Week 11: Popular Music

1. Conversation. Midterms will be returned to you in Week 12

• Describe a mistake or something you should not have done since being in university.
• What celebrations/festivals/events do you enjoy the most? Why?
• What's the best advice you would tell a brother/sister or friend who is now entering college?
• What's the best excuse you've heard or given for missing a class?
• How has your life changed since beginning college?
• How much note taking do you do in most of your classes?
• How often do you reread or organize your notes from a professor's lecture?
• What are some advantages in studying with sophomore/junior/senior students/friends or with older students?
• If you wanted to, when could you fit in more study time?
• What do you fear most about next semester's classes?
• What was your biggest fear before you began your freshman year of college?
• How much of the course material is covered by the professors in your classes?
• During classes, do you like working in student groups or working alone? Why?
• What are some advantages of studying alone? Disadvantages?
• What are some advantages of studying in groups? Disadvantages?
• Do you prefer to study with friends/classmates or to study alone?
• Do you have easy access to your professors outside of class?
• How often do you read ahead for your classes?
• What can/do you do if you fall behind in your classes?
• What do you plan to do during the summer vacation?
• What's your biggest motivation for your university life?
• What can you do if you don't like your roommates?
• Are the counselors at school helpful?
• What's your favorite spot on campus?
• What's your favorite way to take a 'short' break from studying at night?
• What do you miss most about your home and your hometown?
• What's your best memory? What's your worst memory?
• Are you a member of any student organization?
• What extracurricular activities are you involved in?
• If you were not attending college now, what would you be doing? Where? Why?
• What are some qualities of a good student?
• What are some qualities of a good teacher?
• How do you travel to your classes everyday?
• What advantages are there to home schooling?
• How can classes or classrooms be improved?
  • What would be the effect?
• If you became president of your university, what changes would you make? Why?
• If you became president of your university, which rule would you abolish (cancel)?
• What is the biggest difficulty in being a college student?
• Why is a college education important?
• What does a college education provide?
• How much is tuition do you pay?
• What kinds of scholarships are there for students at your school?
• What must you do to receive a college diploma?
• Where is the best place for you to study? Why?
• How many hours do you spend on homework or studying each night?
• What do you do on campus when you're not studying?
• Which class or subject is most important for your future job?
• What is your favorite class or subject? Why?
• How can a student receive a scholarship?
• How many back-to-back classes do you have?
• What is a disadvantage of back-to-back classes?
• Why are you attending college?
• After your grade point average (GPA), what is the 2nd most important thing in college?
• Do most of your professors or instructors take attendance? Why?
• How often do your professors let class out early?
• Which do you prefer more, morning or afternoon classes? Why?
• What time does your first class begin tomorrow?
• The cost of university education is becoming very expensive in many countries.
• How can we make the cost of education more affordable to the general public?

2. Reading

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/tragic-decline-music-literacy-and-quality

The Tragic Decline of Music Literacy (and Quality)

Jon Henschen | August 16, 2018

Throughout grade school and high school, I was fortunate to participate in quality music programs. Our high school had a top Illinois state jazz band; I also participated in symphonic band, which gave me a greater appreciation for classical music. It wasn’t enough to just read music. You would need to sight read, meaning you are given a difficult piece of music to play "cold", without any prior practice. Sight reading would quickly reveal how good you were. In college I continued in a jazz band and also took a music theory class. The experience gave me the ability to visualize music (If you play by ear only, you will never have that same depth of understanding music).

Both jazz and classical art forms require not only music literacy, but for the musician to be really good in technical proficiency, tonal quality, and creativity, especially in jazz. Jazz masters like John Coltrane would practice six to nine hours a day, often cutting his practice only because his lower lip would be bleeding from the friction caused by his mouth piece against his gums and teeth. His ability to compose and create new styles and directions for jazz was legendary. With few exceptions such as Wes Montgomery or Chet Baker, if you couldn’t read music, you couldn’t play jazz. In the case of classical music, if you can’t read music you can’t play in an orchestra or symphonic band. Over the last 20 years, musical foundations like reading and composing music are disappearing with the percentage of people that can read music notation proficiently down to 11 percent, according to some surveys.

Two primary sources for learning to read music are school programs and at home piano lessons. Public school music programs have been in decline since the 1980's, often with school administrations blaming budget cuts or needing to spend money on competing extracurricular programs. Prior to the 1980’s, it was common for homes to have a piano with children taking piano lessons. Even home architecture incorporated what was referred to as a “piano window” in the living room which was positioned above an upright piano to help illuminate the music. Stores dedicated to selling pianos are dwindling across the country as fewer people take up the instrument. In 1909, piano sales were at their peak when more than 364,500 were sold, but sales have plunged to between 30,000 and 40,000 annually in the US. Demand for youth sports competes with music studies, but also, fewer parents are requiring youngsters to take lessons as part of their upbringing.

