Hodges 1

Logan Hodges
Professor Blandford
UWRT 1101-034
30 October 2015
Genre
The music genres are used in every aspect of life. Whether it is music you hear on the
radio or the music you hear in an elevator, music changes meaning and audiences in a variety of
situations. Country, Christian, and 1800s Classical music all have similarities but many
differences. The audiences for country music and 1800s classical music had similar audiences.
They both are a popular genre of music that a bulk of people listen to on a daily basis. Most
country music shows the love that a country man has for a country girl and classical music
showed the composers feelings. Christian musics main audience is followers of God. They are
focused on loving God, loving others, and acting the right way in the eyes of God. All three of
these genres are presented to their audiences in the form of music including instruments and
sometimes vocals. Musical genres often pertain to one certain group of people, but in certain
cases they attract more than one.
Country, Christian, and 1800s Classical music have similarities and differences. Music in
all genres are composed, written, or played in some type of form. The rhetor of a piece of music
is the person who tries to get their message across. He or she is the person who writes the notes
for the musical piece or writes the words for a song. For many country artists, they do not write
their own songs. For example, Jason Aldean is the singer of the song Dont Give Up On Me
but it was written and composed by Brett James and Troy Verges. For classical music, the
composer always wrote his or her own classical music in the 1800s. The person that was playing

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the piano, viola, pedal harp, or any other classical instrument in front of the audience was also
the person that had composed that piece. Some examples of classical composers are Beethoven,
Mozart, and Haydn. In some cases, the performer, composer, and songwriter are the same person.
For example, the Christian singer and songwriter Jeremy Camp writes and sings his own songs.
He gives his message in the way he wants it portrayed and how he wants the audience to receive
what he is trying to say. The rhetor differs based on the singer, producer, or the composer of that
genre.
Each type of genre, no matter what category it is under, has an audience. The audience is
a group of people that specific genre attracts and the people that the rhetor wants to understand
the message. In country, classical, and Christian music, the audience is a wide variety of people.
There are, of course, certain people that these music types do not pertain too or they do not agree
with the message. For country music, the audience would be a very mainstream group. A lot of
people in the United States listen to country music and there are many country artists. The
audience for Christian music would be a little different than that of country music. The audience
would be Christiansa follower of God. The message of the song would be directed to followers
and the songwriters main focus of the song would be on them. In the 1800s, everyone listened
to the music being composed by Beethoven. Also, a very mainstream group listened to the music
and thought he was a rock star.
Music can be used to give any type of message that the writer wants to portray to the
audience. A very common theme that is shown throughout all types of music is love. Love can be
represented in many different ways and towards different things. Most country artists and
songwriters commonly approach love in a similar way. They see their country girl sitting on a
tailgate with cowboy boots on. For example, Luke Bryans song Thats My Kind Of Night is

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about how his perfect girl is dancing on a tailgate and what they called being in the country
on the perfect night. The way the songwriters compose their songs portray that they love that
girl and everything about her. With Christian music, love still has the same meaning, but it is
toward someone else. Their message is to love God and to follow him through everything.
Another message of Christian music is often to love others and treat everyone equal and with
respect. An example of this is Jeremy Camp in his song The Way You Love Me. This songs
message is that Jesus loves everyone and we should love him back. Classical music in the 1800s
moved people by the message it gave off. The theme and the mood that the instruments play help
the listeners understand the meaning of the piece. Love was a very popular emotion that this
music produced. Beethovens piece Fr Elise was written for his lady friend at the time and his
love for her. In all types of music, love is a very typical subject because everyone has that
emotion towards a person, place, or thing.
In general, music has a very broad spectrum of the message it can give out. Country,
Christian, and classical music in the 1800s can give off a certain tone from the instruments used
and then have a completely different meaning behind the words and/or background of the song.
For example, country artist, Taylor Swift, sings the song Story of us. This songs music gives
off a happy upbeat mood and tone. But, the story of the song is about a couple breaking up and
how the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now. Though many songs have different
meanings than the instruments are portraying, often the music matches the message given off. An
example of this is the Christian song This Is Not Goodbye by Sidewalk Prophets. The message
of this song is that even though losing someone hurts, you will see them again in Heaven and
God will take care of them until you are home. The instruments that are used are violins and a
piano, which gives you the slow, sad vibe.

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Different genres of music allow you to identify with different things. This is due to the
fact that there are assumptions that are made about all genres, including the three I chose. For
Christian music, there are many norms that the listener expects from the lyrics and music. They
expect to hear about God and how He loves us. Country musics messages are very broad; it
depends on the singer to which what kind of message the listener expects to hear. Classical music
in the 1800s had rarely any words put to the music. Most of the music brought a calming mood
to the listener. Because of the different meanings that these three genres portray, the listeners can
interpret the message in their own way. This allows the music to represent the users as much as
the users allow it. For example, if the listener repetitively sings a couple of lines over and over
from a song, then those few lines are what the person believes represents how they feel.
Power is a very important aspect when it comes to who is making the decisions and if
that is making everyone money. It is hard to come to a conclusion when questioning who has
power in the music industry and I believe it differs from genre to genre. In the 1800s, composers
did not have producers to produce their pieces; they were their own producers. The composers
were in complete power of their music and message. For country and Christian music in todays
time, they both have producers that control where their music goes. Even though some artist
write their own songs, they have to show the producers and the record label to see if they think
the song is good enough to be released. In that situation, the producers have the power of when
and where and how the song or album is released. Also, the people over all the music production
are concerned mainly about money. Making money is their main goal for the album/song. In the
end, money has the power and control over the music being made in this day and age.
In conclusion, I have always been a huge music fan. I enjoy almost every genre and that
was why it was fairly easy for me to choose three genres of music to write this paper about. Even

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though country, Christian, and 1800s classical music have three different types of audiences. All
of the audiences are a big group of individuals. The rhetor is also similar in these three genres.
For country and Christian, they are the songwriters or the singers themselves. The singer of a
song and the songwriter of a song could be the same person. That was how music was created in
the 1800s as well. The composer of the piece of music was always the person playing the
instruments in front of a crowd. A typical main theme that is presented through these three genres
is love. Each type has their own concept of love and how it should be shown and to whom it
should be shown to. Many songs, in general, could be interpreted into multiple different
messages. I believe the purpose of the music genre is to help people relate to the singer and know
that it is okay to feel how they feel and that they are not the only one going through a certain
situation.