Classical music and popular music
The relationship (particularly, the relative value) of classical music and popular music is a controversial question. Some partisans of classical music may claim that classical music constitutes art and popular music only light entertainment. However, many popular works show a high level of artistry and musical innovation and many classical works are unabashedly crowd-pleasing. Thus there is the category of serious music, excluding those crowd pleasers, only including real monumental and creative works of art that contribute to humanity, very much like literature.
It might be argued that, at least on the average, classical works have greater musical complexity. In particular, classical music usually involves more modulation (changing of keys), less outright repetition, and a wider use of musical phrases that are not default length--that is, four or eight bars long (however, much minimalist music goes against these tendencies). Also, it is normally only in classical music that long works (30 minutes to three hours) are built up hierarchically from smaller units (usually called movements).
This not to say that popular music is always simpler than classical. Both jazz and rap make use of rhythms more complex than would appear in the average classical work created after the Renaissance and before the twentieth century, and popular music sometimes uses certain complex chordss that would be quite unusual in a common practice period classical work. Also, popular music uses many "associational" or "intensional" features, such as rhythmic and pitch inflection, not analyzable by traditional methods.
Classical and popular music are distinguished to some extent by their choice of instruments. For the most part, the instruments used in common practice classical music are nonelectrical and were invented prior to the mid-1800's (often, much earlier), and codified in the 1700 and 1800's. They consist of the instruments found in an orchestra, together with a few other solo instruments (piano, harpsichord, organ). The electric guitar plays an extremely prominent role in popular music, but naturally plays no role in classical music, and only appears occasionally in the classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Both classical and popular musicians have experimented for the last several decades with electrical or electronic instruments (for instance, the synthesizer or electronic tape), and instruments from other cultures (such as the gamelan).
An interesting speculation is whether works of popular music are likely to achieve the kind of permanence that works of classical music have achieved. Prior to the advent of audio recordings, this was not a possibility, since popular works are generally identified with the performance of the artist who created them. However, since high-quality audio recordings have now existed for over fifty years, the possibility of popular works achieving some kind of permanent, enshrined, status now presents itself, and is probably happening now in the case of the most outstanding artists.
Classical and popular music interact in the phenomenon of crossover.
Role of classical music in education
Throughout history, parents have often made sure that their children receive classical music training from a young age. Early experience with music provides the basis for more serious study later. Some instruments, such as the violin, are almost impossible to learn to play at a professional level if not learned in childhood. Some parents pursue music lessons for their children for social reasons or in an effort to instill a useful sense of self-discipline; lessons have also been shown to increase academic performance. Some consider that a degree of knowledge of important works of classical music is part of a good general education.
Related genres
Composers of classical music
Terms of classical music
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