Introduction
When you listen to the first song you've ever heard, what is your initial thoughts that comes to mind? What artist sings the song? What musical genre is this song categorized in? Genres of music date back to "the late 19th century with discoveries by Thomas Edison and Emile Berliner." But what exactly is a music genre? A music genre is a classification system that classifies music into different styles. It’s the art of incorporating instrumental and vocal tones in a structured manner that gives the music its distinctive character. A music genre or subgenre may be defined by the musical techniques, the cultural context, and the content and spirit of the themes. As a result, all artistic compositions that belong to the same music genre share some similarities in form or style.
Task
You and your classmates' task are to come up with three different musical genres that you believe are mostly played in Louisiana. Afterwards I want you to tell me three reasons why you believe that genre is played the most and what makes a person physically and emotionally attached to that genre. You will have until class time tomorrow to finish and present your assignment in front of the class.
Process
- Brainstorm ideas on how to organize your information to present to the class
- Research genres played in Louisiana and the history of music around it
- Elaborate upon your reasoning for the genre (example: "Jazz", listening to jazz is said to "relieve stress and tensions" as if you're in a spa)
- Elaborate upon your reasoning for the "bodies" that the genre bring (example: "Pop", listening to pop is said to instantly energize and catch a person's ears)
Evaluation
Within this assignment, students should be able to:
- Grasp the beginning of music genres and what a music genre is
- Understand diverse musical genres
- Understand why people love certain genres and the history behind them
- Describe what separates one genre from another
Conclusion
There are several ways to categorize music into different genres. Because music is an artistic medium, these classifications are frequently arbitrary and contentious, and some genres may overlap. There are a variety of academic approaches to genre. The musical techniques, styles, context, and content and spirit of the themes can all be used to define a music genre. Upon finishing this assignment, students will be able to interpret musical genres, the history of genres, the diverse number of genres, and how musical genres changed throughout history not only in Louisiana, but also around the world.
Credits
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