...Jazz is an art form that originated and developed in America. Even though Jazz was created using the musical instincts of the African and European traditions, it reflects the American life. Over the years Jazz music has played a key role by reflecting an American’s right to personal freedom of expression. For instance, “Jazz has been called the purest expression of American democracy; a music built on individualism and compromise, independence and cooperation [1].” It has had a major influence on many musical styles and genres within the American society and continues to do so. Therefore, Jazz can be called the true American Classical Music. Just like Classical Music, Jazz has its own standard of literacy, form, and complexity. It has established a value over time and it allows many cultures to communicate thought as well as ideas with one another for Jazz is widely known. The only time Jazz was considered mainstream was the in the 1930s commonly known as the Swing Era. This is the time where many musicians were finally experimenting with the music and crafting jazz arrangements for bigger bands. The end of the Swing Era was marked by one main disaster. This had to do largely with the direct effects of World War II itself for members in the big bands were forced to serve their country [1]. There were also gas shortages, a tax raise, and curfew. These dissuaded people from going out which had a dramatic impact on the Swing. Since then Jazz music then proceeded to decline in popularity...
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...Flappers Flappers are closely related to today’s youth. Society is critical, and disrespectful, and the youth has always faced these problems. Things like, fashion music, and entertainment drive criticism. Fashion, music, and entertainment evolve through the youth, and provides change. Overtime the music, fashion, and entertainment become part of popular culture, and are accepted. Change is worrisome, and always brings criticism. Fashion changes over time. The fashion of the 1920s is different than the fashion of the 2000s. Fashion in the 1920s involved long dresses, suits, and formal clothing. Now, the fashion is jeans, and name brand apparel. Though fashion has changed, the reaction hasn’t. Parents will always criticize...
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...most influential forms of music began to develop, jazz and blues. The blues were created by African-Americans in the southern region of the United States, who drew their influence from work songs, folk songs, and another popular music genre at the time called Ragtime. Blues songs gave artists a method of expressing their emotions and feelings. As one person stated, “The emotion expressed is generally one of sadness or melancholy, often due to problems in love.” The musical elements that made blues very popular also sparked the development of a very distinct and unique style of music called jazz. “Jazz was born in New Orleans through the fusion of African-American elements such as ragtime and blues with other traditional styles – spirituals, work songs, and shouts.” What made jazz music unique was that musicians often improvised the melodies on the spot which many people thought would not work, but it in fact did. The vital role jazz and blues music played, sparked the evolution of other musical styles and the acceptance of African-Americans among the white community throughout the twentieth century. One of the earliest composers to contribute to jazz and who also considered himself “the inventor of jazz” was Jelly Roll Martin. Martin began his career playing ragtime piano in New Orleans, but as his musical style progressed, he embraced a new musical style from his blues and ragtime influence. Another important figure in the development of jazz and widely considered as...
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...The Evolution of Jazz and its Modern Influence Jazz is a music art form that was created solely in America. It is considered to be one of the most influential forms of music in American history. Not only did it originate in America but it is also one of the few art forms that have two distinctive sounds. The jazz sound is separated into classical jazz and jazz fusion (modern) jazz. Jazz is also one of the only forms of music for which college music majors are required to study several artists’ techniques as a semester course. Jazz music has been used in many forms of music in America. With all the respect that jazz has garnered around the world, unfortunately, the art form has lost popularity over the last 20 years. With the emergence of hip-hop, techno, and other music forms, young musicians of today do not find the music appealing or relevant. All the awards for jazz musicians have been moved off the national television award shows. There is also a movement to remove the jazz categories from the Grammy list completely. This paper will discuss the history of jazz, where it began, how it evolved, and its future. To understand the future of jazz, one must understand what it really is and the instruments that were combined to make the ensemble. Jazz started to form early in the twentieth century in New Orleans. At that time, the sound was called Ragtime. This sound was produced by a band that included the string bass, drums, a guitar or banjo, and a "melodic section" with one...
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...A Seemingly Unlikely Fusion: Jazz and Heavy Metal The music of jazz has come a long way since the very beginning. Its influence on society and politics is unquestionable, and even more so when it comes to its impact on the musical world. If traced back to its origin, one can see that jazz has developed substantially starting from the early country blues and emerging onward to genres such as Dixieland, swing, bebop, cool, hard bop, and free/avant-garde. And like many musical genres, jazz has continued growing within the last few decades, fusing and incorporating musical aspects such as rock ‘n roll, Cuban, soul, Latin, and even “extremes” such as rap and, in particular, the music of heavy metal. The emergence of the fusion of jazz and metal cannot be exactly pinpointed (much like many other genres recorded in history), but it definitely had an origin. Perhaps it started early on with the development of jazz fusion (lead by Miles Davis in the late sixties/early seventies) and heavy metal (lead by the ever famous Black Sabbath) (Scaggs). But in order to comprehend this particularly odd combo, one must understand, or at least be aware of the basic concepts of both genres individually. For those who are not too familiar with the genre, heavy metal is an aggressive form of music, mainly standardized with fast guitar riffs and solos, heavy bass grooves, and fast (or slow), hard drumming patterns. Vocals can consist of growling used to express discontent or anger, but is not...
