For musicians looking to create the next ‘big hit-song,’ there is a treasure trove in the classical music genre for them to draw on, from musical technique to sound, and from composition to melodies.
It is still possible to deliver what young listeners have come to expect from the songs they listen to, using the foundations of classical music, a genre that has stood the test of time and history, combined with the elements that create what is known as ‘ear candy.’
Ear candy, a term that first appeared as the title of Australian singer Helen Reddy’s LP in 1977, can be loosely defined as one part or line of music that captures the listener’s attention within a particular song, making it instantly memorable. In other words, it would be that riff, verse, or chorus line that you catch yourself humming/singing as you go about your daily affairs. This can be vocal or instrumental and is a common feature of modern pop music.
Even that very concept of the rememberable ‘hook’ or melody, that makes modern pop songs instant hits dated all the way back from classical music’s Baroque period according to Serenade Magazine.
Dr. Byron, a music psychologist at the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) School of Psychology, noted the heightened importance of the ‘hook’ which helps musicians capture their audiences’ attention as quickly as possible, “…Hooks can be a rhythm, a timbre, or a melody and they’re not something that’s added on top, they really are the defining fabric of pop music…Pop songs have to make an impact quickly, and to stand out to the listener, they need to have a hook.”
Curiously, although attention spans have shortened in recent years, from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2020, according to a Samsung study, there has been a renewed interest in classical music among young listeners, though classical music is famous for its rather long duration time.
According to a national survey conducted by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra UK, under 35-year-olds were more likely to listen to classical music than their parents, “(65%) of people aged under 35 were listening on a regular basis…Interestingly, this was significantly higher than those aged over 55, where the proportion was slightly over half (57%).”
On TikTok alone, a platform specifically tailored towards the younger generation, the #classicalmusic hashtag has over 5 billion views, and #classictok, the hashtag where younger artists reintroduce classical music to audiences in modern ways has over 70 million views.
Classical music has also had considerable influence on a wide range of modern music genres from pop to jazz, even making strange bedfellows with seemingly opposing genres such as rock & hip-hop.
‘I Can,’ a hip-hop song by rapper Nas that sampled Beethoven’s classical piece ‘Für Elise,’ is one example.
Other famous songs have directly sampled classical music or been influenced by it, such as Elvis Presley’s ‘It’s Now or Never,’ which sampled ‘O Sole mio’ by Neapolitan composer Eduardo di Capua.
This song turned out to be Elvis Presley’s own best international selling single, and one of the best-selling physical singles of all time!
Another song, ‘All By Myself’ by Eric Carmen (most notably covered by Celine Dion), sampled another classical piece: Rachmaninov’s 2 piano concerto.
There have also been a few surprise modern pop songs that have done the same such as Eminem’s ‘Brainless’which samples Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue in D minor,’ and Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ which begins with part of Bach’s ‘Fugue in B minor’ from the Well-tempered Clavier Book I.
Another outlet in which classical music is frequently used, but in a way that still appeals to modern audiences, is in TV & films. Classical music also happens to be one popular genre for composers curating or creating film soundtracks.
Squid Game, which was released to widespread acclaim in 2021, and became one of the most streamed series on Netflix, is one recent and successful example of classical music still appealing to a relatively younger audience.
Ian Escario, founder of Music Incubator, a programme dedicated to helping budding indie music artists gain wider exposure, and monetize their music says, “There are some new artists today, who play different types of music, and they’re very, very classically inspired, because they keep to their roots (in) music…There’s a lot of classical artists who are also pop artists…they’re keeping the classical flag alive, but just doing it in a modern way…”
“Music is derivative…” Ian says, “You will always find a piece of music that is inspired from a previous piece of music…there’s nothing that is really ‘new.’… “Classical music is actually everywhere. Classical music is in pop music, rhythm and blues, gospel, early rock’n’roll…”
He continues, “There is inspiration that derives (itself) from classical (music)…Classical music is one of the oldest types of music that we have written down, when it really comes to melody and harmony. A lot of these artists that we know today (do have) childhood experience (of classical music).”
Following these forerunners dating back to even the 60s, with their many modern pop songs that sampled classical music, newer artists that have a classical background, or who just love classical music, can be equally creative.
They too can integrate that knowledge within their own original modern music, while capturing their younger audience’s attention, in the same timespan as a typical pop song. However, songs of this nature can cross the typical run-time, but still have the same effect.
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen, one of the most famous pop songs of all time, and a notable departure from the standard 3-minute pop song, is a great example of that. Italso became one of the most streamed songs of the 20th century in 2018. Of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Ian noted, “…It’s a seven-minute song (but) they got away with it…That pop song is one of the greatest pop songs of all time, and you could hear all the different types of classical music inspiration that has been used in that track…and they did that on purpose.”
Further alluding to shortening attention spans Ian says, “…the world has changed so much… (people’s) attention spans more or less in terms of consuming media are much smaller than before … I used to go out and buy a record or buy an album, and I could sit and listen to the whole album…That’s the way we used to consume music. But today, the way music is consumed is you go to Spotify, and you listen to the first 30 seconds or one minute. And if you don’t like it, so much, you skip…. you don’t really give the artist, band, or performer, the chance” (to win the listener over, that is).
Ian, however commented that, “…Popular music, jazz music, and everything will always sort of take from that classical element…pop music as we know is less than 100 years old, so with the amount of classical music out there, there’s so much that new artists can learn …Classical lines (have) been used for hundreds of years; they never really die, and that’s why they’re used again, and again, and again…you will hear them in popular music all the time. Paul McCartney is very good at doing that, Quincy Jones, as a producer, also was excellent at that.”
Laura Silva Mendes, a London-based Portuguese professional pianist/organist who also teaches classical music performance privately, agrees on the importance of the classical fundamentals in solidifying good overall music technique, and musicianship.
