Week 4

Hey All !!! Some Notes for this week:

Some different listening examples this week - be disciplined with actually taking the time to listen to them - even if they are foreign to you !
Keep a look out for Activity #1 , Forum : Week 4 , and Activity #2 !! (I'm switching the activity color to match the assignment color on webstudy. Nice huh?)
We will pick up where we left off finishing our discussion about instrumentation
We will begin our discussion about what each of those instruments is doing in a given song, starting with 'Melody'

Instrumentation by Genre

Lets go back to our definition for Genre :

A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions.

The important part of this definition is that genres identify songs belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions

In other words, this is a list of characteristics - or a loose set of rules - a song must adhere to in order to be considered part of that genre

Just to name a few These rules could be things like (but not limited to) -

INSTRUMENTATION!
- Example:
  - Country = Vocals+guitar+bass+drums+piano+fiddle+banjo
Subject Matter (What the song is about...)
- Example:
  - Rap = Real life stories of young people, often urban setting, in poem form
  - Country = Driving down by the river in my truck under the moonlight with a girl wearing jeans
Persona/Look of the Artist or Band
- Example :
  - Young person, dressed in popular fashion, flashy jewlery ETC.
  - Country = Cowboy hat / boot , jeans
Musical Characteristics
- Rap = there is always a strong rhythmic feel outlined by the rapped lyrics and usually a very enhanced drum groove

****** Important******
You may look at this list and my examples and say to yourself " Well that just a stereotype of that genre , I listen to country / hip hop and it doesn't sound look like that "

YES - THESE ARE STEREOTYPES!!!

Stereotype = a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

We really have an "oversimplified image or idea" of a "genres shared traditions or set of conventions" !

In effect , these rules are really just stereotypes , but like all stereotypes they are very ingrained in our head ! It's not as if when a song comes on, you have to really go through a check list in your head and say to yourself " so since it has this + this + this it is country music" , you just know right away by listening to it what type of music it is. It is instinctive to the point of being second nature.

The styles we are best at doing this with ? The ones with which we are most familiar : Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, and Country

Activity #1 : What Are Your Stereotypes ?

For each of the popular music genres, go through and tell me 10 things that fall on your list of what a song must have to be considered part of that particular genre. What characteristics would your stereotypical country song have ? These should be large things from the categories above (instrumentation/artist persona/subject matter) , but also any little characteristics, such as a southern accent in country music.

Genres :
1. Rock
2. Pop
3. Hip Hop
4. Country

Here are the four genres for which you will come up with stereotypes. I have put links for the billboard top charts in each genre respectively - you should listen to the top songs in each genre and see what they all have in common ? These shared characteristics are actually a 'shared set of conventions' that will make up your stereotype.

****One wrinkle to this is that we may all have our own personal checklist that is different from the common stereotype - that's ok ! Include those in your list *****

Non - Popular Music Genres

*******Non Popular = We wouldn't hear it on the radio, on commercials etc. ********

Being familiar with the characteristics: be it Subject matter we are used to hearing about in songs, an artist we are used to seeing or at least a style of artist we are used to seeing, and instruments we hear all the time - makes this a somewhat easy activity - what if we change all those characteristics ? can we still categorize and decide on stereotypical characteristics ? Listen below and for each, try to think of what is the genre and why.

** Some are long - try to listen to at least 5 mins of each **

The genres above are (out of order) : Polka, 12-tone Row Atonal, Polka, Opera, Orchestral, Salsa, Afro-Cuban, and Salsa
Because we haven't developed a stereotype for these genres, its hard to place them !
If I asked you what genre was each, it would be hard to place, because for the genres here, we don't know what the 'list of characteristics' would be !
You may even have disliked listening to these or found it hard to listen to all five minutes - If so , That's because it is so foreign to your ear.... you haven't had a chance to get used to it (ie develop a stereotype of what it should be ....)

