The Art Of Rock And Roll By Charles Brown

The Art of Rock and Roll by Charles Brown


     The book “The Art of Rock and Roll” by Charles T. Brown basically

proposes methods for analyzing music and anyone who reads the books should be

able to develop techniques for listening to music and making legitimate

statements about it.  It treats rock and roll as a serious art form and traces

it cultural roots throughout the book.

     Chapter one discusses the elements of rock and makes four assumptions.

Assumption one states that  rock is a legitimate art form.  An art form is

defined as a creative act that springs from the artist's experience as it

reflects or reacts against society. It then states that acculturation, a process

by which a certain people are influenced by a foreign culture, changed the Afro-

Americans from their original culture to one that was a mixture of U.S.

influences and African roots which played a large part in the way rock and roll

sounds today.  Brown proves rock is a legitimate art form by talking about its

audience and  its lasting power.

     Assumption  two states that  rocks roots are in folk, jazz, and pop

music. Musicians who first started rock and roll must have had something to base

their music on which turned out to be primarily folk, jazz, and pop.  They

simple changed the pattern and style of that music and started forming rock.

       Assumption three states that it is just as valid to study rock and

roll as European classical music.  Rock will prove to be a valid means of

producing competent musicians and that it demands the same type of performance

as in any musical form.  Since it is a valid way in which to study music in

general it is just as valid to start with rock as starting anywhere else.

      Assumption four states that simple musical analysis of selected

compositions is a primary tool for understanding musical evolution.  Through

musical analysis we are able to generalize and say that rock from a certain era

has common characteristics.  By doing this we are able to see what influences

lead rock to where it is today.

     The chapter then goes on to discuss the elements of music which are

nonverbal communication, melody, rhythm, harmony, lyrics, and performance.

Music is nonverbal in that it communicates through organized sound and is

difficult to translate, the other elements are what make the sound organized and

meaningful.  Melody is an organized set of notes consisting of different pitches.

 It is basically the up and down motion of the lead singer.  Rhythm is those

beat of patterns that underlie most forms of communications.  It is made up of

pulsations that follow a consistent pattern.  It will sometimes show us the

emotional feel of a song.  Harmony is the simultaneous sounding of two or more

notes at the same time.  It provides a texture for the total song.  Lyrics are

the words used in the song and usually tell us what the song and mood of the

song is about.  Performance tells us the purpose, function, and impact of a

certain song.

     Music generally reflects the value of society.  By using the elements of

music you can begin to make assumptions about how rock and roll reflects its

society.  It quickly took on an attitude of rebellion and eventually became a

symbol of independence for youths

     Chapter two discusses the listening skill needed to better understand

music. Through listening we can define the social impact of a rock group and its

musical style. This purpose of this chapter is to outline ways in which the

individual can create his or her own system of analysis.  The chapter then goes

on describing what you need to do while listening to music to better analyze it.

First you need concentration, you need to change your attitude towards the music

you hear everyday and block out any interference, we must treat it seriously and

analyze it fairly even if we we don't like it.  Then you need to dissect what

your hearing.  You have to decide what to use for a reference point and listen

to the song more than once.  Your first time listening to it you should get a

gen
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