Музыкальная культура америки краткий рассказ

The music of the United States reflects the country’s multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. It is a mixture of music influenced by the music of Europe, Indigenous peoples, West Africa, Latin America, Middle East, North Africa, amongst many other places. The country’s most internationally renowned genres are traditional pop, jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, rock, rock and roll, R&B, pop, hip hop, soul, funk, gospel, disco, house, techno, ragtime, doo-wop, folk music, americana, boogaloo, tejano, reggaeton, surf, and salsa. American music is heard around the world. Since the beginning of the 20th century, some forms of American popular music have gained a near global audience.^[1]

Native Americans were the earliest inhabitants of the land that is today known as the United States and played its first music. Beginning in the 17th century, settlers from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Germany, and France began arriving in large numbers, bringing with them new styles and instruments. Slaves from West Africa brought their musical traditions, and each subsequent wave of immigrants contributed to a melting pot.

There are also some African-American influences in the musical tradition of the European-American settlers, such as jazz, blues, rock, country and bluegrass. The United States has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of the Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, Polish, Hispanic, and Jewish communities, among others.

Many American cities and towns have vibrant music scenes which, in turn, support a number of regional musical styles. Musical centers around the country have all have produced and contributed to the many distinctive styles of American music. The Cajun and Creole traditions in Louisiana music, the folk and popular styles of Hawaiian music, and the bluegrass and old time music of the Southeastern states are a few examples of diversity in American music.

Characteristics[edit]

The music of the United States can be characterized by the use of syncopation and asymmetrical rhythms, long, irregular melodies, which are said to «reflect the wide open geography of (the American landscape)» and the «sense of personal freedom characteristic of American life».^[2] Some distinct aspects of American music, like the call-and-response format, are derived from African techniques and instruments.

Throughout the later part of American history, and into modern times, the relationship between American and European music has been a discussed topic among scholars of American music. Some have urged for the adoption of more purely European techniques and styles, which are sometimes perceived as more refined or elegant, while others have pushed for a sense of musical nationalism that celebrates distinctively American styles. Modern classical music scholar John Warthen Struble has contrasted American and European, concluding that the music of the United States is inherently distinct because the United States has not had centuries of musical evolution as a nation. Instead, the music of the United States is that of dozens or hundreds of indigenous and immigrant groups, all of which developed largely in regional isolation until the American Civil War, when people from across the country were brought together in army units, trading musical styles and practices. Struble deemed the ballads of the Civil War «the first American folk music with discernible features that can be considered unique to America: the first ‘American’ sounding music, as distinct from any regional style derived from another country.»^[3]

The Civil War, and the period following it, saw a general flowering of American art, literature and music. Amateur musical ensembles of this era can be seen as the birth of American popular music. Music author David Ewen describes these early amateur bands as combining «the depth and drama of the classics with undemanding technique, eschewing complexity in favor of direct expression. If it was vocal music, the words would be in English, despite the snobs who declared English an unsingable language. In a way, it was part of the entire awakening of America that happened after the Civil War, a time in which American painters, writers, and ‘serious’ composers addressed specifically American themes.»^[4] During this period the roots of blues, gospel, jazz, and country music took shape; in the 20th century, these became the core of American popular music, which further evolved into the styles like rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and hip hop music.

[edit]

Music intertwines with aspects of American social and cultural identity, including through social class, race and ethnicity, geography, religion, language, gender, and sexuality. The relationship between music and race is perhaps the most potent determiner of musical meaning in the United States. The development of an African American musical identity, out of disparate sources from Africa and Europe, has been a constant theme in the music history of the United States. Little documentation exists of colonial-era African American music, when styles, songs, and instruments from across West Africa commingled with European styles and instruments, leading to the creation of new genres and self expression from enslaved people. By the mid-19th century, a distinctly African American folk tradition was well-known and widespread, and African American musical techniques, instruments, and images became a part of mainstream American music through spirituals, minstrel shows, and slave songs.^[6] African American musical styles became an integral part of American popular music through blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and then rock and roll, soul, and hip hop; all of these styles were consumed by Americans of all races, but were created in African American styles and idioms before eventually becoming common in performance and consumption across racial lines. In contrast, country music derives from both African and European, as well as Native American and Hawaiian, traditions and has long been perceived as a form of white music.^[7]

