Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poll: other music style preference


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Posted by JE on August 15, 2003 at 17:01:48:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poll: other music style preference posted by GC on August 14, 2003 at 20:13:29:

Well, I listen to rap (albeit a limited amount) such as Wu-Tang Clan, some of the old 2pac stuff, and so on. I also listen to (in addition to classical) classic rock, oldies, funk, Motown era R&B, jazz, blues, classic country ala Johnny Cash/Wille Nelson/Merle Haggard, yes, Broadway show tunes as well, basically I don't prejudge music just because of its genre. You can say that all rap is degenerate and lacks any semblance of quality, and you'll be saying the same thing that people said about rock music 50 years ago, about jazz 30-50 years before that, and about the waltz even further back in history.

As far as content goes, I don't see anybody on the board railing against violent action movies. I love The Godfather but I am certainly no murderer; I can make the mental distinction between fantasy and reality.
As to the quality of rap music being inherently lacking, beauty is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder. Some of the good rappers are absolute masters of the art of musical phrasing, whether anybody wants to admit it or not. I have learned a great deal about how to speak the musical language from (surprise) rap music. The way some rap is orchestrated/mixed is very good as well, such as the Wu Tang Clan's extensive use of some excellent violin playing.

"very few of my high-smarts students have an interest in rap... the ones that do have had less exposure to good music and are far more interested in the social scene than learning"

Although in your case, the statement in quotations may be right, I have a feeling that your statement is being made out of prejudice and ignorance. How well do you really know your students?
Most of my teachers have said that I am either the most, or one of the most, intelligent student(s) they have ever encountered, in a classroom or otherwise. I certainly place learning above the "social scene" in my personal list of priorities. And I definitely have been exposed to a large amount of good music. I've been part of choral, orchestral, band, jazz, rock, rap, country, and blues performances in venues ranging from churches to bars to sold-out concert halls. I've lived a lot of good music in many different styles during the relatively short time that I've been alive and my musical tastes sure aren't limited.

All I am trying to say is that classical musicians looking down on *all* rap as being too pedestrian is like rappers or rock musicians looking down on *all* classical music as being too boring and not "cool" enough. Both perspectives are skewed because they make generalizations about an entire genre of music instead of judging each example at face value.

Please don't forget that music, like spoken language, is a communicative tool, and that your (whomever this applies too) lack of fluency or familiarity in a certain form of the language doesn't make it any less important or necessary.

JE




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