this class would be more of a debate. we would cover in lesson one, for example, the classical era of music... students would then listen to selected audio clips and then we would debate about which ones we liked best, did not like, and our other thoughts and opions. Genres would include the classical era, the renaissance, the harlem renaissance, blues/jazz of 50s, 60s pop (not rock and roll), 60s rock and roll, 70s rock and roll, 70s disco, 80s hair metal, and 80s pop. lemme know if anyone is interested! a good class for all "ears"..... any suggestions to what to add/drop from the "cirriculum" would be awesome!! rock on, bobbie
i like the idea. its great for all the music lovers who spend the majority of their time listening to music (like me). the only problem i see is its too broad. people who are only interested in certain eras of music will only participate during that section and then they will drop out of the class.
thats true and i did think of that, but then only a certain amount of people would sign up if was for example just about 60s rock and roll. i figured that by covering almost everything people who were interested in learning more about different genres would stick out and then like you said those who were only interested in one certain genre would drop out and more would join as the music eras progressed.
thats a good question... for the earlier genres such as classical music, on www.music.yahoo.com you would enter for example "Beethoven" in the music search and when the search loads you can listen to a number of tracks. As for the later eras, youtube.com! and some might own the cds that the tracks are on.
How many lessons are you thinking of having? I ask because I can think of several more genres. And just for organizational purposes, you could do something like divide the entire course into basic general categories, for example classical, folk, jazz, blues, and rock. Then subdivide the categories further into the genres. Something like this: 1. classical -- divided into Baroque, Romantic, Modern 2. folk -- divided geographically. American, Celtic, South American, etc. 3. jazz -- New Orleans, the big band sound 4. blues -- Chicago, Memphis, Mississippi delta 5. rock -- southern rockabilly roots, Motown, folk-rock, British invasion, disco, metal, hip-hop. You could get deeper into it if you like ... San Francisco acid rock, the surfer sound, Philadelphia doo-wop, country rock, etc.
Thats what I though originally but I didn't know how many people would be interested in covering such a broad range of music. Many like to stick to thier "roots" and don't really like venture out. I would love it to be like what you said, I think that would be amazing.
I understand. That's why I asked about the number of lessons. Also, I took an elective course on the history of rock n' roll in college and it was a blast. Anyway, good luck with your class
jamtronica - be sure to get jam in there. like grateful dead (electonic jam, like grateful dead live improv jam) - lotus- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1syZXrL9WA4&feature=player_embedded
Just some food for thought- I once sat in on a high school music appreciation class, because my son was doing a presentation that day on the music of Marilyn Manson. He played a video and tried to lead discussion. Of course, some things never change, and most kids just sat there and tried to make themselves invisible. The kewl thing was, the teacher was brilliant, got into it, and asked this question to the class: "Is the music of Marilyn Manson basically the same as the music your great grandparents listened to, or is it radically different?" Of course, the idea that it was "basically the same" as old fashioned music seemed laughable. He then analyzed it very quickly... his talk went something like this... "Let's look at it based on all the elements of music that we've studied... the time signature, it's standard 4/4 time. Chord progression, well, yeah that's a very standard and widely used progression, nothing new there either. Instruments used- string instruments, some distortion has been added, but they're still recognizable as string instruments, drums, etc. so nothing new there. The guitar is quite obviously tuned to the normal western notes and scale, and is even played with standard tuning. The lyrics look at current conditions and biblical lessons and ethics, just like so many of the songs of a hundred years ago. So yeah, Marilyn Manson's music really isn't significantly different from the music of a century ago." Obviously there are ways to argue the opposing view, but to me that was quite a good lesson. I just thought I'd share that in case it gives you any ideas. PS- a lot of instructors publish their syllabus online... this google search should turn up something to give ideas... http://www.google.com/search?q=syllabus+"music+appreciation"+site:.edu
Very clever Even given similar time signatures and chord progressions, I actually do think that music today is significantly different, in the sense that the elements of melody and harmony are becoming subverted to the element of rhythm. Think about hip-hop songs ... you'd have to say they are recited more than they are "sung". The melody aspect has taken a distinct backseat. And if there is no melody, it's basically impossible to have harmony. Sorry ... I've hijacked this thread. Interesting discussion, though.
I'm always up to broaden my musical horizons in whatever era.. And I've gotta say I love the contributions technology has made to music with distortions, invention of the electric guitar and such.
Very astute observation, Cali! :cheers2: With good hip-hop vocals, I think the rhythmic emphasis placed on the syllables of the words is what counts. That is the interesting part for me... I like to say "Vocals are the new drums!" (I'm really not a big fan of hip hop but I think some of it still has musical value...) ZW
I am actually thinking about using the net to learn about music to broaden my musical vocabulary, in order to be able to even understand what the teacher was on about in the quote above. Before I coule even begin to discuss any form of music I would need to understand these basics (and more). Good luck with your classes anyway.
