HIT MUSIC RECORDS

In popular music, country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic music, blues, gospel music, and old-time music that began to develop rapidly in the 1920s. The term country music began to be widely applied to the music in the 1940s and was fully embraced in the 1970s while country and western declined in use.

However, country music is actually a catch-all category that embraces several different genres of music: Nashville sound (the pop-like music very popular in the 1960s); bluegrass, a fast mandolin, banjo and fiddle-based music popularized by Bill Monroe and by Flatt and Scruggs; Western, which encompasses traditional Western ballads and Hollywood cowboy music; Western swing, a sophisticated dance music popularized by Bob Wills; Bakersfield sound (popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard); outlaw country; Cajun; zydeco; gospel; oldtime (generally pre-1930 folk music); honky tonk; Appalachian; rockabilly; neotraditional country and jug band.

Each style is unique in its execution, its use of rhythms, and its chord structures, though many songs have been adapted to the different country styles. One example is the tune “Milk Cow Blues”, an early blues tune Kokomo Arnold that has been performed in a wide variety of country styles by everyone from Aerosmith to Bob Wills to Willie Nelson, George Strait to Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley.

Classical music in its widest faculty is captivated to accredit to music anticipation from abstruse traditions, accomplished through institutions either accurately adherent to music (e.g. avant-garde Western) or through institutions or traditions (typically religious) committed to manual of specific schools of music. Classical music is appropriately assorted with accepted or folk music.

In the English language, the appellation “classical music” is usually a homophoric advertence to European classical music and its acquired styles, and is not often acclimated to accredit to acceptable agreeable styles of added regions. It can additionally backpack the specific acceptation of concert music dating from the aeon of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and their actual successors. This Classical music era is appropriately acclaimed from, for example, the music of the above-mentioned Baroque and the consecutive Romantic eras. It is with account to this closing assize that the appellation ‘classical music’ was aboriginal used, in the 1820s and 1830s, denote a anatomy of music that was compared to the classical traditions of art, carve and architectonics of Ancient Greece and Rome.

It’s fun to make your own library of classical music recordings and decide which classical composers and their music pieces you would like to include. One way is to do this is to purchase the CDs of your choice from the local chain stores. But the problem here may be the high CD cost the local stores may charge due to the overhead charges. Moreover the local store may not be able to provide you the music piece or the composer of your choice.

You are therefore left to rely on the Internet for downloading music CDs. The Internet is indeed a veritable ocean from where you can take as much music as you like sitting in the comfort of your home. There is a wide margin of choice, and a lot of competition among the vendors too. Therefore with a little search you can download the best quality music of your choice at cheaper rates. Besides the competition and the wide choice, the net vendors of classical music can afford to sell the music at cheaper rates due to the absence of overhead charges that your local store has to bear. Download of music on the Internet also eliminates the shipping charges because you are not asking for the CDs, which can only be sent by post.

It is no secret that over the past couple decades country music has struggled with it’s identity far more than any other genre in the industry. At this point nobody can really claim to be a country music fan without being questioned what kind of country fan? The answers being seemingly endless, I’ve broken them down into a few main categories (but really, there could be so many more).

Pop Country

This category could really be referred to as “Nashville Country.” It hosts probably about 90% of the country music out there. I often find people not wanting to admit in conversation that they’re fans of this category. They like to talk about how they love Willie Nelson and mouth the words to Merle Haggard songs even though it’s obvious their faking it. Then they get alone in their cars and unwind by driving down the highway, blasting Shania Twain on the radio, and singing along at the top of their lungs. Let me just say, there’s nothing wrong with that, like what you like. Nashville record labels pick very talented, often attractive singers that perform with some great bands. They also have some of the top songwriters and composers in the industry working for them.

One criticism I would have against this category…In recent years, there has been a rebellion of sorts against Nashville music from musicians in both the Rebel and Texas sub categories (see below) with songs booing Nashville and praising the old timers. Sometimes this gains them popularity and they get so popular that they land a big contract with a Nashville record company and for some reason everybody is perfectly comfortable with this phenomenon. This is what I like to refer to as “Pat Green Syndrome”.

