Members AluminumNeck Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 does anyone else suspect that there is a common theme or trend behind the most sucessful music of the last few centurys ? Is it composition ? During the height of the "Classical Era" there had to be a much larger following for more folk like music " Not folk by todays standards" but more of a music for the common man ? I often find trends in popular music rythms,melodies, sounds scapes While not everything is a carbon copy I do honestly belive that there is something intangbly similar in all popular music regardless of the Genre any thoughts on this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bassfart~ Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 I dunno. What I do know is that it must NOT be the screaming lead guitar...being that this phenomenon almost entirely disappeared from popular music for about 15 years and the music scene just kept on truckin' along... If you want to watch a guitard cry, remind him of this regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hi.flyer Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 I think a unifying element in Western pop music of basically, {censored}, I guess the whole 20th century (up to today) is the near-omnipresence of the rockin' backbeat groove. It's pretty much ubiquitous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phaeton Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Yes there are some definite "formulas" for writing catchy pop tunes. Whether they're good, bad or popular depends on a lot of factors, but following the 'recipes' will often greatly improve the chances. Some elements adapt to current trends (i.e., whatever genre is popular, i.e. hair metal, grunge, disco, funk, etc) but some of the more inner features are universal. Unfortunately, I'm just now 'discovering' these things myself, so I can't really expound upon them very well. But there are lots of books and tutorials and stuff on this very subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnyswonger Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Pop music is about connection. There are lot of different ways to connect with people - tell a tale they can relate to, play an infectious beat, sing a well written melody beautifully, or something anthemic that people want to sing along with, or come up with a clever and amusing phrase.... ...or hire a badass independent promoter whose compensation is based on chart position... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members y-o-y Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 These people certainly seem to think so http://www.uplaya.com/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nAmzrTakin Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Certainly not {censored}in talent. I'm listening to coldplay right now and all of a sudden I'm seeing Al-Qaeda's point of view. DEATH TO COLDPLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AluminumNeck Posted January 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 I was just throwing this out there. I agree on the pop music but even the non pop music has some underlying themes that seem to be almost primal in nature. Maybe your description of the "backbeat" is what tie all of these together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zebra Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 I'm not sure if I can think of any common musical trends that have lasted through centuries, but I can think of one thing that might be important to the discussion: A lot of seminal musicians/bands reached their height of popularity postmortem or post-breaking up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 The bop era was all about improvization so I'm not sure if there is a basic thing that ties them all together....except the popularity itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Buddy Holly created the pop formula , the Beatles copied it and it's still followed today by most pop bands with little variation . What is it , Verse Chorus Verse tag . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaveAronow Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 While not everything is a carbon copy I do honestly belive that there is something intangbly similar in all popular music regardless of the Genre any thoughts on this ? Yes. They are known in the busines *insert Dr Evil air quotes here* "as hooks" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T. Alan Smith Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Up until a couple centuries ago, there was either folk music or music written for the church or heads of state. Today, and for the last century, music has been primarily about formulas to generate the most revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Buddy Holly created the pop formula , the Beatles copied it and it's still followed today by most pop bands with little variation . What is it , Verse Chorus Verse tag . Jazz always had melody improv melody tag. The big bands did that, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stranglehold Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Popular music is popular music because it appeals to humans and there inborn instinctual musicality. You can read all about it in the first (and other) chapters of this book:http://http://howmusicreallyworks.com/Pages_Introduction/Introduction.html. Great book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Jazz always had melody improv melody tag. The big bands did that, too. you forgot noodle , noodle noodle , screech , 9/8 , 11/4 , 7/4 verse . j/k/j/k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 20, 2009 CMS Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Of course there's a commonality and underlying theme to all music. Gettin' some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hi.flyer Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Up until a couple centuries ago, there was either folk music or music written for the church or heads of state. Today, and for the last century, music has been primarily about formulas to generate the most revenue. Yea but what's weird about that is, I mean, from the time of the Beatles (or hell, probably even earlier than that), people have been using that commercial pop form to also make art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members collinwho Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Take 1 part catchy hook, 2 parts attractive (meaning marketable) band memebers, lather, rinse, repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sugarskull Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 I think it's all about throwing yourself at your projects head first. The music doesn't have to be all that great, you don't have to be all that great. If you put it out there with all your soul, every sense of your being, it comes back to you. (Sorry if it sounds like I'm getting all flighty on you guys.) You hear of composers who would dislocate a shoulder and accidentally tear parts of their clothing off while conducting their orchestras. Screaming their heads off at the trombone players (or whatever) breaking pianos almost in half trying to smash out some notes. Flip ahead to today and you'll see the same thing. You can produce music to amuse or to make a political statement like the bards of old, you can make music to stimulate the mind and soul like the church orchestral composers, you can be a pretty boy pop star like Franz or Mozart. Doesn't matter. To go head first is the key. Put some soul into and you will find success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T. Alan Smith Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 I think it's all about throwing yourself at your projects head first. The music doesn't have to be all that great, you don't have to be all that great. If you put it out there with all your soul, every sense of your being, it comes back to you. (Sorry if it sounds like I'm getting all flighty on you guys.)You hear of composers who would dislocate a shoulder and accidentally tear parts of their clothing off while conducting their orchestras. Screaming their heads off at the trombone players (or whatever) breaking pianos almost in half trying to smash out some notes. Flip ahead to today and you'll see the same thing. You can produce music to amuse or to make a political statement like the bards of old, you can make music to stimulate the mind and soul like the church orchestral composers, you can be a pretty boy pop star like Franz or Mozart. Doesn't matter. To go head first is the key. Put some soul into and you will find success. ...AND DO IT FOR GEORGE ZIP! [...marches out...] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sugarskull Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Excuse me doc. I've got a plane to land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brake Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Buddy Holly created the pop formula , the Beatles copied it and it's still followed today by most pop bands with little variation . What is it , Verse Chorus Verse tag . I don't know if I would attribute it to one person that invented this magical formula that everybody decided to steal. IMO Popular music is a cumulative thing...you couldn't have had A band without B singer who wouldn't be around if it weren't for C singer who was also a really big influence on A singer who paved the way for D who influenced singer B to go electric... see where this is going? Something doesn't really ever come from nothing and 9 times out of 10, the 'something' in question was ripped off of some old black dudes that had been doing it for years Just sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goofball Jones Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Kindness wrote an elegant post about how Rock and Pop are basically mature musical forms now...which is one reason why everything is kind of "blah" now, as we've heard it all before. Back in the 50's and 60's it was all new and WOW and the 70's came along and turned it on it's head a bit...then it kind of cycled back on itself with Punk and the whole "back to basics" kind of thing. Now all anyone can really do is just recycle what others have already done in regards to Pop and rock&roll really. Ask yourself, has there really REALLY been anything new in the past 20 years or so that hasn't been done before? Go ahead, name a band or artist....anyone....and guaranteed someone has come before them that was basically the same. Not saying it's necessarily better back then, just saying the same paths have been tread before. I mean, look at Country music. That's even more mature than Rock, and look how bland and lifeless it's become. I turn on a country station or listen to the playlist of my in-laws and I swear I can't tell one artist from another. The only thing I can distinguish is that a female is singing or a male is, otherwise they sound a lot alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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