Popular music in the late 1960s included musical innovators like The Beatles, The Supremes, The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, Led Zeppelin and Frank Sinatra. I certainly left artists out, but naming all of them would fill the column alone.Popular music of the many years before included musical geniuses like Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Bernstein, Gershwin and Armstrong. The greats of these eras composed and performed music that has lasted centuries and will probably survive many more.Music has made some fascinating turns on the road to the present (Disco, anyone?) and has landed in an interesting setting.Here’s a quick lesson on music. It has several components including dynamics, rhythm, pitch, form and harmony. I saved the best for last. A definition of harmony is agreement. Its application in music deviates from “agreement,” but this is a good start. Harmonies are commonly an agreement of pitches according to the listener’s ears, but they can be applied to harmonies in an entire ensemble. Harmony is what makes a gospel choir’s performance of “Amazing Grace” so much more powerful than that of a solo performance.The soloist can exhibit skill, talent and finesse, but the soloist must fit into the harmony provided by the accompaniment. I strongly believe the harmony in music is symbolic and reflective of a closer-to-ideal society that can exist in some kind of “agreement.”To fit into harmonies, musicians have to be polished in their skills, especially hearing. The general public notices musical imperfections. We know when a performer messes up — be it the drummer out of time or a wrong note from a singer or instrumentalist.To be on a level worthy of accolade and fame, performances should be as empty of wrong notes as possible, but with the rise of technology, this is pretty avoidable. With a focus on instant results, technology has revealed audio devices and programs like Auto-Tune. Its use is unmistakable in the mildly creative work of T-Pain, but its use elsewhere is disgraceful to the art of music. Auto-Tune can also be used to alter or fix pitches. Skip all the hard work real musicians exert — buy a program, and you’ll sound like Luciano Pavarotti (the phenomenal male opera singer whose need for explanation proves my point). The users of pitch correction justify it with claims of a “safety net” for performances and a way to ensure a good product on recordings. It really just removes real skill from music. No, I don’t want to hear bad singers — I want good singers who are actually talented and practiced.The lack of skill that thrives in the music industry is a reflection of monetary motivation, laziness and absence of a musically educated public.Rap is directly linked to a deficit of musical talent. I think of it as poetry with music. It uses drum machines, synthesizers and samples of real musicians’ — Like Earth, Wind & Fire — works to provide background for the recitation of poetry, the quality of which is debatable — “Work the pole, I got the bank role.” Flo Rida is a genius, right?A lot of popular music, rap especially, provides a rhythm to which listeners can “dance.” “Dance,” you might consider an interpretation of the lyrics or music, but Flo Rida’s lyrics prove “dance” is just a strip tease, not true expression.No, I don’t think all pop music is bad. There are still artists that definitely produce quality music — John Legend, Velvet Revolver, Jason Mraz, Kings of Leon — but, sadly, they represent the minority of listeners’ musical choice. Instead of “Partying in the U.S.A.,” try the great American music of Aaron Copland or the funky sounds of Stevie Wonder. They, unlike Ms. Cyrus, have what used to be necessary to be famous — talent and skill.Matthew Lousteau is a 20-year-old mechanical engineering junior from LaPlace. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mlousteau.—–Contact Matthew Lousteau at [email protected]