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In the first half of this course, we have looked at the 1970s – a decade that featured,
among others, the following genres:
Country rock , arena rock , blues rock , southern rock , Disco , Funk
Your mission is to pick one of the above genres, research it, and listen to music from it.
Then in a minimum five-page paper, give the origins of the movement, the sound of its
music, its early and biggest artists, its heyday and eventual demise, and finally, the
mark the genre left on music culture.
Before selecting a genre, a few things to consider:
● Pick a genre that you’re not familiar with. Learn something new!
● Some of the genres are broader; others are more specific (AKA subgenres). If
you pick a broader genre, try and find a subgenre within, or at least a narrow
enough focus to fully explain in your essay. If you choose a genre that
continued or revived in another decade, you are to focus only on the 1970s.
● If you find a genre not listed here that you would like to research, no problem!
Just contact me, and we’ll see if it is a viable option.
● There will be bands that cross more than one genre – that’s ok, but you’ll
want to find both the originating bands, the major players, and perhaps the
ones that signaled the end of a genre.
● Whatever genre you choose, you must listen to music from the genre. This is
to familiarize yourself with the sounds of the genre. Listen to numerous songs
as well as full albums. It is important not just to acquaint yourself with the
“hits,” but as well as the overall sound of the genre, including songs that didn’t
make it to the radio.
● If you choose a genre featured in the book, you need to dig much deeper
than what the book shows.
To reiterate, your essay should feature:
● Possible precursor related genres to the movement.
● The culture at the time that influenced the genre.
● How in turn, the culture may have been influenced by the genre.
● The genre’s legacy and influence in future music.
● The sound of the music (what makes it unique)?
● The type of instrumentation.
● Look at lyrics – is there a theme throughout the genre?
Required citations
● At least four academic sources (not including your textbook).
● At least three other related sources, including but not limited to, relevant
information from music magazines or industry leaders. These can also be
academic sources, but are not required to be.
● Be sure to cite any music that you talk about in the essay.
Note: Did your Aunt Carol grow up loving Glam Rock? Maybe you stumbled upon Joe
Nobody’s personal blog about Reggae. While not formal cited sources, they may be
jumping off points for artists or culture that you would then further research using
academic sources. Similarly, Wikipedia is not a credible source, but starting there and
seeing who they’ve cited is often a good jumping off point!
Your Works Cited should be on a separate page after the essay. Finally, you will have
another separate page after that with a reflection of the essay. Please share about what
you learned about that you did not know before, or perhaps something interesting that
simply couldn’t fit in the essay. This is invaluable for both of us – for you, it gives you the
opportunity to reflect on what you may have learned, or any struggles you encountered.
For me, if gives me data on what is working and what’s not, so that I may produce a
better course!
Once complete, upload midterm essay here, in PDF format. The essay, with the
five-page minimum, in addition to Works Cited and Reflection, should end having a
minimum of seven pages. Do not paste the essay into the text box.
