EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
Introduction to Classical Music
Craig Wright, Yale University
 |
C O U R S E L E C T U R E Popular and Classical Music Compared Notes taken on January 24, 2015 by Edward Tanguay |
•
most of the world generally listens to what is called "popular music"
•
it is the "music of the people"
•
music that most everybody likes
•
downloads of popular music outnumber download of classical music about 30 to 1
•
classical music
•
the adjective "classical" generally applies to an artifact that has been around for centuries, passed down from generation to generation
•
in Western society, the term "classical music" was first used rather late in the 19th century
•
in Germany where concert pianists were told to go back and play older music
•
the music of the late 18th century
•
Mozart
•
Haydn
•
Bach
•
the difference between popular music and classical music
•
1. popular music often uses electric instruments
•
classical music uses acoustic instruments
•
instruments generating sounds from natural materials
•
2. popular music has lyrics which tell you what the music is about
•
classical music is usually purely instrumental
•
the music itself has to tell you what it's about, has to sound out it's meaning
•
3. pop music tends to have a strong beat
•
in classical music, the beat is most often more subdued
•
4. pop music tends to be short and repetitious
•
typically about three minutes long
•
the melody and the tune get sung again and again
•
classical pieces
•
almost always longer
•
20 or 30 minutes long or even more
•
unfold continually
•
5. pop music is usually performed without musical notation
•
there is no prescriptive written document for pop performances
•
any particular artist can do a cover or remix of a song
•
classical music
•
is old and must be done more or less the same each time
•
classical music performances really don't differ all that much from one performance to the next
•
it is complicated music and needs to be written out