...Shosanna Spill Tricia Swoope ENG 112 03 July 2010 Rock Music Rock is a popular form of music that has evolved over the past couple of decades starting in the 1950s until present day. Rock music has been known to be used as a form of expression over the years. Despite its sometimes negative and defiant lyrics, rock is a form of art that allows one to release his/her feelings through singing in an expressive tone. Later styles of heavy rock music in the 1990s, such as grunge, the typical example being Seattle's Nirvana, show influences of heavy metal but are typically not labelled sub-genres of heavy metal, as opposed to thrash metal and glam metal. The general absence of virtuosic guitar solos is perhaps one reason grunge bands haven't been considered heavy metal bands. Another key artist during this time was Megadeth, which combined the relentless, speedy thrash metal riffs with the fancy guitar soloing of speed metal like Judas Priest. Rock-n-Roll has never just been music. Heavy metal, Rhythm & Blues, Art Rock, New Wave, and the rest may be primary styles or genres but as sub-categories of rock, or rockin’ roll they do not cumulatively add up to the whole. Rock n’ Roll is a movement, a lifestyle, in many ways a belief system and all that Rock n Roll is today it owes to history: two years, no more than three when the fabric of American popular culture was torn apart and rewoven, and a new era explosively began. Rock n Roll started with slavery. To understand we...
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...IWT Task 1 (0813) This paper will analyze, critique, and help us to understand the music of the Harlem Renaissance and the Pop Art periods. The social conditions that influenced the art and the characteristics of the artists’ style were in many ways similar; however, with advancing technology, they had differing struggles to overcome. The Harlem Renaissance was sparked by the Great Migration from 1919 – 1926 in which African Americans began moving to northern cities to find employment and a better way of life. The musicians of this era were very influential in renewing the culture and history of the United States. Jazz, race, and class divided Harlem and New York cities. Some historians have said the best way to understand the Harlem Renaissance is by understanding the music (http://historyoftheharlemrenaissance.weebly.com/index.html; www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com/Harlem-Renaissance-1920s.html). With the roots of jazz coming from slave songs, it is truly an African-American invention. This newly formed music utilized the dissonant “blue” note. This modification to the to the standard major scale allowed the musician to play the note flat; usually the third, fifth, or seventh note of the scale. Music critic Sidney Finkelstein stated, “It expresses the hope and struggle for freedom, the vitality which enables a people to wrest joy out of misery and to assert the triumph of human beings over the obstacles that would grind them down.” ("MindEdge," 2014) Jazz was the sound...
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...Ragtime for Rock Throughout its history, Rock and Roll has been influenced and molded by many different artists and genres. A more prominent catalyst for the evolution of rock would be Ragtime. One of the earliest forms of jazz, ragtime was characterized by its syncopated and “ragged” rhythms, and blazed the path for almost every modern day music genre. Ragtime was a variation of the then popular type of music, march. Even before the 1900’s, this was a popular dance music of red-light districts in African American communities of places such as St. Louis and New Orleans (Rock and Roll). Rhythmically broken up melodies made the sounds lively and springy, and therefore ideal for dancing. Eventually, the genre began being published as piano sheet music. This transition gave ragtime much more exposure to the public and created a lot of buzz. With the help of composers such as Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb, and James Scott, ragtime took the music community by storm. It’s the innovative styles were demonstrated years beyond ragtime’s fifteen minutes of fame and influenced many artists later to hit the scene. Artists such as the great Ray Charles, who was famous for his syncopation and his seemingly improvised music (Ray). Ragtime was an essential part to the development of rock and roll because of its use of syncopation, talented composers, lively music, and influence it had on many great artists to come. The most prominent composer in the ragtime music genre was undebatably Scott Joplin...
