20th Century Music

20th century music is defined by the sudden emergence of advanced technology for recording and
distributing music as well as dramatic innovations in musical forms and styles. Because music was
no longer limited to concerts, opera-houses, clubs, and domestic music-making, it became possible
for music artists to quickly gain global recognition and influence. Twentieth-century music brought
new freedom and wide experimentation with new musical styles and forms that challenged the
accepted rules of music of earlier periods. Faster modes of transportation allowed musicians and
fans to travel more widely to perform or listen. Amplification permitted giant concerts to be heard by
those with the least expensive tickets, and the inexpensive reproduction and transmission or
broadcast of music gave rich and poor alike nearly equal access to high quality music
performances.

FOLK MUSIC

Folk music, in the original sense of the term as coined in the 18th century by Johann Gottfried
Herder, is music produced by communal composition and possessing dignity, though by the late
19th century the concept of ‘folk’ had become a synonym for ‘nation’, usually identified as peasants
and rural artisans, as in the Merrie England movement and the Irish and Scottish Gaelic Revivals of
the 1880s.[2] Folk music arose, and best survives, in societies not yet affected by mass
communication and the commercialization of culture. It normally was shared and performed by the
entire community (not by a special class of expert or professional performers, possibly excluding
the idea of amateurs), and was transmitted by word of mouth (oral tradition).

POPULAR MUSIC

Popular music, sometimes abbreviated pop music (although the term "pop" is used in some
contexts as a more specific musical genre), is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles
that are broadly popular or intended for mass consumption and wide commercial distribution—in
other words, music that forms part of popular culture.

Popular music dates at least as far back as the mid-19th century. In the United States, much of it
evolved from folk music and black culture. It includes Broadway tunes, ballads and singers such
as Frank Sinatra.The relationship (particularly, the relative value) of classical music and popular
music is a controversial question. Richard Middleton writes:

Neat divisions between "folk" and "popular", and "popular" and "art", are impossible to find...
arbitrary criteria [are used] to define the complement of "popular". "Art" music, for example, is
generally regarded as by nature complex, difficult, demanding; "popular" music then has to be
defined as "simple", "accessible", "facile". But many pieces commonly thought of as "art"
(Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus", many Schubert songs, many Verdi arias) have qualities of simplicity;
conversely, it is by no means obvious that the Sex Pistols' records were "accessible", Frank
Zappa's work "simple", or Billie Holiday's "facile".[3]

Moreover, composers such as Scott Joplin, George Gershwin and Andrew Lloyd Webber tried
to cater to both popular and high brow tastes. Likewise, electronic instruments and styles
were incorporated into some classical pieces.
BLUEGRASS

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has
roots in Scottish, English[1],Welsh[citation needed] and Irish[citation needed] traditional music. Bluegrass was
inspired by the music of immigrants from the United Kingdomand Ireland (particularly the Scotch-
Irish immigrants in Appalachia), and African-Americans,[citation needed] particularly through genres such
as jazz and blues. In bluegrass, as in some forms of jazz, one or more instruments each takes its
turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment; this is
especially typified in tunes called breakdowns. This is in contrast to old-time music, in which all
instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others
provide accompaniment. Traditional bluegrass is typically based on a small set of acoustic stringed
instruments including mandolin, acoustic guitar,banjo, fiddle, resonator guitar and upright bass, with
or without vocals.

ALTERNATIVE ROCK

Originally coined as a catch all term for the various underground styles of rock music in the 1980s,
independent of the mainstream pop music industry, alternative rock drew influence primarily
from Punk rock, Post-punk and New Wave; though many of its subgenres drew from influences as
wide as Psychedelic rock and Jazz, and notably The Velvet Undergroundwere a formative
influence. Other genres would use Alternative rock influences, such as Alternative metal.

Other subgenres of Alternative rock include: Shoegazing, Dream pop, Gothic rock, Post rock and
the so-called "Indie rock".

BLUES

Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals,
shouts, work songs and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. Blues has been a
major influence on later American and Western popular music, finding expression
in ragtime, jazz, big bands,rhythm and blues, rock and roll and country music, as well as
conventional pop songs and even modern classical music.

COUNTRY MUSIC
Country music, once known as Country and Western music, is a popular musical form developed in
the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues.

Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nation-wide hit (May 1924, with "The Wreck Of
Old '97").
JAZZ

Jazz is a music genre that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African
American communities in the Southern United Statesfrom a confluence of African and European
music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from
19th and 20th century American popular music.[1] Its West African pedigree is evident in its use
of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms,syncopation, and the swung note.[2]

The word "jazz" (in early years also spelled "jass") began as a West Coast slang term and was first
used to refer to music in Chicago in about 1915.

From its beginnings in the early 20th century jazz has spawned a variety of subgenres: New
Orleans Dixieland dating from the early 1910s,big band-style swing from the 1930s and
1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s, a variety of Latin jazz fusions such as Afro-Cuban and Brazilian
jazz, free jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, jazz fusion from the 1970s, acid jazz from the 1980s
(which added funk and hip-hop influences), and Nujazz in the 1990s. As the music has spread
around the world it has drawn on local national and regional musical cultures, its aesthetics being
adapted to its varied environments and giving rise to many distinctive styles.

ROCK & ROLL

Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that
originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s,[1][2] primarily from
a combination of the blues, country music, jazz [3] and gospel music.[4] Though elements of rock and
roll can be heard in country records of the 1930s,[3] and in blues records from the 1920s,[5] rock and
roll did not acquire its name until the 1950s.[6][7] An early form of rock and roll was rockabilly,[8] which
combined country and jazz with influences from traditional Appalachian folk music and gospel.[9]

PROGRESSIVE ROCK
Progressive rock was a movement to incorporate the more complex structures and instrumentation
of jazz and classical music into the limitations of Rock and Roll. Mainly a European movement, it
started in the UK in the 1960s with bands like King Crimson, Yes and Genesisand reached its peak
popularity during the early 1970s, when albums like Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon"
and Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" dominated the charts. Progressive metal (a fusion of heavy
metal and progressive rock) later became popular with bands such as Dream Theater.

