Thursday, January 13, 2011
Alex's late blog of the week
Over the past couple of years music has been "redefined" by rising artists. But this new music is sometimes just a poem being read in front of a repetitive rhythm of bass and melodic moves. The last time the classics of piano that were recognized by radio stations like Z104, which seems to be what the "average" high school student listens to, was Buble's "Haven't met you yet". No longer do we have the symphonic gestures of men like Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, and Gershwin. Actually, I bet most students don't recgonize the signifigance that these names have in the genre of classic music. Most people belive classic music is the Beatles, or Elvis, but what about the names as recent as Gershwin or going back to Mozart's time. Can we define "rap" as a type of music? It has no genius, no design to it, the beats and melodies have all been used, just shifted in ways to make it sound different from the last hit song. The best that we have at the moment is Bruno Mars, and even that can't compare to the utter brilliance of the composers of our past. I don't want to tell our future generations that the best piece of music to come out during my high school years is "Pretty boy swag". So can we count these abomonations as music? Or just cool grooves that are easy to dance to?
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While I enjoy a Tchaikovsky melody anytime, I'm going to have to further ask you on this post. Do you mean just rap in general like eminem, or other artists...?(Not really into rap so don't know many artists) Or do you mean the dance tunes such as Katy Perry and Kesha?
ReplyDeleteAnyways...to answer you question, I think it depends. A lot of rap is formed quite brilliantly in my opinion, and while the music doesn't appeal to my ears, I have to acknowledge the fact that words were put together to form a different type of poetry. Then there's the other type of rap, that seems to have been quickly scribbled and in a scary fashion got into the top ten. Odd how that happens nowadays. Then if you were refering to tunes like Perry or Kesha, I think that while their lyrics are a bit clever and interestingly put, they are still just fun songs to dance to. Is it music? yes. Is it good and a classical music? NO.
I think the problem today is that a lot of people just don't know what sophisticated music is. People just aren't aware of classical music anymore. I hate to say it, but one could say that classical music is dead. I'm not a huge rap fan, but there are some hip hop artists that I really like. Some rappers make their own beats; some rappers have really interesting lyrics. A lot of the popular stuff that I hear on the radio is crap in my opinion. I hate that stuff. "fly like a g6" and stuff like that. "this is my swag" I get nothing out of that. Some people really like it though. I have to listen to all of those new rap tunes in gym class, and all of the kids are singing along like it's great. I don't understand how so many people can like it. It has no complex structure; very little dynamic changes, and sometimes meaningless lyrics. I think that people just like rap music because they can dance to the beat. How can our generation not realize that the beats used are all very similar. All the tunes that I've heard have been in 4/4 time. No complexity at all. Rap is part of America's history now though, so we can't just simply escape it. I think people will begin to look a little deeper into music when they get older. I hope so at least.
ReplyDeleteSome people are just ignorant when it comes to classical music. Those composers you listed are great. I'm not a huge fan of Mozart though; however he composed some important pieces. You mentioned Bruno Mars being the best we have right now. I don't really like that guy. I don't think that he's the best we have at the time. People just aren't being educated on what music is. People, like kids in society, notice that an artist writes a hit song that sells, so people consider that artist to be great. Why though? Do people know what makes classical music classical? Do people know what really makes jazz music jazz? People are starting to think that Michael Buble writes sophisticated jazz music. He's just a pop singer with a pretty voice. That's what people like these days. Most of the kids that I've talked to like the beat and the voice. I love when I talk with kids about this. I really enjoy listening to Joanna Newsom. She plays the harp, the piano, and she sings at the same time. Her voice is unusual but beautiful in a strange way. The people that I've talked to find her voice to be "annoying" and " too weird." Joanna is a songwriter that writes music for people to simply enjoy. She doesn't aim for the charts, and she doesn't aim at getting a celebrity to use as propaganda for her new album. She writes 6,7,8,9,10,11,12, and even 16 minute songs. Her music is free and just simply enjoyable. She doesn't rely on her fans. Her fans rely on her, because her music constantly changes. The listener never knows what to expect. That's what so enjoyable about it. The problem with pop stars is that their listens already have expectations for an upcoming hit that was similar to the previous single hit. Pop stars are too concerned with their status, so they rarely change their musical direction. A lot of rap artists don't really change. That's the problem. One always has to ask: What are popular rap artists doing for the progression of music?
I have more. My comment was just too long....
ReplyDeleteClassical music is dying. New contemporary works which are important and should be played to the public are being left for only academic purposes. I hate it when people respond to the question, "what music do you like" in this way: "I like everything." Do you think that many kids in our school have heard of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, John Adams (the composer), Xenakis, Ligeti, or George Crumb? It seems that modern sophisticated music is being ignored. Especially on the radio. Take NPR for example. NPR constantly plays baroque and classical music. It's stuff we've all heard. Where is the modern music? It's important stuff, and it shouldn't be ignored.
