Vincent Rabiola is a songwriter, singer, scriptwriter, director, actor, etc. He has driven, a team player, motivated, and love working in a creative environment.
2. What is music?
o Music is organized sound created by human voices
or instruments.
o Some historians believe that music started with
the desire to imitate sounds in nature.
“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human
nature cannot do without” - Confucius
Vincent Rabiola 2
3. “Music is love in search of a voice” - Leo Tolstoy
“Without music, life would be a mistake”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and
philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the
spirit lives, thinks and invents." - Ludwig van Beethoven
“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of
boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must
be paid” - Frank Zappa
Vincent Rabiola 3
5. Most of us listen to
sounds made popular in
our commercial
culture: TV, movie
tracks, concerts, clubs,
malls…
Vincent Rabiola 5
6. • The more that we hear the same sound, the more
it becomes familiar to the ear.
• The more familiar we become to hearing
particular types of sounds the more we can decide
what type of music “sounds good”.
• By using the same elements to create a similar
sound, the audience identifies particular sounds
and groups them into categories of “style”.
• Similar styles of music can be contained under a
larger category called a “genre”
Repetition
Vincent Rabiola 6
7. Religion
• During the middle ages and the time of the
Renaissance era, the church had much greater
control of what the people could experience
culturally and the type of music and sounds that
could be played. During this time, what was
“popular” was greatly restricted by the church.
• As the church began to lose some of its dominance
in the mainstream culture, people had more
freedom to choose and create music with fewer
limitations and restrictions.
• “Minor” sound, complex rhythms and untraditional
dynamics and tonalities began to be explored.
Vincent Rabiola 7
8. Evolution of musical sounds
• As time passes, the “same old sound” may begin to
lose popularity with the mainstream audience.
• Newer sounds that have evolved from the old sound
begin to emerge and change the way particular styles
are played.
• If the change in the style is drastic enough and
establishes enough fans, an entirely new genre is
born.
• Inevitably, these new sounds eventually will become
familiar again and they too will be considered “old.”
Vincent Rabiola 8
9. Technology of musical sounds
• In taking a closer look at how sounds can evolve to
form a new genre, we can compare the music of
the Classical period over 150 years ago to the
music of just 75 years ago, the age of Jazz and
Swing music.
• During the very early years of Jazz music,
instruments were more similar to a concert band
but shortly after the birth of Jazz a single drummer
on a drum set became essential to every band.
• 150 years ago, in the height of the classical era,
this would not have been possible because the
drum sets were not invented until the early 1900s.
Vincent Rabiola 9
10. Technology + Evolution
• Just as the drum set and a new style of playing called
“improvisation” ushered in a new genre called Jazz,
the invention of the electric guitar by “Les Paul”
paved the way for a new genre called “Rock ‘n’
Roll”, which evolved from the sound of “Blues
music.”
Vincent Rabiola 10
11. Political
• Sometimes music gains popularity for
political reasons, as seen in the rise of
folk music during the anti-war / peace
movement of the 60’s.
Vincent Rabiola 11
12. Regional
• Throughout history, genres are developed in a
particular region.
• “Tango” traditionally originated among European
immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay
but it’s still a dominant part of their culture.
Vincent Rabiola 12
13. • We can see this regional factor in the
birth of “Grunge” in Seattle, in the
early 90’s.
• Bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana
collaborated and influenced each
other in a way that was isolated to
the rest of the pop music world at
that time.
Vincent Rabiola 13
14. . . .we see how music influences the way we dress,
act, and relate among the people in our culture.
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Vincent Rabiola 14
15. Lifestyle
• A new genre of music often emerges because people
believe it gives them the power to express
themselves or the certain type of lifestyle that they
have.
David Bowie
Vincent Rabiola 15
16. Lifestyle
• Again, we can see lifestyle play a role in people’s
choice of music, such as “Glam” and “Goth” music.
“Glam”
“Goth”
Vincent Rabiola 16
17. • Sometimes, a genre is popular just because of the
way it is delivered or expressed.
• One of the main reasons, Disco music became
popular in the late 70’s was for its regular bass beat
which made it particularly fun for dancing.
Expression
Vincent Rabiola 17
18. Lifestyle + Expression
• Hip-Hop is an expression of the trials of the
inner-city lifestyle and the emotions that are
associated with it.
• Usually there are combination of reasons that
ultimately makes a genre of music popular.
Vincent Rabiola 18
19. In Review. . .
Although we didn’t cover every reason that
makes a genre popular, we can see that
some of the main ones are:
• Regional
• Political
• Lifestyle
• Expression
• Repetition
• Religion
• Evolution
• Technology
Vincent Rabiola 19
20. Results of the survey from our class:
Today’s 3 most popular genres: Hip-Hop, Pop, Rock
What makes genres popular? Most popular answer,
“we hear it all the time”
Where do you get your music from? Internet, iTunes,
and friends.
Do you download illegally? YES (8) NO (5)
Vincent Rabiola 20
21. FYI: According to the Recording Industry
Association of America
Top 5 Diamond (10 million copies +) albums:
1.Eagles “Greatest Hits, 1971-1975”
2.Michael Jackson “Thriller”
3.Pink Floyd “The Wall”
4.Led Zeppelin “Zeppelin IV”
5.AC/DC “Back in Black”
Vincent Rabiola 21
22. Top 5 selling artists of all time:
1.The Beatles
2.Garth Brooks
3.Elvis Presley
4.Led Zeppelin
5.Eagles
Vincent Rabiola 22