Music in America
It goes without saying that United States is the most influential country in the world..
When we talk of economy, technology, science, medicine, etc - the only one country that has it all well- developed is America.
This country is good at everything and when it comes to music- there’s always something more than you can say about it.
America will always be one of the most influential countries when it
comes to music, and there are indeed many unique musical styles and
traditions that have originated from there. Black Americans have
always been at the root of music in America and it has been quoted
that “the evolution of black music is simply the evolution of American
music”. Three of the most famous of these traditions are Jazz, Blues
and Hip-Hop. Black Americans founded all three of these musical
styles, and as a result the basis of these styles of music, each very
different from the next, is the thoughts, feelings and ideals of
people that were separated from the society in which they live.
One of the most famous of musical traditions is that of the Blues. It
has also been one of the most influential, paving the way for many
other new styles of music. Blues, a distinct style of music, began to
emerge around the 1860’s. After the civil war, the newly freed
Afro-American people were presented with a new difficulty. They had
been removed from the lives that they had previously known and thrown
into a new life, a life of segregation and contempt. The American
culture could no longer condone the use of slavery, but it was not
ready to accept the new free men and women into their society either.
Many had to travel the country in search of work. These people were
mostly men and those of whom music appealed to most took up
instruments such as the guitar and harmonica because these instruments
were cheap and easy to travel with. It was in this setting of a sense
of deep segregation that the blues was born.
The distinction that made Blues so different from other music was it’s
clear roots from the work song of the olden days. The early blues
artists and even the later Jazz musicians used their instruments as
extensions of their voice. The rhythms that they made were in the same
non-syncopated form as the work song had been and the sounds were
meant to mimic the human voice. It was in this way that the blues
became even more significant and even more successful in their effort
to convey emotion.
Traveling Blues shows, Minstrelsies, began to tour the country. As a
result, Blues began to be heard everywhere, and it began to influence
more and more people. It was still primarily black music listened to
by black people, but that soon began to change.
The first seeds in the roots of Jazz music were sewn in the early
1900’s around 1914 when Afro-Americans began to migrate north. There
were a number of reasons for this; many blacks were attracted by the
opportunity of good jobs and a better and freer life in the North;
while others simply sought to flee the poverty, slavery, and
segregation of the South. The American dream was drawing these
particular Americans forth much as it did with the early pioneers of
the west. Up the river went the new Blues and a new kind of music went
with it.
Around the time of Napoleon, military bands increased in popularity
and were all very well received by the French. This led to an
increased importation of brass band instruments to all the French
settlements, including those in New Orleans and other parts of
America. Creoles (”mixed breeds”- usually part black, part French and
sometimes part Indian) who were usually well-educated freemen became
infatuated with these instruments and the sounds that they could make.
The migrating Southern Afro-Americans soon caught on to these new
instruments as they socialized with the Creoles on their journey
north. Incorporating the sounds of blues and the same non-western
syncopated rhythms that had been brought from Africa, a new breed of
music began to grow. It was simply a variation of traditional marching
band music, but it began to change as blues became more and more
prevalent. First Ragtime, and then Jazz.
From New Orleans, jazz moved up river with the Black Americans
traveling north, and in the house parties of the 20’s and 30’s it
gained momentum. Where the Blues was the “devil’s music” to many of
the black middle class, Jazz was acceptable. “Black music” was
extremely popular in the clubs and parties of the 20’s. Jazz also made
it possible for Afro-American music to be imitated for the first time
by white musicians, which was a sign of things to come. The broad
emotional meaning of the genre allowed such cross-cultural
developments without being ‘watered down’. Free Jazz and Hard Bop were
all examples of the experimentation the musicians of the time were
making to elevate the sound. It became more and more popular and as
time went on more and more musicians began to try new ideas with Jazz,
increasing its popularity along the way. Jazz is still popular today,
and exists in many different forms and styles e.g. Be Bop, Hard Bop,
Free Jazz, Modern Jazz, Avant Garde, Swing, Fusion and Latin Jazz.
The third and final American musical tradition is Hip-Hop/Rap music.
Hip-Hop/Rap came into being around about 1978. Rock n’ Roll music was
extremely popular and was very much a part of American culture, but it
had long lost its Afro-American association and the Blacks were eager
for another style of music to call their own. Funk’s sound and rhythms
did not evolve into Hip Hop, but it did set the ball rolling. There
are several elements to Hip Hop, which were defined in the streets
during the late ’70’srappin’, DJing, break dancing and graffiti
writing. Hip Hop was, and still is, its own subculture, and that
culture had its own voice.
Rap music is well described by Tricia Rose in her book “Black Noise:
Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America” (1994), Wesleyan
University Press. “Rap music brings together a tangle of some of the
most complex social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary
American society. Rap music is a black cultural expression that
priorities black voices from the margins of urban America. Rappers
speak with the voice of personal experience, taking on the identity of
the observer or narrator.”
Rap is the closest road that black music has taken back to its
original roots in the work song. The “Call & Response”, the rhythmical
use of the voice as an instrument, and the resentment for the society
in which they live in are both present in the music. Drawing up the
R&B rhythms and “rapping” over it grew out of the house part of the
clubs much like Jazz had in the years before. In 1979, Fatback
released “King Tim III”, the Sugar Hill Gang released “Rappers
Delight,” and a new genre was created. Hip Hop/Rap music is still one
of the most popular types of music today.
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