Economic and social classes separates American music through the creation and consumption of music, such as the upper-class patronage of symphony-goers, and the generally poor performers of rural and ethnic folk musics. Musical divisions based on class are not absolute, however, and are sometimes as much perceived as actual;^[8] popular American country music, for example, is a commercial genre designed to «appeal to a working-class identity, whether or not its listeners are actually working class».^[9] Country music is also intertwined with geographic identity, and is specifically rural in origin and function; other genres, like R&B and hip hop, are perceived as inherently urban.^[10] For much of American history, music-making has been a «feminized activity».^[11] In the 19th century, amateur piano and singing were considered proper for middle- and upper-class women. Women were also a major part of early popular music performance, though recorded traditions quickly become more dominated by men. Most male-dominated genres of popular music include female performers as well, often in a niche appealing primarily to women; these include gangsta rap and heavy metal.^[12]

History[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (May 2021)

Diversity[edit]

The United States is often said to be a cultural melting pot, taking in influences from across the world and creating distinctively new methods of cultural expression. Though aspects of American music can be traced back to specific origins, claiming any particular original culture for a musical element is inherently problematic, due to the constant evolution of American music through transplanting and hybridizing techniques, instruments and genres. Elements of foreign musics arrived in the United States both through the formal sponsorship of educational and outreach events by individuals and groups, and through informal processes, as in the incidental transplantation of West African music through slavery, and Irish music through immigration. The most distinctly American musics are a result of cross-cultural hybridization through close contact. Slavery, for example, mixed persons from numerous tribes in tight living quarters, resulting in a shared musical tradition that was enriched through further hybridizing with elements of indigenous, Latin, and European music.^[13] American ethnic, religious, and racial diversity has also produced such intermingled genres as the French-African music of the Louisiana Creoles, the Native, Mexican and European fusion Tejano music, and the thoroughly hybridized slack-key guitar and other styles of modern Hawaiian music.

The process of transplanting music between cultures is not without criticism. The folk revival of the mid-20th century, for example, appropriated the musics of various rural peoples, in part to promote certain political causes, which has caused some to question whether the process caused the «commercial commodification of other peoples’ songs … and the inevitable dilution of mean» in the appropriated musics. The use of African American musical techniques, images, and conceits in popular music largely by and for white Americans has been widespread since at least the mid-19th century songs of Stephen Foster and the rise of minstrel shows. The American music industry has actively attempted to popularize white performers of African American music because they are more palatable to mainstream and middle-class Americans.^{[citation needed]} This process has been related to the rise of stars as varied as Benny Goodman, Eminem, and Elvis Presley, as well as popular styles like blue-eyed soul and rockabilly.^[13]

Folk music[edit]

Folk music in the US is varied across the country’s numerous ethnic groups. The Native American tribes each play their own varieties of folk music, most of it spiritual in nature. African American music includes blues and gospel, descendants of West African music brought to the Americas by slaves and mixed with Western European music. During the colonial era, English, French and Spanish styles and instruments were brought to the Americas. By the early 20th century, the United States had become a major center for folk music from around the world, including polka, Ukrainian and Polish fiddling, Ashkenazi, Klezmer, and several kinds of Latin music.

