Where did the melody go? (2017)
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Where did the melody go? (2017)
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Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#2[deleted]
Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#3> While nobody knows for sure, it is believed that when music began, the most dominant if not the only element was rhythm. No melody, no harmony – just rhythm. At first it may have been random objects, and later drums. This may have been thousands of years ago, but at the time, that was it.
What is the evidence for this theory? People sing in all sorts of societies all around the world. Are there even examples of human societies without singing?
It’s hard for me to imagine some time “thousands of years ago” when there was no singing or other melodic music of any kind, but only drumming on “random objects”.
If there are direct examples of 35,000 year old flutes, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/science/25flute.html then presumably this “thousands of years ago” referred to is considerably older than that.
> Melody was probably the next element that came into play, mostly through the various religious chants; in most cases with little to no rhythmic or harmonic context.
Chanting and singing are two significantly different forms, and chanting does not necessarily have much if any melodic content. It does not seem to me that one is obviously primary; people continue to do singing and religious chanting side by side in many cultures.
Maybe there’s some better evidence about this somewhere? It would be nice to see something more convincing.
Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#4Just saw a great youtube video about this.
Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#5> While nobody knows for sure, it is believed that when music began, the most dominant if not the only element was rhythm. No melody, no harmony – just rhythm. At first it may have been random objects, and later drums. This may have been thousands of years ago, but at the time, that was it. What is the evidence for this theory? People sing in all sorts of societies all around the world. Are there even examples of hum…
IMHO there can be no direct evidence, only speculation.
My thought is that it's easier to make sounds in a rhythm (on/off) than it is to control the pitch of those sounds (relative to previous sound).
Also thousands, I think, is probably an underestimate by a couple orders of magnitude.
Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#6Just saw a great youtube video about this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Vn9V-tRCo
Every Frame a Painting has a video talking about how big budget movies tend not to have recognizable melodies, as well:
Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#7Although the author points to the 17th and 18th centuries (Bach et al.) as the age of polyphony, polyphonic music and counterpoint were certainly highly developed in the 15th (Josquin) and 16th (Palestrina) centuries as well.
Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#8Modern music has regressed into something primitive and tribal. In other words, completely mind numbing garbage. And it just gets worse every year.
Post Malone is a good indication of just how fast Western society is falling.
Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#9Modern music has regressed into something primitive and tribal. In other words, completely mind numbing garbage. And it just gets worse every year. Post Malone is a good indication of just how fast Western society is falling.
You should hear what my dad had to say about Elvis!
Re: Where did the melody go? (2017)
#10Does the author mean mainstream "on the radio" pop, or the plethora of music we not explore and listen to on music services? I've venture to say the Top 100 lists occupy a smaller proportion of today's listeners thane ever before. We are unconstrained. And melody is out there.