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Music generally plays an important role in all of our lives. Western music reflects all of our supporting cultures. It is commonly passed down from generation to generation like any other type of music. Western music is shared among different religions, dance, and drama. All of which is used to reached out to a certain group of people that relates traditions. Western culture is shared among genres like: Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Rap, Reggae, and so much more. Each genre shares characteristics and beliefs of their own. “According to Kerman, long before European settlers and African slaves arrived here; Native Americans had their own music style (Kerman, 2012).” Native Americans as well as other nationalities would create music to tell their …show more content…
This type of music is a genre of American protestant music, rooted in the religious revivals of the 19th century, which developed in different directions within different races. Gospel music is ecstatic choral singing during church services, with high flying sopranos over instrumentals and the congregation joining. Sippie Wallace is an African American known for her gospel singing and blues (Kerman, 2012).” Gospel music came about during the same time as blues and ragtime. Some of you may not know the term ragtime, like you know blues. Ragtime is similar to jazz, which was a style of piano playing developed by African Americans in the early 1900s. Referring back to gospel, this genre used various instruments. For example, tambourine, organ, piano, drums, bass guitar are widely used in gospel songs and are widely contributed to Christian worship as a whole. In the beginning, gospel was generally directed by African Americans but now the genre has become …show more content…
Reggae is a combination of other genres. It is a style of Jamaican popular music, blending blues and rock. This style embodies in image and sound, and cultural identity (Wates, 2014). I don’t know about you, but listening to reggae makes me want to dance. Reggae style of music is definitely upbeat. This genre has the some of the same basic instrumentation as Gospel, Rock, and Blues. For example, trumpets, flute, trombones, saxophones, and others are commonly used while making reggae music. There are additional instruments used in this genre but are less likely used in other genres which are: scrapers, claves, quiccas, djembes, and others (Turk, 2014). According to (Literacy, 2014) Bob Marley was the first internationally known reggae artist. It’s important to remember that Jamaican Reggae is popular throughout Africa, for the exact same reason why it is popular throughout the world (Wates,
The book America’s Musical Landscape starts by looking back to early North American Music from the American Indians, to the religious and non religious music of the European and African settlers. According to the book “Native American music was and is song, sometimes supported by instruments.”1 The Native American used different types of instruments to accompany their songs or chants such as the drums, flute and rattles. Like music for us today the Native Americans used music in all different aspects of their lives. The early European settlers br...
Throughout history, music have defined or depicted the culture and social events in America. Music has constantly played an important role in constituting American culture, where people have expressed themselves through music during flourishing and turbulent times. In the 1930’s, Swing music created a platform for audiences to vent their emotions in the midst of Great Depression and political unrest. Such strong relationship between music and culture can be seen throughout history, especially in the sixties.
Although there is a variety of music that could be examined to trace its evolution through time, there is one genre in particular that is quite interesting to examine. Though it differs from other types of music, it will be looked at in conjunction with Reggae music as they have similar ties. Reggae music is quite prominent today in the United States, parts of Africa, and of course Jamaica. Reggae is notoriously known for its most influential artist Bob Marley, and it is not unusual for one to have heard a few, if not many of his songs. Reggae’s popularity is steadily increasing and is doing so through both expansions of the music as well as increasing knowledge on the genre.
African American religious music is the foundation of all contemporary forms of so called “black music.” African American religious music has been a fundamental part of the black experience in this country. This common staple of the African American experience can be traced back to the cruel system of slavery. It then evolved into what we refer to today as gospel music. The goal of this paper is to answer three main questions. What are the origins of African American religious music? How did this musical expression develop into a secular form of music? What is the future of African American religious music? These questions will be answered through factual research of African American traditions, artists, and various other sources.
many cultures view as an important part in their way of life. Music ranges from strictly
Music is an art and a wonderful gift to human race. It soothes, stimulates and makes us feel happy. It affects our moods in many different ways from lullaby to war cry for changes in the society. Music is actually distinct to different people. Above all, it has a transformational importance that is captured in its art and nature. Music draws our emotions and it has an impact of bridging different cultures across the continents. Slave songs were very vital channels through which all kind of information was conveyed both positive and negative.
