The Evolution of Music

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Throughout history, music has evolved and branched off into many different categories, each of which have distinct styles and orchestrations; there is classical music that is centuries old and today there is modern contemporary music that is often synthesized or played with electronic instruments. There are also many ways that the two styles can cross over each other; this is seen in popular music and a lot of video game music. Though many people cannot see any similarities between modern and classical music, modern music is really an evolution of classical music; the roots of modern music go back to classical era. The term “classical music” refers to the western influence, not the eastern influence of Asia; the two are very different (History). Classical music can be split into several historical periods that cover thousands of years; those periods are: medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary. Throughout each of these time periods, the style of music distinctively changes and evolves due to the different interpretations and ideas of the many different composers and arrangers at the time. Each era of a style of music was from when that style of music first came to be and was the most popular at the time. So, currently the world is experiencing the contemporary era of music, which consists of all types of new popular music. The first period of music is also the earliest and most distant: the medieval period, which lasted from 0-1400 A.D. During this time, music was meant only for the church in worship of God. Pope Saint Gregory was credited with creating the Gregorian Chant, which was “monophonic, or unison, liturgical music of the Roman Catholic Church, used to accompany the text of the mass and the... ... middle of paper ... ... Square Enix Music, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. . Fontenot, Robert. "Spotlight On: Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)." About.com Oldies Music. About.com, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. . "Gregorian chant". Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013 . "History of Music." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, 1998. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . Roberge, Pierre F., and Todd M. McComb. "Guillaume De Machaut." Machaut: Discography, Biography, Lyrics. Medieval.org, 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. .

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