Music’s Reflection On Society
Ever since the Renaissance, music has had large impacts on our society. It’s impact varies from behavior and mood to art and clothing.
The Renaissance
The music in the Renaissance was based on modes. It worked around certain flows and intense harmonies. The clothing in the Renaissance was consistent of elegant dresses for the woman and puffy tops, pants and vests for the men. The Renaissance itself had a laid back and relaxed mood and feel. So it is visible how the music and style both reflected the atmosphere of the era.
The Baroque Period
The Baroque period was a period that focused on exaggerated motion and easily interpreted detail. Baroque was also a term used to describe the music of the time. There were many forms of music that were born in the era. Such as; concerto and sinfonia. Opera was also born in that time period. The most commonly used instrument in the Baroque period was the ground bass (a repeated bass line).
The clothing in the Baroque period was similar to that of the Renaissance. During the Baroque period, woman wore dresses and elaborate hats, and men wore tight pants and elegant robe, as well as hats. Wigs were also very popular in the Baroque. They were very tall and detailed.
Music from this period reflected clothing, in terms of exaggerated detail. It also reflected the mood of the time. The term “Baroque” literally means; a rough or imperfect pearl. So by the name, the mood was imperfect but beautiful just as the music was
1800s
During the 1800s, the classical music style was the most popular. With Beethoven and other composers. During this time, the romantic period developed and took place during a part of this century.
The clothing in the 1800s consisted of 2 different styles.
The Rich: Woman wore hoop skirts and bonnets. The men wore top hats and suits.
The Pioneers: The men wore something similar to the rich, but simplified. The woman wore long, simple dresses and bonnets, along with some sort of apron.
The classy style of the 1800s reflected the classical style of music. It shows how music evolves along with other components such as fashion and art.
The Early 1900s
The music in the early 1900s (1900-1920) consisted of swing, jazz and blues. 1910 was also known as the ballroom decade, so it also consisted of ballroom dancing and ballroom style music.
With jazz and a fun style music developing, the clothes and mood developed along with it. Moods became lighter and dresses became shorter. The music style was more fun and jazz was a developing style.
1920s
The nineteen twenties was all about risks; there was gambling, showgirls and fedoras. Not only were jazz styles developing but ragtime and Broadway as well. The music was light and more fun.
The style in the 1920s was short dresses and fedoras. It suited the risky style and the light mood.
1950s
The music in the 1950s was full of rock and R&B. Pop music was also developing near the end of the decade. The ‘50s fashion reflected the aspirations of the time. After the war, people preferred the security of conformity. They all wanted to fit in. In this case, rather than the clothing or mood reflecting the music, the music was the reflection of what people wanted. Freedom, self-expression and most of all joy.
1970s
The 1970s was the decade of disco. Disco consisted of Saturday Night Fever, Sister Sledge, Donna Summer, and more! Disco was also a reaction to the domination of rock and the introduction of dance music. The ‘70s was a battle of disco and rock. Disco was the “anti-rock”, formed out of dance music styles. There were also bands like Kiss that brought disco and dance together.
Disco’s reflection on society included language, style and clothing. The clothing for disco was colourful and open (it had a flow to it). The language consisted of terms like groovy and feel the funk. Disco incorporated this language into the songs, and it became slang.
1990s
The 1990s had two sides to it. The earlier part if the ‘90s was grunge, it lasted from 1991/94. And the second half was pop. The first half—Grunge—influenced clothing style. Pop influenced a new behavior. It was an urban style but more optimistic.
2000s
With the new millennium came new styles. Pop music and modern music made a breakthrough. With the change in music came a chance in clothing. The shorts became shorter and the clothing had more colour. Very similar to what we have today, except still a bit more classy.
Present
Now we reach our current music and style. Pop (or Modern) music continues to dominate the charts. But lyrics have become more inappropriate, which has reflected the dress. Especially in girls. There is more skin showing and less self-respect. Girls are dressing to please others instead of themselves, with the influence of writers Lil’ Wayne, Eminem and Pitbull. They obviously have their good songs, but more and more of them are abusive and demeaning to women. Some female artists aren’t any better either. They dress very openly and provocatively and sing about sexual pleasures.
In conclusion, music has evolved into something beautiful and frightening. It’s impacted our society in ways that we can’t imagine. And it will continue to do so. We just have to “tame” our music. We need to let the world know that it’s not okay to sing about abusing women or sexual pleasure. We need to bring peace and meaning back to our music.
Music Timeline
The Beginning: Theories
There are many theories to how music began; however, no one actually knows. Some theories have been collected and are displayed below.
1. Music was invented in Ancient China- there have been flutes found in areas where Ancient China used to be, that dated back to 7000 BC.
2. Music was invented by animals- they weren’t fully aware of the melody, but humans learned from animals. The sign, growl, bark, whistle and make plenty of other noises as well.
3. Music was invented in the stone age- a clarinet was found that appeared to be approximately 40,000 years old. The clarinet has a low pitch and a wild range.