I do agree that classical music is very significant to music of today, and I do enjoy listening to it from time to time. However, I don't think that this is to say that popular music of today has no merit. While I don't listen to much rap, I do believe that there is plenty of rap out there that has "genius" and "design." While I have to agree that many of the songs that are on z104 seem quite meaningless, it doesn't mean that it's all bad.
ReplyDeleteI'm more in to indie artists, stuff that doesn't ever get played on the radio. I like singers with unique voices who have unique style. It's sad that most people our age have no idea of the great stuff that's out there.But I still enjoy Katy Perry or Lady Gaga from time to time. Even though people may not appreciate classical music as much anymore, we have to realize it's a progression of the times. There will be new classics. Hopefully it won't be what plays on z104 that will be playing on oldies stations 50 years from now. It's hard to imagine a bunch of 70 year olds listening to what we listen to now. Hopefully the more unknown artists will get their day in the sun. I hate to say it, but a lot of artists become famous years after their lifetime. Music evolves, and I think everyone can eventually learn to appreciate all genres of music from many generations, if only they were exposed to it.
I think we have to take some music at face value. Sure some of the artists and the genre you are referencing, may not take the musical genius that is required to right a classical symphony, but some of it takes talent. Yeah a lot of what is on Z104 today isn't talent so much as technology altering artists' voices, but my music doesn't have to be your music. For every talented artist out there I'm sure there are at least two not-so-talented artists floating around. Most people have diverse music taste. I agree with Ivannia; just because it isn't your music, doesn't mean it isn't somebody elses. What hits the charts does say something about our generation, but with the technology we have; there is so much more music out there that people are still listening to.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Leif that "sophisticated" music isn't necessarily being appreciated today, which certainly says something about our generation. But I also have to admit that I love a good Kesha song as much as the next idiot, which is just outright embarrassing. I can turn on Kesha in my car and scream its meaningless lyrics; however, it doesn't even feel like music. I've been listening to a lot of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake lately because it feels like music to me. I can sit with my eyes closed and passionately feel his music it's unlike any song played on the radio today.
ReplyDeleteI agree with alot of what Sarah was saying. I think each type of music has it's own time period, and that we are constantly evolving from it. Our music today isn't the classical music and it never will be, but I agree with Leif and Rachel on this one too that it's just not appreciated. I think even if classical music was shown to teenagers very few would ever listen to it again. It's just not what we grew up with, thats not to say I dont love classical music I just think it would be very hard to bring back for our generation to actually listen to.
ReplyDeleteI "kinda sorta" agree with what you're saying. One thing that I am glad about though is the fact that these rap/hip hop songs are getting fancier and more intriguing, with the use of strings (violins sound badass in any rap song) and actual melodies (even though they may be auto-tuned). This is just a personal preference, but it gives me a little hope for the music on popular radio stations.
ReplyDeleteThough, I would like to point out to my fellow Compquistadors that while we all may prefer specific genres over others, we can't go on saying that one particular genre is the best; it's a matter of taste. So, it's useless to compare rap music or pop or country or folk or jazz or whatever genre one prefers. Also, we shouldn't say that just because a song is on the radio that it is garbage. There were/are many fine masterpieces in today's world of music. Sure, an artist may not be trying to get on the radio, but that doesn't necessarily mean that their tunes are all of a sudden amazing.
However, I believe we can all agree on the fact that it is the CONTENT of the songs that make them universally accepted as being "sophisticated." Awesome melodies or lyrics or vocals or production, etc. can make any song worthy of being great, no matter what the genre is. What I can't stand are these songs that represent absolutely nothing except the rather laughable fads of our current teenage culture, like "Pretty Boy Swag" or whatever it's called. Perhaps teens these days just want to dance (aka grind every breathing thing in the room), and wishful thinking that this can change is hopeless. If so, then let's just all listen to our favorite band/artist on our iPods.
Yes, I may have just been slightly hypocritical by criticizing songs that "lack depth" because many may exist in genres I do not care for. But honestly, who can genuinely say that "Pretty Boy Swag" has anything exceptional going for it? It has a beat, yes, but this is only touching the surface of what music is capable of doing.
I guess this response is more of a reminder that we should all be open-minded when it comes to music. Yes, I enjoy many popular hits of today, but I don't enjoy the multiple references to drugs, sex, swag (whatever the hell it is, I still don't know) that exist in today's airwaves--this I know many of us agree with.
(P.S. This is an opinion as well, not a truth; I'm not trying to sound big and mighty, haha)
First of all, if you're looking for works of genius in the hip-hop genre, you certainly aren't going to find them on the radio. I believe there is such a thing as brilliant rap though; there are guys (and girls) out there that understand the art form of rap music. Again the problem is that you're looking for it in the absolute wrong place. You need to listen to albums like Resurrection, Illmatic, Reasonable Doubt, 7 Day Theory, Be, and Ready to Die to appreciate the culture and Discourse of rap music.
ReplyDeleteIt also seems like you're hoping for some sort of mainstreaming of classical music. I'm sorry to disappoint but that's never going to happen, as nice as it would be. My suggestion for your plight is to search for more underground music and maybe broaden your view of musical brilliance beyond just classical music.