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...When Rock arrived on the music charts in the 1950's, a merging of African-American and White music, it made a huge impact on society. As a general rule I am not heavily into music, but I was drawn to Rock for some inexplicable reason. It is just the music I like. This genre will be difficult to write about because the origin of Rock is unclear; there are traces of Rock's style back into the 19th Century. It is also a very broad subject and I will have to compress a lot of information into as few pages as possible. Be that as it may, Rock is, in my opinion the best music genre on the charts. There is so much information on Rock that I will have to have questions I want to find the answers to about the music. My first question will be, "What instruments are commonly used in a rock band?" This will not be hard to answer as it is a very easy question that has a definite answer. The next question will be, "Who were the first artists to produce Rock music?" This is also an easy question were I will discuss the first Rockers. Continuing on, my next question will ask, "How was the term Rock and Roll' created, and by who?" This may turn out to be a hard question to answer because I am sure there a multiple answers. "Has Rock become more or less popular since its inception?" will be my next question. For this question I will have to look for a survey or poll of some type and present its data. My final question will be, "How has the Music been changed over the years and who changed...
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...World Music Genre Study NAME MUSIC INSTRUCTOR’S NAME DATE OF SUBMISSION INTRODUCTION This research paper is a specific study of one of the African dance musical genre-reggae, which was first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many other popular genres. Therefore, Jamaican popular music since 1960 can be roughly divided into four eras each of which had a distinctive beat – ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dancehall. (Chang and Chen W, 1998, x) But this African dance musical genre “reggae” has gained immense popularity since it was first introduced in the music world and since then it is one of the most popular genres of music. Hence, it is one of the most significant music genres in Western musical market. In my paper, the focus of the reggae music genre is from 1965 till 1975 as these were considered as the major years or a decade for reggae music when it flourished. This was the time period during which the culture of reggae music was civilized and spread widely in the parts of Jamaica. Bob Marley is known as one of the best artists of this genre and the impact he made and contributed has made beyond the shores of Jamaica and globally as well. Reggae was created by the Jamaicans and still it is the only music genre which is so much popular and not created by Europeans or Americans. It has gained immense popularity since its introduction and in the recent years as well that it is the first model in which a third...
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...Running head: MUSIC TRENDS IN POPULAR AMERICAN CULTURE Music Trends in Popular American Culture University of Phoenix There have been many trends in American popular culture dating back since America was founded, anytime an activity or a lifestyle became popular people wanted to follow it and millions did. This is the case with music; it has evolved over time yet remains one of the most popular aspects of American Culture. From 1606-1776 religious music was the first music of early colonists in what was known as The Colonial Era. Traditional English hymns were brought to America and singing the psalms was an early form of hymns. Folk music and ballads were the rage from 1776-1860 in the Revolutionary War era. Popular music just before and during the Civil War had to do with political and military events such as; Amazing Grace, Battle Hymn of the Republic and Dixie and the Star Spangled Banner was written during this time. In 1897 different composers give birth to America’s popular music industry, ending reliance on Europe. The turn of the century arrived and there was a period of excitement for the American Music Scene. During this time the “Western” musical genre spreads throughout western states and featured steel guitars and singing cowboys (Johnson, 2007). The Blues were also created during this time by ex-slaves that sang work songs filled with irony, imagery and love, offering relief from the tensions in their lives. Jazz was also developed in the 1900s...
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...“Walk This Way” to “The Show Goes On”: The Progression of Rap Compared to other genres of music, rap is considered to be pretty new. Rap, or hip-hop, is constantly evolving, as do other types of music. Rap is simply described as, “talking in rhyme to the rhythm of a beat” (Hip Hop). When rap was getting started, it only consisted of DJs mixing some beats together along with beat boxing and sampling other songs. As the years went on, people decided to rap over the beats and create a perfect rap song. Some rappers are lyrical geniuses, while others make music purely for a good party song. The radio does not do a good job of playing a variety of rap, now a days mainstream rap that is only good for dancing is being played on the radio. Mainstream rap, to some, would not be considered good music purely because the lyrics are extremely basic. Artists like Run-DMC first started the phenomena, Tupac and Biggie Smalls made rap extremely popular, and present day rappers like Lupe Fiasco keep advancing the music. Run-DMC was not the first rapper to start, but he is a big reason why rap is so popular today. Run-DMC was a hip-hop group located in Queens, New York, and is widely known to be the most influential acts in the history of the hip-hop culture. They were the first group in the genre to have a gold album, and to be nominated to the Grammy Awards. In 1982, Run-DMC released “Sucker MCs” which was a huge hit. Allison Smith illustrates, “This blast of rhythmic minimalism...
