When I am composing, I try not to take myself too seriously. By this I mean I view the process more like a playground to have fun creating simple, beautiful melodies. I love the melody and if the melody of the song is memorable and recognizable it is a success.
I think of myself as a storyteller, told through melodies and lyrics. Creating a beautiful melody comes easily to me and I can write many melodies each day. During this process, I always try to move away from my comfort zone, take risks, and break the rules. In this way, I try to challenge myself to create new melodies, harmonies, and concepts of how to tell the story.
The quote above gives a good insight into the history and role of pop music globally. I wonder if the musical aesthetics of pop music are restricted, or if they can be endlessly changing? The ultimate role of the composer/singer/arranger is to create beautiful melodies, combined with good lyrics and production values. These elements can create a song that will have a worldwide appeal. There are so many examples of great pop songs during the last 60 years, which have become cornerstones of our culture. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are just two examples of musicians who have created pop songs that are treasured and listened to for hours on end.
As a way of giving some context and background information about pop music, I will quote the first few paragraphs from the book 'On Popular Music' by T.W. Adorno.
'Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training. It stands in contrast to both art music of traditional or folk music. Art music was historically disseminated through the performances of written music although since the beginning of the recording industry. It is also disseminated through recordings. Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally, or to smaller, local audiences.
The original application of the term is to the music of the 1880s Tim pen Ally period in the United States. Although popular music sometimes is known as "pop music", the two terms are not interchangeable. Popular music is a generic term for a wide variety of genres of music that appeal to the tastes of a large segment of the population, whereas pop music usually refers to a specific musical genre within popular music. Popular music songs and pieces typically have easily singable melodies. The song structure of popular music commonly involves repetition of sections, with the verse and chorus or refrain repeating throughout the song and the bridge providing a contrasting and transitional section within a piece. In the 2000s, with songs and pieces available as digital sound files, it has become easier for music to spread from one country or region to another. Some popular music forms have become global, while others have a wide appeal within the culture of their origin. Through the mixture of musical genres, new popular music forms are created to reflect the ideals of a global culture. The examples of Africa, Indonesia, and the Middle East show how Western pop music styles can blend with local musical traditions to create new hybrid styles' (Adorno and Simpson, 1947, pp. 47–48).
POP MUSIC
In this section I will reflect on the concept of Pop music and the ways in which it has influenced my own compositional processes.
Oh Baby i love you
This is a song that I composed around 10 years ago in Helsinki. It was winter and I was upset.
Composer, Lyricist and Vocals: Gian Majidi
Piano: Edward Galper
Trumpet: Antero Priha
Performed during my Master's concert, December, 2019
