MJD
Silver Member
When i was in college I had one of those moments where a teacher said something which completely confirmed the way i had always defined pop music that i never questioned it. Until i got out of school and started talking to local musicians reading internet forums. He had said that Modern Western popular music starts in the Renaissance when composers started writing music that was for performance outside of the church and with non sacred texts. The way he viewed it, and I had up to that point and continue to do so,was there was Sacred music which was written for performance during a religious ceremony and Secular or Popular music that was everything else. I realize that this is a simplification of the 3 types of music ( Sacred, Secular, and Theatrical) that Renaissance authors referred to. The thing is when i say i heard a good pop song the other day and someone asks me who it's by and i say Nirvana or Slayer or Richard Rodgers they look at me like i have 2 heads. And i read people here who play in original bands saying how they love playing their stuff and hate playing pop music but i know they are playing clubs and not churches or religious festivals it confuses me cause i think of them as playing pop music too. When did the abbreviation Pop become a term for a style and not just a general umbrella term? I watched a vid on You Tube called Inside Pop which was a Television Program from I think the mid 60's and the sheer variety of styles that was on display is very much in keeping with my use of the term. It's not a term meant to be used as a descriptor of style but of purpose. I would like other's thoughts on this.