Hello everyone!
My inquiry question this semester is “What inspired pop music?.” To answer this question, I will need to understand what some of the most important things that create a pop song are. To understand what creates a pop song, I will have 3 different questions. The first question being: “Where does pop music originate?” The second question: “What elements are in pop music.” The third is: “What defines pop music?”
Where does pop music originate?
Pop music goes all the way back to the 20th century (1). It comes from the United States and the United Kingdom and rose to modern form in the 1950’s (1). The genres in a pop song include, ragtime, jazz, rock and roll, and blues (4). The most popular genre in the United States before pop music was where it is currently at today was rock and roll (2) which makes sense because at record stores, you will commonly see on CD’s or records label of a pop album it will say “pop/rock”. The most popular genre of music before pop in the United Kingdom is also rock and roll but in the United Kingdom, they also have their own version of rock which is called British Rock (3).
What elements make up pop music?
The elements that make up pop music are commonly electric instruments like, synths, electric guitars, drums, or drum machine, bass, computer, keyboards, and saxophones (5). Some of the things that make up a pop song are; a good rhythm, a catchy melody, and they are easy to remember and easy to sing along to (6). Some of the genres that brought pop music together are rock and roll, jazz, blues, urban, country, r&b, and hip hop (4).
What defines pop music?
Finally, what defines pop music? Pop music (popular music) is the now modern genre of music (7). Pop is now the biggest genre worldwide (8). Why and how did this happen? Well, pop music is used throughout many commercials, played on local radio stations, and commonly played in public the most (7). Pop is also known for its catchy beat that you cannot get out of your head. Many pop songs sample from older songs from different genres which is where pop gets some of its inspiration from other genres as well (5).
Next post: The next round of research I will be researching more about pop artists and what inspired/influenced them to create their music. To understand this topic even more I will research about some of the most mainstream pop artists of today and back in the day. I want to understand this so I can get an idea of how pop artists may have inspired each other or who inspired them that was not a singer or had a passion in music. I feel like this could also help me with my inquiry question overall!
Thank you for reading!!
Sources:
https://study.com/academy/lesson/history-of-pop-music-facts-timeline.html
https://www.listadiscoteca.net/en/history-of-pop-music/
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/the-history-of-pop-music
https://study.com/academy/lesson/history-of-pop-music-facts-timeline.html
https://www.musicalmum.com/instruments-used-in-pop-music/
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Hi Hannah,
Great post! It was so interesting learning about the history of pop music, and where it came from. Another thing I think would be interesting to research is if pop music is declining? Like will it ever lose its popularity? When will people be sick of it? It seems like you already have a good project plan though so this is just an idea! Also for your next post, maybe number your citations at the bottom so they’re easier to keep track of when reading your research!
Keep up the good work and i’m looking forward to reading your next post (:
-Shaila
Hey Hannah,
This is an awesome topic and I really enjoyed reading your post. I love all kinds of music, including pop and I really liked learning about the elements of pop music, what defines it, and where it started. I think it would be really cool if you talked about what makes pop music so popular and why people tend to like it. What about pop is so appealing to humans as a whole?
Here are some sources that might help with your research!
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/pop-the-worlds-most-important-art-form/
https://dana.org/article/why-do-we-love-music/#:~:text=Our%20rich%20phenomenological%20experience%20of,memories%20of%20other%20sounds%20and
Your project is great, and I am excited to see more of it!
-Natalie
Hello Hannah,
Great blog post! I love listening to music, and I have wondered the same question too. Pop music is just music or songs that are very popular for a period of time, so would classical music be considered pop music as well, for that most of the classical music was famous worldwide at the time they were released? What would the future “Pop Music” be like?
Here are some websites that might help you:
https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/qy3i75/what_do_you_think_the_future_of_pop_music_will/
This is a reddit thread, I don’t know if you would really be interested but there’s that.
https://integr8research.com/blog/what-drivers-license-tells-us-about-the-future-of-pop-music
https://www.wbur.org/news/2015/09/14/future-pop-music
Hey Hannah,
Fantastic blog post! Today’s world depends heavily on music, so it was interesting to learn the history of one of the most popular genres. I also agree that pop music is so popular because of its catchy lyrics and upbeat rhythm. A question I have is how pop music affects our brains positively and negatively? Maybe that’s something you could look into. Otherwise, good luck with your next blog post, and here is a link to the first pop musician in history to help you with your next round of research.
Link:
https://study.com/academy/lesson/history-of-pop-music-facts-timeline.html
Mahdiya A.