i know i have been mainly writing about the history of music and songwriting and singers but, now im switching it up a bit. im going to talk a little about the history of what really brings music alive. instruments! we all know about the basic instruments....wind, percussion, string, and brass which are the main 4 groups. instruments use the same notes and pitches as singing but they're just worded differently. Music alphabet is still A,B,C,D,E,F,G, flats, and sharps. The flats are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb,Cb, and Fb. The sharps are F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#. With singing A-A B-B C-C D-D E-E F-F G-G are all octaves and it is the same way with playing an instrument. Besides the pretty obvious differences both singing and playing an instrument are pretty similar, they both need breath control, tuning/preparing, practice, and the strive to simply not give up. 

i have made pretty good progress so far but, right now im currently stuck. music has been around for a long time. music has always been there to inspire others, tell a story, tug at hearts, and to also make people confident. even though music has changed throughout the years it still serves the same purpose. music has evolved in ways and has took a turn for the worse in other ways. With good music there is always bad. in my opinion music was much better when singers who actually had talent could get on the radio and people who couldnt didnt. It seems that there is more autotune and people who shame others on the radio then good music and nice singers. All around music still serves the same purpose it did ever since the beginning.

i know i have talked more about mainstream popular songs and singers, but now im going to do a genre of music not very mainstream......christmas music for the season! christmas music has always been a favorite usually popping up on radios from close to the end of november to even January. christmas music is like a folktale...... all the same meaning, all the same story but changed a little with different singers and different styles of singing them.  christmas music has been around for centuries all around the mythical person....Santa Clause. Christmas music originated around 760 A.D when a Roman Bishop said a song called "angels hymn" should be sung at a christmas service in Rome. This tradition kept on going from early A.D times to now. Christmas music started in the Middle eastern region and was brought to America over time.

an over view

from the 11th century up until the 1800's instrumentals were more live stream then actually singing but, during the turn of the century in the 1900's singing became more mainstream. Eventhough, women singers were very uncommon there were still some. during the 1910's till about the 60's songs were very fast paced but, the fast pace up beat music slowly died down when entering into the 70's. more meaningful and slower songs slowly began taking over the radio and store shelves but thats just the beginning of the long journey ahead.

with moving into the 90's - now songs begun expressing a more meaningful vibe. The only frustrating thing ive encountered has been running flat on ideas. The process has been going fairly well, i have progressed from the 60's to now and will hopefully branch out to B.C and A.D times until i get to the 50's. after i discuss the Era's i hope to go over more history then songwriting.

with moving onto the 80's you find more meaningful songs and less fun loving songs. A lot of great artists came from the 80's though, such as cyndi lauper, stevie wonder, and The judds. more meaningful songs began popping up everywhere like "Grandpa tell me bout the good ole days" by The Judds,. Even though music was switching to more meaningful songs there were still some fast paced fun songs like "hit me with your best shot" by Pat Benetar and "i love rock n roll" by Joan Jett. The choir class im in does actually help with this project. The way it helps me is with teaching me more about music and the way music is written. right now im researching to get a feel of different music eras. I dipped into the 60's, I'm dipping into the 80's, and i will cover the 90's, the 50's, the 30's and even ancients styles of music. I hope to dip into seeing if there is anything music related with Mythology. i havent had too many successes since im just dipping into the eras at the moment. The 80's is a mixture of the 60's fast paced and fun music and the turning of the century with becoming more meaningful.

The first step im taking is comparing the way that songwriting and music has changed between the 1960's to now. in the 1960's music started taking a turn and begun having a more meaningful twist. while some songs tugged at your heart others still had that up beat no care feel. i feel that most music nowadays lack that meaning. from the beach boys to the beatles and even Elvis it was evident that music wouldnt be the same. right now im having troubles finding a good way to compare the styles of songwriting from the 60's to today. What i have been successful at is comparing the difference in beats. For example Mr. Bass man by Johnny Cymbal (1963) is very fast and up beat and fun while Bubbly by Colbie Caillat (2007) is more slow and heartfelt which goes along with what i said in the beginning. The 60's is the era where everything took a turn. fashion, government, songs, prices, and even T.V shows. The beginning of the change in music started in the late 1950's early 1960's when more meaningful songs started climbing the charts. Some songs that represent the turn of the century consist of Patsy Cline - I fall to pieces (1961) and even Loretta Lynn - You aint woman enough (1968) which represents women rights and power.

for my 20% time i will be working on song writing and music in general. i anticipate my first steps in planning will be looking up different techniques of writing. i also anticipate that researching will be a little bit tricky with actually trying to find good enough examples.