Pop music.

Of course when we hear this style of music whether on the popular music video
internet website, "YouTube" or on the radio in your car there should be at least one musician
name that strikes a resounding sound. Michael Jackson or either wise known as the "King of
Pop". Michael Jackson was born in 1958 and died 2009. Michael was known for numerous
occupations including not only being a singer but also dancer, choreographer and composer.
Born into an African American working class his father "Joe Jackson" was in an R&B band
known as the The Falcons. Although Michael had a bad relationship with his father, that did not
oppose him from his later musical success. The Jackson brothers created a band known as the
Jackson 5 with Michael being the vocal lead. The Jackson 5, under the record label Motown
later top the music charts during the 1970s. Michael soon pursue a solo career debut with Quincy
Jones to later on produce the bestselling album of all time, Thriller. Michael was not only known
for his famous moonwalk but albums like Invincible, Dangerous and singles such as Bad, Man
in the Mirror, Dirty Diana over the next decade. Michael was soon labeled as a living legend as
the King of Pop. If Michael Jackson was the definition of pop then the definition of pop
according to dictionary.com is " music of general appeal to teenagers; a bland watered-down
version of rock'n'roll with more rhythm and harmony and an emphasis on romantic love." Pop
music originally derived from rock and roll during the mid-1950's of Great Britain. Pop music is
an eclectic mix of different types of music style component including rock, jazz, country and
even hip-hop. In most cases there is always a form of dance to accompany the song. One can
view the history of pop music as a "commercial" attribute. As in with all commercials designed
to advertise and appeal to everyone, pop music is no exception. Pop music was descended from
the mid to late 19th century with the publication of sheet music. The sheet music then of course
must be associate with the main instrument millions of Americans to this day have in their

households, the piano. The piano served as the gate way between the entertainment music
industries which help promoted the growth of pop music. Because pianos were expensive and
can be only afforded by wealthy families, player pianos were invented. Player pianos were
developed as a simplified version of the piano in order for both middle income and poor families
to afford such a commodity. The creation of player pianos allowed recreation of song
performances and thus the demand for composers to write music for sale was born as a
commercial business. The style of pop has evolved over the years and has not been restricted to a
certain technique or genre. In the past pop music which has been centered on classical and
church hymns and gospels have now incorporated Jazz music including the blues. Most notable
pop musicians include the Beatles, Madonna Elvis Presley, and Michael Jackson. The basic
structure of pop music consists of a verse and repeated (refrain) chorus and an instrumental break
towards the end of a song. In general cases pop music takes on the form of AABA of eight
measures long. Pop Music starts with an Intro, then a first verse, chorus, a second verse, chorus
and a third verse (if there is one) until the outro at the end of a song. An example of this is
Michael Jackson's "You Rock My World". The song was part of Michael Jackson's album
"Invincible". A music video featuring Chris Tucker was part as commercial promotion for the
song. This is one reason which makes this song effective. The song is about being in love and
trying to find the woman's attention and affection. The song is identified as Pop, Disco and R&B.
The form of the song is noted as an up-tempo with vibrating harmony vocals. The mode of the
song is in E minor. The meter of this song is 4/4. The main instrumentation of the song is vocals
but the instrumentals that can be heard would be from the percussion family. The texture of the
song is homophonic because of the chords which can be heard in the instrumentals. The song
form is verse/ chorus. Another famous song created by Michael Jackson is Billie Jean. The term

Billie Jean derived from an anonymous group representing a group of girls or fan girl who claim
their son was the musicians or singer's own. Michael's real life experience dated back when he
and his brothers of the Jackson 5 encountered groupies at the back stage doors claiming their son
would be related to them. Quoted by Michael, "There never was a real Billie Jean. The girl in the
song is a composite of people my brothers have been plagued with over the years. I could never
understand how these girls could say they were carrying someone's child when it wasn't true."
The song "Billie Jean" is considered as a pop R&B song. The song begins with a drum beat, then
a repetitive bass line then finally chord progression. The mode of the song is in F#. The lyrics of
the song "The kid is not my son" and the beat of the song makes is identifiable as minor. The
main instrumental in this song is Michael's voice. Michael's voice range in this song consists of
tenor to low falsetto. The texture of this song is homophonic since the chords are repeated in the
entire song from start to finish. The meter of this song is 4/4. The instrumentation included a
lyric on (an electronic wind instrument), a bass guitar, violins, a series of snare, kick and hi hat
drums. The music video of this song features a photographer who is a paparazzi tries but
ultimately fails to take a photograph of Jackson when tailing him. In the end Jackson disappears
from Billie Jean's room and is arrested for spying. This song is unique because this song
represented and claims the status of a pop icon for Jackson. Michael performed the very first
moonwalk during a live performance and even featured in a Pepsi commercial. Music in
commercials during the late 90s was an important form for advertising. Jackson's commercial
"Pepsi Generation" was posed as a musical jingle which made it effective to promote the song
Billie Jean. Billie Jean was recognized as the number two most popular song in the world,
second to Thriller. Similarly, Michael Jackson produced another album in the 1980s called
"Bad". The album consists themes of romance, paranoia and self-improvement. The song's

history was based on a true story Michael had read about which influenced him. The story stated
a student tried to improve his life and leave his friends since he was from the ghetto. However
the student friends jealousy caused his death. In similar perspective, Michael Jackson quoted
"'Bad' is a song about the street. It's about this kid from a bad neighborhood who gets to go away
to a private school. He comes back to the old neighborhood when he's on a break from school
and the kids from the neighborhood start giving him trouble. He sings, 'I'm bad, you're bad,
who's bad, who's the best?' He's saying when you're strong and good, and then you're bad." The
mode of this song is in a minor with the meter as common time. The form of this music is
described as dance pop and a mixture of R&B, blues and soul music. The texture is once again
homophonic as the chords are heard being snapped in the background of the music. The chorus
of this song in which the lyrics that relatively repeats is "Who's Bad?" The music video is
depicted Michael as a young man named Daryl having a fresh outlook of life from private
school. However a reunion with his gang of friends they try to get Daryl to mug a homeless man
to show he's still "Bad". Suddenly, Daryl turns into a different personality and dressed person
and sings off the featured song, which ends with a handshake from his friends to let him go. The
song is effective because incorporates the radical change of the ghetto life in order to search for a
new meaning. Michael Jackson composed songs based off real life experiences and was a
pioneer in revolutionizing the pop industry culture. Unlike other singers who either sing or
dance, Michael incorporated the soul of pop music within by being the singer, dancer, composer
and even the director for music videos.