Phantom of the Opera is famously beautiful, but in no way is this feeling unique to me. There are a rare handful of songs that also contain these “yummy notes,” as I call them – those sounds that “make” a song worthwhile to you, that more than satisfy you, that keep you coming back for more. In fact, without this “yummy” piece, these songs would be incomplete.

Let me show you, in detail, a few of my favorite “yummy notes” and see if you can see what I mean. Pay attention to the exact minute count that I reference. Sometimes a yummy note may be a whole verse; other times, it may be just a note. This may be complete manic obsession; but I’d like to think that I’m noticing elements of songs that were purposefully placed to create these scrumptious emotions. Close your eyes and notice the times where your skin shivers, or perhaps when you feel comforted as if by a warm fleece sweater, or if your stomach tickles and laughs, like when you’ve just ingested the most delicious ice cream in the world. Fall in love with the sound and feeling of beauty.

Phantom of the Opera – “The Point of No Return” – mostly just the first verse, but especially the slide into minute 1:30. 

Adele – “Rolling in the Deep” – The chord at the repeat of the chorus at 2:18 is just amazing. This is the only time that this specific chord occurs in the song and for some reason, when I hear this one note, something shifts in my heart that is indescribable. 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – “The Nutcracker: Pas de Deux” – This song is – dare I say it – probably one of the sexiest I’ve ever heard. It will make you swoon, it will make you sweat, it will make you sway. I’m a lover of cellos myself, so probably the honey-golden swell at 0:55, or the build-up from 2:33-3:00, is my choice of yumminess, but … really, anywhere in this piece, you can’t go wrong. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWwb4yvPQ5s

Charlotte Church – “Carrickfergus” – the flute at 0:09-0:13

Nina Simone – “Sinnerman” – 1:30-1:40

Zoe Keating – “Optimist” – the slide at 1:38 and 1:57

Paul McCartney – “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime” – 1:55 – (if not for this part, I’d never listen to this song. So there!)

Antonin Dvorak – “New World Symphony, 1st Movement” – 9:11-9:19 (This is the only part of the piece when the trumpets are playing something completely different than everyone else, and their shininess sounds an alarm of regal Americanism. Hark! We’ve arrived at the good part! they call). 

Frederick Rousseau – “La Fille de Pekin” – Also probably one of the most beautiful pieces you will ever hear. One of the first French New Age pieces with ethnic instruments and electronics. Perfection and yumminess, every step of the journey. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPvCxetpvtQ

So, you see? Yumminess can occur at the beginning, the end, or perhaps throughout the whole piece. It is present in opera, in classic jazz, in orchestral, and Christmas music.

What makes something yummy?

Whether it is a cookie, a smell, or a sound, it’s about the way it makes you feel on the inside. What it makes you think of. What it makes you remember, or will remember in the future.

We all have our unique patterns of yumminess and flavor preferences. Be aware of the yumminess around you, and cherish their simple delights.