Week 8

It is truly amazing how technology has had its hand in changing the music world over and over again. There is no doubt that throughout history people enjoy listening music. Gone are the days of 45’s, LP’s and radio, people want their music when they want it and as cheep ad convenient as possible. With changes in technology and the prominence of the Internet, iPods, iTunes and other media it is now easier than ever to listen to almost anything you want to hear. Once again artists need to change the way they distribute their product to the people.

YouTube has definitely changed how people listen to music and the ease of access music. If I am curious about a song, I go to YouTube and look it up. I can usually find a recording with lyrics, which if I am looking up a song to use in school, this is a great way to check to make sure the song is appropriate for school use. As a teacher, I am constantly accessing YouTube in the classroom. Usually, I use YouTube to bring music into the classroom for specific lessons, though other times I use it as background music when students are doing independent or small group work. I also have students come in and tell me I “have to see” a specific video on YouTube. I didn’t realize how much time my students really spent on YouTube until a few years ago. YouTube is very much a large part of my students daily life, and can be a great asset to get students to engage in what they have learned at home.

Many artists use YouTube as a way to promote themselves and their music, the group, Radiohead, has taken a very different view of how to sell their music. The theme in Radiohead’s song “Bodysnatcher,” is well stated by Star and Waterman(2013), “the struggle to retain control over one’s creative voice in a profit-driven industry.” Radiohead has used the Internet to their advantage and have pulled away from the record companies to take their careers into their own heads and promote their music using YouTube and making their music affordable through internet downloads. In “Bodysnatcher” they say “it is the 21st century, it is the 21st century.” I feel Radiohead understands how the industry is changing in the 21^st century and are making the most of the situation by using all the resources available to them.

Starr, L. & Waterman, C. (2013). American popular music: From

minstrelsy to MP3 (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press

(ISBN:978-0-19-985911-5).

Week 7

When I think of the 1980’s, I think about digital sounds, big hair, bold and colorful make-up, leg warmers, and bright non-symmetrical clothing. Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It” a great start into the sounds of the 80s.  “Jump” by Van Halen is an amazing piece of 80s music, you can see the wonderful tight colorful clothing paired with very saturated lighting styles seen in the video below. You can hear the synthesized sounds that I believe define the 80s with very sexy dance moves and obviously the musicians are performing for the camera.

It was interesting listening to “Lady” by Kenny Rogers, even though the synthesized sounds are still heard; Rogers’s age is not what I think of when I think of the 80s.  First, I know there where plenty of older musicians in the 1980’s, but I generally think of the younger musicians when I think of popular music of the 80s. I think of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, “Like a Virgin” by Madonna and “When Doves Cry” by Prince as popular 80s sounds and artists. I feel like the 80s was all about American musicians that are following a very free loving decade of the 70s.  Thus the music continue to become more sexy and the videos can also reflect the sexual appeal of the 80s.

As we continue into the later 1980s and into the 1990s, the rap starts to make an impact on the music industry with songs like “Walk This Way” performed by Run-D.M.C., “Night of the Living Baseheads” by Public Enemy, and “What’s My Name” by Snoop Doggy Dog. I don’t understand why rap artists feel the need to use vulgar language to express themselves, but I’m not a big fan.

Overall, the 80s do have a lot to offer and to share with students. There is a number of great songs in the 1980s that are appropriate for the classroom and there is a lot that is very inappropriate. Due to MTV and all the music videos that surfaced in the 80s most students relate well to watching and listening to music, which helps engage students. Students can also compare videos and sounds from the 80s to current music.

Week 6

As we move into the 1970s this week, I have to say, I very much enjoy the happy upbeat sounds compared to what we heard in the 1960s. I tend to enjoy most music that is upbeat, happy, and fun to sing along with, which is basically disco music.  The 1970s is a decade shifts from communitarian, politically engaged ideals of the 1960s to a more materialistic and conservative attitudes (Starr & Waterman, 2013). There is a huge shift in the music industry in the 1970s from the rock ‘n’ roll of the 1960s. The Vietnam war ended and the music, in a broad sense, changed with the overall feel lets love and enjoy life.

