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From:  Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Date:  Mon Nov 18, 2002  10:45 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] amplification

Greypins@a... wrote:

> > But pitch and melody have little to do with
> > today's Pop music aesthetic that fill kids' ears.

> peggy,
>
> could you please site some specific examples of whom you are speaking?
> in my experience, as a teacher of young students (among others) who are
> interested in singing pop music, these students are quite good with pitch and
> quite good with rhythm, as well. perhaps the demise of 'happy birthday' is
> due to another unknown factor.

I just got back from out of town, and see lots of messages
in this thread, but since I am specifically addressed in
this early one, I'll write, and then work my way through the
others.

I'll gladly cite some examples. Of course, this isn't a
scientific study. But I put a lock of stock in "vocal
image" as it has to do with singing (or speaking for that
matter), i.e., what comes out of our mouths reflects what we
hear all the time.

When this started, I can't say. Probably with rock'n'roll.
But "in my day", there were plenty of real tunes to sing on
the radio. Everything Paul McCartney ever wrote. Mamas and
the Papas. John Sebastian. The Carpenters. Carole King.
Carly Simon. Janis Ian. I'm skipping sappy Pop, like Neil
Sedaka, Captain and Tenille, Debbie Boone. But that all had
tunes too.

But when I have have occasion to hear popular songs during
the last 10-15 years, I don't hear tunes. Going back a ways
- I can hear the sound of Madonna's HUGE hit, "Like a
Virgin" in my head. But I can't sing it. It's not a tune.
The way Madonna and her legion of imitators sing isn't
really singing to my ear - this breathy, soft sound which
seems half a whisper. (Kids stop reading.) Frankly, that
sort of pop singing sounds like a bad imitation of the sound
of a woman's sexual pleasure. And pop singers whom I know
can sing, like Celine Dion or Whitney Houston, the way they
choose to sing, I can't hear the tune - though no doubt if I
saw the sheet music, there's melody there.

And while I think that Rap, the "coolest" of the current pop
genres, is a terrific art form, and I agree with those who
say it is music, what it isn't is singing. Neither is
"metal".

Of course there are exceptions - 'N Sync and the other boy
groups sing in close harmony which reminds me of groups like
The Mamas and the Papas - though the songs are not nearly as
interesting to my ears.

My high-school Junior nephew - a very intelligent young man
who plays several wind instruments in his high school band -
was not ashamed to tell me he can't carry a tune (Of course
I told him he was wrong, he just hadn't learned how to with
his new voice.) It's definitely NOT the genes. Something's
wrong with this picture.

Peggy

--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...




  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date  
20993 Re: amplificationSteve Fosdick steve10z Wed  11/20/2002  

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