SAMANTHA ALMONDDORATHY CHAMBERSTEYLOR MUSGROVE

BEN SMITHKIM SENG

Chapter 1Interacton

Class Activity

Get with your neighborTell them your favorite song when you

were growing up Write it downShare with the class

Symbolic Interaction

Interaction is the essence of all varieties of interactionist sociology and of everyday life.

On a constant and everyday basis we interact with each other.

Symbolic Interactionism is based on researchers study of how people react or respond to things that have symbolic meaning.

Symbolic Interaction

Herbert Blumer who is one of the founders of symbolic interaction stated:

“Society consists of people engaging in symbolic interaction.”

Blumer’s view of the perspective is that people act on things based on the meaning those things have for them.

His view was also very influential.

Interaction

On an everyday basis we interact with each other.

Through interaction we become human. We respond to social situations, negotiate social meanings, shape our behavior, experience and manage emotions, and shape and refine culture. ( Sandstrom et al. 2006).

It is first and foremostthe mechanism for generating and sharing meanings.

Symbolic Interaction

Symbolic interaction over music can range from the most personal and intimate to the most public and mass-mediated.

In order to see the role interaction plays in our music experiences we will provide two examples:

Symbolic Interactions

The first is personal interaction with one’s self regarding what we will define as a distinctly sociological concept of the “pop song.”

The second is the much more public interaction that takes place at “music scenes”

The Pop Songs: “Stuck In Your Head”

What makes a pop song?--It’s melody driven, short with a length

time of less than three and half mins. -Fun danceable lyrics dealing with

issues of love.- “ call me maybe,” by Carly Rae Jepsen

is an example of a pop song. Or other examples such as:

Ten Common Characteristics of Pop Songs

Joe Kotarba’s 2012 Study “ The Sociology of Popular Music” concluded pops songs have ten common traits.

1. It’s “catchy” meaning it gets inside a person’s mind.2. They’re lyrics of love and romance considered more of “chick songs because its geared more towards young women with simplicity, perhaps optimistically

3. Listeners of non-pop songs generally distance and distinguishes themselves between those who like pop songs, youth oriented ones.

4. Can be contagious in drawing the listener in.- Enjoyable, while occupying the mind with good feelings

5. Lyrics doesn’t have to be catchy. Can be open-ended to allow the song to be catchy.

6. When a pop song is experienced alone, the effects of the song are personal and immediately pleasurable.

7. When the pop song is experienced in the presence of others, she shared experience is simple, pleasurable, and fun – play rather than intellectual or artistic meaning-making and sharing

8. The pop song is perceived as formulaic, as a replication, or merely as fashionable. Whether you like the song or not.

9. The pop song provides good soundtrack music to play in the background because it does not require intellectual attention.

10. Repetitious play in the mass media reinforces the catchability of the pop song.

Shared Experience Is Simple

Our friends and others like it too

Has experiences we can relate to

Common feelings that we all have had

The Lumineers "Ho Hey"

Pleasurable and Fun to Play

Song causes good/positive feelings

Puts us in a good mood/improves our moods

Can give us energy

Makes dull/boring work fun and enjoyable

Aerosmith "Walk This Way"

Pop Songs

Pop songs don’t require our full attention

Don’t require the artist to be talented

(Milli Vanilli)

Song can give us empowerment

Music Can Change Our “Motion In Life”

Accelerates our activities

Quicken our pace

Sounds good on Soundtracks

(changes energy of movie)

Repetitious Play Reinforces Catchability

Lyrics are easy to remember

Beastie Boys "(You Gotta) Fight For Your

Right (To Party)”

Radio repeats the song often

Catchy rhythm

At first it may annoy us…then we start

to like it

The Music Scene

Tunes in the Community

What is a Social Scene?

A social scene is a place setting where a group of people come together organizing; thinking culture. Interacting culture. Social scene is what makes up the music world. The music world works with social scene to give people the music that they want.

Men who have studied “the Scene”

John Irwin describes the scene commonly known as music, theatre, and dance. People attend these scenes at a price.

Barry Shank-focuses on the effects of these music scenes.

Richard Peterson and Andy Bennett-focuses on the way participants use local scenes to distinguish from others.

Latino Music Scenes

There are different types of Latino music scenes (examples);

oRock en EspanoloSalsa oTejanooNorteno oMariachi

Rock en Español

Rock en Español is international, centers of performance is;o Mexicoo Central Americao South Americao Spaino United States

Rock en Español

Latinos like large crowds and dancing.

Their audience is young adults in their 20’s. These young adults are either in college or working at a productive job. (p.36 )

Men attend Rock en Espanol to meet women, or attending for famous artists.

Political Themes

•The political themes found in Rock en Espanol represent the social class. (p. 36)

-There is little or any lyrical words on personal disadvantage or discrimination in Rock en Espanol.Many Latinos focus on political issues in the lives of other Latinos.

Sense of Place

The producers of the music try to involve a sense of home.

Example: If a coffee house offer Rock en Espanol music then they add bright and colorful atmosphere of Latino Culture.

The Scene

Idioculture- A group creates norms and behavior patterns that are different from those in the subculture of which it is a part.

The Scene becomes an important cultural resource in Latino communities. Latino culture evolves and changes throughout every generation. Everyone has their own type of music and that music shapes their style.

Conclusion

Music is designed to be sharedThe actual experience, feelings and

meaning of music is determined and shaped by the social worlds within which it exhists.

These worlds can be small such as within ourselves, or they can be large, elaborate, complex, political and cultural.

CAN YOU GUESS THESE SONGS?

Get in groups of 6Guess the different songsWhoever gets the most right will get

candy

1. Fleetwood Mac “Dreams”2. Miley Cyrus “We Can’t Stop” 3. James Taylor “Fire and Rain” 4. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis “Can’t Hold Us” 5. Michael Jackson “Beat It” 6. Keith Urban “Somebody Like You”7. Michael Buble “Home” 8. Katy Perry “Roar” 9. Imagine Dragons “It’s Time” 10. Eminem feat. Rihanna “The Monster” 11. Lorde “Royals”12. Indina Menzel “Let It Go” (From Frozen) 13. Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams “Get Lucky”14. Justin Timberlake “Suit and Tie”15. Eagles “Hotel California”

1. Gotye “Somebody I Used To Know” 2. Chicago “You’re The Inspiration” 3. Elton John “Candle In The Wind” 4. Luke Bryan “Drunk On You” 5. Bee Gee’s “How Deep Is Your Love”

Songs played off of iTunes

END

References:

Sandstrom, Kent L., Daniel D. Martin, and Gary Alan Fine. 2006. Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality, 2nd edn. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury.

http://kduncan.phoenix.wikispaces.net/Symbolic+Internactionism

Rock en Espanol picture: http://gruporeforma.mural.com/graficoanimado/primerafila/cobertura83/img/NOTA0_2.jpg

Salsa picture: http://rockinghats.com/images/salsa.pngIdioculture definition: http://www.answers.com/topic/

idiocultureKotarba, Joseph A., Merrill, Bryce, Williams, J. Patrick,

Vannini, Phillip. Understanding Society Through Popular Music. New York, NY:Routledge. 2013