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Valery Hernandez

ENGL 1102

March 18, 2014

Assignment 2 Draft

Introduction:

With the help of iTunes, iPods, Youtube and other social networks, music has slowly

become more and more popular throughout the years. New genres have been created, more

musicians have been discovered and more people have fallen in love with music. Newer genres

such as pop/rock. alternative and techno have become more popular. People listening to music in

public (grocery store, gym, school, park, etc,) has become more common. Social networks such

as Youtube, Instagram, Vine, etc. have helped discovery new musicians.

Personally, music is a big part of my day to day life. I listen to music whenever I can, at

the gym, in the car, doing homework, walking around campus, doing my chores, and sometimes

in class. Even when I was younger, music was a big part of my life; both my parents were

“music junkies.” They had a collection of CD’s and of Longplay’s (LP). Music has stayed

constant in my life for many reasons. In general music has been great motivation. Not only does

the beat keep me motivated but the lyrics keep me motivated as well. Most of my favorite songs

have motivational/ inspiring lyrics. Certain lyrics can help me get through a bad moment and

others can help me maintain a nice peaceful day. Since music has been part of my daily life for

many years, it is hard for me to go through a whole day without music. As I get ready for school

I have music playing to help me stay awake. While I am walking around campus I have my

music in to avoid certain situations. In my car I blast music to keep me entertained and to make

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my car rides a lot smoother on bad days. I listen to music while I am doing my homework, it

helps me stay concentrated; the only condition is I cannot listen to a song I love because I will

get distracted. Even as I am falling asleep, I am listening to music. I dread the day when I will

not be able to listen to music for a certain reason.

The majority of teenagers and young adults feel the same about music as I do. Music is

also a part of their daily routine. They believe music has a positive effect on their lives. Some of

them do not realize how much of an affect music has on them. Music as a whole can have many

positive effects on people.

Terms:

Music: A type of art that expresses emotions, interests and significant ideas, using vocals

And instruments. Uses elements of harmony, melody, and rhythm.

Soloists: A musician or singer that performs by themselves.

Duos: A pair of musicians that perform together.

Bands: A group of people who create music and perform music together. Rock bands are

the most common band.

Pop/Rock: Genre mix of both rock and pop. Normally includes the catchy pop style and

guitar based beat of rock. The first awards won for pop/rock occurred in the 1970’s.

Maroon 5: Categorized as a pop/rock band. They originated in Los Angeles, California.

They released their first album “Songs About Jane” in 2002. As of 2014, they have

released four albums.

Positive Influences to Better Music

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Music making is a different experience for all musicians including soloists, duos, bands,

etc. They all experiment with different techniques in order to make the best music. According to

Katie Overy (2012), “forms of music making tend to include social interaction, synchronization,

body movement, and positive shared experiences.” This is why she believes working in a group

(bands) helps better music. When working in a band “exuberant, whole body synchronized

movement” are all involved. These involvements give the band members “opportunities for

variation, creativity, leadership, limitation, error, and humor.” All the opportunities help the band

members grow as musicians, which influences their music. Overy also strongly believes musical

learning in childhood can have a positive impact on their future, especially if they aspire to

become musicians one day. Musicians who have previous musical experience will have a better

understanding of music, which will have a positive influence in the process of the music making

for them. Therefore, it will make their music more successful.

Making Music Popular

According to Nikolas Coupland (2011) sociolinguistics impacts songs and how popular

they are. Context and voice placement affect songs the most. Most musicians think the effect of

voice and place, will shape the meaning of a song. Coupland points out certain limitations

musicians have that impact how popular their songs are. These limitations include: “equating the

voice with speech” and “distinctive perspectives of variations and performance-oriented

sociolinguistics.” As time progresses there is a shift in who is associated with popular songs.

This requires musicians to keep up with these shifts. These shifts occur randomly, which make it

harder for musicians to come up with the next popular song. Popular songs are unpredictable,

there is no set genre or musician that will always come out with a popular song. It has occurred

various amounts of time when a musician who has not come out with a song in years, comes

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back with a popular song. The opposite has also occurred, the musician that is expected to come

out with a popular song disappoints and releases a song that does not appeal to listeners. This

could be caused by a change in the musician’s voice placement.

Maroon 5:

Progression

In 2007, Maroon 5 was under a lot of pressure with their release of “It Won’t Be

Soon Before Long.” Since their first album “Songs About Jane” (2002) was a bigger

success than predicted their fans were expecting the new album to be a bigger success.

With their second album, Maroon 5 decided to draw from classic pop artist, such as

Michael Jackson. They continued to draw from other artists in their future albums. Most

of the artist they draw from are musicians that inspired them or that continue to inspire

them. These inspirations vary from different genres, which is one reason why they slowly

progressed into pop/rock when they originally started off as rock.

Changes in Genre

With each album Maroon 5 tends to focus on a certain genre; this has been

criticized by many journalists, such as Adam Markovitz (2012). Markovitz believes

Maroon 5’s crossover between rock and pop do not fit them. Their newest album

“Overexposed” (2012) did not balance well between “rock-grit and dance-pop glitz.”

journalists, on the other hand, believe Maroon 5’s crossover was successful. They were

able to successfully balance both rock and pop without being able to distinguish each

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genre individually. Being a band that uses cross over genre makes Maroon 5 and their

music more original compared to other bands. Their unique music also helps them

become more popular and well known around the world.