African music concentrated a lot on rhythm while Western European liked to hear harmonic sounds. The dissonant sounds and polyrhythms of African music was not understood by the Europeans, but jazz musicians took a great liking to it. The reason for this was because Europeans used music for listening enjoyment. In Africa, music was very functional. It was the only form of communication between tribes and a universal language of percussive instruments. The music was used to announce special events such as birth, death, marriage, and the reaching of puberty. Everybody got musically trained very young and when Africans were brought to America as slaves, they brought the music. Some of the most noticeable influences of this African music is seen in work songs, spirituals and field hollers of slaves. When slaves became free, and chose to leave their plantation, there was no work for them. Many became street musicians and sang what is known today as the Blues. European musicians were playing a march style of music known as Rag. The rise in jazz happened when the two styles of music started combining.
Contemporary, as well as older, Gospel music originated from the “Spirituals.” The spirituals, also known as the “Negro Spirituals or African-American folk songs,” were religious songs sung by the African Americans slaves in Southern America. The spirituals spawned from teachings of Christianity from slave owners, the church and even hymns. The songs were usually about love, hope, peace, oppression, freedom and even used as a secret code. The African American slaves would sing while working so much so that slave o...
I am not going to waste your time by writing exhaustively about how and where Reggae began for three reasons: 1) you definitely know; 2) you have read at least 25 papers before mine with explicit and redundant descriptions of the birth of Reggae; and 3) I don’t think that much else matters for the purpose of this paper besides the reason behind the formation of Reggae culture. Karl Marx once said, “Jamaican history is characteristic of the beastliness of the true Englishman,” which alone designates causation for a raging revolution. Jamaica was stolen, pillaged, exploited, cultivated, massacred, raped, and defecated on by the British empire. With its social darwinistic institutionalized racism ...
"Music is a common experience and a large part of societies. In fact, anthropologists note that all human communities at all times and in all places, have engaged in musical behaviours. Music as a mode of human activity is a cultural phenomenon constituting a fundamental social entity as humans create music and create their relationship to music. As cultural phenomeno...
When looking at the evolution of the Reggae genre of music, there is a lot more than people think that contributed to its popularity. The most common reference among today’s generation and the Reggae music is undoubtedly, Bob Marley. Although, he really brought this genre of music to the forefront and made it as popular as we know it today, people do not full understand the history of this music and what it evolved from. The evolution of Reggae is contributable to the evolution of the recording studios, primarily in Jamaica at the time. The local Rastafarians, who pioneered and perfected this sound, started this music. Of course, because Jamaica was a British territory at the time, and given its proximity to the United States; there was an influence of American Jazz and Blues on Jamaica. Without getting into too much history of the evolution of Jamaica, it is important to understand that this transition, and their finding an identity, had a lot to do with the type of music they produced and the evolution of their recording systems and businesses. In Jamaica, as the culture changed so rapidly, the type of music did too, and eventually the people began to create Reggae, and not long after that, they were hooked, and had formed a world identity through their music.
Music plays a huge role in the structure of a society. It can have both negative and positive influence on cultures and communities. First, musical sounds and instruments can be a dividing factor between the people within the same culture. These opposing social and economic identities within these cultures can lead unnecessary animosity between the members. However, music can also be one of the forces that unite members of a culture and provide a sense pride for everyone. This makes it easier for people to display their identification to that culture.
Most of the early music that we have today still in print is primarily sacred music. This music, for the most part, is in the form of sections of the Mass, such as the Gloria, Kyrie and Agnus Dei. Most people of the Middle Ages were poor peasants who worked all day for meager wages and had no idle time lounging the way the upper classes did. Therefore, there are few extant secular compositions of music from this era. The rise of a new middle class, however, gave financial freedom for some people to spend time and money on entertainment in the form of music and dance. Thus, the rise of the middle classes also gave way to the rise in composition and performance of secular music, which became the music of choice for composers of that day.
The influence that music has throughout the world is immeasurable. Music evokes many feelings, surfaces old memories, and creates new ones all while satisfying a sense of human emotion. With the ability to help identify a culture, as well as educate countries about other cultures, music also provides for a sense of knowledge. Music can be a tool for many things: relaxation, stimulation and communication. But at the same time it can also be a tool for resistance: against parents, against police against power. Within the reign of imported culture, cross cultivation and the creation of the so-called global village lies the need to expand horizons to engulf more than just what you see everyday. It is important to note that the role of music in today’s world is a key tool in the process of globalization. However, this does not necessarily provide us with any reasons that would make us believe that music has a homogenizing affect on the world.
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 is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.