My Passion Project

Welcome to my blog! This is about my project to study the evolution of popular music!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

This is the Billboard archives that I have been referencing for my project research! It’s a super cool link that lets you access the Billboard charts for every year all the way back to the 1950s!!

Have a look and let me know what you think of them!

-Calia

[evolutionofpopmusic]

Text to Text

Hello out there! 

I just finished reading my non-fiction novel for my project. I found it to be super useful and super interesting, but there’s just so much information in it that I’ll definitely have to go back to it while completing my final presentation. I finished Yeah! Yeah Yeah! in time to do my first portfolio (that included a book review!). 

Looking back on the sources that I chose to use for my project, I have certainly found some of them more useful than others. I’ve mainly been using my non-fiction book choice and my website choice for any research. As well as the Ted Talk that I have mentioned in previous posts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWF52WRtkVc). 

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! by Bob Stanley has been my go-to source for anything with this project, since it has information on so many years of music. It’s basically the Billboard charts archive that I’ve talking about before but each year has an explanation with it. 

The Billboard archives have also been super helpful for gathering stats about genres of music and what not. The Ted Talk video, as mentioned before, has been super helpful for learning about the technical aspects of the music that I’ve been listening to and reading about. My sources have all been working together nicely to create a bigger picture for my final project. 

As for further research and more sources, I think my final source that I want to use will be interviews for my podcast since it’s first hand data and opinions. 

Thanks for reading!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

Can you hear me?

Hey there!

Long time, no talk! I’ve been hard at work on my passion project and have completed my first portfolio piece and am now focusing hard on my second one. For this piece I’m creating a podcast that covers the evolution of music. I had an idea to include interviews with some of my friends to better understand what music other people like. I will for sure be back to update on that! 

I’m super excited to be working on a podcast since I’ve been trying to actually start one up by myself for fun! 

In my spare time right now I’m planning ahead and writing my script/important points to cover in my podcast. I’m hoping that conversation will naturally flow when I try to record my podcast but I do plan on having some notes ready as prompts, as well as some facts to back up my points. 

Next steps for my podcast are most likely going to be scheduling a day to record and edit my episode so that it’s all ready to go when it needs to be handed in! 

Talk to you later, 

Calia!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

How Patsy’s Doing...

Hello everyone!

I recently went to see Patrick, my community connection, in person to both see him perform and speak to him about my project. If you missed my previous post about this, Pat and his brother Matt play all over the region with just their guitars and voices, as a group called Patsy and The Muscle. They play music from all kinds of genres and attract crowds of all ages. I personally think that Pat’s voice sounds like Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons! 

Anyways, I asked Pat numerous questions about his music preferences and knowledge during one of the intermissions at his show. Here’s what he came up with...

What do you think about the music on the top charts right now?

Rap isn’t my thing and I don’t think it takes much to make a rap song, but the alternative and rock songs that make it are usually really good! I think that there are some really talented musicians and producers out there but they’re not using their talents to their advantage. It takes a lot to produce or write a song which is not reflected in the rap songs that are way up there on the charts. 

Why do you like/dislike it? Any songs that stand out in particular?

I think that Shallow from A Star is Born is a very well written song and was sung very well by both Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. I also like High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco, it’s a “pop-ier” song than what I normally listen to but it’s very catchy and I think that Brenden Urie is incredible. 

Do you think that music has evolved in a positive or negative way? How do you think it could be better?

I think that all of the songs being released now are following the same few patterns and it all sounds very repetitive to me. In the past there were so many unique pieces of music that made it onto the top charts, but now it all sounds the same to a lot of people. Music has taken a wrong turn somewhere in my opinion. I think we need to go back to creating pieces of music that mean something and that explore new elements of music. Music needs creativity and that’s not what we’re getting anymore.

Do you think that each decade has its own style of music? (ex: disco in the 70s, grunge in the 90s)

Absolutely. When you think of the 70s you think of disco right away, when you think of the 60s you think of Motown and The Beatles. Each decade had its trends and that’s what we think of when we think of that decade. 

What is your favourite decade of music? Why?

I would have to say the 70s because a lot of iconic artists came from that time. A lot of the music that we play at our shows are actually from the 70s, like Led Zeppelin and The Doors, so clearly I take a lot of inspiration from it. The songs are just so catchy and great to sing along to. 

Why do you think music evolves so much through the years?

It’s hard to say, since there’s so many things that go into music. It could be the writing influences but it can also be the audience that’s listening to it. 

Do you think music repeats itself? By this I mean, do we tend to go back to old styles of music that used to be popular, or does music have endless possibilities that we can keep evolving to?

There’s only so much you can do with music, as hard as that is to say. There’s limits to the different notes and chords you put together, so we see a lot of sampling happening now. An obvious one is Ice Ice Baby, it’s clearly using Queen’s song. So yeah, I would say that we need to repeat music. 