Besides the decline of music literacy and participation, there has also been a decline in the quality of music which has been proven scientifically by Joan Serra, a postdoctoral scholar at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona. Joan and his colleagues looked at 500,000 pieces of music between 1955-2010, running songs through a complex set of algorithms examining three aspects of those songs:

1. Timbre- sound color, texture and tone quality

2. Pitch- harmonic content of the piece, including its chords, melody, and tonal arrangements

3. Loudness- volume variance adding richness and depth

The results of the study revealed that timbral variety went down over time, meaning songs are becoming more homogeneous. Translation: most pop music now sounds the same. Timbral quality peaked in the 60's and has since dropped steadily with less diversity of instruments and recording techniques. Today’s pop music is largely the same with a combination of keyboard, drum machine, and computer software greatly diminishing the creativity and originality. Pitch content has also decreased, with the number of chords and different melodies declining as musicians today are less adventurous in moving from one chord or note to another, instead following the paths of other musicians. Loudness was found to have increased by about one decibel every eight years. Music loudness has been manipulated by the use of compression. Compression boosts the volume of the quietest parts of the song so they match the loudest parts, reducing dynamic range. With everything now loud, it gives music a muddled sound, as everything has less punch and vibrancy due to compression.

In an interview, Billy Joel was asked what has made him a famous musician. He responded his ability to read and compose music made him unique in the music industry, which as he explained, was troubling for the industry when being musically literate makes you stand out. An astonishing amount of today’s popular music is written by two people: Lukasz Gottwald of the United States and Max Martin from Sweden, who are both responsible for dozens of songs in the top 100 charts. You can credit Max and Dr. Luke for most the hits of these stars:

Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Jessie J., KE$HA, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Taio Cruz, Ellie Goulding, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake, Nick Minaj, Celine Dion, Bon Jovi, Usher, Adam Lambert, Justin Bieber, Domino, Pink, Pitbull, One Direction, Flo Rida, Paris Hilton, The Veronicas, R. Kelly, Zebrahead

With only two people writing much of what we hear, is it any wonder music sounds the same, using the same effects?

Lyric Intelligence was also studied by Joan Serra over the last 10 years using several metrics such as “Flesch Kincaid Readability Index,” which reflects how difficult a piece of text is to understand and the quality of the writing. Results showed lyric intelligence has dropped by a full grade with lyrics getting shorter, tending to repeat the same words more often. Artists that write all of their own songs are very rare today. When artists like Taylor Swift claim they write their own music, it is partially true. She writes her own lyrics about her latest boyfriend breakup, but she cannot read music and lacks the ability to compose what she plays (Don’t attack me Taylor Swift Fans!).

Music electronics are another aspect of musical decline as the many untalented people we hear on the radio can’t live without autotune. Autotune artificially stretches or slurs sounds in order to get it closer to center pitch. Many of today’s pop musicians and rappers could not survive without autotune, which has become a sort of musical "training wheels". But unlike a five-year-old riding a bike, they never take the training wheels off to mature into a better musician. 

Today’s music is designed to sell, not inspire. Today’s artist is often more concerned with producing something familiar to mass audience, increasing the likelihood of commercial success (this is encouraged by music industry execs, who are notoriously risk-averse).

In the mid-1970's, most American high schools had a choir, orchestra, symphonic band, jazz band, and music appreciation classes. Many of today’s schools limit you to a music appreciation class because it is the cheapest option. D.A. Russell wrote in the Huffington Post in an article titled, “Cancelling High School Elective, Arts and Music—So Many Reasons—So Many Lies” that music, arts and electives teachers have to face the constant threat of eliminating their courses. The worst part is knowing that cancellation is almost always based on two lies by school administrators: 1) Cancellation is a funding issue (the big lie); 2) music and the arts are too expensive (the little lie).

The truth: Elective class periods have been replaced by standardized test preparation. Administrators focus primarily on protecting their positions and the school’s status by concentrating classes on passing the tests, rather than by helping teachers be freed up from micromanaging mandates so those same teachers can teach again in their classrooms, making test preparation classes unnecessary.

What can be done? First, musical literacy should be taught in our nation’s school systems. In addition, parents should encourage their children to play an instrument because it has been proven to help in brain synapse connections, learning discipline, work ethic, and working within a team. While contact sports like football are proven brain damagers, music participation is a brain enhancer.

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Questions for answering in pairs. Answer in complete sentences, not single words

1. According to the article, how are today's musicians different from musicians in the past? Give two ways.

2. Modern pop music is different from music in the 60s. Give two important ways it is different.

3. Which two composers write large amounts of today's pop music?

4. What is music literacy? What has happened to music literacy over time? Why has it changed?

5. What was the most common musical instrument in American homes a century ago?

6. What has happened to the words in popular music over time?

7. Look at question 2. Why have these changes occurred?

3. Organize speeches for week 12/PPT work time

4. Homework: textbook pp 75-81 on gifted-ness