How Music Influenced Society

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Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance are used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. American and African people of color have contributed a brand of music that represented a struggle as well as a celebration during the civil rights movement. This Civil rights era fueled a people to stand and be accounted for and take pride in their culture and ethnicity after millenniums of oppression. The music played was the soundtrack to this movement. Soul, funk, rhythm and blues are a music born of a culture, protest and celebration. The use of this music as a reflection of cultural issues, values, and belief has been sampled by many cultures. Though some critics feel Soul music was merely a passing fad. I intend to discuss the Contribution of music on two contemporary cultures and its effect on their cultural issues, values and beliefs. My Main focus is that of a shared music culture within the reaches of the Ebo and Yoruba Culture and the Black American culture of the United States. In the fifties, Gospel revival and doo-wop merged into soul music. Soul music was enabled by the commercial boom of "race" music in the United States that later led to the creolization of popular black music in many other societies around the world. Soul music was born from a trend towards black and white integration, as more and more white folks accepted the idea that black culture was, simply different (African instead of European)(.2005) Soul music was indirectly, helped by rock music, precisely because ... ... middle of paper ... ...ms. The consciousness within our culture was raised and we took pride in ourselves and our situation and helped ourselves. Works Cited Culshaw, Peter. The Observer [London (UK)] 15 Aug 2004: 34. Shain, Richard. The International Journal of African Historical Studies38.2 (2005a): 353-354. Music rebels: dissident music then and now,New Internationalist 359 (Aug 2003): 22. Waterman, Christopher; African Arts31.1 (Winter 1998): 1, 4+ Al Sharptons book review of Sharpton, Al “ Say it Loud” New York Times Book Review (Jun 3, 2012): BR.11 Scaruffi , P.( 2005)http://www.scaruffi.com/history/soul.html Songs about a revolution Wilentz, Sean. International Herald Tribune [Paris] 30 Apr 2011: 20. Salamone, Frank; Nigerian and Ghanaian Popular Music: Two Varieties of Creolization., Journal of Popular Culture (JPC) 1998 Fall; 32 (2): 11-25. [Journal Detail].

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