The Native Americans played the first folk music in what is now the United States, using a wide variety of styles and techniques. Some commonalities are near universal among Native American traditional music, however, especially the lack of harmony and polyphony, and the use of vocables and descending melodic figures. Traditional instrumentations use the flute and many kinds of percussion instruments, like drums, rattles, and shakers.^[14] Since European and African contact was established, Native American folk music has grown in new directions, into fusions with disparate styles like European folk dances and Tejano music. Modern Native American music may be best known for pow wows, pan-tribal gatherings at which traditionally styled dances and music are performed.^[15]

The Thirteen Colonies of the original United States were all former English possessions, and Anglo culture became a major foundation for American folk and popular music. Many American folk songs are identical to British songs in arrangements, but with new lyrics, often as parodies of the original material. American-Anglo songs are also characterized as having fewer pentatonic tunes, less prominent accompaniment (but with heavier use of drones) and more melodies in major.^[16] Anglo-American traditional music also includes a variety of broadside ballads, humorous stories and tall tales, and disaster songs regarding mining, shipwrecks, and murder. Legendary heroes like Joe Magarac, John Henry, and Jesse James are part of many songs. Folk dances of British origin include the square dance, descended from the quadrille, combined with the American innovation of a caller instructing the dancers.^[17] The religious communal society known as the Shakers emigrated from England during the 18th century and developed their own folk dance style. Their early songs can be dated back to British folk song models.^[18] Other religious societies established their own unique musical cultures early in American history, such as the music of the Amish, the Harmony Society, and the Ephrata Cloister in Pennsylvania.^[19]

The ancestors of today’s African American population were brought to the United States as slaves, working primarily in the plantations of the South. They were from hundreds of tribes across West Africa, and they brought with them certain traits of West African music including call and response vocals and complexly rhythmic music,^[20] as well as syncopated beats and shifting accents.^[21] The African musical focus on rhythmic singing and dancing was brought to the New World, where it became part of a distinct folk culture that helped Africans «retain continuity with their past through music». The first slaves in the United States sang work songs, field hollers^[22] and, following Christianization, hymns. In the 19th century, a Great Awakening of religious fervor gripped people across the country, especially in the South. Protestant hymns written mostly by New England preachers became a feature of camp meetings held among devout Christians across the South. When blacks began singing adapted versions of these hymns, they were called Negro spirituals. It was from these roots, of spiritual songs, work songs, and field hollers, that blues, jazz, and gospel developed.

Blues and spirituals[edit]

Spirituals were primarily expressions of religious faith, sung by slaves on southern plantations.^[23] In the mid to late 19th century, spirituals spread out of the U.S. South. In 1871 Fisk University became home to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a pioneering group that popularized spirituals across the country. In imitation of this group, gospel quartets arose, followed by increasing diversification with the early 20th-century rise of jackleg and singing preachers, from whence came the popular style of gospel music.

Blues is a combination of African work songs, field hollers, and shouts.^[24] It developed in the rural South in the first decade of the 20th century. The most important characteristics of the blues is its use of the blue scale, with a flatted or indeterminate third, as well as the typically lamenting lyrics; though both of these elements had existed in African American folk music prior to the 20th century, the codified form of modern blues (such as with the AAB structure) did not exist until the early 20th century.^[25]

Other immigrant communities[edit]

The United States is a melting pot consisting of numerous ethnic groups. Many of these peoples have kept alive the folk traditions of their homeland, often producing distinctively American styles of foreign music. Some nationalities have produced local scenes in regions of the country where they have clustered, like Cape Verdean music in New England,^[26] Armenian music in California,^[27] and Italian and Ukrainian music in New York City.^[28]

The Creoles are a community with varied non-Anglo ancestry, mostly descendant of people who lived in Louisiana before its purchase by the U.S. The Cajuns are a group of Francophones who arrived in Louisiana after leaving Acadia in Canada.^[29] The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, being a major port, has acted as a melting pot for people from all over the Caribbean basin. The result is a diverse and syncretic set of styles of Cajun music and Creole music.

Spain and subsequently Mexico controlled much of what is now the western United States until the Mexican–American War, including the entire state of Texas. After Texas joined the United States, the native Tejanos living in the state began culturally developing separately from their neighbors to the south, and remained culturally distinct from other Texans. Central to the evolution of early Tejano music was the blend of traditional Mexican forms such as mariachi and the corrido, and Continental European styles introduced by German and Czech settlers in the late 19th century.^[30] In particular, the accordion was adopted by Tejano folk musicians around the start of the 20th century, and it became a popular instrument for amateur musicians in Texas and Northern Mexico.

