Separate or Unify

Every now and then I find myself injecting the word 'music' into sentences that weren't even related to any musical endeavor whatsoever (I like the alliteration on the last 2 words there). That left me with "Classical music vs. Popular music", but I still wasn't satisfied. Going for a more peaceful approach, I decided "Classical music & Popular music combined" was going to work for me.

When I ask people of my age group, most of them do not like classical music whatsoever. Even people not that interested in music usually say "Oh, I like all kinds of music... Except for Country and Classical, of course.". I, in my everlasting superiority, consider the majority (this means "not all of them", bare that in mind please) of my age group doomed for all eternity, so I'll look back to 'older music', as well as more alternative blends of classical and modern music. I'll define classical as orchestral music for now, as that just makes things less complicated. I obviously understand and hear that it's not the same, but most people wouldn't know the difference.

A good example of one of the earliest combinations of orchestral music and 'popular' music (apart from jazz) would be The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby, an absolutely brilliant, albeit a bit overused, song.



For those who are not too familiar with the song, just listen to it. Sit back and enjoy, don't over-analyze it, and just soak up the music. The only difference between this and other Beatles-music is that they traded in their usual guitar-bass-drum sound for something way more intricate, complex; something with more melodic possibilities.

If you've listened to the song as a whole, you've probably mainly listened to the vocals. That's not a bad thing, it's a brilliant song like that. But if you pay attention to the strings in the back, this song's perhaps even more beautiful without the lyrics. Even if you're not that keen on the sound (which I wouldn't understand, but hey, tastes differ), just try to think about the sounds anyways. You should be able to understand that this 'classical' way of making music has more layers, more possibilities, for one simple reason: it has many different instruments doing many different parts.



In the late 1960's a band known as "The English guys with the big fiddles" started to perform. They continued taking rock music in the direction "that the Beatles had left them", this meaning that they used violins, cellos, horns, woodwinds and string basses, to give the music a more classical sound. This band was called the Electric Light Orchestra, a name which I can only imagine scared a lot of pop/rock listeners at that time.

"An Orchestra? Sorry, but I like all kinds of music, except for country and classical!"



This truly was brilliant music, which, using modern instruments as well as these dusty classical instruments, plus some great vocal harmonies, produced a sound that I can only describe as epic. And I'm obviously right, because even brilliant, creative and talented artists like The Pussycat Dolls sampled ELO! (Just see if you recognize the part @2:39)

After this the world of progressive rock evolved, sprouting artists such as Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and many more.

Continuing towards the present, there were also many people who simply raped classical music. In the 80's, many rock artists implemented pieces of classical music in theirs, just to look distinguished and cultured. This was brilliantly caricatured in the 1984 mockumentary "This is Spinal Tap", as you can see below.



I may be skipping some other uses here, but the next big stop for me would be progressive metal. Oh yes, the big, evil world of metal, where everybody's a screaming lunatic that only enjoys the loud pounding of guitars. Screw melody, screw lyrics!

Sorry, it's just not that simple. As the almighty Wikipedia defines it:

"Progressive metal (sometimes known as prog metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal, which blends the powerful, guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and intricate instrumental playing of progressive rock."

I'll be the last one to say that I'm an expert on the field of progressive metal, as that requires a lot more of theoretical knowledge of music, but I do know what pleases my ear. Some of this progressive stuff can indeed be a bit tóó progressive for my tastes. But the prime example of beautiful progressive metal to me is Dream Theater. Using a simple setup of Guitar, Bass, Keyboards and Drums they are able to produce giant, heroic pieces of music in which you can clearly hear classical influences.



As for people that take the appreciation of classical music way too far in my opinion, I can simply name the genre neo-classical metal. Using Yngwie J Malmsteen, an incredibly talented guitarist, don't get me wrong, as a prime example. All of this music is based around the classical scales, often even 'stealing' parts of classical pieces, it could've been incredibly beautiful... Too bad that it just evolved into one big see-how-fast-I-can-shred fest.




I guess that was it for this time. I'm sorry for overusing the 'embed youtube' code, but when we're dealing with music, it's just essential for the reader to actually... Hear what the hell I'm talking about.