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...movement was getting started, the musical styling’s of Bebop Jazz was already robust especially in big cities like New York. Bebop Jazz started coming out heavily in the 1940’s and was played in every jazz club across the nation. Bebop was a groundbreaking style of jazz and many well-known musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Max Roach and Miles Davis were helping promote the new style. While researching famous Bebop musicians, I only came across African American individuals of both sexes. I was really curious as to why this was and I finally found the answer. Jazz originated from New Orleans Louisiana. Many residents from New Orleans are African American and they helped spread jazz throughout the world. Once Bebop Jazz started coming to...
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...Music in today’s culture has expanded into many different types of genres. There is jazz, pop, culture swing, gospel, bluegrass classical, contemporary, indie, rock-n-roll, opera, Latino, the list goes on. In the different genres music there are also different sub-genres. For instance in classical music there are different types of classical music, for example the waltz, and also ragtime music. In the Gospel genre there are southern gospel, sacred gospel, contemporary gospel, Christian, hymns, etc… Music has always been a part of different cultures throughout history and around the world. Jazz music was started in Africa, yet developed in Europe, thus giving us the well-known genre of jazz music. According to Wikipedia, a cultures music...
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...Influence of Music Paper The different types of music genres have helped shape American culture and society and its social behavior of Americans. As time moves on and cultures change, so does the music and what it stands for. Music may sound and be different around the world, but its most common purpose it’s to bring individuals together. It seems that music, more than anything else, ties people together and tears them apart. Each culture around the world has caused music in general to evolve uniquely to each society. As society changes and grows, so will our music and what we believe in. Music has given American culture its values, the way that jazz, blues, and R&B created rock & roll, music created American culture that naturally has an influence on other cultures. It is an argument of whether music affects society or if society is reflected through music towards social behavior. It can also be said that any one type of music can influence society. For instance, a society can become more modernized such as individuals expanding their methods of playing musical instruments. Or as technology becomes more advanced with the digital era, individuals can listen to music on MP3 players, Ipads, cell phones or radio’s anywhere and anytime becoming more convenient. In today’s society, people have the right to choose what they want to listen to. This includes wide variety of styles or to even focus on one genre, depending on the musical qualities that appeal to them. Media, such as radio...
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...Harlem Renaissance was a time of explosive culture and growth in the black community. During this time in the 1920s and 30s, it was not only the birth place of jazz but also we heard voices of the African American Authors who were taken serious by their white connects for the first time in history. It focused on portraying black culture and life in the ghetto. And it gave the African American Culture uniqueness within literature and art. Harlem Renaissance was an evident racial pride that symbolized the melodic theme of the New Negro. New Negro challenged the penetrating racial discrimination to encourage socialistic help of art and literature. As to be significant in the Harlem Renaissance the writers used poetry to present the African American experiences. Grabbing the attention between both black and white readers around the world. One Poet that set that bar really was Langston Hughes he was one of the most popular black poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes was great at his job with more diversity in his choice of writings. He had written Plays, Novels, Poems, and Short Stories, Most of his writings were the real situations that really happened in black cultures. Movies were highly looked up upon in the Harlem Renaissance. D.W. Griffith directed “The Birth of a Nation” the film was over African Americans directors who countered negative stereotypes promoted in majority of the mainstream movies. Then released films in The Harlem Renaissance showcased the struggle of the...
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...that have the ability to cover a wide range of sounds. Brass instruments have changed greatly since the beginning of time. Throughout history, the manufacturing of brass instruments has become more complex by using different materials, dimensions, and including valves. Compositions have been composed to show off the capabilities of brass instruments through concertos and solos. With that being said, famous musicians have created a reputation for their musical talents by playing instruments in the brass family. The sacbut and piccolo trumpet are two instruments included in the brass family and will be focused on due to their unique qualities. The brass family is a unique group of instruments that has helped change the compositions of music throughout history. History of Brass Instruments Before the history of brass can be described, people have to understand what a brass instrument entails, “a brass instrument is defined as an “aerophone,” which means it is an instrument where the musician must blow air into the instrument. The musician produces the tone by buzzing the lips into what is generally a cup-shaped mouthpiece. It doesn’t mean that the instrument is necessarily made of brass, since instruments that are made of other metals, wood, horn, or even animal bone are included in the family of brass instruments.” (Wilken) Before the Renaissance period, the brass instruments were very basic. The pitch was changed by the buzzing of the lips. Eventually, manufacturing...