Classical music[edit]

Classical music was brought to the United States with some of the first colonists. European classical music is rooted in the traditions of European art, ecclesiastical and concert music. The central norms of this tradition developed between 1550 and 1825, centering on what is known as the common practice period. Many American classical composers attempted to work entirely within European models until late in the 19th century. When Antonín Dvořák, a prominent Czech composer, visited the United States from 1892 to 1895, he iterated the idea that American classical music needed its own models instead of imitating European composers; he helped to inspire subsequent composers to make a distinctly American style of classical music.^[31] By the beginning of the 20th century, many American composers were incorporating disparate elements into their work, ranging from jazz and blues to Native American music.

Early classical music[edit]

During the colonial era, there were two distinct fields of what is now considered classical music. One was associated with amateur composers and pedagogues, whose style was originally drawn from simple hymns and gained sophistication over time. The other colonial tradition was that of the mid-Atlantic cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore, which produced a number of prominent composers who worked almost entirely within the European model; these composers were mostly English in origin, and worked specifically in the style of prominent English composers of the day.^[32]

Classical music was brought to the United States during the colonial era. Many American composers of this period worked exclusively with European models, while others, such as William Billings, Supply Belcher, and Justin Morgan, also known as the First New England School, developed a style almost entirely independent of European models.^[33] Of these composers, Billings is the most well-remembered; he was also influential «as the founder of the American church choir, as the first musician to use a pitch pipe, and as the first to introduce a violoncello into church service».^[34] Many of these composers were amateur singers who developed new forms of sacred music suitable for performance by amateurs, and often using harmonic methods which would have been considered bizarre by contemporary European standards.^[35] These composers’ styles were untouched by «the influence of their sophisticated European contemporaries», using modal or pentatonic scales or melodies and eschewing the European rules of harmony.^[36]

In the early 19th century, America produced diverse composers such as Anthony Heinrich, who composed in an idiosyncratic, intentionally American style and was the first American composer to write for a symphony orchestra. Many other composers, most famously William Henry Fry and George Frederick Bristow, supported the idea of an American classical style, though their works were very European in orientation. It was John Knowles Paine, however, who became the first American composer to be accepted in Europe. Paine’s example inspired the composers of the Second New England School, which included such figures as Amy Beach, Edward MacDowell, and Horatio Parker.^[37]

Louis Moreau Gottschalk is perhaps the best-remembered American composer of the 19th century, said by music historian Richard Crawford to be known for «bringing indigenous or folk, themes and rhythms into music for the concert hall». Gottschalk’s music reflected the cultural mix of his home city, New Orleans, Louisiana, which was home to a variety of Latin, Caribbean, African American, Cajun, and Creole music. He was well acknowledged as a talented pianist in his lifetime, and was also a known composer who remains admired though little performed.^[38]

20th century[edit]

The New York classical music scene included Charles Griffes, originally from Elmira, New York, who began publishing his most innovative material in 1914. His early collaborations were attempts to use non-Western musical themes. The best-known New York composer was George Gershwin. Gershwin was a songwriter with Tin Pan Alley and the Broadway theatres, and his works were strongly influenced by jazz, or rather the precursors to jazz that were extant during his time. Gershwin’s work made American classical music more focused, and attracted an unheard of amount of international attention. Following Gershwin, the first major composer was Aaron Copland from Brooklyn, who used elements of American folk music, though it remained European in technique and form. Later, he turned to the ballet and then serial music.^[39] Charles Ives was one of the earliest American classical composers of enduring international significance, producing music in a uniquely American style, though his music was mostly unknown until after his death in 1954.

