Which is the greatest genre of music?

Subject: RE: Which is the greatest genre of music?
From: M.Ted
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 09:22 PM

Don't forget that Country & Western used to be "Western Swing", which was pretty solidly jazz, but with fiddles and steel guitars. And there is "rap" music that is funny, wise, and even very powerful--

As far as the greatest, everyone has their own taste, and you can't really argue with people's taste. I do think that Bossa Nova is probably the most complex, rhythmically and harmonically, and that is capable of expressing a great range of emotions with great subtlety, but then, not everyone goes for that, either.

I have noticed, and much to my despair, that far from being a "universal language", people can be extremely divided by music. Rap and Country seem to irritate and annoy some people to no end. And it wasn't long ago that rock, and before that rock and roll, were seriously denounced as tools of Satan.

So it will be interesting to see where this goes--

Subject: RE: Which is the greatest genre of music?
From: jimmyt
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 09:09 PM

fine, Joe I just wanted to start a dialogue about music ingeneral and why it is all good.

Subject: RE: Which is the greatest genre of music?
From: Bert
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 09:08 PM

Country.

Subject: RE: Which is the greatest genre of music?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 09:03 PM

Well, in my book, discussions about superlatives in music are futile. It's like arguing whether the ocean is more beautiful than the mountains - both have vast amounts of perfect and incomparable beauty. I think the same goes for music. Almost every genre of music has a number pieces that are at the pinnacle, that could be considered "incomparable."

In every genre you listed, I can think of pieces that I enjoy listening to, over and over again. In certain genres, there are pieces I enjoy performing, over and over again - never being able to exhaust the nuances of the beauty of the piece.

I think your last paragraph indicates you believe the same thing. In light of that, would you care to rephrase your question, so I can retitle the thread to something that doesn't become another futile argument about which incomparable piece is most incomparable?

How about "Musical Pinnacles"?

-Joe-

Subject: Folklore: Which is the greatest genre of music?
From: jimmyt
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 08:29 PM

I have been thinking about this quite a bit lately and would like your opinions. I grew up as a brass player and at that time had no doubt that the single greatest type of music was that music which had "lots of brass", concert band,etc. As I got educated, I became convinced that symphonic work was " the pinnicle of musical endeavor"

I loved rock and roll as a teen, and then got more and more interested in jazz, especially when Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago did that fusion of jazz and rock in the early 70's. Folk was always a wonderful medium for me ,and when disco came along I have to say that I really appreciated the complex orchestration although the music itself, especially the fact that no beat had distinction, was a bit boring to me. I played Dixieland as a youngster as well as a number of Minstrel shows,and always admired the folks that could keep that library of music in their heads at one time.   I even enjoy hearing a bit of barbershop from time to time. I have always enjoyed the pure technique of polka band musicians, zydeco players and bluegrassers. Now I am performing a do-wop show of 30 songs with 4 part "gee whiz," harmony songs and having a blast. My accompanist is a retired piano man who played 13 years on a cruise chip and gigged around Europe for 5 years just playing piano bars.

My sentament is that music is all wonderful, some of it appeals to me more than other types, but I have to say I enjoy all of it. I have to say country is not my thing but I appreciate the terrific musicianship that so many country artists possess. I have a bit of trouble getting the idea of rap, but hey, you can't have everything. Anyone want to elaborate on this? I am hoping to concentrate on the positive here if possible. Thanks for taking the time to comment   jimmyt