Rebel/Rock Country

Very liberal people are who you tend to find in this category. These artist just do whatever they feel like doing, and consequently there are not many of them, or at least not many of them that stay popular after their initial shock value wears off. They are usually independent and like letting it all hang out. A good example currently in the limelight is Gretchen Wilson. Others that haven’t quite reached her popularity level, but have been around for a while include Ray Wylie Hubbard and Todd Snider.

Sometimes the guys in this category derive quite a bit of their rebelness from incorporating rock into their music. Good examples of this are Robert Earl Keen and James McMurty (I highly recommend both of them).

Texas Country

This category has developed into somewhat of a music cult, and it stretches all over the United Sates. (Note, this last month there was a huge three day Texas music festival in Colorado). It’s popularity started off with the likes of Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Gary P. Nunn. What really sent it off in recent years was the popularity of Robert Earl Keen, Cory Morrow, Pat Green, and Jack Ingram. It plays extremely well in frat houses across the Lone Star State. While the guys mentioned earlier have taken off in a different direction, new artists like Max Stalling, Mark David Manders, and Ed Burleson have started to take their place. If you ever watch this development, it’s easy to see that the Texas music industry is growing so fast that it will probably soon be just as big as Nashville’s.

Old Country

If you can sing the words to three or more Willie Nelson, George Jones, and Johnny Cash songs please come in. If you can sing along to Patsy Cline, Charlie Rich, and Hank Williams please take a seat. If you can croon all night with Bob Wills please let me get you a beer, I’m glad we met. Welcome to the old country category, sadly a lot of people find it boring here.

Real Old Country

Most people in this category know how to yodel. They’ve probably witnessed someone play the bones, if they do not already know how to play them themselves. The people in this category refer to each other as “folks” and recognize that country’s roots derived from folk music. This category requires being able to enjoy sitting on a front porch sipping ice tea in the middle of the summer while some old man plays “Streets of Laredo” on an old Gibson. Indulging in campfire banjo playing helps as well.

If you’re like me, you probably have your favorite category and then like some things out of each one. There’s not really any one way to define country music, and with it being an ever-changing industry there probably never will be. One thing that doesn’t change though, no matter which category, you can still dust of your boots and take just about any country song to the dancehall with you.

Finding lyrics to country music is a popular search item for country fans. Many people are looking for the lyrics of their favorite new country songs. You can also create your own lyrics. Creating new country music song lyrics are definately within your reach by following some simple steps. Here are some tips to create your next country hit. Also included is ‘The Components of a Song’ which can be used as a quick reference guide.

Ideas on Creating New Country Song Lyrics

1. Write about your own life.
2. Write about your family.
3. Write about someone else you know or people on the street.
4. Write about everyday experiences. Lyrics that are most popular are about situations in everyday lives.
5. Create a fictional story song.
6. Write about the emotions that everyone feels. Falling in love, breaking up, being betrayed, suffering a loss, being depressed, etc.
7. Listen to country music radio and music CDs. By listening to new country music artists, you will get ideas on what the successful artists are creating.
8. Focus on writing upbeat country songs since the popularity of upbeat songs is higher than ’slow songs’ in the industry.
9. During daily conversations, you may find that something that was said will give you an idea.
10. During your daily routine something may happen that will give you an idea – while taking a walk, going to the store, etc.
11. Reading newspapers, magazines, articles and books may spring up an idea.
12. Watching television and searching the internet may give you ideas.
13. Keep a notebook, and write down ideas as they come to you.
14. Keep an audio recorder nearby and record ideas as they come to you.
15. Use rhyming dictionaries. They are available in print and for computers.

