Music
Classical music is art music produced or rooted in Western cultural traditions, including liturgical (religious) and secular music. They are quite, slow-rhythmed songs and thus their name classical music. They are mostly sung in an orderly and organized manner. Pop music is the genre of popular music that produces the most hits. This kind of music shares almost some certain musical features, thus leading to a common style of music called the pop music formula. They have a good rhythm, a catchy melody, and they are easy to remember and sing along to. These two music genres are different in every way, starting from their composition to their way of presentation. Their difference is also seen in the type of audiences that each of the above genres addresses. This paper aims at differentiating the two genres in a more comprehensive way.
“Piano Concerto No. 23 in a major,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a boring concert. Classical music was not lyrical, and it only used musical instruments. The audience in the show was seated in an orderly manner, they were not cheering their musicians, and they were also installed like they were in an official gathering. The dressing code also simulated the seriousness of the classical music concert. Unlike the Piano Concert, the Rihanna concert was more enjoyable. Pop music is mostly a vocal genre. Everybody was free to wear whatever he or she thought fit for him or her. The audience was cheering the musician, and they could sing along to the lyrics of the songs. The Rihanna concert had a live band that instrumented the lyrics, and there were dancers who were entertaining the audience by dancing to the rhythm of the songs.
Music in the classical era and pop music have large differences between them. The classical era music had a negative influence on the listeners. This is seen in the Piano Concerto. The audience was silently listening to the music and, thus, a negative mood because of classical music’s adagio style. Unlike the piano concert, in the Rihanna concert, the audience was active and motivated positively by pop music. According to Rea et al. (2012), research has found that music may influence the mood of listeners positively or negatively depending on the type of music. Classical music as a music style uses a low tempo, whereas pop music uses a high tempo. Beat tracking is what people do when they tap their feet in time to music, and they tend to move their feet in rhythm to specific beats even without training (Dixon et al., 2000). In the piano concerto, the audience did not proceed with the music because of the music’s low tempo, unlike in the Rihanna concert, where the audience danced to the rhythm of the songs.
Although the two music genres have many differences, they also shared some similarities. The use of musical instruments to make music sounds is one such similarity. In both concerts, the artists used Musical instruments. Mozart used the piano, violin, and other devices. Rihanna used a microphone, and her live band had guitars, keyboards, and other tools. These were all instruments used to enhance musicality and rhythm in any music genre.
Aristocrats were mainly the people who attended concerts in the classical error. According to Friedman et al. (2020), elites signaled their superior social position via consumption of, and participation in, particular types of culture classical music was used as a cultural recreation. Due to the rising popularity of pop, mostly those people who attend concerts are fans. They are typically pop music fans that want to be part of a live moment. Mostly these concerts are held as urban festivals (Kronenburg et al. 2020).
The main reason why aristocrats attended concerts was as a way of cultural practice. Although they attended to show their elite class among the people, the main reason was cultural practice. (Friedman et al., 2020). On the other hand, people attend pop concerts to experience, engage with others, hear something novel, and take advantage of the practical opportunities that the concert affords. The main reason is to be a part of something unique and special, as pop music fans. (Brown et al. 2017)
Digital media has positively influenced the music industry. Development in sound technologies has drastically changed the way music is produced and consumed. In the 19th century, most music was experienced as a live performance. Today most music is listened to individually through technologically mediated devices (Pinch et al. 2004). Also, due to advancements in technology, downloading and storing music is enabled in personal devices and computers.
Just like all the fields continue to advance, the music itself is a field that changes with days. The music genre continues to change right from the classical error to the modern pop genre. Though songs are never outdated, old days songs are not completely disregarded and are still sung, sometimes in theatres or during specific celebrations.
Daniil Trifonov and the Israel Camerata Orchestra performing Mozart – Concerto no 23 in A major k 488 at the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition (Tel Aviv). Conducted by Avner Biron
Rihanna Live Full Concert 2019
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