Few artists have created the kind of buzz that Lady GaGa has lately. One part Madonna, one part Freddy Mercury, and one part still to be defined, Lady GaGa is a true original. The driving beat of the club music of the eighties and nineties flows throughout a Lady GaGa download. Exploding on the national scene in 2008 her music is infectious, instantly familiar, yet fresh.
House music was the natural progression from disco to today. Music has always embraced an element of physical manifestation in dance. From tribal to techno music it makes you want to move. The feeling is visceral in wanting that kind of aural stimulation. Music is often referred to as the soundtrack of your life. Nothing could be more true. In every generation a new soundtrack comes to the fore. Beach music of the fifties, the British invasion of the sixties, disco in the seventies. There are even sub-soundtracks to satisfy the different movements within a decade. Some types transcend the different groups, others define them.
Classical music has enjoyed a long history and wide following. The core of this popularity can be attributed to the almost mathematical formulation of the genre. The complexity of the main melodies and background beats satisfies the listener based on an innate internal rhythm closely associated with the everyday rhythms of nature. Whether the heartbeat of a mother to her child, or the thunder of a waterfall, a song plays within the human spirit. A Lady GaGa download produces just that sort of feeling.
Country music has enjoyed a similarly long run within the context of the American experience. Drawing from grassroots movements, and using available instrumentation, country music can trace its earliest beginnings to the mountains of the mid Atlantic region and the west. In the east the influence was most deeply connected to bluegrass. Using simple instrumentation, the genre developed within the community describing the everyday trials and tribulations of the local population. Simple themes with heartfelt lyrics grew to a major musical influence. Supported by guitars, violins, and any available type of percussion instruments including cow bells and washtubs, the music grew organically and became widely accepted beyond the physical borders of the region. Much like the hill music of the east, the western music was fueled by the expansive nature of the environment and the need for connectivity in the open spaces. The vagabond nature of the genre was influenced by the music through describing the cowboy lifestyle and myth. Heavily influenced by the portability of the guitar, and often the harmonica, the music was brilliant in its simplicity and ability to tell the story of the Wild West and its romantic adventures. Cowboy music became the siren's song for the western expansion of the United States. The melding of western themed music and bluegrass became the foundation of genre of country music that we are familiar with today. Country music maintains the same themes of its ancestral roots in its basic melodies and slice of life story telling.
The evolution of music will continue to mirror that of societies as they develop and continue to intermingle. They will also be heavily influenced by the technologies that make it easier to transport and share the musical experience. Just like the music of the hills was transported from neighbor to neighbor, or the wild west via the westward expansion with railways and wagon trains, the technology that brings you a Lady GaGa download will deliver the music to others adding to the soundtrack of their lives. |