musica
20th century musical fusion.
At the end of the 18th century the United States started to become one of the largest industrial powers in the world. The fusion of music from black slaves and European immigrants started the musical revolution of the 20th century.
1.1. Folk music
A large part of the black population worked on cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta in the southern part of the United States. British colonists that inhabited the Appalachian Mountain region in the eastern United States sang songs from their home countries. This music was called Appalachian folk music.
1.2. Primitive blues
Primitive blues was a style characterized by a melancholy tone and simple compositions, accompanied by the guitar, allowing performers to improvise the lyrics.
1.3. Jazz: from New Orleans to Chicago
Jazz music first appeared in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20* century and was inspired by European military marches and polka. The main characteristics of jazz music are: Marked rhythm, frequent use of syncopation, instrumental improvisation and a very expressive soloist. Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) the father of jazz.
From country to the blues of Chicago
In the first third of the 20th century two new musical styles developed simultaneously with different characteristics in the rhythm, melody and lyrics: country and blues.
2.1. Country
It is the evolution of folk music from the Caucasian population. Its lyrics are narratives, telling stories about trains, cowboys, miners, love… The main instruments used are the guitar, bass, violin and the banjo. One of the precursors for this style of music was the singer Woody Guthrie.
2.2. Blues music
Primitive blues, born at the end of the 19th century, evolved in big cities much differently than it did in the rural areas where it began. In urban environments, blues music adopted electric instruments. Groups were created using the drums, bass, piano, electric guitar, harmonica and occasionally, the saxophone. Each city or zone produced a different type of blues and the most important came from Chicago. Muddy Waters (1913-1983).
The evolution of jazz
in the 1930’s swing music emerged. It was a type of danceable jazz performed by big bands; large bands made up of ten to twenty members. The main instruments played were the saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano, double bass, drums and guitar. Free improvisation was not allowed. in the 1950’s, cool jazz originated, with a more balanced and relaxed style (Miles Davis). Following cool jazz came free jazz, characterized by rupture with form, tonality, rhythm and even tuning. At the end of the 1960’s, jazz rockemerged. This style mixed rich jazz harmonies with the sound of rock.
3.1. The precent rhythm and blues, rock and roll and soul.
Rhythm and blues are a type of danceable blues with a quick tempo. This music is played by smaller bands, made up of around six people. Rock and roll emerged in 1954. This new stylestarts from the fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. The star of rock and roll music was Elvis Presley.
3.2.Protest songs
in the 1960’s, great changes in society occurred throughout the world. It had a critical influence on the evolution of pop music. The main singer was Bob Dylan.
3.3.Music in the United Kingdom
All the music that was produced in the United States during the 1950’s arrived at Europe, more specifically, to the United Kingdom, in the 1960’s. In the United Kingdom, many unique styles emerged because of the influence of the music from the United States: beat, British rhythm and blues, and rock.
3.4. British rhythm and blues
A series of British musicians reclaimed a style inspired directly by blues in its purest state.
3.5. Beat
Starting in Liverpool, beat was a style characterized by strongly emphasized peat compositions. The Beatles
3.6. Rock
Rock came directly from British rhythm and blues; with powerful guitar chords and a stronger drum and bass presence that accompanied the generally charismatic singer. The most important artists were: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, AC/D.C…
Music since 1970. A wide array of musical trends.
4.1. Reggae
A totally new style of music, reggae had nothing to do with rock music. It arrived in England from Jamaica. Bob Marley.
4.2. Punk
Around 1975, punk music was born in England and was considered half musical style, half social phenomenon. bands like The Ramones, Offspring and Green Day.
4.3. New Wave
New Wave music came about in the 1980’s and was characterized by music that was more direct and intimate with the audience. The Police.
4.4. Funk music
Halfway through the 1960’s, the singer James Brown began to sing in a style called funk. The group Earth, Wind & Fire.
4.5. Disco music
In the 1960’s a new styleemerged: disco music. It is mainly music made for dancing. The Bee Gees.
4.6. Electronic music
At the beginning of the 1980’s devices like the sequencer, MIDI and drum machines were being incorporated into different styles of music. From this came styles like electric pop, techno pop and dance pop.
4.7. Alternative music
This style of music is known as indie pop because these groups had contracts with independent label records. Another important trend is grunge music. Nirvana
The sound of soul
Soul became the medium of expression for the African American population, singing songs with vindictive content. This style incorporates aspects of spiritual gospel music that characterizes soul as vocal, passionate, and heartfelt.
Classical music, traditional music
Formal or classical music is created and written by composers, transcribed in scores and performed by musicians trained to play in a professional manner.
There was a time when music was a spontaneous expression and there was no specialization needed to play music: musicians were people from the community, not professionals. This music has been passed down orally from generation to generation, without the need for written scores. Unlike classical music, traditional music is anonymous with no known authors.
6.1. Arabic culture
Music from the Arabic culture spans throughout three main regions, each exhibitingdifferent characteristics: Maghreb, the Middle East and other African countries characterized by their mixture of cultures.
6.2.Folk music
A large part of traditional music is vocal and is usually accompanied by a percussion or melodic instrument. It is usually monophonic and has got a single rhythm.
6.3. Sub-Saharan Africa
There are some common characteristics among the music in this region of Africa:
Ispolyrhythm, frequent use of ostinato, a musical pattern that repeats itself, a large part of this music exhibits polyphonic vocals, almost always associated with the spoken word, based on the regular use of pentatonic scales.
6.4. African instruments
Sub-Saharan Africa is extremely rich in musical instruments. Within this group, the membranophones take precedence over other instrumental families.