Deciphering what art is can be complicated because art is whatever you decide it is or isn’t—kind of like how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Art serves as a tangible expression of our identity. Whether you’re the creator, interpreting its significance in your unique manner, or using it as a mirror to reflect your values and beliefs, its ability to symbolize who you are is evident.
However, when trying to explain art, we can break it down into seven different categories:
- Painting, drawing, caricatures, etc.
- Sculpture
- Architecture
- Literature
- Cinema
- Theater and,
- Last but definitely not least, music.
We can look to Artland Magazine to define these terms and look deeper in depth if needed. By far, my favorite art style out of the primary seven categories would have to be music.
History of music
When looking into the history of music, we can date all the way to the dawn of time, to be somewhat exact, over 530,000 years ago. The first form of music created was singing, which we know by looking at fossil evidence.
The BBC Science Focus magazine tells us, “Based on fossil evidence, humans likely first had the physical ability to sing, due to the development of the horseshoe-shaped hyoid bone in the throat” this is when the birth of music and modern oral communication.
Moving closer to the modern era, and what form of music was most fluent with recorded music. The first ever record of recorded music was a snippet of the song “Au Clair de la Lune”, this was recorded on April ninth eighteen sixty. The History channel states this happened “17 years before Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville made a recording on a “phonautograph,” which worked by tracing sound waves onto paper blackened by smoke.”
From the phonautograph to the phonograph, we slowly evolved our listening styles to records and record players, then later to cassettes, CDs, and then eventually online media streaming.
When briefly looking into the history of the different styles of music, we must break it down to better understand;
- Classical music, one of the oldest formalized genres, is known for its complex compositions and orchestral instrumentation.
- Jazz, on the other hand, is celebrated for its improvisational nature, characterized by swinging rhythms, blue notes, and the unique use of instruments like the saxophone and trumpet.
- Rock music emerged in the mid-20th century, known for its electric guitars and strong beats. Subgenres like punk, heavy metal, and alternative rock introduced different expressions of energy, angst, and innovation.
- Pop music, with its catchy melodies and straightforward lyrics, is crafted to appeal to a broad audience and often dominates radio playlists.
- Hip-hop, rooted in rhythm and poetry, combines beats with lyrical storytelling. It has evolved from a voice of the streets into a global phenomenon, influencing fashion and culture worldwide. Electronic music, driven by synthesizers and computers, creates a soundscape perfect for dance clubs, with subgenres like techno, house, and EDM.
My favorites
Within the genres mentioned above of music, there continue to be subgenres of these with subgenres within those. It’s never-ending! This is a perfect representation of how art is never-ending, and as I stated before, there’s something for everyone as the amount of music created increases by the day.
My all-time favorite style of music, being one of the smaller subgenres of rock, is Yacht Rock. If you’ve spent any time surfing the channels of Sirius XM or iHeart Radio, you may have come across the best channel that either of these services offers: Yacht Rock Radio.
Now, what is yacht rock? Basically, this category of music is cheesy music from the seventies and early eighties. Some songs that would be recognizable as yacht rock would be :
“Ya Mo Be There” By Micheal McDonald
“Just Remember I Love You” By Firefall
“Arthur’s Theme” by Christopher Cross
“Rock the Boat” by The Hues Corporation
“Georgy Porgy” by Toto.
The yacht rock category of music gained its name in 2005 at the hands of actor/screenwriter J.D. Ryznar. Reading Apple Music’s description, he “wrote, directed, and produced a TV series for the Los Angeles short-film festival Channel 101 called Yacht Rock. The idea was to tell comically overblown backstories about the creation of a strain of ultra-smooth music from the late ’70s and early ’80s.”
Continuing, we read, “As entertainingly corny as some of the tracks here are, they also represent some of the era’s more serious songwriting efforts, exploring themes of longing and regret with a muted tension not even the slickest production could fully smooth over—a sense of contrast and depth the music doesn’t always get due credit for.”
Another genre that has to be a close second for me to yacht rock would be country. Country music stems closely from the blues genre of music, originating in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the early nineteen twenties.
Looking closer, specifically in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia, where the music began. Within the country category, some subgenres are Folk, Rock Country, and Pop Country. Some of my favorite songs are “I Was Wrong” by Chris Stapleton, “Springsteen” by Eric Church, “Good Lord Lorrie” by Turnpike Troubadours, and “The Ride” by David Allen Coe.
Country music exemplifies an outlaw lifestyle and storytelling in a colorful, creative way; nearing the twenty-first-century post 9/11, country music has been seen as a patriotic togetherness. This is a prime example of how society and the climate of the world heavily influence music.
The reasoning behind my talking about my favorite songs is that they perfectly exemplify how vital art is to society. Most of the songs I listed were recorded, produced, and released decades before I was born.
How is art important to society?
In conclusion, art can transcend generations, impacting hundreds of thousands of people, even people who may not speak the language that’s being sung; the melody and the beat are what moves us as a people. Gloria Estefan was right; the rhythm will eventually get you (haha).