I have a problem.....I am not one who will typically gravitate to listen to current pop music. The 'compositions' that are currently played on mainstream radio rarely grab my attention. There are the odd ones that have an interesting rhythmic pattern or melodic riff that will tweak an emotional response, but honestly, they are few and far between. If I was to go back about 20-30 years, I can point out many different 'radio-played' tracks that would fit on to my 'mix tape' because they sound interesting and are appealing to my ear. Does that make me a music snob? I don't think so. I agree wholeheartedly with Gordon Goodwin, front-man for the 18 piece jazz ensemble, the Big Phat Band. At one time Gordon was a film and movie score composer, writing 'what the director wanted'...translated meaning, not what he was feeling and wanting to express. I encourage you to read this article, taken from Gordon's most recent FB post, following his appearance at the 2017 Grammy awards in LA. I think he nails it. Contemporary music is based on comfort and the fear of stretching our audiences ears because they 'do not like' it. I think that fear is exactly why I regularly look for music to program that is pliable and out of the 'easy lane' of traffic. Frost had something I believe; that trail to the left looks really interesting.....I wonder where it is going to lead me. Eventually, it will probably bring me to the same place the other one is going. I wonder what I might come across if I take that path? I hope I see something cool....take the path and see where it leads you. It might change you forever. Here is hoping it does.
Please read Gordon Goodwin's Facebook post below..... When discussing the problem of American pop music the base issue is not the performers. Many of them are talented and capable. But the industry has adapted a musical language that is striking in it's banality. I believe that this is largely due to a shocking lack of chromaticism in the music. Not to get overly pedantic about it, but simply put, these composers and performers use only the white keys on the piano. Their melodies and the chords they choose are based solely on the diatonic scale of whatever key they have chosen. This is akin to the elimination of adjectives in the written language. It's the difference between the sentence "I was mad." and the sentence "I was shaking with violent and uncontrolled anger!" One wonders if they ever wonder what those black keys on the piano are even there for? I was at the Grammy Awards last night and kept track, and it wasn't until Bruno Mars' song(s) that you had any chromatic intervals in the music. For me, this is why so much of American pop music is uninteresting. Chromaticism adds nuance to music. It adds tension and ambiguity. The proper balance between diatonicism and chromaticism is the key to music with balance and appeal. If you take a song or a composition with those elements, and then add the emotion of the performers we heard last night, then you have something! But today's pop musicians never really learned how to incorporate this language in their work. Singers are unable to navigate chromatic intervals with their voices. This is not to say you cannot have effective music without chromaticism. But composing should be a series of deliberate choices. Choices informed by your training AND your intuition. Many of today's performers rely on the latter and have neglected focusing on the former. I am less qualified to comment on the lyrical content of some of the material we heard last night, but I doubt it's a stretch to say that the lyrics to much of today's pop music suffer from a similar lack of nuance and content. The line I am trying to walk here is a subtle one, because I believe that people should create the kind of music that sounds good to them. But underlying that statement is the assumption that artists take responsibility to learn as much as possible about their craft, and to keep learning, keep growing. American popular music has ignored the lessons of the past for decades now, and the coarseness and simple-mindedness of the music seems to be reflected in our culture as a whole. So, those of us that believe otherwise have a responsibility to fight for quality, To fight for excellence. What do you think? Your comments are welcome and appreciated.
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I invite you to come by......This section is composed of observations or impressions I have, or others I value, share about music and its power. Archives
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