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...HOMEWORK #4 CHAPTER 10; AFRICA 1. How do the principal musical manifestations found in the sub-Saharan Africa reflect the collective community and encourage group participations? a. Most of the collective music manifestations found in sub-Saharan Africa represent the community, and encourage group participation using a method that is called call-and-response. If they aren’t using a call-and-response such music’s are usually to be found at events such as religious ceremonies, and/or most other ritual based activities. 2. How is polyrhythmic music created in sub-Saharan Africa? b. Many different things coming together at once create polyrhythmic music, to some it is a great sound of music, and to others it is not. In Africa many instruments are used to make a “polyrhythmic tune” such as: High pitched, and low pitched drums, rattles, bells, and most importantly the voices. It will continuously spin the same musical elements therefore; it creates a “rhythmic melody.” No musician plays the same thing; they each play separate pieces, which aren’t to hard. 3. What linguistic elements are required to make a drum “talk”? c. Language is a big part of the musical world in the Africa regions. When we think about what is called the “talking drums,” we are quick to try and piece things together. Talking drums are used in forms of honorary to the royalty, or even honoring the fallen. When doing these drummers replicate the “speech rhythm” of the words...
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...The Rolling Stones Hard Rock really started with The Rolling Stones as they developed new types of blues and hard-driving music. They were different and known for their difference, because of their way of making music and unique songs. They stood out from the rest of the other pop and blues bands and without them hard rock wouldn’t be as popular today than it is.The Rolling Stones were one of the most popular bands of the 1960’s, because their music was some of the best at the time, they were different from other bands, and the members had a long history together making music. The Rolling Stones were just starting out as a new band with little experience in music making, but they still were able to gain momentum quickly by their music being...
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...MUS Z201 – The History of Rock Music to 1970 19 September 2015 Developments in music technology over the years have substantially impacted the way we listen and appreciate music today Early twentieth century was chalk full of newly developed advances in music technology. These progressions have assisted in the role music has played in our lives over the years and has helped pave the path of how we appreciate music and to how we listen to it today. The early 1900s brought the phonograph. The phonograph was what we would refer to as a record player. The phonograph was able to record and reproduce sound. The phonograph was a step towards the future and aided in music lover’s appreciation. With this new technology, music was easily accessible to all music lovers of all kinds. The phonograph was portable which made it possible for people to listen to all types of music anytime and anywhere. According to Katz (1998), author of Making America More Musical, “today we common people make up the audience. And for all this the talking machine largely has been responsible.” The phonograph was also affordable. In the 1890s, the Edison phonograph could be purchased for $40, however by 1905, Sears was selling the phonograph for a mere $5. The player piano gained popular attention in the early 1900s-1920s, and it still around today. This invention relies on pneumatics (compressed air) or electricity in order to perform. The player piano operates on music that has been...
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...form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States around the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. The blues form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll is characterized by specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues chord progression is the most common. The blue notes that, for expressive purposes are sung or played flattened or gradually bent (minor 3rd to major 3rd) in relation to the pitch of the major scale, are also an important part of the sound. The origin of the term of was most likely derived from mysticism involving blue indigo, which was used by many West African cultures in death and mourning ceremonies where all the mourner's garments would have been dyed blue to indicate suffering. Blues has evolved from the unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves imported from West Africa and rural blacks into a wide variety of styles and subgenres, with regional variations across the United States. The musical forms and styles that are now considered the "blues" as well as modern "country music" arose in the same regions during the 19th century in the southern United States. Recorded blues and country can be found from as far back as the 1920s, when the popular record industry developed and created marketing categories called "race music" and "hillbilly music" to sell music...
