Any non-living thing created by humans is bound to evolve at some point. Evolution is the process in which something (living or nonliving) changes. In this case, I am referring to music. Music has an interesting evolution because it is divided up into periods. Each period features new types of music that was popular at that period. The most major periods where music evolved were the medieval period, Renaissance period, Baroque period, Classical period, Romantic period, 20th century, and the 21st century.
The medieval period, believe it or not, was the middle age of music, not the beginning. It began in year 500 and ended in the 1450s. Music from this period is vastly different then the music someone would listen to today; it is religious, sacred, and mostly monophonic. The instruments used during this period included a wooden flute, lute, mandore, gittern, and psaltery (instruments you’ve probably never heard of). Usually, these instruments later evolved into the instruments people use today. When it came to music theory, the medieval period was the foundation for the theory. All the fundamentals and special markings started in this age. Few composer names could be gathered up during this period because of the lack of evidence that a composer left behind when he/she died. Some noteworthy names, however, are Abbess Hildegard von Bingen, Perotin Magnus, and Guillaume de Machaut.
As music continued to evolve, the next period popped up; the Renaissance period. This period was mostly focused on the rebirth of humanity and revival of culture, so the music was emotional and dramatic. Renaissance music had four main characteristics: music based on modes, richer texture in four or more parts, blending rather then contrasting musical ...
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... hard driving rhythms, intense and unique musical styles, and a common 4/4 meter. Instruments most commonly included the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and a keyboard. Famous rock artists include The Beatles, The Who, and Queen.
The last period that one can currently document is the 21st century (2000 – present). The 21st, or current, century is the time where pop music is popular. Pop music featured catchy tunes, direct lyrics, and technological music. Pop music is simple, so most of the technique used is simply simple music theory. Some famous pop artists include The Black Eyed Peas, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry.
Nobody knows where music is headed, however, one can see that it is still evolving and in my opinion, will never stop evolving. Let us just hope that music keeps inspiring and providing knowledge of the culture that people lived with in a specific time.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Rock ‘n’ roll was a controversial yet fashionable genre of popular music that emerged in the early 1950s (America in the World, 1776 to the Present : A Supplement to the Dictionary of American History: Mâ€'Z, Index. 2016, p896-899.). Its origin is also started from the revolution of bourgeois. The younger generation had gone through the Second World War, though, the older generation had treated kids. Two generations that had each world war had divided. A lot of the pain and anger felt by the younger generation made them to resist against the social establishment. As a result, the war had created a gulf between generations but further reduced the gap between blacks and whites. The youth of the 1950s felt unconnected to their society and began looking at the world more globally, and also began looking for new role models who reflected their ideas and beliefs. They knew that ideas of old generation would no longer work in a modern society. Thus several young leaders stood out and took center stage that setting the pace for the direction of society and its music form that point on. At this time, technical innovations had emerged such as electric guitar and electric bass. This is the impetus of creation of music including rock ‘n’
Popular music at the turn of the century came largely from musical theater - Broadway and Hollywood. Originally, popularized by traveling groups and sheet music sales, popular music really came into its own with the arrival of radio broadcasting, jukeboxes, 78 r.p.m recordings and other twentieth century technologies which continued into the Fifties.
The music is vocal instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony and expression of emotion. The most famous music during the Renaissance is Jazz and some Rock and Roll instruments are very important during that time too it’s still important till this day. The three people I decide to tell you about are Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, and the last person I really enjoyed learning about was Louis Armstrong.
Soul had a great cultural impact on the music industry during the 1960's, especially considering that record labels such as Motown, Stax, and Fame had several important soul artists under contract. While Motown was considered by some to be a more restrained (pop) type of soul, musicians such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder and groups such as the Supremes and the Temptations released many successful records in combination. Both Stax and Fame Records decided to take a different approach, and many of the tracks issued out of their respective studios were of a grittier, southern soul style, which some consider to be more true to the roots of African American culture. Some southern soul musicians include Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Aretha Franklin. During the civil rights movement and more so after Martin Luther King was assassinated, some soul artists began incorporating a "black power" element within their music. For example, take James Brown's single "Say It Loud, I'm Black and Proud".
Before we explore The Birth of rock ‘n’ Roll, we must first reflect on other sounds that influence this genre of music. Sounds from blues, country, jazz, and gospel music all played a huge role in the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. The creation of different genres of music mixed together created a loud, fast, liberating sound that primarily a...
music in the 60's, 70's, and the 80's. Some of these bands include Pink Floyd,
John Warrack, author of 6 Great Composers, stated, “Any study of a composer, however brief, must have as its only purpose encouragement of the reader to greater enjoyment of the music” (Warrack, p.2). The composers and musicians of the Renaissance period need to be discussed and studied so that listeners, performers, and readers can appreciate and understand the beginnings of music theory and form. The reader can also understand the driving force of the composer, whether sacred or secular, popularity or religious growth. To begin understanding music composition one must begin at the birth, or rebirth of music and the composers who created the great change.
