The songs that saved your life

Music as set of cultural practices

• Music as defining times, places, events

• Music as synching with technology

• Music as thematic and socialising or providing messages

• Music as defining group/ personal identity

Culture, Ideology and Music

How do we examine how music is used to transmit culture?

• Why is classical music considered high culture and popular music as low culture?

• How are ideas communicated through music – in the lyrics, the genre of music?

• How do music videos help this process?

• How does popular music help us to acquire identity?

Histories…

Looking at the history of popular music will help us to see how music became separated into popular and classical, what social trends are associated with which musical styles and how young people and fashion became involved.

Rise of popular music

• Gramophones and records were expensive and popular music mainly adult pastime

• New technology – production costs fell, radios became smaller – Sony transistor radios in 1955.

• Lots more radio stations – top twenty singles charts began

• Personal players etc

American lead in popular culture

• 1955 America – Free, consumer culture, following from full employment and affluent teenagers.

• Independence expressed in clothes, music and heroes

• Political tension between American and Russia – youth felt contemptuous of world created by parents.

• Cross over from black lead R&B• Music style rock ‘n’ roll arose to express this.

British rock ‘n’ roll

• Early fans called ‘New Edwardians’ or ‘Teddy Boys’. • The Teds disliked conformity, austerity and authority

(ideology). • Media says them as a threat to society – their tastes in

music, clothes and behaviour was a challenge to dominant ideology

• Singers of time – Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly. British singers Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Marty Wilde

Private space• MP3’s create private

space• View the world via the

tune/ influence mood OR shut off the world

• World now offers fewer shared experiences

• Cultural product create meanings

What does music mean to us, as individuals?

• Listen to the Radio 4 programme, Desert Island Discs or read the list of music from this week's guest or the archive list of guests from past weeks.

Each week a celebrity guest is asked to imagine they are about to be castaway on a desert island and they can choose the eight pieces of music which have meant the most to them in their life - either because it reminds them of a particular time, age, event or occasion. They talk about each choice to the presenter and then the piece of music is played.

• Imagine you are on Desert Island. Which eight pieces of music would you take, why? which have meant the most to you?

• Ask your parents and/or grandparents. What differences and similarities are there?

• What are the songs and or artists which define this decade for you? Can you compare to other decades?