Music Lit Classes Kill My Love Of Music

First off, let me say, I think it is important for music students, wait, no, everybody who likes music, to listen to a wide range of music. I am not against that exposure. However, I do not like music lit classes. Maybe I've had the wrong teachers, but in every music lit class I've been in, there was more focus in analyzing the music to death than widening our musical taste and knowledge. I don't want to analyze single notes and why the composer might have used that note instead of this other one. I don't want to pick different phrases of music  and say which era/other composer/whatever influenced each one. By doing this, it takes the impact the music has on me away.

Anything we might say about any piece of music and why it is the way it is is just speculation. The only one who really knows is the composer, and even the composer may not have had a specific reason for picking the note they did. As an example, drawing from an english lit class, I remember having a book assigned on "how to read literature". The author wrote down all these different things that could be in stories and what they apparently always symbolized. The one that comes to mind is(and paraphrasing from memory here) "A key represents a penis, or a man's sexuality." Really? Does every author who mentions a key in their story think "This key is a symbol of male sexuality" when they type the word? In the same vein, does every composer think "Okay, this next phrase will be reminiscent of Mozart, to contrast this other phrase that is clearly influenced by the Baroque period"? I don't know about anyone else, but when I write music, I write what I think sounds good. I don't have some complex plan of fitting influences together.

Let's make music lit classes what they should be, an appreciation of music, a way to experience new music with our peers, and discuss it, yes, but please don't analyze it to pieces. That's not how music was intended to be listened to. The magic of it lies in the whole piece, not in individual notes.

Fighting the manufactured teen pop star(part 1)

Miley Cyrus is evil. So are the Backstreet Boys, Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff, and Boyzone. Do I have to spell out my opinion of the Jonas Brothers? All these performers had their success handed to them. They were not picked for talent, they were picked for looks. They were not hired to make music, they were hired to have their faces put on merchandise. Their songs were written to both appeal to tweens and to meet the approval of said tweens' parents. I blame them for the increasingly bad music being written by the bands and singers who aren't put together by executives.

Think of it. A good portion of the tween and early teen population are growing up listening to these songs. They think these songs are good. They like the lyrics. So that means, when they start a band with their friends, or write a song, they are influenced by these bands. And because all their peers like that sort of song, they are more likely to become widely successful, because they will sell.

So, I have started a project. I am writing a parody of the teenage love song. We know it well. I'm not popular but you are, I'll love you forever(despite the fact that I just met you and have no idea where I'm going to college, let alone if I'll even be in touch with you in 3 years, some adult love songs are guilty of this line too), you don't like me, you laugh at me, but I still think you're great anyways, etc. I have a very rough draft of the lyrics, just jotted down, which I will post here. Feedback would be appreciated, if there are any suggestions that come to mind, feel free to share. My goal is to work out a  melody which not only will be highly reminiscent of the annoying pop songs we hear all the time on the radio, but to work out how such a melody would work for the instrumentation of the band I'm currently in(piano, violin, acoustic guitar/mandolin, marimba/vibraphones, cello/vocals). As I get more work done on it, I will post more.

And here are the lyrics:

I'm standing in the corner of the room

Hoping Jimmy's parents don't come home

I see you there looking pretty cute

Maybe if you drink enough you'll make out with me

You're walking out

I want to ask you to stay

I know I'm not the best you can do

I can't buy you an iPhone

But call me anyway

I know that we're in different cliques in school

And I know that you don't find me cool

But baby imagine what we could be

With your looks we're guaranteed prom king and queen

You're walking out

I want to ask you to stay

I know I'm not the best you can do

I can't buy you an iPhone

But call me anyway

I'm hoping for a chance

I'm hoping for your glance

So I'm writing you this love song

Even though it doesn't mean a thing

Honestly I just want a fling with you

So honey I promise this to you

I'll write bad poetry for you and

Show up everywhere you go

Until the next hot girl I see

Comes over here and says she'll go out with me

You're walking out

I want to ask you to stay

I know I'm not the best you can do

I can't buy you an iPhone

But call me anyway

Introduction

I never thought I'd end up with a blog. I didn't see the point, because basically, the blogs I'd seen seemed to fit into two categories. Either 1)talking about the blogger's personal life, or 2)opinion pieces on particular subjects. I personally think talking about your personal life on a blog is kind of narcissistic. How many people really care that you mowed your lawn today, or that you embarrassed yourself in front of your crush? Besides that, do I really want anyone with an internet connection to be able to read all about my life? In terms of the opinion blog, I never felt like I had any insight or knowledge to share on what seemed to me to be the biggest topics: politics and technology.

But, you know, today I was thinking, and I've found my topic. I've been classically trained on the cello for the past ten years, I have approximately 6,000 songs on my iPod in various genres, I've played in pit orchestras, I'm now in a band. I might have something worthwhile to say after all.

So welcome to my blog, and let's see if I can pull this off.