Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Movement of genre
Music Genre has a way of moving in several different was. For this blog I’m going to ask you to imagine some graphs in your head. The first graph is an onion ( you heard me) now picture the onion peeling off into different layer after layer. This concept is what I would use to describe the way rock moves. Rock by generations eventually peeled off to become alternative by the 21st century. However, music during this time become so diverse that eventual other peel of the onion came off to form indie.
Another way to describe the movement is i a circular movement. This movements contains the idea the music is fades away and reemerges as time goes by. Hip-Hop is an example, with its constant changing of the in style for hip hop as well as the resurgence of old styles that get thrown into the circular pool.
Then there is the branch method. I would like to consider this the giant family tree where all the genres hangout. Through time music has breached off not only as sub genres but into entire genres of there own. For example, American music formed from both folk and bluegrass. Country would eventually erupt from that as well as blues. Blues then had a couple of kids called jazz and rock and roll. The family tree branches on and on from there.
Then There is the Pop Circle. Now imagine you have a circle that doesn't care what the musical style is as long as it is at a certain bpm, the chords are simple, and its the current thing for consumers to follow. If you do not follow those instructions then you are simply not i the pop circle.
Art Vs. Pop Vs. Folk
Early days of classifying music is different than todays standards. The days before the internet (yeah there was a time with no internet, there were more board games) only experienced a handful of genres. these genre could be classified into three distinct subjects.
Folk: Songs and pieces that have been passed down in cultural through the centuries. Often basic, these songs would tell stories.
Art: These were classed as complexed music. Complexed music meaning the music they may have involved reading skills and advanced knowledge of music and instrumentation to play. This could also go along the lines of the complexity of the composition of the piece.
Pop: Music that is popular to the time era and to the majority of the population.
The problem with these class types is the vagueness in which they operate. Musical styles can be seen as a combination of Art, Folk, and Pop. So if you would imagine in your head a triangle for all three of these categories, now imagine the song “Hallelujah”. This song has a folk background in the sense that there is a story being told and it has been passed down by several art its from different generations. It falls the Art scheme due to the complexity of the piece, and it can be found on the movie Shrek (I think of Scottish ogres every time I hear that song). So this method of classifying genre does not work. What it does do however is show the effectiveness of the piece to last the test of time. If you think about, If you have a song that is past down from generation to generation, still holds weight in the general public, and is still seen as an artistic piece with viable complexed components, then you have a song that I will still be blasting in my hover car when I’m 80.
Bri-Guy 2072: “OH BABY YOU, YOU GOT WHAT I NEEEEEEED……..”
Classifying Sub Genre
Sub Genre Are a lesser category of the Main category for a genre. Sub Genre help us find a more specific versions of the music we are into. For example, Hip-Hop has a plentiful amount of genres mostly based on the style and region in which the music is coming from. An example of sub genres for hip-hip would be east coast, west cost, trap, and dirty south. These are just a few in that category. Sub genres can branch out to even more distinct styles of the overall genre. Its kind alike splitting atoms except at the center of the nucleus there is a hipster in a coffee shop telling you how he was listening to west coast based indie folk before it was cool (I liked blind pilot before they stopped using bikes to tour).
So, when is there a time when sub genres become there own respected Genre on its own? Good question Bri-Guy, but stop thinking out loud I’m trying to write my blog entry. There are a few things that actor into a sub genre becoming its own genre. A big factor is the size of fan base of a genre. For example, Grunge exploded in the early 90’s and because of its very large fan base for a unique sound it broke off from rock and became its own style. Often times, when a genre becomes mainstream and sometimes monotonous genres will break off and and form to keep the lineage fresh. The 2000’s saw that with the appearance of Alternative music from Rock with bands ranging in style from the in your face Rise Against to the folksy style of the Shins. Music Genre is an interpretation of our own minds, its less black and white and more of a huge color pallet making a awesome big picture made up of tinier awesome pictures.
Example of Originals and Song Covers In Different Genres
Hip-hop to Acoustic
Such Great Heights Electronic Indie- Indie Folk
The Artistic Interpretation of Cover
I know what your thinking. “Bri-Guy there is nothing interesting about covers, the musician just tries to accurately depict the style and exact phrasing of a song to the chord progression and then they are good to go.” Oh assumed audience (or just Regina at this point) you couldn't be more wrong. Good covers are actually best when they are a simple adaptation of the song itself. This is why at live shows we get so excited when we hear a cover we love in the style we are not accustomed to. The simple mix and change of the song style makes us feel like we are listening to the song for the first time. What does it sound like when punk songs are swung? What happens when you take a jazz song and make it totally metal? These questions pinup a unique door for songwriters.
Think of a song’s lyrics and chord progression as a pasta noodle. Now this pasta noodle shape would be considered the songs feelings (sad, happy, introverted, mean) like penne, or spaghetti or angel hair pasta. The pasta can be used in several different dishes and with different tastes. In this case, the ingredients in which the pasta is served with is considered the genre. Just look up how many times the song “Hallelujah” has been covered. All of them with there own style and feel but of the same noodle (yes, I am still talking about pasta.) Bands have been covering songs for centuries, look at, for example, Cake’s over of the Motown throwback “I will survive”. This isn't just for throw backs. Acoustic versions of hip hop songs have been widely excepted. Covers are not just a way to make a quick buck at a bar for musicians or for karaoke night. With artistic vision they can be used to make the covering artist’s cover their own song.
The Problem with Over Used Lyrical Content
The problem with over used lyrical content
Over the years, we have come familiar with all genres having there certain niches in which we have come to enjoy. Instrumentation, style in mix and voice, and other factors are what help us class genre and help classify are mental library. However, there is one aspect of music that at least in popular tracks, genres have fallen into a slump of monotony. In this case I am talking about lyrical content. Quick, when I say the word COUNTRY, Think of the lyrical content you here the most. In my opinion it comes down to:
1.drinking domestic beer or patron
2. Jesus (maybe not in that order)
3. My Pick-up truck
4. The love of My Life
5. Losing the love of my life
6. Getting into a fight with the love of my life, leaving to drive down the highway because for the last time, hearing that song on the radio that reminds me of said lover, then ultimately turning the car around and returning to her.
7. America
8. Girls in Blue Jeans
9. How awesome the South is
Am I saying that all country has bases there lyrical content off of these? No, but these are the most overused of the bunch and kinda the blueprint of popular country music lyrics, or at least these are the ones my ex would get the most pissed at when I pointed it out in the car while listening to country. Would I say that country is the only genre that has monotonous lyrical content? Hip-Hop unfortunately has the same faults, although deep on the other side of the musical spectrum. Music is meant to be a free form art and expression, but it is hard to take seriously what your expressing when it lyrical content follows a formula.
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