Many of the later 20th-century composers, such as John Cage, John Corigliano, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, John Adams, and Miguel del Aguila, used modernist and minimalist techniques. Reich discovered a technique known as phasing, in which two musical activities begin simultaneously and are repeated, gradually drifting out of sync, creating a natural sense of development. Reich was also very interested in non-Western music, incorporating African rhythmic techniques in his compositions.^[40] Recent composers and performers are strongly influenced by the minimalist works of Philip Glass, a Baltimore native based out of New York, Meredith Monk, and others.^[41]

Popular music[edit]

The United States has produced many popular musicians and composers in the modern world. Beginning with the birth of recorded music, American performers have continued to lead the field of popular music, which out of «all the contributions made by Americans to world culture… has been taken to heart by the entire world».^[42] Most histories of popular music start with American ragtime or Tin Pan Alley; others, however, trace popular music to the Renaissance and through broadsheets, ballads, and other popular traditions.^[43] Other authors typically look at popular sheet music, tracing American popular music to spirituals, minstrel shows, vaudeville, and the patriotic songs of the Civil War.

Early popular song[edit]

The patriotic lay songs of the American Revolution constituted the first kind of mainstream popular music. These included «The Liberty Tree» by Thomas Paine. Cheaply printed as broadsheets, early patriotic songs spread across the colonies and were performed at home and at public meetings.^[44] Fife songs were especially celebrated, and were performed on fields of battle during the American Revolution. The longest lasting of these fife songs is «Yankee Doodle», still well known today. The melody dates back to 1755 and was sung by both American and British troops.^[45] Patriotic songs were based mostly on English melodies, with new lyrics added to denounce British colonialism; others, however, used tunes from Ireland, Scotland or elsewhere, or did not utilize a familiar melody. The song «Hail, Columbia» was a major work^[46] that remained an unofficial national anthem until the adoption of «The Star-Spangled Banner». Much of this early American music still survives in Sacred Harp. Although relatively unknown outside of Shaker Communities, Simple Gifts was written in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett and the tune has since become internationally famous.^[47]

During the Civil War, when soldiers from across the country commingled, the multifarious strands of American music began to cross-fertilize each other, a process that was aided by the burgeoning railroad industry and other technological developments that made travel and communication easier. Army units included individuals from across the country, and they rapidly traded tunes, instruments and techniques. The war was an impetus for the creation of distinctly American songs that became and remained wildly popular.^[3] The most popular songs of the Civil War era included «Dixie», written by Daniel Decatur Emmett. The song, originally titled «Dixie’s Land», was made for the closing of a minstrel show; it spread to New Orleans first, where it was published and became «one of the great song successes of the pre-Civil War period».^[48] In addition to popular patriotic songs, the Civil War era also produced a great body of brass band pieces.^[49]

Following the Civil War, minstrel shows became the first distinctively American form of music expression. The minstrel show was an indigenous form of American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, usually performed by white people in blackface. Minstrel shows used African American elements in musical performances, but only in simplified ways; storylines in the shows depicted blacks as natural-born slaves and fools, before eventually becoming associated with abolitionism.^[50] The minstrel show was invented by Daniel Decatur Emmett and the Virginia Minstrels.^[51] Minstrel shows produced the first well-remembered popular songwriters in American music history: Thomas D. Rice, Daniel Decatur Emmett, and, most famously, Stephen Foster. After minstrel shows’ popularity faded, coon songs, a similar phenomenon, became popular.

The composer John Philip Sousa is closely associated with the most popular trend in American popular music just before the start of the 20th century. Formerly the bandmaster of the United States Marine Band, Sousa wrote military marches like «The Stars and Stripes Forever» that reflected his «nostalgia for [his] home and country», giving the melody a «stirring virile character».^[52]

In the early 20th century, American musical theater was a major source for popular songs, many of which influenced blues, jazz, country, and other extant styles of popular music. The center of development for this style was in New York City, where the Broadway theatres became among the most renowned venues in the city. Theatrical composers and lyricists like the brothers George and Ira Gershwin created a uniquely American theatrical style that used American vernacular speech and music. Musicals featured popular songs and fast-paced plots that often revolved around love and romance.^[53]

Blues and gospel[edit]

