Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hooks, a mainstream style, and conventional structure.
The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" (see Popular music), but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternative to rock and roll.12
Style
The standard format of pop music is the song, customarily less than five minutes in duration, with instrumentation that can range from an orchestra to a lone singer. Despite this wide scope, a typical lineup in a pop band includes one or two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer (or an electronic drum machine), a keyboardist and one or more vocalists.
Pop songs are generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element, a mainstream style and traditional structure. The most common variant is strophic in form and focuses on melodies, catchy hooks and the appeal of the verse-chorus-verse arrangement, with the chorus sharply contrasting the verse melodically, rhythmically and harmonically.3 Lyrics in pop music are frequently about love, relationships and life experiences. The primary objectives of the pop music genre are audience enjoyment and commercial success.4 This of course does not imply that those goals are achieved by every song in this genre.5
History
The origins of pop music can be traced back in Napoli, Italy, in 1679, when Alessandro Scarlatti composed his first opera, or even earlier, when Francesco Provenzale coined the musical language that Scarlatti popularized: light, lively and catchy.citation needed They placed the emphasis on arias, clearly separated from the "recitativo", and grounded the arias on a strong sense of rhythm and melody. The song, "Slide, Kelly, Slide," is generally credited as the first "pop hit" record,citation needed after its release by America's Edison Studios in 1894. The song was written by a singer named J.W. Kelly about eccentric baseball player, Mike "King" Kelly of the Chicago Colts.
References and notes
- ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary: pop" (html). Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Allmusic genres: pop" (html). Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Allmusic genres: pop" (html). Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Hill, D. (1986). Designer Boys and Material Girls: Manufacturing the 80's Pop Dream. Blandford Press. "Pop implies a very different set of values to rock. Pop makes no bones about being a mainstream. It accepts and embraces the requirement to be instantly pleasing and to make a pretty picture of itself. Rock, on the other hand, has liked to think it was somehow more profound, non-conformist, self-directed and intelligentyahoo.com."
- ^ "United Kingdom Broadcasting Act 1990 — Part III, chapter I, article 85, point 6" (html). Retrieved on 2007-12-01. "Pop music includes rock music and other kinds of modern popular music which are characterised by a strong rhythmic element and a reliance on electronic amplification for their performance (whether or not, in the case of any particular piece of rock or other such music, the music in question enjoys a current popularity as measured by the number of recordings sold)"
See also
Bibliography
- Adorno, Theodor W (1942) "On Popular Music". Institute of Social Research.
- Bell, John L. The Singing Thing: A Case for Congregational Song. GIA Publications, 2000. ISBN 1579991009
- Billboard Genre Index
- Frith, Simon; Will Straw; John Street (eds). The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock. Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0521556600
- Johnson, Julian. Who Needs Classical Music?: Cultural Choice and Musical Value. Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0195146816
- Pleasants, Henry (1969) "Serious Music and All That Jazz". Simon & Schuster.
- Roxon, Lillian (1969) "Rock Encyclopedia". Grosset & Dunlap.
- Gillet, Charlie (1970) "The Sound of the City. The Rise of Rock and Roll." Outerbridge & Dienstfrey.
- Middleton, Richard (1990) "Studying Popular Music". Open University Press.
- Bindas, Kenneth J (1992) "America's Musical Pulse: Popular Music in Twentieth-Century Society". Praeger.
- Clarke, Donald (1995) "The Rise and Fall of Popular Music". St Martin's Press. http://www.musicweb.uk.net/RiseandFall/index.htm
- Lonergan, David F. Hit Records, 1950-1975. Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8108-5129-6
- Negus, Keith. Music Genres and Corporate Cultures Routledge, 1999. ISBN 041517399X
- Maultsby, Portia K (1996) "Intra- and International Identities in American Popular Music." Trading Culture.
- Official UK Charts Company information pack
- Dolfsma, Wilfred (1999) "Valuing Pop Music: Institutions, Values and Economics". Eburon.
- Shuker, Roy. Popular Music: The Key Concepts. Routledge, (2 edition) 2002. ISBN 0415284252
- Starr, Larry & Waterman, Christopher (2002) "American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MTV". Oxford University Press.
- Frith, Simon (2004) "Popular Music: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies". Routledge.
- Dolfsma, Wilfred. (2004) "Institutional Economics and the Formation of Preferences: The Advent of Pop Music". Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Watkins, s. Craig. Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement. Beacon Press, 2005. ISBN 0807009822
External links
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