Influences

Music was a big part of most of the band member’s childhood, especially for

Adam Levine. During one of his interviews for Rolling Stone with Scaggs Austin (2004),

he commented on how his mother was the main person to turn him on to music. Levine

began his first music lessons when he was a young child. His idols and influences are The

Beatles, Billy Joel, and Stevie Wonder. These influences helped Levine grow into the

musician he is now. The other band members from Maroon 5 also had influences of their

own, but they are not mentioned. As time passes Maroon 5 will become influences for

other rising artists/ musicians. Influences help create musicians, those musicians become

new influences, this then becomes an ongoing cycle.

Entering the Conversation:

Music is used in many ways worldwide and is seen in many different environments,

especially in public. Studies have shown how music has positively affected people; Overy,

author of “Making Music in a Group Synchronization and Shared Experience”, would agree

with this statement. Music can affect people by motivating them, helping them consecrate,

inspiring them, etc. The affects music has on people is mainly impacted by the situation they are

in or the environment they are in.

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The creation of iPods and playlists for cellphones has made music portable and easier for

people to enjoy music anywhere they go, especially for students. The obsession with being able

to listen to music in school begins as early as elementary school. Students have their headphones

in while their waiting for the bus, on the bus, walking in the hallways, and on some occasions

even in the classrooms. Even in college you see students walking around campus with their

headphones in. This is common for many reasons. The most common reason why students enjoy

listening to music in class is because it helps them consecrate. While they are listening to music,

they are able to block out their surroundings and focus on the task they are working on. Though

the majority of students would agree that music helps them concentrate most schools, such as

middle and high schools, have banned iPods from classrooms. Most teachers consider them a

distraction. On a few occasions teachers allow students to listen to music, with some conditions,

because they also agree it helps them concentrate. The school bus, is another common place

where students tend to listen to music, especially in the morning. Most schools start around 7

a.m., which is too early. The majority of students are half asleep waiting for the bus, once they

get on the bus and sit down they are instantly blank to fall asleep. The only possible thing that

can keep them awake is music, more specifically their favorite song. Once they hear their

favorite song they are automatically awake, in a better mood and more ready to get through the

day. Music can quickly set any grumpy tired student in a better mood.

Though many people may not realize this, but music can be considered motivational. One

of the most common situations where music is used to motivate is at the gym, most people

workout with music. A good percent of people at the gym have their headphones in as they are

working out. Most of them have playlist made especially for their workout. The playlist most

likely consist of songs that are fast paced and that are also upbeat, some genres include pop/rock,

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techno, and rap. People regularly prefer to listen to this type of music as they work out they want

to keep up with the beat of the song, which motivates them to keep a consistent rhythm/ pace

throughout their work out. Music has the power to increase endurance and it has the capacity to

energize. For example, someone on the treadmill will most likely be listening to pop/rock. They

want to keep up with the fast paced beat of the song, so they are motivated to run faster. Music

can also motivate us to keep up with our daily life tasks. It is hard to listen to an upbeat, fast

paced song without wanting to dance or get up and move around. This will motivate us to get

tasks done at a quicker pace because we automatically want to keep up with the song and

maintain the same rhythm/ pace as the song. Music serves as a push to keep us moving.

Most successful singers/ performers were introduced to music at a young age. They were

put in singing lesson and/ or lessons to play a certain instrument. Being introduced to music at a

young age inspired most of them to become singers/ performers. Adam Levine from Maroon 5,

is an example of an artists that was inspired by music from a young age. His mother introduced

him to famous artists, such as The Beatles, when he was very young. He shares this fact in one of

his interviews for The Rolling Stones. One of the biggest artists that inspired him was Stevie

Wonder. It was not only Stevie Wonder that helped Levine fall even more in love with music,

but it was Wonder’s music as a whole. Levine is just one of the many singers/ performers that

have been inspired by music. Not only is music inspirational to the artist, but it is also

inspirational to the listener. Some people enjoy listening to music because of a certain beat or

rhythm, but others pay more attention to the lyrics rather than the beat or rhythm. Certain songs

are considered inspirational, because they have a certain meaning or message. One of the most

famous songs that is considered inspirational is “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson. The line in this

song that most will consider inspirational is “I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly, I’ll

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do what it takes til’ I touch the sky.” This line inspires people to do whatever it takes, and to

fight through any situation in order to achieve their goal. There are many other songs with this

similar message.

So What?

Is this research even important to you? Yes. Music is slowly becoming an important

factor in people’s lives for many reasons, which they might not even know. Not many people

realize/ know the affect music can have on them. The majority of these affects are positive, and

they help the listener. Music helps us become better workers by helping us block out distractions

and keeping us concentrated. Motivating us to keep moving and maintaining a constant pace not

only in the gym but also in our daily life and our daily routine, is another example of how music

can impact us positively. There are times when we need a small “pick me up” or when we are

feeling a lack of inspiration. In times like these music is one of the best remedies. Artists and

their music also have the power to inspire others to become musicians and to create music of

their own that will one day inspire others; this is a never ending cycle. Music can impact people

in many other ways that we do not realize. Have you ever thought of the many ways music can

impact you in your daily life and in the long run? How different would our lives be without

music? What will be used to help us concentrate, motivate us, inspire us, etc.? What could

replace music?

Conclusion:

Research has been done to prove how music can affect people in positive ways. This

research has come to have many good outcomes. Allowing students to listen to music while they

are working on class work has proven to help them concentrate. Listening to music allows them

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to block out their surroundings and any distractions that may cause them to not finish their work

on time. It also allows students to maintain awake and aware throughout the day, especially in

the morning. Not only is music helpful for students, but it is also helpful for people that work

out. Music helps them remain motivated by making them maintain a constant pace/ rhythm. This

helps them get the best out of their work out. Music helped Adam Levine and many other

musicians by inspiring them. Especially since their love for music began at a young age. Many

people know music has a positive effect on them and their lives, but many failed to realize how

much affect music really has on them.