The blues is a genre of African American folk music that is the basis for much of modern American popular music. Blues can be seen as part of a continuum of musical styles like country, jazz, ragtime, and gospel; though each genre evolved into distinct forms, their origins were often indistinct. Early forms of the blues evolved in and around the Mississippi Delta in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The earliest blues music was primarily call and response vocal music, without harmony or accompaniment and without any formal musical structure. Slaves and their descendants created the blues by adapting the field shouts and hollers, turning them into passionate solo songs.^[54] When mixed with the Christian spiritual songs of African American churches and revival meetings, blues became the basis of gospel music. Modern gospel began in African American churches in the 1920s, in the form of worshipers proclaiming their faith in an improvised, often musical manner (testifying). Composers like Thomas A. Dorsey composed gospel works that used elements of blues and jazz in traditional hymns and spiritual songs.^[55]

Ragtime was originally a piano style, featuring syncopated rhythms and chromaticisms.^[25] It is primarily a form of dance music utilizing the walking bass, and is generally composed in sonata form. Ragtime is a refined and evolved form of the African American cakewalk dance, mixed with styles ranging from European marches^[56] and popular songs to jigs and other dances played by large African American bands in northern cities during the end of the 19th century. The most famous ragtime performer and composer was Scott Joplin, known for works such as «Maple Leaf Rag».^[57]

Blues became a part of American popular music in the 1920s, when classic female blues singers like Bessie Smith grew popular. At the same time, record companies launched the field of race music, which was mostly blues targeted at African American audiences. The most famous of these acts went on to inspire much of the later popular development of the blues and blues-derived genres, including the legendary delta blues musician Robert Johnson and Piedmont blues musician Blind Willie McTell. By the end of the 1940s, however, pure blues was only a minor part of popular music, having been subsumed by offshoots like rhythm & blues and the nascent rock and roll style. Some styles of electric, piano-driven blues, like boogie-woogie, retained a large audience. A bluesy style of gospel also became popular in mainstream America in the 1950s, led by singer Mahalia Jackson.^[58] The blues genre experienced major revivals in the 1950s with Chicago blues musicians such as Muddy Waters and Little Walter,^[59] as well as in the 1960s in the British Invasion and American folk music revival when country blues musicians like Mississippi John Hurt and Reverend Gary Davis were rediscovered. The seminal blues musicians of these periods had tremendous influence on rock musicians such as Chuck Berry in the 1950s, as well as on the British blues and blues rock scenes of the 1960s and 1970s, including Eric Clapton in Britain and Johnny Winter in Texas.

Jazz[edit]

Main article: Jazz

Jazz is a kind of music characterized by swung and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Though originally a kind of dance music, jazz has been a major part of popular music, and has also become a major element of Western classical music. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music.^[60] Early jazz was closely related to ragtime, with which it could be distinguished by the use of more intricate rhythmic improvisation. The earliest jazz bands adopted much of the vocabulary of the blues, including bent and blue notes and instrumental «growls» and smears otherwise not used on European instruments. Jazz’s roots come from the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, populated by Cajuns and black Creoles, who combined the French-Canadian culture of the Cajuns with their own styles of music in the 19th century. Large Creole bands that played for funerals and parades became a major basis for early jazz, which spread from New Orleans to Chicago and other northern urban centers.

Though jazz had long since achieved some limited popularity, it was Louis Armstrong who became one of the first popular stars and a major force in the development of jazz, along with his friend pianist Earl Hines. Armstrong, Hines, and their colleagues were improvisers, capable of creating numerous variations on a single melody. Armstrong also popularized scat singing, an improvisational vocal technique in which nonsensical syllables (vocables) are sung. Armstrong and Hines were influential in the rise of a kind of pop big band jazz called swing. Swing is characterized by a strong rhythm section, usually consisting of double bass and drums, medium to fast tempo, and rhythmic devices like the swung note, which is common to most jazz. Swing is primarily a fusion of 1930s jazz fused with elements of the blues and Tin Pan Alley.^[57] Swing used bigger bands than other kinds of jazz, leading to bandleaders tightly arranging the material which discouraged improvisation, previously an integral part of jazz. Swing became a major part of African American dance, and came to be accompanied by a popular dance called the swing dance.

