Reply To: Where do we go from here?

[hcmgmusicdude]

Not so much where do we go, but where are the children going? I read an article in the neighborhood paper today about a company that has been teaching music lessons (guitar, piano, bass, sax or whatever) to kids for the past 20 years. The surprising part of the article was that the owner said that business for teaching kids how to play an instrument has dropped way off in the past five years. He said they are more interested in creating content using their computers instead of real instruments (imaging that) and so they have started offering analog and digital recording technologies classes.

So it looks like the future of music is in the box and I don't have a problem with that obviously. My observation is, what seems to be missing from recorded music these day is a great melody. If you go back and listen to recorded music from the mid 50's to about the mid to late 80's you will find that the biggest hit songs all have great melodies to go with great or not so great lyrics (I love Elton John, but I couldn't tell you half of what is said in his songs). A great melody will make you want to sing along and sometimes get stuck in our heads for days. In fact, and maybe it's just me, but I can't remember a lyric to save my life, but I never forget a great melody. I don't hear those great melodies being created so much anymore and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe someone can explain that one to me. So I say, we need to change things by creating great melodies using a modern format of some kind. Hell, I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old.