Is classical music a superior kind of music than popular music?

Question

According to estetics and musical theory, can we say that pop music, rock, soul, jazz, and folk music is low brow?

Answer 1

Classical music is wonderful, and hope everyone gives it a try. I like almost every other form of music, but classical is my favorite because it has stood the test of time and has the greatest geniuses for writers.

Answer 2

No, I do not believe it is superior, it has just lasted longer and is still loved by many.

I do not consider any music that is really music as low brow. Note: I said music.

Popular music is what is popular at the time and some of that even becomes a classic, such as classic rock.

I believe some "high brow" people think that just because they listen to classical music, it makes them superior, but not so. They attend symphonies to be seen (not all, but some). You will find the true lovers in the balcony if they can't afford the price of the ticket. Even murderers or convicts like classical music.

I love all of the ones you mentioned in your question. I suppose it just makes me a music lover. Enough said. Sorry.

I really liked this question and I believe I know what you mean.

Answer 3

The Short answer is yes. It is 'high' culture. The musicians of the greatest virtuosity are overwhelmingly classical musicians. The biggest ensembles, the most complex and thought-out compositions are classical or contemporary (Steve Reich Comes to mind).

Jazz is an amazing medium too, requiring (and allowing) greater spontaneity than other forms. There are many music theorists that posit that it is at least as complex and 'highbrow' as classical music.

Folk music of course lies close to ethnic roots, so if that means 'low brow,' yes. But let's not forget that the best techniques that Bela Bartok used were from Hungarian and Bulgarian Folk music. The Middle Eastern Maquam and Indian Rag are likewise of high complexity, on a par with most classical pieces...

So, the Long answer is no. If you look hard, you will find great depth and profundity in most genres. John Adams Says that Rock and Gamelan don't "Engage the full Brain"...so they may not fall in.

Answer 4

Classical music has been loved for centuries and will be with us in the next centuries to come. So, I'd say it has a certain superiority to other kinds of music. I like some popular music, too, but it is only classical music that evokes a feeling I don't get from any other type of music, especially the ones in the minor keys.

Answer 5

According to musical theory "classical" music has greater technical complexity. This is due to a number of factors, but not the least of which are forms in which themes are carried through variations in a number of movements comprising a greater whole - like the four movements of a symphony. There is a lot of variation in how that potential is expressed, but to achieve the same thing with another genre would require that artists take a single work, and from its roots create three more works of simmiar but distinct form. To declare other genres "low brow" would seem harsh, but classical music has potential in intellectual directions that other genres have not yet explored. Other forms capitalize on other areas of potential, but there is little being done in music today that has not been done in simmilar form in the classical field.

Answer 6

Classical was the beginning of music. When the Baroque period began in the 1600s, music was mostly orchestral, harpsicord, and clavichord pieces. People may say that classical music is more superior because that is where popular music was derived from. Even popular music, rock, soul, jazz...it all follows basic principles formed 400 years ago for classical music.

Answer 7

Almost every genre of anything has its simple and complex examples... Religion, Music, Food etc. E.g. A simple bean and tortilla taco with salsa versus a chimichanga with many and many different ingredients. Both can be "Mexican". One is simple the other complex. Another example: a simple Haydn minuet with a borrowed Austrian folk tune (possibly a folk tune written by peasants...) versus a complex and rich Haydn symphony with layers and layers of instruments and a complex development... Some modern classical composers have utilized rock and roll themes... Just because something is more complex doesn't make it superior. A simple truth vs. a complex jaded lie? Now I'm waxing philosophical...oops.

Answer 8

It depends. In a couple of centurys, our popular music will probably be considered as classical music and so on. To answer your question, no music is more superior than the other; they have different uses and people have their own views on what they think about certain types of music. I would say: jst keep an open mind and don't be so arrogant and stubborn that you refuse to listen to different things.

:)

Answer 9

I don't believe any any music is "superior" to another. Classical music can be more complex than pop, but there are simple classical pieces too (Brahm's Lullaby, e.g.). Some jazz pieces are more complex than many classical pieces. The only thing you can really say is that they are different--even that is not clearly evident. A classical piece can be played in a pop or jazz style, and vice versa.

I don't understand why people who like one form or another have to feel superior or inferior to others; you will find snobbery in all kinds of music, as well as in other fields. It is best to ignore it.

Answer 10

Superior to what? Sorry but music is the fiber of enjoyment to each individual. Classical music is some what complex ed but 3 chord rock and roll has been just as popular or even more so than classic I myself do my own style of music. I can only say each to his or her own