The document discusses the evolution of American music genres from folk music to modern forms like hip hop and electronic music. It traces the origins and development of various genres such as blues, jazz, country, rock, and rap, providing examples of influential artists within each genre. The genres developed out of combinations of styles including folk, spirituals, blues, jazz, gospel, and incorporated influences from African American, Latino, and other cultures.
Defines the differences between the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomer, and Generations X, Y, and Z (i) and how to promote effective communication between groups.
Genre of AnalysisRhythm and Blues (vocal performance) Rhyt.docxhanneloremccaffery
Genre of Analysis
Rhythm and Blues (vocal performance)
Rhythm and Blues (r&b) which also overlaps as “Soul Music” started in the South during the 20th century in the late 1930s and early 1940s. It was created by and for African Americans. Gospel music is a heavy component of R&B, even ministers would have the members of the church “testify”. Testimonies are people speaking on something that happened in their life and God turned it around for the better. Most of the pioneers of R&B like Ray Charles, B.B. King, James Brown etc. were black children that grew up in church and branched off into R&B which was seen as unholy to religious folk. It was deemed secular because churchgoers felt as if the music was blasphemous. This act of testifying is the base of rhythm and blues lyrics. In R&B you release bottled up emotions, but through song you “testify” and tell personal experiences. R&B also came from African folk songs called “work songs”. Work songs use “call” and “response”, which has a leader who calls out a word or sentence and the group responds back. Work songs were therapeutic and helped the shift go by. Eventually, the “call” and “response” method of R&B, which involves a crowd turned into a solo performance. R&B lyrics, as I said earlier are heavily influenced and derived from gospel. The instrumentation comes from Blues and Jazz causing the instruments to mirror the words.
In 1947, Jerry Wexler, who was at the time a reporter for billboard, named “R&B” as a genre while editing the charts for the magazine. Wexler is credited for the term. Before the term Rhythm and Blues, all music made by blacks had an offensive category name called “race music”. R&B came from African American’s merging Gospel, Jazz, and Blues. In the 1950s, R&B was considered a lower class style of music compared to Jazz which was considered a high class form of black expression. R&B was apart of the social scene for black youth especially in clubs.
In classic R&B, the “Rhythm” is from the strong use of backbeat and four-beat measures. The “Blues” is about expressing how you feel, which was usually “blue” and “sad”. Why was the music blue and sad ? Racism was a huge issue, this affected the African American community. Also, this music’s rise was among the World War II era. People were being killed because of the war, experienced mental issues because of the trauma of war and hate crimes because of the color of their skin. Majority of the music reflected the times. Instruments like the electric guitar, piano, harmonica, bass, drums, blues harp, slide guitar, and xylophone were used but the main focus is the singer. The singer expresses how they are feeling and set the tone of the song. There are many instrumentals of rhythm and blues but most of the time they are imitating a singer’s voice.
Ray Charles is one of the key players in R&B music. In several songs he collided gospel and blues together to make masterpieces. Evident in “I Got A Woman” (1954), in 1959 “What’d ...
3. American Folk
Folk music is typically of unknown authorship and is
transmitted orally from generation to generation.
Native Americans, Slaves, etc.
Examples
Bob Dylan
Tracy Chapman
Joni Mitchell
Jack Johnson
(Folk Rock)
4. Blues and Spirituals
Spirituals were primarily expressions of religious
faith, sung by slaves on southern plantations. It is a
combination of hardship lyrics, sounds that can be
made without instruments, and sung on the blue
scale
Examples of blues, gospel,
and spirituals
Mary Mary
Bill withers
BB King
5. Jazz
A kind of music characterized by swung and blue
notes, call and response vocals.
Example:
Ella Fitzgerald
Miles Davis
Louis Armstrong
6. R&B and Soul & Funk
is a popular music genre combining jazz, gospel,
and blues influences, first performed by African
American artists.
Examples:
Beyoncé
Anthony Hamilton
James Brown
Michael Jackson
Prince
7. Country
Is a genre of American popular music that originated
in the Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its
roots from the southeastern genre of American Folk
music and Western music. Blues modes have been
used extensively throughout its recorded history.
Examples
Jace Everett
Willie Nelson
Johnny Cash
8. Rock
a form that evolved from rock & roll and pop music
during the mid- and late 1960s. Harsher and often
self-consciously more serious, it was 1st characterized
by musical exp. and drug/ anti-Establishment lyrics.
Example
Matchbox Twenty
Linkin Park
Mumford & Sons
Wild Cherry
9. Metal
is a genre of rock music[1] that developed in the late
1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United
Kingdom and the United States
Examples
Alice Cooper
P.O.D
Korn
Slipknot
10. Hip Hop & Rap & Sub Genres
subcultural movement that formed during the early
1970s by African-American, Caribbean, and Latino
youths residing in the South Bronx in New York City.
Examples
Jay-Z and Kanye West (Hip Hop/Rap)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Conscientious)
Eminem (Rap)
Childish Gambino (Hipster Rap)
11. Electronic/House/Dance
Originating in Chicago, it is repetitive beats, with
limited lyrics, and usually synthesized and
instrumental.
Examples
Scissors Sisters
Mystery Skulls
D.A.R.E.
12. Niche Music
Bounce,
Gogo,
polka,
salsa,
reggaeton,
show tunes
Line Dancing
And many others