After speaking with Pat, it seems like he is still in love with those classic rock tunes that are legendary. I’m curious if age has anything to do with opinions on music. I would like to interview more people from different ages to see what kind of patterns I can find.  Until next time, 

Calia!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

Welcome back to my blog!

A little bit of a reflection here about the resources that I’ve been using for my project so far. I’ve watched a few videos and read a few articles and also done my own research based on numbers! 

On of the most effective sources that I’ve used so far is the article and video by Matthias Mauch and his colleagues about the evolution of music through chords and timbre. He explains his points using a guitar and charts, which I found to be very clear and helpful. I learned a lot from Matthias’ Ted Talk, which you can watch below!

Video: Matthias Mauch for TEDxGoodEnoughCollege

Another source that I have been stuck to is my book choice, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé” by Bob Stanley, because it goes into more depth about the artists and the actual songs themselves, not just chords that they use. I have learned a lot about the 1950s and the music that came from that decade. I was already familiar with some of the more famous songs from the 50s, but am now much more enlightened. This book is a very long book though, so I do feel a little overwhelmed with the amount of information that I will have to take in over the course of the next few weeks. I am also going to need to read more than I was before because I’m not going to finish my book before the deadline for this portfolio at this rate!

The most helpful source that I’ve used so far though is the Billboard chart archives! (https://www.billboard.com/archive/charts) They are a direct source of information for me to analyze on my own and have helped me learn a lot about the styles of music that wear popular by listening to it! I feel like being able to personally interact with the music helps me better understand what the analysis is saying. For example, by listening to these songs I can better understand what Matthias is describing in his Ted Talk. 

To continue my research, I hope to find a few more articles or videos that go into the same depth as the Ted Talk because I find it very interesting and helpful to learn about the actual specifics of the music. 

Thanks for reading,

Calia!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

Evolution of Music (1950-Present), a playlist by brycefred14 on Spotify

A collection of the top songs from 1950 to right now, showing how music has changed over the past 67 years. All generations can embark on the journey through time that is the Evolution of Music.

Helllllllooooooooo!

I was searching Spotify for playlists that really captured all of the different kinds of music there is out there, and this one really stood out to me! There’s over 30 hours of songs to explore, many of which you’ve probably never heard. If you have Spotify (you can make a free account if you don’t!), this is the perfect playlist to shuffle to find all kinds of music!  Listen to something you wouldn’t normally listen to! Give it a shot!

Happy listening, 

Calia!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

Hi again!

For my first portfolio I chose to do a book review on a non-fiction novel called “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé” by Bob Stanley. The author of this book, Bob Stanley, is very experienced in the music business since he’s a musician himself. Bob does research about music as well, which makes him the perfect guy to write a book about this topic! I have recently picked up a copy of this book so that I could get a strong start on my review. I won’t spoil too much about Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! in this post, but I can assure you that Bob goes into super depth about the evolution of pop music in this novel. 

Image: http://storyofpop.tumblr.com/

As for my second portfolio, I chose to create my own podcast! I’m super excited about this part of the project because I have a lot of creative freedom with it. I plan to have a few guests on my show with me to gather information and options from different demographics. I want to interview my guests with a very similar set of questions than the list I have prepared for Pat, my community connection. I feel like it will be good to get the opinions of all different kinds of people with different experiences with music. My podcast is still in the blueprint stage, so I will have to keep you updated on how it’s going!

Help me name my podcast! Give me suggestions in the comments! Bye! Bye! Bye!, 

Calia!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

Video: Pentatonix

Hello!

I thought I would share some fun videos and sources that I find interesting. This arrangement has always been one of my favourites because it showcases each decade so well! Pentatonix is an a capella group, which means they sing without instruments, just their voices! I think that they are so incredibly talented, so I though that I would share their take on the evolution of popular music over time! Although they start in an earlier time than my project does, it is still very interesting to see how much music has changed!

Enjoy,

Calia!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

Patsy & The Who???

Hello! 

A quick little update about how my project is going so far... 

Some of the goals that I set for myself during the first stage of this project were to broaden my horizon (metaphorically) in music. I can definitley confirm that I have been listening to music that I wouldn’t normally listen to. I did some research by sorting through the Billboard Chart archives and listened to the top song from each year since 1958! I tend to listen to all kinds of music in the first place, but I have found myself listening to some hair metal songs because of this project. My dad would be so proud!

I have recently been in contact with someone that I know would be perfect for this kind of topic. Patrick Vandersluys from the local Niagara band Patsy & The Muscle is my choice for my community connection. Patrick is in a band with his brother Matthew, and they play shows all around the region in their spare time. Pat is very well versed in the many decades of music, which you can hear for yourself at one of his shows. Patsy & The Muscle plays such a wide variety of songs that literally anyone would enjoy themselves! 