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...Country music is a unique and traditional type of music. It combines many different genres, and it blends them all into one great genre. Country music takes beats of rock and roll, it takes the soul of the good ole drinking music, and it takes the heart of old gospel... Country music will always be, no matter what people think, the "real" music that tells the "real" story. The style of country music is very unique. It really doesn't beat around the bush. It tells you straight up what the artist is feeling or thinking, no matter what one might say... Country music is everywhere. It may come blasting from a truck, blaring from a bar room, or softly playing on an office speaker. Despite the wide range of country music we could isolate one characteristic that would explain the enormous popularity of country songs. The lyrics tell stories about American life (Winters 6). Some country songs sing of work. Some tell stories of family life. Some tell stories of the past and simpler times. Most Americans want to hear a good story. It adds to the entertainment value of a song when one can relate a life experience to the story being told in a given song. One author says, "I can't understand that pop and rap music with all the screamin' and yellin'. But I like country music. It always tells a real good story (Steward 1) . If a song tells a story and it concerns ordinary people in everyday life does that make it a country song? The key to that question is the word ordinary. What is...
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...Celtic Irish Music Name Institutional Affiliation Celtic music is a broad group of music genres that have emerged from the native folk music traditions of people of Western Europe, such as the Irish. Throughout history, Ireland has been associated with music. Irish music history dates back over 2000 years when the Celts arrived in Ireland. Irish clerics are known for writing some of the earliest folk songs. One of the twelve disciples of Ireland, St Columcille (521-5797 AD), described that the clerics of Ireland had the ability to “sing like birds”. Irish music has remained vibrant in this 21st century having gained global recognition. This is unlike most European countries that have lost their native folk songs. Traditional Irish songs are full of culture over two millenniums they have been existing. Irish culture has been preserved in the form of songs, stories, and tunes. This music has been passed down from generation to generation. The most common method was by parents teaching their children the music. Irish clerics are well known to write folk songs. Although of slight changes in the traditional Irish music, it has still been able to keep most of its traditional aspects. Irish children are still taught Irish songs and to play traditional instruments rather than modern music instruments. Parents are also keen to carry on Celtic Irish traditions. The Celtic harp is the best known of all traditional instruments. The harp was most dominant between...
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...and Dance Cuban Son The Cuban Son, both a dancing and singing style, combines both African and Cuban elements and serves as the foundation for salsa music today. The term ‘Son’ literally means sound and traces its roots back to the 16th century. However, the more contemporary version of the Son did not appear until the late 19th century in Cuba. Historically, the Son played an important role in detailing different news events from the countryside, so its societal function was undoubtedly significant. Although the modern form of the Cuban Son dates back to the mid-19th century, it was not until the early 20th century when the Son was enthusiastically accepted by Cuban society. Prior to this acceptance, the “Danzon” was the most popular type of dance in Cuba and could be found virtually everywhere in Cuba, widely accepted by all social classes. However, the appearance of the Son in Cuba during the early 1900’s quickly overtook the Danzon as the most popular national music. And although the Son had many of the same elements present in the Danzon, it varied distinctly in form and instruments. Nonetheless, the Son’s popularity was clearly defined by the formation and success of the Sexteto Habanero, the many prizes they received, their trips abroad, their recordings, their famous Sons and their participation in many popular films. The Son orchestra was initially composed of only claves, maracas, and guitar but later expanded to include tres and bongos. However, the call-and-response...
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...It has often been said that music is what makes humans human. Although this theory has a deep psychological meaning with all of us, music has indeed shaped our history and the way we interact with one another. Together with this, music also holds a cultural significance as artists from all around the world have worked hard in order to predict how music will evolve in the years to come. Just like the types of movies we enjoy watching, the type of music that we listen to can also give out a hint of our personality and the way we see the world through our own eyes. As music has been created and listened to for over 37000 years, it is safe to say that it has greatly shaped our culture and society as well. There are however different genres of music which have appeared and faded away over time. Together with this, the world has witnessed hundreds of genres being born to which millions of people have listened to. Out of this staggering amount of music genres, pop and rock are two famous ones which are enjoyed by many people all around the world. As different as they may seem when a person thinks about comparing the two, it turns out that pop and rock have their differences, but also similarities. Both genres have a deep cultural and artistic significance which has remained the same after many years. This may come out as surprising, but pop music is actually a genre of something known as popular music which has appeared in the form that it is known for today in the 1950s. What...
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