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My experience studying music theory
When I first started out playing guitar it seemed as if in order to be an extraordinary guitar player you would have to be fast at playing guitar which wasn't true at all. Picking up an acoustic guitar is what made me interested into the whole music theory concept. As soon as I started to practice every day, after time I developed the skills of an intermediate level guitarist. After all it took a lot of practice to become an excellent guitar player. From then on I started listening to Rock N' Roll music then after that I took music classes which is what I am majoring in Music Business. Not only guitar playing is what made me a better guitar player believe it or not studying and researching more about music is the key to having knowledge about the guitar itself.

Gaining wisdom about music theory as a whole became a gift; it was a kind of gift that I was blessed with from God and he gave me the talent to carry on my passion. The class was called MHL 105 it was a music theory class and teaches students about all genres of music and how they evolved. Coming into this class and having knowledge about playing guitar just made me more intrigued by all the lessons I learned throughout the course. People would ask me what you liked about the class? What knowledge have you gained from the class? And did you enjoy taking the course? First of all I liked hearing the song samples and trying to guess which artist it was and what's the name of the song I had a great time doing that. The knowledge I gained from the class was I learned the exact years and what styles and trends came about and how it impacted a music crowd, not only that there was politics involved too as well. Of course I did enjoy taking the course in fact MHL 105 was the best course I have ever taken in any college courses.

Rock and Roll music had started from its roots around the mid 1800's it was African Americans who would discover this genre using their soul and expressing the way they feel in a form of a song. Years later there were artists like B.B. King and Robert Johnson bringing the blues in the guitar like it was no one's business which was in the mid 1950's. In a time where blues had really started reaching its prime was during the 1950's going mainstream artists such as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Johnny cash also were influenced by gospel which mixed with their blues to create a "new sound" of blues. After the time of Rock and Roll going mainstream there was another kind of music that became notorious it was similar to rock, but not quite the same, soul music. Young, Shawn David. "A History of Rock and Roll, 1945-present." World History Encyclopedia. Alfred J. Andrea. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Credo Reference. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

During the early 60's when James Brown was well known he had lead a new way for African Americans to get involved in American popular music. Being called the "Godfather of Soul", he truly does deserve that name and also the name given to him was the hardest working man in the show business. "Man that guy was getting down and funky with his bad self". Another word for soul music was also called race music. James Brown is on my top 5 favorite artist of all time. Young, Shawn David. "A History of Rock and Roll, 1945-present." World History Encyclopedia. Alfred J. Andrea. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Credo Reference. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

In the 60's there was also a war going on called the Vietnam War which disappointed plenty of people during the time of a civil rights movement and the so called counterculture hippie era. The counterculture had also been experiencing with drugs like marijuana, LSD, and other psychedelic drugs. Taking LSD was a sign of rejection to the mainstream values. Acid rock had touched upon topics like politics, philosophy, drugs, and experimentation. In order for people to achieve a certain experience was seen eye to eye only by taking LSD. The Woodstock Music Festival highlighted what was going on during those times and summarizes what it was like living in a time like that. Young, Shawn David. "A History of Rock and Roll, 1945-present." World History Encyclopedia. Alfred J. Andrea. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Credo Reference. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

By the 1970's there was so many different genres and a lot of great artists who achieved success in their hits. Black Sabbath was known to be the first heavy metal group which started in the early 70's. Heavy metal music would start around that time and continue to be played on classic rock radio stations. Bands like Kiss and artist Alice Cooper would use props to put on a good show and keep the crowd excited as they did their antics on stage performing. In the 70's that was the best time for music a lot of artists were doing good. My favorite band in the 70's would have to be Led Zeppelin.

As we get into the 80's mostly heavy metal took over that decade. Metallica was the main band representing Heavy Metal and metal heads. The band formed in the mid 80's other bands such as Megadeth, and Slayer were much alike but had their own unique style. After the 70's rock had gotten darker from the previous artists which had made a huge influence on 80's bands. In the 80's that was when gothic people started to make that look of people wearing black and turn that into a fad. I truly think in the 80's that's when music had made a huge change and the 80's look started around the year 1983. I wasn't around back then in those times, but I can see from the movies, music, and fashion how completely different it was back then.

The years of the 90's and the millennium music had gone to another route, different genres were evolving. Rap for instance was most popular during that time, but there were also some pop hits that would be enjoyable to hear. Grunge rock was really popular in the 90's the band Nirvana was revolutionizing the genre of grunge. Some grunge rock seems a bit depressing, but for the most part that is the creativity in the music and has its own originality to it. 90's music had gave the new millennium a new sound and from there music had changed the kind of change in a digital age where technology advanced.

Learning about Rock and Roll and how different genres evolved over time and genres did too. A change within decades would differentiate each musical genre some to my liking and some genres that I dislike. The 50's saw great Rock and Roll artists and gave the 60's more ideas to create rock tunes then other bands took that idea and made it a little heavier. Early 70's rock was very popular, so was classic rock and in that time it was considered the hay days. After the 1970's rock took a big turn the now Rock and Roll would now be turned into a Heavy Metal genre for good which was in the 80's. After that spiraled the 90's was somewhat calmed down with punk rock and gave room for the future to create a " new sound" everything after that is all history in the making.