Classical and Popular Music: Appropriateness of Academic Consideration of Study Methods - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... One such reason as advanced by (Weiner, 2011) is how accessible music has been. To this end, there exists a clear remarkable difference in accessibility of ‘popular music’ and ‘classical music’ According to (Kennedy, 2007) Classical music is the art music which is produced in, or one that is rooted in the traditions and cultures of Western liturgical and secular music, that can be traced back to music that originated around 11th century to present times. Classic music differentiated from other kinds of music by its system of staff notation whereby composers prescribe the performers speed, meter, pitch, and individual rthyms and the execution of any music type. Popular music is classified to several musical genres and is associated to a wide large number of audiences and fans in the music industry. (Tara, 2012) Different scholars have differentiated views when it comes to the difference between classical music and popular music. Some are of the view that classical music has complexity when it comes to thematic development, harmonization, modulation, texture among others. They argue that the classical music is more structured than popular music and having more form. Another group of scholars is of the view that classical music is more of an art while popular music is more for entertainment. Despite all this however popular music is considered to be very artistry and therefore very popular. Suggestions by (Macan, 1997) argue that in today’s world many people are of the opinion that classical music has an elite clientele and patronage where on the other hand popular music has an international more off universal appeal with a general popularity across all types of people in the world.Classical music unlike the popular music has a structured, more unified and a strict body and composition.Classical music is considered to be more repetitive as compared to the popular music .The rhythms of classical music and popular music are thus very different and have different types of genres to their list. Unpopular Musicology Musicology is the study of music, which includes relevant cultures, music forms, genres, styles and traditions and it tends to be included in a combination of musicology, ethnomusicology, and other humanities. (Covach, 2001)Views among musical scholars and academicians argue strongly that the word ‘popular musicology’ is an inappropriate term to fully describe popular music discipline and justifiably deduce the methodologies used. In this regard John Covach is of the opinion that for scholars of music to study popular music, the study must be involved in“issues that already exist in the current discourse, or because [the issues raised] extend or are closely related to issues within the current discourse.” He goes ahead to conclude that, “the study of popular music opens up new repertories and introduces fresh perspectives on current issues in musicology; thus, it expands our understanding of the history of music and enriches our relationship to music itself.” (Covach, 1997) Within this paradigm popular music as a type or classification of music has been excluded from musicology and this has led to one of the most persistent criticisms and has since recently been included in the study of musicology. (Weiner, 2011) In the past in the 1990`s the works of musicology, historical or theoretical deeply ...Download file to see next pagesRead More