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...blues, jazz, gospel, and pop music? Those are all types of different soul music. Many songs and artist we know today have introduced us to this what we called soul music. In this paper I will talk about the some artist that has made an impact in today’s music and not only that, how African American music has affected history of our heritage. Soul music is gospel-influenced African American popular music style that began to emerge in the late 1950s and became popular during the 1960s. (Maultsby, 277) There were many artist back in the day that made soul music very influential Ray Charles and James Brown was known for the similarity of having a black gospel back ground then transforming their sound into blues that lead to the sound of “soul music”. When the artist Sam Cook released a song call “A Change Is Gonna Come” it had a huge impact on the society because this was the time around the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement is a movement beginning in the late 1940s and blossoming in the late 1950s to the mid-1960s that pushed for equal rights for African Americans. (Maultsby, 277) In the year of 1964 when Cooks song came out he had died and there was a signing of the Civil Rights Act. Many people thought the song “A Change Is Gonna Come” had marked from rhythm and blues to soul. This songs is known as a gospel style. By just these three men singing the types of songs that were passionate about made a tremendous impact on how the world look at soul music today. Soul...
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... Music is my friend, my doctor and love of my life. There are countless amount of people with headphones listening to music and simultaneously blocking out the outside world around them. Today stress is taking a huge toll on a person’s everyday life. We need some kind of escape and here is the music. It helps me to relax, to enjoy the life and make every moment better. I think that music has some biological connection with our body when we listening it. It has a great power. “Whithout music life would be a mistake.”- sad Friedrich Nietzsche. I tottaly agree. I can’t even imagine how the world would look like if there was no music. You can see many genres and artists in my playlist. Some of them gives me the strength, some gives me hope, some of them makes me to accept life as it is. Music is important part of life. It is a form of expression. It has no boundaries and it follows no guidelines. Essentially, to me, music is like air. It has no true shape or definiton, yet we need it to live. Imagine a world without music. All you’re left with is dust. Music is life istelf. As I mentioned, Music is one of the few things, that can help you escape your reality. No mater how bad things are, music has the potential to make you forget all about it. Music can spark any emotion. It can hold memories. It can tell stories. It will always be there. It will never vanish. You can’t touch music, but music can touch you. There are various type of music in the world. For instance...
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...The Impact of Slavery on American Society DeVry University Abstract The subject of slavery has been the focus of a variety of controversies, debates, and protests throughout American history. Besides the Civil War era there has not been another time in history when slavery has been such a volatile topic as it has become in the last half decade. Even in modern day America the subject of slavery evokes significant discussions and has influenced legislative decisions such as the recent removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s State House grounds and other government and public locations throughout the South. This paper seeks to review the literature attaching the history of slavery and present examples of the ethnic and cultural contributions that aided in the growth and diversity of America. It will also introduce examples of today’s societal issues including educational, economic, and social variances; the right to support cultural heritage; and the significant role history plays in influencing decisions made in America today. Introduction American history is filled with heinous acts that many would like to forget happened; slavery is no exception. Although it was a necessity of the times, slavery is undoubtedly one of the most volatile topics of discussion today; not just because of the inhuman and discriminatory treatment that was inflicted on an entire race, but also because of the perceived continued existence of some of those same...
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...The Evolution of Music: Offensive to Women, yet Acclaimed in Society Victor Hugo, a well known French Romantic writer, once stated “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” Though this statement was made in the 19th century, it continues to stand true to this day. Through decades of evolution, music has constantly been a way for anyone to express themselves through melodies, timbre, dynamics, and lyrics. People around the world are composing, as well as listening to, all kinds of music, and this unifies nations in all countries and continents. Introduction to Literature is an anthology that consists of a variety of literary works – poems, short stories, and excerpts from novels – that discusses globalization. I believe that a chapter regarding the subject of music and its evolution should be included in the Introduction to Literature. Music has continuously been changing ever since the first beat was tapped, the first piano was struck, the first violin was plucked, and the first horn was blown; however, in the last 150 years, the meaning of lyrics and the style of music has changed drastically. From Bing Crosby to Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Eminem, the artists and composers have altered the way music sounds on the radio, computer, and other musical devices. Every genre has artists, who have songs, which have lyrics that contain a story. Whether the story is from a memory, a dream, or an ambition, it becomes...
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...Political Movements in the 20th Century HUM/300 Political Movements in the 20th Century During the 20th century several major political events took place that changed the worldwide view of civilization and shook up the collective consciousness. World War I and II showed the dark side of technology when used to hurt humanity. Civil movements surged around the world as a result of minorities trying to regain their identity, which various governments throughout the world restricted. The authors will examine major political events that had a notable effect on the 20th century, including, the influences of World War I and II, the surge of the Civil Rights Movement, and the Gender Equality Movement. The author’s examination will consider the works of artists and how his or her creative expression reflected the mood of the era. Political Events: World War I and II World War I (WWI) started in 1914, and lasted through 1918. The political event that triggered this war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The war tactics employed in World War I changed the methods and strategies in future conflicts bringing more devastation. Some of the new strategies included trench warfare, chemical warfare, and upgraded technology; it introduced chemical weapons including chlorine and phosgene, which produced devastating damages. The exposure to high levels of these gases resulted in temporary blindness, difficulty...
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