different genres:
Including pictures and videos of different artists in that genre, like their live performances compared to studio work etc. Different examples of how the artists came about fame and maintained it. How different artists in different genres perform, i.e. a jazz performance is much more chilled than a pop artists stage presence who tends to have all the lights and choreography. What are the different big labels and managements that work with those kind of artists, i.e. Scooter Braun tends to work with a lot of pop artists. The different songwriting styles of the different genres, like how is the rhyming schemes in hiphop and pop etc. Do artists of particular genres tend to lack more of an audience connection due to their stage presence? How has that artist or artists from that genre, influenced different genres/artists in modern music today? Has the genres/artist influenced you, if so, how?
I chose this subject because there are so many different genres and they’ve developed so much over time so I think it’d be really interesting to understand the history of it. Knowing the history of different genres can help me develop my own music and try to be influenced by some older artists, so that I can draw in a wider audience that includes an older audience etc. Understanding all the different genres could also help me write in different genres, instead of being influenced by the same things.
theory
What is the importance of music theory? How does it allow more flexibility, especially during a live performance? How does it allow your music production, and creation overall, to develop and advance? Does it make the artist better if they know theory? Who founded different theories and how did they discover it? Does music theory allow you to make more complex music? Is making more complex music better than the simplistic pop music, or won’t it really make your popularity any different? How is the circle of fifths going to be used in practical? Is sheet music that important in todays era? Does music theory allow you to be able to develop your ear so you can play songs by ear better or is that actually nothing to do with theory at all? Is theory a necessity? Examples of artists who know theory and how it made an impact on their work.
Understanding theory will help me when I’m performing live because it means that if someone asks me to play in a lower key, I’ll know how to do it. I think it’ll also be beneficial to know theory because then I’ll hopefully be able to play by ear and be able to sight read, meaning that I can actually learn songs faster and develop songs into a more complex way. If I understand theory, it means that my songs can be more complex and they don’t end up sounding too much like everything else in the chart, which is why most people complain about Pop music.
history of music
How did different genres influence each other? Why are certain genres more popular than others? Why are some genres more complex than others? Should you be able to play and perform in all genres or doesn’t it matter? How have different genres been influenced by social/ political/ race and gender issue? How was different instruments made? What places they originated from? How has culture influenced different genres/ instruments? Examples of big musicians throughout different genres and how they influenced modern musicians today. How has the digital era changed different genres? How has the modern era of feminism caused a change, I.e. little mix’s influences in their music.
Understanding the history of music can help me understand the cultural aspects and how music developed over time. I can see how the social issues can actually be used to create art that helps push for a better future. It’s all really interesting to see how modern artists today have been influenced by an 80’s artist, and it’s interesting how much of an impact the digital age has had on the industry.
Artwork
Does it matter what the subject of the photo is? How do you pick out a subject? Does the colours change the emotion? Does the colour actually matter at all? How do you have hidden depth in artwork? Is there a particular theme in the art work in certain genres? How does the artwork create an initial feeling or emotion? What do different photography tools do? What’s the most important thing in the artwork?
Artwork is really important in portraying emotions/ just enticing people to listen to your music, so I need to know what the most effect ways are to do this.
live performance
How has the digital era changed the live performance, i.e. if you have a lot of cool stuff in a music video, will the audience be expecting you to have a really cool set design live? Is it more pressure in todays era? How does the fact that a video can be posted to the internet forever, change the way artists perform? Do people really prefer choreography over a more intermit performance? How come most artists don’t play instruments anymore? How has costumes developed over time?
I find it really interesting how live performance has developed because many artists spend so much money on props and dancers etc, but is it really worth it or do people prefer the more up close performances? I think it’s important to know though so that when I perform, I’ll understand the most effective way to draw in the audience because I’ll understand what those audience types want to see.
Digital era
Social media means that you get the opportunity to have different persona’s for each era, is this more difficult or better? Is it easier to promote yourself in the digital era? Is there more pressure on artists because whatever is put on the internet, stays there forever? Has merchandise changed? Have influencers changed the industry? Has virtual concerts created a new way of performing for the future because you can have way more people see it?
I think it’s important to know about the impact that the digital era is having on the industry today, because it’s only going to develop more and have more of an impact on the industry as we go further into the digital era. Understanding the impacts that the digital era has on the music industry, kind of gives you a leg up of how you can use it to promote yourself and gain more of a following etc.
Music in literature
Is the literature still that important in todays era? How has the digital era effected the literature? How is it made? Who made it? What are the different aspects of this part of the industry, like sheet music compared to theory books etc. Does it make you a more advanced musician is you read music literature?
I think it’d be interesting to see how it has developed over time because, in the digital era, a lot of people don’t read so I think that might have had a detrimental effect on this side of the industry.
Therapy music
Is this a modern practice? Does it work? How does it work? Does the music frequencies made a difference in what the music is being played for, i.e. 8-13 Hz can help with anxiety etc. Who’s idea was this? Does music really convey emotion, like pop music could be happy but rock could be angry etc. Does music really help plants grow?
I think it’s a really interesting concept that music can actually be used to heal and I think it’d be really good to research because there’s so much speculation, on whether it works or not, that there’s a lot of different arguments to look into.
Money and power in the industry
Why do some roles get payed a lot more than others, when they don’t do as much? What is the hierarchy of the industry? How much control does the artist really have? How much of the money they make, do they really get to keep? Could one person really be successful in the industry with no team?
There’s a lot of debates in the industry on how much creative control the artist gets or if they’re actually payed fairly in the industry so I think it’s really important to understand, especially if I’m going into the industry.
Improvisation
How can it help your live performance? How does it impact your songwriting? What is needed to have good improvisation skills? Is theory a must? Are scales important to have good improvisation? How well round to you need to be on chords?
I feel like it’d be beneficial to me to understand how to improvise, because I can easily learn a song but I can’t add my own little touches on it, that I think comes with improvisation.