In discussing this topic with a student, she says, “… doing some technical aspects of the classical will help you play scales and arpeggios…and all of these are used in pop, rock, and jazz. These (technical aspects) will help your technique…and you can then play whatever you want if you have that technique…. For you to play good pop-rock, or good jazz (for example), I think you need to have good classical training… the basics … they complement each other. It is a plus when you know how to play both styles….”
I also have personal experience of gleaning from classical music, which from an early age influenced and enhanced my own music, both as a listener, and a composer.
My dad is an avid listener to classical music, so from as far back as I can remember, he listened to various eras of classical organ music often enough in our house: from Bach to (Max) Reger.
That passion for classical music inevitably rubbed off on me, but beyond informing my foundational taste in music, it has also heavily influenced my songwriting and composition in other genres.
Once I started to put songs together on a keyboard in my early teens, my dad went to discuss portable organs with a music school owner who ran his school above his music shop. He gave my dad an idea he reckoned would keep his teenagers’ interest in their instrument for years to come, and still get the best of both worlds: Assembling an advanced workstation keyboard which had organ/classical sounds pre-programmed into it, to which we could also connect a real 32-foot pedal board.
This set-up, however, did temporarily leave me with a musicality clash.
Although I now had the liberty to mix both classical and modern sounds, I found myself needing to work through the quandary of blending both sides of the classical music coin: the rather heavy, brassy sound associated with the organ, and the smooth, rhythmic sound associated with stringed instruments.
At first, I was tentative about adding a deeper classical organ sound even where they did enhance my music mix. However, improvisation and creativity never failed anyone, and these dynamics soon altered, as I began to venture into writing faster, more contemporary songs.
The more I did, the better I got at mixing them on the workstation, and because I also felt that the piano sound (that is often used for contemporary music) didn’t quite give my song mixes the full-bodied sound I loved in classical music, I began to utilise the organ sound more. It has now become a distinctive part of my songs.
Ian (Escario) also reflected on the profound influence that classical music had on his own musicianship, “…I started hearing classical music elements when I started ‘copying’ pop music. There was a time when I was a bit disenfranchised from playing classical (music)…. I gave up piano during my early teens and I switched to drums… (because) I wanted to be in and play in a band…but I still had my piano skills. …I started copying songs that I really liked that were piano-based…learning the tunes, the piano phrases, the whole song…, but I’d realise, ‘Ah, I know (these phrases and these passages) because I learned this when I was a kid.’ Obviously, they were more pop-oriented, but it’s just the way that it was derived from that classical phrasing.”
Ian continues, “Even in some of the music that I help arrange today, I take a lot of the transitional sections, where there’s no sort of lyric/vocal, and I’ll create some sort of melody or harmony based on a classical line, because it leads nicely into the next line” (of the song).
Another place where that principle of merging the two worlds of classical and modern music has worked remarkably is at The City Lit percussion orchestra for people with learning difficulties.
This is one of the college’s flagship courses, and is run in conjunction with the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), a music conservatoire with a primary focus on classical music.
Directed by Percussion Orchestra Conductor/Coordinator Alex Thomas, the students create a selection of original non-classical music pieces that are performed to a packed audience at the end of each term.
The first half of the class day would usually start with an informal briefing in which the students gather to communicate and listen to ideas on proposed new pieces, some by RAM members, or bring forward a piece of music that they have written.
After discussion, the students would usually start a session of improvising on the various instruments provided, including drums, xylophones, stringed instruments, piano, keyboards, and guitar. They are then encouraged to start creating their own unique melodies from the improvisations, which with development soon turn into full music pieces, as they bring each individual creation together into one creative composition.
Sometimes visiting members of the RAM will join the class and offer their own improvisations, and ideas with their own instruments which include the tuba, string instruments, harps, and flute.
The second half of the day would be utilised to work on and perfect the already written compositions. Some that have been composed and performed by the percussion orchestra/RAM members include ‘Seesaw,’ ‘Barbados,’ & ‘Reflections.’
Alex the conductor says that he personally enjoys all the music that the students create,“…It’s difficult to say a favourite… I’ve heard so many things that I really like. I think everyone’s doing some really interesting work. I think “Bells Blend into the Night Sky” (a student’s piece that he helped arrange) is a really nice piece. I really like it when they hear my students composing and having that made real.”
At the end of the day, Alex says that what he enjoys most is that everyone can express creativity in composing ‘contemporary music,’ including RAM students/contributors, who are so used to classical repertoire, “…Everybody’s learning in the class, it’s a very good balance. Royal Academy students are learning about diversity and have got some freedom to be creative about music making outside of learning Debussy, or a Beethoven Symphony, and all the pressure that goes with that kind of perfection. This is different to a composing, playing, or exploring workshop session. …”
Alex continues, “…My disability students hear excellent music, it’s a whole different experience of hearing a double bass, a harp, an accordion player, an oboe player, it’s an experience of those sounds. They’re also the ones (people) that are composing music; they are hearing their music made real. I’m learning because my own music that I’m composing for the group is also made real, so everybody is winning.”
Even in a modern world, where scores of young music listeners are itching for the next fresh song to hum along to, even turning to foreign language music according to the Guardian, musicians who are looking to have their big break, can still glean from the fundamentals of the classical genre to enhance their creation of modern music, and appeal to those ‘spiced up’ listeners.
Ian (Escario) concludes that, “…It would serve musicians well to continue really delving back into the past, and learning from the past masters, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones who give us the blueprint for today’s music….classical music is timeless, it will keep on being there, and there will always be artists playing classical music. This crossover really enriches music nowadays because…it allows people from all ages to really appreciate music.”