Song Title Ideas

1. Names – Examples: Maybellene, Dawn
2. Locations – Examples: California Dreaming, Oklahoma, On Broadway
3. Colors – Examples: Blues Suede Shoes, A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Yellow Submarine
4. Animals – Examples: Hound Dog, How Much is that Doggie in the Window, What’s New Pussy Cat
5. Days of the Week – Examples: Tuesday Afternoon
6. Opposites – Examples: One Step Forward and Two Steps Back
7. Questions – Example: Why Do Fools Fall In Love?
8. Clever, Catchy or Play on Word Phrases – Example: You’re the Hangnail of my Life, Can’t Clip You Off

Opening Line Techniques

1. Open with a timeframe
2. Open with a place
3. Open with a question
4. Have a strong opening

The Components of a Song

Verse

• The function of the verse is to provide information that will lead to the song’s hook or title.
• Each verse of a song has the same melody and new lyrics.
• The first line of the verse should have the same number of syllables as the first line of the second, and successive verses.
• Each verse is usually eight lines long, in either eight or sixteen musical bars. In songs that also have choruses, the song title usually does not appear in any of the verses.

Pre-Chorus

• Within a verse there can also be a ‘pre-chorus’. This is a two or four line section preceding the chorus.
• It is used to move the listener into the chorus.
• The pre-chorus is optional.
• If the first verse includes a pre-chorus, all subsequent verses should also have a pre-chorus section.

Chorus

• The chorus is the catchy, repetitious part of a song.
• It is used to summarize the idea of the song in a general way and to emphasize the title.
• The chorus is usually four or eight lines long, which is about eight musical bars.
• The chorus has the same melody and usually the same lyrics each time it is repeated.
• The title always appears at least once in the chorus.

Refrain

• A refrain is repeated at the end of every verse.
• The refrain and chorus both have lines that are repeated, but the refrain and chorus vary in length.
• The refrain is shorter than the chorus and usually consists of 2 lines.

Bridge

• The bridge is used as a departure from the rest of the song.
• It usually consists of two or four lines of lyric, and four or eight musical bars.

Hook

The hook is the catchy part of the song. It is the melodic, repetitious part of the song that gets implanted in your mind after hearing the song. It is the words or part of the song that everyone remembers.

Structures

The following are some common song structures

• A (Verse) B (Chorus) A (Verse) B Chorus – ABAB
• A (Verse) B (Chorus) A (Verse) B (Chorus) C (Bridge) B (Chorus) – most common – ABABCB
• A (Verse) B (Chorus) A (Verse) B (Chorus) A (Verse) B (Chorus) – ABABAB
• A (Verse) A (Verse) B (Bridge) A (Verse) – most accessible and familiar – AABA
• A (Verse) A (Verse) A (Verse) – AAA
• A (Chorus) B (Verse) A (Chorus) B (Verse) A (Chorus) – ABABA

Musical Introductions and Instrumental Solos

Musical introductions should be four or eight bars long, with eight being the maximum.

Instrumental solos options

• In a (Verse Chorus Verse Chorus – ABAB) structure, the instrumental solo is typically after the second chorus, and is followed by an additional chorus.
• In a (Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Bridge Chorus – ABABCB) structure, the instrumental solo can go either after the second chorus, or after the bridge.
• In a (Verse Verse Bridge Verse – AABA) structure, the instrumental solo generally follows the third verse and is then followed by an additional bridge and a fourth verse.
• The instrumental solo (if applicable) is no more than eight bars long.

I once had a slightly tipsy singer approach me at a show and ask in all seriousness how I could possibly be such an accomplished Blues singer since I have never been an alcoholic and had never taken drugs. Though my shows often turn into Mr. Kool’s House of Blues, I had to explain that substance abuse is not what the Blues is about. I will expand upon that scenario to lay bare the true facts on how to sing the Blues.

The literature of lyrics on the development of Blues may help explain some of the prerequisites for, and the importance of Blues to the development of popular music. According to legend, a famous philosopher (and Rock star) Richard Starkey wrote, “You got to pay your dues if you want to sing the Blues, and you know it don’t come Easy”. Yes this does indicate that the Blues finds its beginnings in hardship and deprivation.