As an elementary teacher, teaching vernacular music can be difficult if there is a focus on the history of the music and the time period, but there are a number of tunes from the 1970s that could be used for teaching. “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John sounds like a great song and very catchy, and the song isn’t inappropriate for the elementary crowd. “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder is another great song that I could see students enjoying this song, where a song like “Hotel California” by the Eagles is a great song but not appropriate for elementary school. Even some the rock music of the 1970s has the fun upbeat sound, “Oye Como Va” by Santana has another fun song that many of my students would connect with, where “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin might not be something I would share.

The Disco Era has a lot of great music, with some music being great to share with students and others not as much. Disco is known for it’s great dance beats, with nice upbeat tempos that students would be interested in moving to. “Bad Girl” and “Love to Love You Baby” by Donna Summer are great songs and very important to Disco for their popularity and ranks on the charts, but are too sexy for elementary school. “Good Times” by Chic would be a great disco song but a little bit better in turms of the theme of the song. The biggest part of disco music if finding a song that is appropriate and if showing a video, the video is appropriate. So much about the Disco Era is not appropriate to discuss (sex and drugs), but the music by itself is just fine to share. This video of “Good Times” would be a great way to share the music and the feel of the Disco Era with students while still being appropriate.

Overall, there is a lot of music from the 1970s that is very appropriate to share with students. All of the songs that I have spoken about would be great to use in a unit on verse/chorus unit. My only complaint about this 1970s is the length of the music. With songs much longer than the three minute mark and being as long as eight minutes in length, students will not be able to sit and listen to the lengthy songs of the 1970s. Sharing short clips of the music from the 1970s will be necessary to keep students engaged in the music.

Starr, L. & Waterman, C. (2013). American popular music: From

minstrelsy to MP3 (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press

(ISBN:978-0-19-985911-5).

Week 5

In the first module of this class there was a video presentation of pop music, I clearly remember “a popular song is three minutes or less.” I have to say up until 50’s/60’s the three-minute rule was not necessarily true with many songs well over three minutes. The Beatles definitely keep to this rule with most of their songs around two and a half minutes. They are short and sweet, which seems to be what the people wanted especially after the death of J.F. Kennedy.

The Beatles, paved the way for some changes in the music industry. For one, they started writing their own music, up until this point, most popular artists did not write their own music, there were writers that wrote music and the artist would select songs or have songs selected for them. “Please Please Me,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Yesterday,” and “Eleanor Rigby” are all written by John Lennon and Paul McCarthy and all by “Eleanor Rigby” have a similar formula to the song, which seemed to work well for the Beatles. I personally enjoy the simple yet complex lyrics that were used by the Beatle, they had complex songs but at the same time simple catchy choruses that made it very easy to remember.

It is amazing how influential the Beatles were, I never put too much thought into it. I found a live studio session of “Good Vibration” with the Beach Boys, and you could see the influence of the mop-hair style of the Beatles carrying over into the Beach Boys. When I picture the beach boys I see clean cute well put together Californian beach boys, I don’t think of the mop-hair of the Beatles.  It is absolutely what all went into writing “Good Vibrations,” it is such a well put together song and one of my favorites from the Beach Boys.

The 1960’s had a wealth of great music and by listening to it you can hear how the world was changing.  The early 60’s seem to be so happy and upbeat with the songs like “The Twist,” “Be My Baby,” and “My Girl,” that are still written by writers of the time specifically for the artists. By the end of the 60’s you can hear the change in the music as the dynamics of the country are changing. Aretha Franklin brings a change in how the female voice traditionally has sounded with her big booming voice and with a song like “Respect,” she commands attention and will become the voice of both racial and female rights. Another sound that is starting to pop up in the later 60’s is that of urban folk music and Bob Dylan. Dylan was able to touch upon current issues with a down to earth sound. You can hear this sound in “Like A Rolling Stone” as he sings about going out into the world and the struggles of adulthood. Overall, the 60’s had a wide variety of music and helped tell the story of the times.