4. Music has always been around- music was created by nature; water drips, wind howls, birds sing and thunder cracks. The bigger question is, who first realized that it was there. The fourth theory seems to be the most accurate. It addresses the fact that nothing like music could be invented by a mind as simple as the one of man, but rather that it was recognized at a point in time and man adapted it to be useable for them.
Music Timeline
The following timeline will include events in music history starting from the Renaissance. The Renaissance seemed to be an accurate place to begin because music had a breakthrough during the time period and became a mandatory element in the way of life.
1430: The Renaissance: There were three periods of music within the Renaissance. The first had a very flowing style- still recovering from the medieval period. The second was when the printing press started to print out music; this had a big effect of the music industry at the time and was titled a musical breakthrough. The third was when strings and brass became more involved as well as choirs and singing.
1600: The Baroque Period: This period marked the end of the Renaissance. It exaggerated motion and easily interpreted detail to produce various types of art, one of them being music.
The Oboe: The French were the ones to invent the oboe. It is a double reed instrument that has a similar appearance to a clarinet.
1625: The first stage opera by a woman is published (by Francesca Caccini): Francesca Caccini (1587-1641) was an Italian composer/ singer/ poet/ music teacher in the Baroque period. She was a well-known female composer that was very influential across Europe. She was the first woman composer to have a stage opera officially published.
1696: The metronome was first used with an instrument: Etienne Loulié invented the mechanical metronome in 1696, and then got the idea to use it with an instrument.
1720: The first piano was developed from the harpsichord: Bartolommeo Chrisofori in Padua, Italy developed the first piano from the harpsichord. The harpsichord piano was one of the most famous for its sound and complex strings.
1820: Louis Sophir invented the conductors Baton: The conductor’s baton is a commonly used device with which conductors make certain gestures, which instruct the orchestra how to play.
1829: Cyril Damien invented The Accordion: The accordion is a revolutionary instrument for it’s original shape, piano keys and different sound. Some accordions have different pitches according to the way they’re built, giving some more range than others.
1860: The slave trade introduces work songs and West African rhythms that influence blues and jazz: When the slaves listened to the music, they were influenced and started to share this kind of music. After that, it developed into blues and jazz styles.
1877: Thomas Edison invents sound recording: Sound recording’s invention is a fantastic discovery. It is a breakthrough for the music industry.
1883: The Metropolitan Opera house is opened in New York: The Met (for short) is the biggest classical music organization in North America, so its introduction showed a new side of music to New York.
1908: Arnold Schoenberg Book of Hanging Gardens influences a major change of classical music style: The poetry in the book gave music composers another take on the classical style.
1919: Chicago is established as the capitol of jazz: Chicago had an original jazz sound that went outside the boundaries of jazz. For this, they made it the capitol of jazz.
1936: Electric guitars come out: The first electric guitar was invented by; George Beauchamp, General Manager at National Guitar Corporation with Paul Barth who was the Vice President.
1951: Efforts are made to introduce rhythm and blue to a broader audience in which R&B gets its first reference as Rock’n’Roll: R&B was first introduced my African-American immigrants. They influenced their style of music by singing at work. This was the way it spread. In the 1950s they tried to get a broader audience, in the process of which, the title Rock’n’Roll was born.
1950s: Pop music is introduced: Pop came from the original from of popular. It originated in the 1950s when it branched out of rock and roll.
1956: Elvis Presley emerges as one of the world’s best rock singers: Elvis Presley, aka “The King (of rock)” lived from January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977. Presley was know for his rock music but also made it into the top 10 for country music from 1977 to 1981.
1959: First ever Grammy awards: On May 4Th the first ever Grammy awards were held. The Grammy (or gramophone) awards started on May 4Th 1959 and were held to celebrate the accomplishments of the artists of 1958.
1967: The Beatles release their iconic album: “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band.” Sgt. Peppers was the 8Th album released by the Beatles and sold 32+ million copies worldwide and had a big influence on classic rock styles all over the world.
1970s: Hip Hop is introduced: Hip Hop is a form of dance and singing that was introduced by the African-Americans and Hispanic Americans in New York in the 1970s.
1978: The first Walkman is introduced: The Walkman called the Steriobelt was invented in Germany in 1972. In 1977 it made it’s way to Italy and in 1978 it came to Canada and the USA.
1983: CD’s are introduced: The CD (Compact Disc) is introduced in Canada and the USA. The CD was a big evolution of Laser Technology for Sony Industries when they came up with the CD.
1991: Grunge is introduced: Grunge is introduces as an alternative form of rock. The band “Nirvana” played a big role in the introduction of Grunge music and when the lead singer, Kurt Cobain, passed away in 1994, Grunge hit a big decline in popularity. After that, Grunge bands started breaking up and lost popularity by the time 2000 came around.
2000s: Woman are dominant in music: Madonna and Britney spears, as well as other woman, take charge in the music industry and become dominant in music as well as in the Grammys
2003: The iTunes store debuts: On April 28 2003, iTunes made it’s first debut as a music store. It became the largest music store in Canada and the USA in 2008. On February 24 2010, iTunes got its 10 billionth song download. It currently offers 28+ million songs.
2003- Present: Music continues to progress and is still progressing today.
