Classical music

violin and stave

The major time divisions of classical music are the early music period, which includes Medieval, Renaissance the Common practice period, which includes the Baroque , Classical and Romantic  periods, and the modern and contemporary period, which includes 20th century  and contemporary

It is in this time that the notation of music on a staff and other elements of musical notation began to form.With a musical score, a work of music could be performed without the composer being there.
 The invention of the  printing press in the 15th century helped preserve the transmission of music. Which was a huge transformation at that point.

Typical stringed instruments of the Early Period include the harp, lute vielle, and psaltery, while wind instruments included the flute family  shawm (an early member of the oboe family), trumpet, and the bagpipe.
The majority of these are used in the current full orchestra.

Beethoven 

Improvisation has always played an important role in classical music. Also known as Cadenza which is great because they get to show off their musical talent.  Traditionally this was improvised by the performer on the spot; however, it is often written  by the performer beforehand. Which sort of shows how scared they were of taking a risk in a public place, which completely defeats the purpose of improv. But anyway....

Throughout history, parents have often made sure that their children receive classical music training from a young age. Which is still done right up to this moment. Being able to play a classical instrument portrays quite a civilised standard of living, and isn't everyone look impressed if you say you play the cello?  I myself would love to play an instrument in which i could be apart of an orchestra with. As i play an instrument myself, Ive been playing piano for 7 years which is obviously not as fancy.. I can say i'm  a huge fan of classical music. Even though i do like playing contempory music, I am so impressed by the standard of music they wrote back a couple of hundred years ago.

The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra

Performance of classical music demands a significant level of technical mastery on the part of the musician; proficiency in sight-reading and ensemble playing, thorough understanding of tonal and harmonic principles the  knowledge of performance and practice. A composer or musical work are among the most essential of skills for the classically trained musician.. And you can completely see the talent when you watch a full orchestra perform. I can't imagine how long it takes them to practice!
All I can say is that even if you think Classical music is a bit old fashioned just give it a look,cause i can make a promise with you that you won't be dissapointed.

Rap

Rap slogan

Rapping  refers to spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics. Rapping is a important ingredient in hip hop music and reggae, but rapping originated centuries before hip hop


The word " to rap' had been used in British English since the 16th century, and specifically meaning to say since the 18th. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", Today, the terms rap and rapping are so closely associated with hip hop music that many use the terms interchangeably.

Characteristics
Flow' is defined as "the rhythms and rhymes of a hip-hop song's lyrics
It has been noted that rap’s use of rhyme is some of the most advanced in all forms of poetry
 Music scholar Adam Bradley notes, “rap rhymes so much and with such variety that it is now the largest and richest contemporary archive of rhymed words. It has done more than any other art form in recent history to expand rhyme’s formal range and expressive possibilities”.

To successfully deliver a rap, a rapper must also develop vocal presence, enunciation, and breath control. There are two kinds of freestyle rap: one is scripted  and  the second typically referred to as "freestyling or spitting  is the improvisation of rapped lyrics.  Rappers will often reference places or objects in their immediate setting, or specific (usually demeaning) characteristics of opponents, to prove their authenticity and originality.

Battle rapping, which can be freestyled, is the competition between two or more rappers in front of an audience. The tradition of insulting one's friends or acquaintances in rhyme goes back to the dozens, and was portrayed famously by Muhammad Ali in his boxing matches.

Jay-z, Kanye West,50 Cent and eminem are citied as some of the best rappers in the World

The winner of a battle is decided by the crowd and/or preselected judges.   Battle rapping gained widespread public recognition outside of the African-American community with rapper Eminem's movie, 8 Mile which I'm a huge fan of.


Even though i'm not the biggest fan of rap music itself, I still have a huge respect for there sense of rhythm and the audience it reaches out to. Regardless, rap is one of the most popular genres of music in the world today and has a growing young fanbase.

Rock

Rock slogan

^{Rock became known in the united states during the late 1940's and early 1950's and it quickly spread around the world. Rock has evolved alot and the term ''rock'' is classified as many different styles of music. Rock originally came about with the mixing together of several black musical genres at that time including rhythm and blues,gospel music and country and western. When we thing of rock today, its extremely different from what it was 50 years ago . Alan Freed is credited with first using the phrase ''rock and roll'' to describe the music.}

^{Though I'm not a fan of rock music today, I am a fan of what it was 50 years ago which included artists such as Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley.}

^{Then came the Doo Wop in the 1950's which was one of the most popular forms of rock at the time. It has a lot of emphasis on multi part vocal harmonies and meaningless backing lyrics. It also had light instrumentation. It originated from African American vocal groups of the 1930's and 40's. The Inks Spots and Mills brothers is an example of one of these groups.}

The moves of Elvis Presley

 ^{There was a huge decline of rock and roll on the early 1960's. Many events led to this such as the death of Buddy holiday in a plane crash, the departure of Elvis for the army and the retirement of Little Richard. Rock and roll looked liked it was finally dying out. But then the British rolled in...}

^{Britain easily took over the culture of American rock and roll, It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of troops and shared many social developments.}

^{The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols. And they did just that with artists such as Cliff Richard,Joe Brown and Billy Fury.}

^{Many groups moved towards the beat music of Rock and Roll from skittle like The Beatles which became successful in 1964 which is also known as the British invasion. From there success the influenced artist such as Freddie and the Dreamers, Rolling stones and The Kinks.}

An iconic photo taken of The Beatles crossing Abbey road in London

^{From then on waves of rock music started to bloom like Heavy metal, Alternative rock,Grunge, Britpop, Pop punk, Indie rock, Emo and much more. Artists such as Coldplay are considered as being part of the rock genre today which is a huge stepping stone from what is was 50 years ago. It really shows how much music evolves over time}

Jazz

Add caption

As jazz has been around for nearly a 100 years, it can be very difficult to define.
Berendt defines jazz as a "form of art music which originated in the United States through the confrontation of blacks with European music”

The Jazz age was a movement that took place during the 1920s, or better know as the Roaring twenties, Jazz music and dance emerged with the introduction of radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has lived on in American pop culture for decades.

  

 Jazz has a number of key elements that make it jazz. But one element that is universally recognized is the use of improvisation. In jazz each performer with interpret the piece of music in their own way, rarely playing the composition exactly the same twice. It really depends upon the performer’s mood and personal experience.

Jazz band

Seeing a jazz musician perform is really an experience in itself, as a jazz musician may alter the melodies, harmonies or time signature at will. It’s all about the interactions with the audience.

Though jazz was not always so popular.It started to get a reputation as being immoral and many members of the older generations saw it as threatening the old values in culture and promoting the new decadent values of the 1920's. But even though jazz was harshly judged it still lives on today as one of the most influential musical movements. So much so that the 20th century was officially named "The jazz era"

Billie Holiday

Louis Armstrong

Count Basie





We still remember stars from that time such as Billie Holiday, John Coltraine, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and many more.

Here is some of their performances..

Introduction

Hi,  My name is Juliet and I am writing this blog about the Geography of Music. The reason I'm writing this blog is because I have had a huge interest in music for years. I was also  curious to find out as much as i can about it.
Each post will be based around different genres of music such as Hip hop, Jazz, Rock, Reggae, Folk, Classical etc..