To many Rock musicians who have helped popularize Rock in the more modern era, they describe rock as having a blues genre mixed in it. It is characterized as music with heavy beats and melodies when it first started to come up. It is also described as Black Rhythm, blues, and country white music. These bands usually consist of a guitar, drums, bass, and keyboard or their instrument that gives Rock it’s uniqueness. It is generally based on twelve-bar blues, and the first and third beats are heavily accented.
The Renaissance means the rebirth of ancient learning. The renaissance can be divided into two parts Early Renaissance (1420-1500) and High Renaissance (1500-1520). The Renaissance era was one of the most productive time periods in history as far as the advancement of music goes. At first it was rigid, structu...
Jazz comprises of a wide range of music from the ragtime to the present music listened to by many people. The music evolution has taken roughly 100 years and jazz has been put in this particular evolution as one of the music styles today. In the definition of jazz, there is no actual definition of jazz because it a composition of very many music styles hence making it hard to get the required definition that would describe it fully. Attempts being made to define jazz have a basis of traditional music that have similar characteristics as jazz but not real jazz. Using the American or African music examples, the researchers argue that the definition is very broad and wide. Ernest Berendt one of the researchers says that jazz originated from America in the process of confronting Negros with Europeans in terms of music. This can then be termed as a tool of identity between the two groups of people due to the racist and discrimination aspects that faced America. This was now a tool that could identify the two groups to bring about national integration and understanding among the members of America. In America jazz has incorporated time as a special factor and is now referred to as swing. Swing means spontaneity and vitality of the production of music which has an improvisation role to play to the listeners. This particular jazz music contains a particular manner of phrasing which acts as a mirror to an individual and the personality of the musician performing that particular jazz music on stage. The early jazz musicians include Double Bassist Reggie Workman, saxophone player Pharaoh Sanders, and drummer Idris Muhammad who were performing in 1978 hence dating back to early jazz performance and presentation.
Music has been around for thousands of years throughout the world dating all the way back to prehistoric times proven by the digging up of a 9,000-year-old flute that had seven holes drilled into it to create a musical scale in China ("Prehistoric flute music:," 2000). Music went through numerous stages before becoming what we know music as today. The earliest periods of music were the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Periods which took place from the years 500-1760. The next cluster of periods were the Classical, Romantic, and Modern Periods which ended in 1930 to bring us to the most recent periods: Twentieth Century Period and the ongoing Contemporary and Twenty First Century Periods.
Rock and Roll has the most incredible history. Before there was rock and roll, there was blues. Most people think rock music started with Elvis Presley, but he didn’t record his first single until 1953. The first recorded song described as “Genuine Rock-and-Roll” was “Rocket ’88” by pianist Ike Turner and singer Jackie Brenston in 1951. Rock-and-Roll music in the 1950’s was described as a mixture of jazz, blues, country, and has a stronger guitar, bass, and drums. (A&E Biography Channel UK “SAM PHILLIPS The man who Invented Rock & Roll”. 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013) Over time what was first described as “Rock and Roll” has changed drastically, and will continue to change over time. Even though some people feel Pop has the best history, Rock and Roll really does. It has actually impacted more people’s lives than any other genre, it unites people from all over the world in a positive way, and influenced media culture by breaking down walls no one else had.
Music has been a part of human culture since the beginning of time, and it continues to transcend language barriers, belief systems, and remains completely open to interpretation. Music has changed drastically in the last 20 years. The main barrier breaker is credited to the Internet, which has opened an entire new world for music. Music will continue to evolve over time as the industry finds new ways to use the Internet. Major labels have found that adapting to the new ways of the industry has provided continual change for them. Musicians and labels have to continue to be open to accept the changes as time goes on to benefit the consumers as well as themselves.
The first music era know to man was the "Prehistoric Music." This was quite possibly influenced by birds singing and other animal sounds as they were communicating with each other. It was developed with the backdrop of natural sounds. Some evolutionary biologists have theorized that the ability to recognize sounds not created by humans as "musical" provides a selective advantage.
Pop music is a contemporary genre of music which originated in the United States and United Kingdom, and goes back as far as late 1940’s. There is also the term “Popular Music” which is sometimes used interchangeably, although they are not quite the same. Popular music is used to define various genres which have been widely praised around the world, such as Rock, Jazz, Hip-Hop etc.