Posted on 07/18/2010 7:35:16 AM PDT by mattstat
A “comedy rock” group which bills itself as the Axis of Awesome has independently discovered the Musical Badness measure. Recall, the Musical Badness measure says repetitiveness makes for poor music. This may be repetitiveness within a song, or even across a genre.
The Axis of Awesome have researched assiduously and found that the most popular pop music has only ever employed four chords, and no others. Just four, and the same four in each song; perhaps, but not likely, occurring in a different order.
Axis of Awesome (Contains bad language.)
More seriously, we have philosopher Roger Scruton, who said,
"Countless pop songs give us permutations of the same stock phrases, diatonic or pentatonic, but kept together not by any intrinsic power of adhesion but only by a plodding rhythmical backing and banal sequence of chords. This example from Ozzy Osbourne illustrates what I have in mind: no point in copyrighting this tune, though no point in suing for breach of copyright either."
(Excerpt) Read more at wmbriggs.com ...
AC/DC has basically one song....but what a song.
I really dig that show.
That touches on the unanswerable question about genius. Can anyone with enough persistence do anything a genius can? Or is there some ineffable quality to genius that just cannot be matched by mere mortals.
Susan's Spring (Draft Excerpt)
It's a "musical joke"....the jest being that I've used the Amen Break in a purely orchestral work.
I have talent and skill, but I do not possess true genius: if I were put in a room with a pencil and a stack of blank stave paper, I couldn't write this. Although I can hear it in my head, I need a piano to actually produce it.
Which is odd, because you'd think that with my skill level, I could write it without a piano.
People like Bach, or Mozart, didn't need the intermediary of an instrument. Mahler wrote his insane and brilliant Symphony No. 8 (which requires no fewer than 400 people to perform) in a little guest house with just a stack of paper and a pen. THAT is true musical genius.
Those types of musicians are considered geniuses simply because they're a step above skill and talent: possessing a truly complete understanding of their art and not requiring any to intermediary execute it.
“I don’t like RAP, however, to me RAP is just “bitching to a beat”...no music involved.”
As Greg Allman was said to have remarked when asked what he thought of RAP music; “Well, you left off the C....”
And Toki.
My favorite version is the original, by Richard Berry & the Pharaohs. My favorite Richard Berry opus is Baby, Darling, which he recorded with the Dreamers.
One might say it’s capable of shaking all night long.
That's just not true. They always modulated to another 3 chords -- and that's when the tops came off -- (or so I heard).
"here is growing, within popular music, another kind of practice altogether, one in which the movement is no longer contained in the musical line but exported to a place outside it, to a center of pulsation which demands not that you listen but that you submit."
The musical version of Islam, great.
[/sarc][/cynic]
Self promotion. Yea.
If you ever heard the Grateful Dead on a good night (many) then you know that good ol rock and roll four chord stuff is great, but then when the jams start, if they are inspired, woooooooooooo. There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert. Never will be again.
Lol. Ok.
Lolol
That’s lovely PB. My son is always putting music together computer. He was using Garage Band but now he’s got some other program he’s using, not sure which. He’s got his key board interfaced and just got something to interface his guitar. I thing he is a genius (but I’m biased).
I dont think they could say that about Frank Zappa, but he was also a composer along with being a virtuoso.
Well, there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.
Not too shabby.
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