 I have not yet spoken directly with Pat, but I have compiled a list of questions that I would like to ask him...

What do you think about the music on the top charts right now?

Why do you like/dislike it? Any songs that stand out in particular?

Do you think that music has evolved in a positive or negative way? How do you think it could be better?

Do you think that each decade has its own style of music? (ex: disco in the 70s, grunge in the 90s)

What is your favourite decade of music? Why? 

Why do you think music evolves so much through the years?

Do you think music repeats itself? By this I mean, do we tend to go back to old styles of music that used to be popular, or does music have endless possibilities that we can keep evolving to?

Before I speak to Pat I would like to think of a few more questions to ask him. If you are curious about anything, please do not hesitate to leave a comment and I will add your question to my list! 

Talk to you soon,

Calia!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

This video was a very big inspiration for my project. 

I love the fact that Matthias goes into detail about the different things that make music change. It brings a new view about the evolution of our music styles. He talks about how their computer program could analyze the chords used in the songs on the top charts from 1960-present day. 

Images: Matthias Mauch for TEDxGoodEnoughCollege

By looking at these charts that Matthias put together for his Ted Talk, we can clearly see that each style of chords has had a peak during one decade or the other. These peaks represent the popularity of that style of music. For example, in the first chart about “disco chords” we can see that the clear peak is in the late 1970s, where it is followed up with a gradual decline. On the contrary, the songs with “blues chords” had a very gradual decline starting at its peak in the 1960s to being almost non-existent in the 2000s. But, the chart I find the most interesting is the “no chords” chart. “No chords” refers to hip hop songs that either turn the volume down on those classic chord patterns and use them as background noise, or just don’t use them at all. These songs had a very significant spike in the 1990s and stayed almost level through the 2000s and had a bit of a dip around 2010. The 90s were a time where hip hop flourished and still reigns the charts today. Comparing the songs with no chords to all of the other songs from the past really shows how much change has happened to these popular music pieces. Music now has become a lot simpler than back in the 70s and 80s in the way that harmonies are used, or not used, to create the sounds that the audience likes to listen to.

Images: Matthias Mauch for TEDxGoodEnoughCollege

Both of the charts above, in blue, represent the timbre of songs. The timbre of a song is the “character or quality of a musical sound” (Dictionary.com). As Matthias says, it is difficult to categorize the timbre of different songs because it is more of an interpretation than anything. But, his computer program developed a simple way to classify the timbre of 17,000+ songs from the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The computer focused on types of sounds, almost like instruments but a little more generic. The first chart above shows “ drums, aggressive, percussive” which had a peak during the 1980s and 1990s when hair metal (and later punk) was popular. In the second chart, “guitar, loud, energetic”, we can see that it has many peaks since a lot of different styles of music are loud and energetic. For example, the first peak is during the introduction of disco. The second peak is during the techno craze of the 80s. And there is a spike during present day. 

All of this classification of the top charts shows us that at specific points in history, specific music was popular but forever changing. The music we listen to is always evolving into the next “big craze”. By looking at these charts we can also see that a lot of music is very similar in the way that it’s written since music can be a very limited medium (sometimes!). The trends that we saw years ago just might be coming back! I guess old habits die hard...

Thanks for reading, 

Calia!

[evolutionofpopmusic]

Hello!

Welcome to my blog! I am creating a passion project for my english class about the evolution of pop music. 

Music has always been an interest of mine since I started piano lessons at age 5. Over the years I have taught myself how to play a few more instruments and taken lessons for a few others. My instrument count is at 7 now! I have also loved to sing my whole life. Whether it’s in the shower or in the car or at karaoke, you can always find me singing a little tune. My parents have always been very adamant in making sure that I have been exposed to every kind of music possible. I remember listening to my mom’s mixed tapes in the car when I was as young as kindergarten and jamming out to everything from Frank Sinatra to Metallica. Today I listen to music from every genre imaginable and consider myself to have a very broad music taste.

My love for music inspired me to choose this topic and discover more about it. Over the years the genre of music that is popular has changed very frequently, and now popular music has its own genre! I’m curious about how much music has really changed over the years. I plan to look deeper into exactly how it changed. Without sounding like gibberish to those who aren’t familiar with music terminology, I hope to explain the harmonic, tonic and temp differences in music over the years. I also plan to look at the decades and their stereotypical music styles. 

My main goal for this project is to make it interesting for everyone and to hopefully expose people to music that they wouldn’t normally choose! Music is good for the soul and can create any type of mood. I hope everyone can find a style of music that brings out the best in them. 

Signing off, 

Calia