Major characteristics were long compositions, complex lyrics, a wide range of instruments,
unusual time signatures, and the inclusion of long solopassages for different instruments.
PUNK ROCK
Punk rock was originally a style of hard rock played at fast speeds with simple lyrics and simple
chord arrangements, which originated in the mid 1970s, with acts like Iggy Pop and the Stooges,
the Ramones, Patti Smith and the Sex Pistols. The main instruments used were electric guitar,
electric bass, and drums.By the 1980s, the genre had evolved into hardcore (even faster songs with
shouted lyrics), New Wave (more pop influenced & used electronic keyboards) and post punk (a
more experimental form of punk rock); these genres further evolved into psychobilly (a fusion of
punk rock androckabilly), ska punk (a fusion with ska), grunge (a mix of punk rock and alternative
rock), pop punk (a development of punk rock with cleaner sounds), gothic rock (darker sounding
with introverted lyrics) & many more genres. Punk Rock had a resounding effect on many genres of
rock music.Some subgenres brought about through either natural evolution or the convergence of
metal with other genres include, but are not limited to Thrash metal, Power metal, Death
metal, Symphonic metal, Nu metal, Black metal, Doom metal and Metalcore

SOUL

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music
and rhythm and blues.[1] According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out
of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a
form of funky, secular testifying."[2] Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous
body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response
between the soloist and the chorus, and an especially tense vocal sound. The genre also
occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds.[1]

FUNK

Funk is a distinct style of music originated by African-Americans, e.g., James Brown and his band
members (especially Maceo and Melvin Parker), George Clinton, and groups like The Meters, Sly &
the Family Stone and Tower Of Power. Funk best can be recognized by its syncopated rhythms;
thick bass line (often based on an "on the one" beat); razor-sharp rhythm guitars; chanted or
hollered vocals (as that of Cameo or the Bar-Kays); strong, rhythm-oriented horn sections;
prominent percussion; an upbeat attitude; African tones; danceability; and strong jazzy influences
(e.g., as in the music of Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Eddie Harris, and others).
SALSA

Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son
Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music. Originally, Salsa was not a
rhythm in its own right, but a name given in the 1970s to various Cuban-derived genres, such
as Son, Mambo and Son Montuno. salsa refers to a particular style developed in the 1960s and
'70s by Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants to the New York City area, and its later stylistic
descendants including 1980s salsa romantica and other sub-genresSalsa music is a diverse and
predominantly Caribbean rhythm that is popular in many Latin countries. The word is the same as
the salsa meaning sauce. However, the term has been used by Cuban immigrants in New York
analogously to swing.[4]

DISCO
Disco is a genre of dance music. Its popularity peaked during the middle to late 1970s. It had its
roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic and other communities in New
York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Disco was a reaction by New
York City's gays as well as black and Latino heterosexuals against both the domination of rock
music and the demonizationof dance music by the counterculture during this period. Women
embraced disco as well, and the music eventually expanded to several other popular groups of the
time.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] In what is considered a forerunner to disco style clubs, in February 1970, the
New York City DJ David Mancuso opened The Loft, a members-only private dance club set in his
own homeDisco is an up-tempo style of dance music that originated in the early 1970s, mainly
from funk, salsa, and soul music, popular originally with gay and black audiences in large U.S.
cities, and derives its name from the French word discothèque (meaning nightclub).

Subgenres/periods of history in Hip Hop include: Old school hip hop, New school hip hop, the so
called "Gangsta rap", Underground hip hop, Alternative hip hop and Crunk/Snap music.See Hip
Hop culture.

ELECTRONIC MUSIC
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music
technology in its production.[1] In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using
electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology.[2] Examples of
electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium,Hammond organ, and
the electric guitar. Purely electronic sound production can be achieved using devices such as
the Theremin, (is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without contact from the player. It
is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. )
sound synthesizer, and computer.[3] Electronic music was once associated almost exclusively with
Western art music but from the late 1960s on the availability of affordable music technology meant
that music produced using electronic means became increasingly common in the popular domain.
[4]
Today electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from experimental art music to
popular forms such as electronic dance music.
WORLD MUSIC

To begin with, all the various musics listed in the 1980s under the broad category of world music
were folk forms from all around the world, grouped together in order to make a greater impact in the
commercial music market. Since then, however, world music has both influenced and been
influenced by many different genres like hip hop, pop, and jazz. The term is usually used for all
music made in a traditional way and outside of the Anglo-Saxon world, thus encompassing music
from Africa, Latin America, and parts of Europe, and music by non-native English speakers in
Anglo-Saxon countries, like Native Americans or Indigenous Australians.

World-music radio programs these days will often be

playing African or reggae artists, crossover Bhangra, Cretan Music and Latin American jazz groups,
etc.

NEW AGE MUSIC

Electronic and world music, together with progressive rock and religious music are the elements
from which new age music has developed. Works within this genre tend to be predominantly
peaceful in overall style but with an emphasis on energy and gentle vibrancy. Pieces are composed
to aid meditation, to energise yoga, tai chi and exercise sessions or to encourage connections to
the planet Earth (in the sense of a spiritual concept of Mother Earth or, perhaps Gaia). There are
also new-age compositions which sit equally comfortably in the world music category.