Essay on American Music at the Turn of the 20th Century

To understand whether an ‘American’ music emerged out of traditions in the turn of the 20th century, we need to focus on the term ‘American’ and what musical genres fall under that category. For one, America, in a cultural sense, is seen as one huge ‘melting pot’, an amalgamation of cultures, ethnic traditions, beliefs and styles of music. It is very difficult to label one genre under the category of American music, as a vast amount of styles, in historical terms, have come about from a mixture of styles such as Jazz and Country music. Influences from a variety of ethnic backgrounds provided the chance for the growth and commercialism of genres and made them more mainstream. With the focus being on jazz and Country, it is made clear that†¦show more content†¦Again, having its foundations traced back to its southern origins, it became widely recognised by John Sousa, who blended both syncopated jazz with classical music brought over from across the pond. In terms of ethnic traditions, music which emerged from early black culture cannot technically be defined as American alone. These purely African styles of music, fused with slave culture, laid the foundations for Jazz (emerged from Blues) music but cannot solely be categorised as American. It was when the Creole population (black population who were born in America) began to develop in the mid-nineteenth century, along with merges from European classical music, that the genre, created by this ethnic group, was received as American. As time moved on, so did Jazz’s musical development. Its links with white-American musical styles increased in order to categorise itself as popular music. Despite the genre having its initial, strong African-American roots, and in 1850, almost one out of every six Americans was of African descent, (Crawford, 2001a, 249) the Jazz scene began to merge with white culture. When the style hit cities like Chicago in particular, artist s like Leon Biederbecke, a white musician from Iowa, began to make an impact on Jazz traditions. As a teenager, he found love forShow MoreRelatedThe History Of American Music1288 Words   |  6 Pageshistory of American music begins with a fundamental process of exchange through all different social lines, where diverse cultures meet, and mix. Music has and always will be defined as sounds that are arranged in a particular pattern that are played to be meaningful and pleasurable. The chronology of music began in the Medieval period, when chanting was introduced into the Church. Music has then moved its way through many stages: renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and leading up to 20th centuryRead MoreARTS 125 Week 5 Assignment Art And Culture Paper858 Words   |  4 Pagesto go far because all one has to do is turn on the computer and connect to the World Wide Web to get information on everything. 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