The Soul of American Music
Contents
The Soul of American Music examines the history and evolution of one of America’s most popular genres.
Jazz
There are few things in this world more beautiful than a good jazz performance. The way the instruments come together to create a unique sound that can make you feel a range of emotions is truly a magical experience. Jazz has its roots in America, and it is one of the most truly American forms of art.
Origins
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States. It originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime.
The term “jazz” first appeared in print in 1912 in the Chicago Defender, a newspaper published for African Americans. The original sheet music for the song “Jass Blues” was published in 1917. In 1918, |jazz| was first used as a verb meaning “to play music”. The term became popular among musicians who played a variety of music styles including |jazz|. By 1925, |jazz| was being used as a noun meaning “a type of music”.
In 1924, the song “Dixie Jass Band One-Step” was released as a 78-rpm record by Vocalion Records. This was the first recording of what is now called |jazz| by professional musicians.
In 1926, the record label Okeh released a series of |jazz| records featuring Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five band. These were some of the first successful commercial recordings of |jazz| .
By 1927, Armstrong’s band had become so popular that they were featured on Broadway in the show Hot Chocolates which also included Duke Ellington’s Washingtonians band playing |jazz| . That same year, Ellington’s Columbia Records session featuring his own 16-piece orchestra resulted in one of the first recordings which could accurately be called | jazz| , Black and Tan Fantasy.
During the 1920s and early 1930s, several other bands made important contributions to the development of | jazz| including Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers , Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra , Earl Hines’ Grand Terrace Cafe Orchestra , Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra , Don Redman’s various bands , McKinney’s Cotton Pickers , Luis Russell’s Orchestra , Cab Calloway’s Orchestra , Chick Webb’s Orchestra , Jimmie Lunceford’s Chocolate Dandies orchestra , Andy Kirk’s Twelve Clouds of Joy orchestra , Jean Goldkette’s Victor Recording Orchestra which featured Bix Beiderbecke on cornet and Adrian Rollini on bass saxophone among others.”
Characteristics
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States. It originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime.
Blues
The blues are a type of music that originated in the African-American communities in the American South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The blues have a rich history and have been a major influence on other genres of music, such as jazz, rock and roll, and country.
Origins
The origins of the blues are poorly documented. Most historians believe the blues developed from a combination of African and European musical traditions. African music was brought to the Americas by slaves who were forcibly transported from their homeland to work on plantations in the New World. The music they brought with them was a vocal tradition that included field hollers, work songs, and spirituals.
The first evidence of the blues being played by European Americans comes from fiddle tunes recorded in the late 19th century. These tunes show elements that are common in both African and European music, such as pentatonic scales and blue notes. It is likely that these tunes were played by black musicians, as most white Americans at this time did not have exposure to black culture.
The first recordings of what we would now call “blues” were made by black musicians in the early 20th century. These recordings were made on inexpensive equipment and were intended for a black audience. The popularity of these recordings led to a boom in the recording industry, and by the 1920s there were dozens of record labels catering to the black market.
The blues began to cross over into the white mainstream in the 1920s, when artists like Mamie Smith and Ma Rainey became popular with white audiences. White musicians began to incorporate elements of the blues into their own musical styles, creating new genres like jazz and country music. The blues has continued to be an important influence on American music, with artists from all genres drawing from its unique sound.
Characteristics
The following are some of the characteristic features of the blues:
-Blue notes: Also called “worried notes”, these are flattened (or sometimes sharpened) versions of the third, fifth and seventh degrees of the major scale; in C, these would be Eb, Gb and Bb. They give the blues its distinctive minor tonality.
-Hendrix chord: A dominant 7th chord with a raised fifth, named after Jimi Hendrix. For example, in C, this would be C7#9 (C-E-G-Bb-#9). This chord is frequently used to create tension and ambiguity before resolving to the tonic (I) chord.
– call and response: A common lyrical structure in which one line or phrase is sung by a soloist or group, followed by a reply from the whole group. This back-and-forth exchange was borrowed from African American gospel music.
-12 bar blues: The most common form of the blues, built around a I-IV-V chord progression (in C: C-F-G). The 12 refers to the number of bars (measures) in the basic structural unit of the form.
Country
There are many different types of music in the world and each one has its own soul. The soul of American music is best represented by the genre of country. Country music is a genre that is full of heart and soul. It is a genre that tells the stories of real people and their real lives. It is a genre that is full of emotion and feeling.
