Reflection on Music Genre: R&B, Hip Hop, and Jazz Music
For this WA assignment, you must choose !!!ONE!!! of the options below (do not do both). Whichever you choose, the total length of your answer should be roughly in the range of 400-700 words.
Option 1: Tejano music and beyond
Address the following questions:
1. As shown in this module's assigned materials, Tejano conjunto music originated in a particular time and place, and was initially developed by and for a particular cultural group, namely working class Mexican Americans. However, conjunto's origins also reflect influences from other musical cultures and traditions. Using your own words and drawing on the assigned film, discuss and provide examples of both of these aspects of early Tejano conjunto music.
2. Reflecting on the comment in the film by Tony De La Rosa that was highlighted in the lecture, discuss your own ideas about music, place and culture. How does your relationship to music compare with the one De La Rosa describes? For example, In your own experiences as a listener, is the place or culture of origin for a type of music important to you? Why or why not?
Option 2: Reflecting on musical genre
To answer these questions, you'll use the website , mentioned at the end of the instructor lecture on genre.
First, familiarize yourself with the main website controls (summarized in the final slide of the instructor lecture). Next, explore the map of genres and, eventually, choose 3 genres that you've never heard of before, to use for this exercise. For each genre, open up the page showing the map of artists in that genre, and spend some time listening to a few of the artists (noting their names).
At the top of your response, list the 3 genres you chose, and at least two artists you listened to within each genre, then address the following questions:
1. Briefly compare and contrast the musical and sonic details across the three genres you chose. What aspects of the music's sound do you think define or characterize each genre, and how do they compare with one another? As with past assignments, there is not necessarily a "correct" answer to this question but you should listen carefully to the details of how the music sounds and do your best to describe the qualities that you think give each genre its distinct character.
2. Briefly explain how and why you choose those three genres in particular. Did you pick them randomly? Search for genres that seemed connected to others you know? Choose them based on a cultural or geographic location? Search for a certain kind of sound?
3. Finally, drawing on this listening experiment as well as the assigned reading and instructor lecture, discuss the degree to which genres shape your own experiences as a consumer of music. Questions to consider might include: Are genres useful to you in navigating the vast possibilities of available music, or do they not have much relevance or usefulness for you? Why or why not? Do you associate with particular musical genres as a way to express your identity, or do you resist the idea of being perceived in terms of your musical tastes?
Music Writing
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Music Writing: Option Two
I chose to compare and contrast the three music genres in this essay: R&B, Hip Hop, and jazz music. Jazz is an exclusively American musical style that initially appeared in the first part of the 20th century. The beginnings of several Afro-American folk music genres, including labor songs, spirituals, and blues, are included. Other inspirations were band music from the 19th century and ragtime piano sounds. Jazz is distinguished by certain rhythmic sound patterns, harmonic approaches that are related to functional harmony but distinct from it, and the act of improvisation. Jazz has affected both traditional classical music and popular music, as well as. Sometimes the lines between things could be more apparent.
Despite Jazz's very recent history, it has produced several distinctive genres that non-specialists should be at least vaguely aware of. Jazz spans a wide spectrum, although the bulk of it is rhythmic, has "bent" or "blue" notes, and moves forward in a manner known as "swing." When one instrument, voice, or section of the band reacts to another, Jazz commonly utilizes "call-and-response" rhythms.
After the analysis of Jazz, R&B is a type of music that mixes elements of rhythm and blues, dance, soul, pop, funk, and hip-hop. Particularly in the case of contemporary R&B music, each genre has its distinct recording technique. Saxophone beats and drum machine-backed rhythms are frequently added to songs to give them an R&B vibe. R&B was initially defined by the rhythmic Blues singing of its performers, but modern R&B singers now often sing about sex, love, and relationships.
Hip-hop songs typi...