Jazz influenced many performers of all the major styles of later popular music, though jazz itself never again became such a major part of American popular music as during the swing era. The later 20th-century American jazz scene did, however, produce some popular crossover stars, such as Miles Davis. In the middle of the 20th century, jazz evolved into a variety of subgenres, beginning with bebop. Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody, and use of the flatted fifth. Bebop was developed in the early and mid-1940s, later evolving into styles like hard bop and free jazz. Innovators of the style included Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, who arose from small jazz clubs in New York City.^[61]

Country music[edit]

Country music is primarily a fusion of African American blues and spirituals with Appalachian folk music, adapted for pop audiences and popularized beginning in the 1920s. The origins of country are in rural Southern folk music, which was primarily Irish and British, with African and continental European musics.^[62] Anglo-Celtic tunes, dance music, and balladry were the earliest predecessors of modern country, then known as hillbilly music. Early hillbilly also borrowed elements of the blues and drew upon more aspects of 19th-century pop songs as hillbilly music evolved into a commercial genre eventually known as country and western and then simply country.^[63] The earliest country instrumentation revolved around the European-derived fiddle and the African-derived banjo, with the guitar later added.^[64] String instruments like the ukulele and steel guitar became commonplace due to the popularity of Hawaiian musical groups in the early 20th century.^[65]

The roots of commercial country music are generally traced to 1927, when music talent scout Ralph Peer recorded Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family.^[66] Popular success was very limited, though a small demand spurred some commercial recording. After World War II, there was increased interest in specialty styles like country music, producing a few major pop stars.^[67] The most influential country musician of the era was Hank Williams, a bluesy country singer from Alabama.^[58][68] He remains renowned as one of country music’s greatest songwriters and performers, viewed as a «folk poet» with a «honky-tonk swagger» and «working-class sympathies».^[69] Throughout the decade the roughness of honky-tonk gradually eroded as the Nashville sound grew more pop-oriented. Producers like Chet Atkins created the Nashville sound by stripping the hillbilly elements of the instrumentation and using smooth instrumentation and advanced production techniques.^[70] Eventually, most records from Nashville were in this style, which began to incorporate strings and vocal choirs.^[71]

By the early part of the 1960s, however, the Nashville sound had become perceived as too watered-down by many more traditionalist performers and fans, resulting in a number of local scenes like the Bakersfield sound. A few performers retained popularity, however, such as the long-standing cultural icon Johnny Cash.^[72] The Bakersfield sound began in the mid to late 1950s when performers like Wynn Stewart and Buck Owens began using elements of Western swing and rock, such as the breakbeat, in their music.^[73] In the 1960s performers like Merle Haggard popularized the sound. In the early 1970s, Haggard was also part of outlaw country, alongside singer-songwriters such as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.^[61] Outlaw country was rock-oriented and lyrically focused on the criminal antics of the performers, in contrast to the clean-cut country singers of the Nashville sound.^[74] By the middle of the 1980s, the country music charts were dominated by pop singers, alongside a nascent revival of honky-tonk-style country with the rise of performers like Dwight Yoakam. The 1980s also saw the development of alternative country performers like Uncle Tupelo, who were opposed to the more pop-oriented style of mainstream country. At the beginning of the 2000s, rock-oriented country acts remained among the best-selling performers in the United States, especially Garth Brooks.^[75]

Soul, R&B and funk[edit]