Origins
The roots of country music are found in the folk music of working class Americans, who blended popular songs, Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional English ballads, cowboy songs, and the musical traditions of various groups of European immigrants. Immigrants to the southern Appalachians brought the music and instruments of Europe along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music is a fusion of these various traditions, which were brought together by English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh settlers in the American South.
Characteristics
Music has always been an important part of American culture and the country has produced many popular genres including jazz, blues, country, rock and roll, and rap. The United States is also home to some of the world’s most famous orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.
American music is very diverse and each region of the country has its own unique style. The Northeast is known for its jazz tradition, while the South is associated with country music. The Midwest is home to a variety of popular genres including rock and roll, while the West Coast has a strong rap and hip-hop scene.
Despite its diversity, there are some common characteristics that are often found in American music. These include a focus on individualism, a love of freedom, and a sense of adventure. American music is also often characterized by its energy and vibrancy.
Gospel
Gospel music is American music. It is the music of the soul, of hope, of healing, of community. It is the music of our history and our future. It is the music of our best and our worst moments, of our triumphs and our tragedies. Gospel music is the music of the American people.
Origins
The term “gospel” originally referred to the Christian message itself, but in the late 19th century, it came to be used specifically for a new musical genre that arose in the holy music of African American churches. Informed by the features of both African and European church music—including call and response, improvisation, polyphony, and vestigial elements of Gregorian chant—gospel developed its own unique form and style.
As a musical style, gospel is characterized by its emotional intensity, its use of call-and-response patterns, its often bras soun ng vocal s,and its tendency to employ simple harmonies. But while gospel shares many musical features with other genres such as blues and jazz, it also has several distinctive characteristics that make it unique.
For one thing, gospel is almost always performed by a choir or group of singers rather than by a solo artist. This is partly because the style developed within the context of group worship in churches, but it is also because gospel music has always been about more than just entertaining individual listeners; it has always been about bringing people together in community.
Another key feature of gospel music is its use of so-called “secret messages.” These are messages that are embedded in the song’s lyrics or melody and that can only be understood if you know how to listen for them. Secret messages may be religious or secular in nature, but they are always meant to be inspirational or uplifting.
Finally, gospel music is often distinguished from other styles by its emphasis on testified stories about personal transformation. These stories—known as “testimony” or “testimonial”—are usually about how the singer or songwriter came to find God or experienced some kind of life-changing event. They are meant to be not only entertaining but also instructive; they teach listeners about the power of faith and how it can change lives for the better.
Characteristics
The music of the United States reflects the country’s pluri-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. It is a mixture of music influenced by West African, Irish, Scottish and mainland European cultures among others. The country’s most internationally renowned genres are jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, rock, rock and roll, R&B, pop, hip hop, soul, gospel and punk rock.
American music is heard around the world. The United States has the world’s largest music market with a total retail value of 4,898 million US dollars in 2014 – and more than 32 million US dollars in digital sales.
Rock and Roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s from musical styles such as gospel, jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues, along with country music. While elements of what was to become rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.
Origins
Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlier blues, boogie woogie, jazz and gospel music. Rock and roll incorporated elements of country music, pop music and folk music into a uniquely American sound.
The term “rock and roll” now has a legacy that includes not only the music itself but also the fashion, television shows, movies, lifestyles and attitudes that came to be associated with it. Rock and roll’s impact on society was far-reaching and its popularity helped to break down racial barriers both in the United States and around the world.
Characteristics
Rock and roll is a form of popular music that originated in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It has a focus on electric guitars, drums, and bass, as well as strong lyrics about topics such as rebellion and love. The sound of rock and roll is often described as “a big noise.”
While there are many different types of rock and roll, some of the most common characteristics include a heavy beat, simple melodies, and limited harmonic accompaniment. Rock and roll is often based on 12-bar blues progressions, although other harmonic progressions may be used as well.
Rock and roll began to develop in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The term “rock and roll” was first used to describe the music in 1951 by disc jockey Alan Freed. Freed used the term to describe the music he was playing, which included both black rhythm and blues records as well as white country music records.
By the mid-1950s, rock and roll was becoming popular with both black and white audiences. Some of the earliest rock and roll performers were African American artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Ray Charles, Clyde McPhatter, Jimmy Wopo, Willie Mae Thornton, Etta James,Hank Ballard Jackie Brenston(Rocket 88) Elvis Presley. Rockabilly is a subgenre of rock