***THERE ARE A LOT OF GENRES...... (EVEN THOUGH WE MAY ONLY HEAR A FEW ON THE RADIO....)*

Take a Look at this list of musical genres of WIki
You'll see some on their you know, and MANY you don't !

After that, check out this REALLY cool website, called Everynoise

Every Noise compiled what they think is a pretty comprehensive list of musical genres.
Click here for a list of all 3000 (this is by no means a Complete list!)
So , the list starts with POP , and has a mini spotify playlst of POP music . You can click on any of the genres, and a playlist will pop up with songs in that genre . Click around on a few of these.
Notice when you click on one, it's Subgenres pop up - So there's not just rap, but then we see a SLEW of mini genres within that large genre of rap , ranging from : czech hip hop, australian underground hip hop, k-hop, country rap zim hip hop .... just to name a few

Discussion: Week 4

See Canvas Week 4 Forum for Entry

The Goal of this discussion is to listen to a couple obscure genres that you would not have otherwise listened to.
You will pick a couple genres (see instructions below) and listen to some of the examples given on the spotify list. after listening, try to come up with a stereotype / list of musical characteristics that genre has.
** Some of these will be in common with the larger genre (I.E. Grunge Rock would share some characteristics with Rock) But try to key in on the defining characteristics that really distinguish it from the larger category. Maybe grunge rock is specifically aimed at young people while Rock is not age specific (not true, just an idea) .

Instructions

Choosing Genres:
- Your first genre should be a sub-genre of your favorite kind of music. Choose one within your favorite category that you didn't know existed, or may not have thought existed . (to see the sub genres , click on your favorite genre within the list, like the rap example in the pictures above)
- Your Second Genre can be anything you like! Again, Try to find one that is extra obscure or didn't know existed
Include in your forum:
- IN your forum, you will list : (1) The Genre, (2) 3 of the songs you listened to within that genre to develop that answer, and (3) a list of 5 defining characteristics within that genre( try to Note whether or not those characteristics were in common with its larger category, or totally unique) , And lastly (4) give an opinion on where or not think this is a legitimate genre - does it deserve its own catagory ? is it unique enough? **remember to try to key into the specific elements that make that genre unique).

Example

1. Genre : Meloncholia

2. Songs :
'Lullaby' - Low
'Goddess on a HiWay' - Mercury Rev
'Katy Song' - Red House Painters

3. Characteristics

Rock instrumentation - Guitar, Bass, Piano, Drums, Vocals
Although I would say it is rock style, all of the song would be labeled as 'easy rock' or 'prog rock' - nothing is really loud and in your face or heavy
Songs are all very Slow-moving speed, lethargic and wallowing, gives me a floaty feeling, sort of the opposite of upbeat and inspiring
The songs lyrics all have a sad tone - the words and stories are mostly depressing - they really make me think of teen angst.
All the Artist/Bands I looked up for the songs i listened to had a younger band (in their 20's) all of whom might be labeled 'punk' at a first glance . this type of music could be aimed at a similar audience.
All of the songs have a unique characteristic where they vocals have an effect on them where they are quiet and have an effect that makes them almost have an echo effect

4. From what I can tell, this is a legitimate subgenre to Rock. It might be more descriptively named " Melancholy Rock " as I don't hear any songs that might go outside of the rock category - but the songs all have a unique sad subject matter in common, as well as musical characteristics that I hear in all of them.

**** Remember this is just a snapshot of the genre from a few different song examples. This may not be an accurate description of the genre as a whole*******

Melody : Introduction

OK - So We have been talking about what instruments make up a song - the physical list of the make up of a given piece of music. Now we will get into what each if their roles are - Thinking about WHY those particular instruments are there. What are they doing ? Why that instrument and not a different one ?

Activity #2 : Intro to Melody

Below is a documentary done by Howard Goodall introducing Melody
Your second Assignment is to keep track of Vocabulary words he uses, and give a definition for them. You can give me either his definition , or look up the definition after , however, the work MUST be in the documentary
You will be graded on how many terms you get, The goal being an 15 terms to get an A
Use the spot on the Assignment Template