R&B, an abbreviation for rhythm and blues, is a style that arose in the 1930s and 1940s. Early R&B consisted of large rhythm units «smashing away behind screaming blues singers (who) had to shout to be heard above the clanging and strumming of the various electrified instruments and the churning rhythm sections».^[77] R&B was not extensively recorded and promoted because record companies felt that it was not suited for most audiences, especially middle-class whites, because of the suggestive lyrics and driving rhythms.^[78] Bandleaders like Louis Jordan innovated the sound of early R&B, using a band with a small horn section and prominent rhythm instrumentation. By the end of the 1940s, he had had several hits, and helped pave the way for contemporaries like Wynonie Harris and John Lee Hooker. Many of the most popular R&B songs were not performed in the rollicking style of Jordan and his contemporaries; instead they were performed by white musicians like Pat Boone in a more palatable mainstream style, which turned into pop hits.^[79] By the end of the 1950s, however, there was a wave of popular black blues rock and country-influenced R&B performers like Chuck Berry gaining unprecedented fame among white listeners.^[80][81]

Motown Records became highly successful during the early and mid-1960s for producing music of black American roots that defied racial segregation in the music industry and consumer market. Music journalist Jerry Wexler (who coined the phrase «rhythm and blues») once said of Motown: «[They] did something that you would have to say on paper is impossible. They took black music and beamed it directly to the white American teenager.» Berry Gordy founded Motown in 1959 in Detroit, Michigan. It was one of few R&B record labels that sought to transcend the R&B market (which was definitively black in the American mindset) and specialize in crossover music. The company emerged as the leading producer (or «assembly line,» a reference to its motor-town origins) of black popular music by the early 1960s and marketed its products as «The Motown Sound» or «The Sound of Young America»—which combined elements of soul, funk, disco and R&B.^[82] Notable Motown acts include the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5. Visual representation was central to Motown’s rise; they placed greater emphasis on visual media than other record labels. Many people’s first exposure to Motown was by television and film. Motown artists’ image of successful black Americans who held themselves with grace and aplomb broadcast a distinct form of middle-class blackness to audiences, which was particularly appealing to whites.^[83]

Soul music is a combination of rhythm and blues and gospel which began in the late 1950s in the United States. It is characterized by its use of gospel-music devices, with a greater emphasis on vocalists and the use of secular themes. The 1950s recordings of Ray Charles, Sam Cooke,^[84] and James Brown are commonly considered the beginnings of soul. Charles’ Modern Sounds (1962) records featured a fusion of soul and country music, country soul, and crossed racial barriers in music at the time.^[85] One of Cooke’s most well-known songs «A Change Is Gonna Come» (1964) became accepted as a classic and an anthem of the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s.^[86] According to AllMusic, James Brown was critical, through «the gospel-impassioned fury of his vocals and the complex polyrhythms of his beats», in «two revolutions in black American music. He was one of the figures most responsible for turning R&B into soul and he was, most would agree, the figure most responsible for turning soul music into the funk of the late ’60s and early ’70s.»^[76]

Pure soul was popularized by Otis Redding and the other artists of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee. By the late 1960s, Atlantic recording artist Aretha Franklin had emerged as the most popular female soul star in the country.^[88][89] Also by this time, soul had splintered into several genres,^[90] influenced by psychedelic rock and other styles. The social and political ferment of the 1960s inspired artists like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield to release albums with hard-hitting social commentary, while another variety became more dance-oriented music, evolving into funk. Despite his previous affinity with politically and socially-charged lyrical themes, Gaye helped popularize sexual and romance-themed music and funk,^[91] while his 70s recordings, including Let’s Get It On (1973) and I Want You (1976) helped develop the quiet storm sound and format.^[92] One of the most influential albums ever recorded, Sly & the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971) has been considered among the first and best examples of the matured version of funk music, after prototypical instances of the sound in the group’s earlier work.^[93] Artists such as Gil Scott-Heron and The Last Poets practiced an eclectic blend of poetry, jazz-funk, and soul, featuring critical political and social commentary with afrocentric sentiment. Scott-Heron’s Proto-rap work, including «The Revolution Will Not Be Televised» (1971) and Winter in America (1974), has had a considerable impact on later hip hop artists,^[94] while his unique sound with Brian Jackson influenced neo soul artists.^[95]

During the mid-1970s, highly slick and commercial bands such as Philly soul group The O’Jays and blue-eyed soul group Hall & Oates achieved mainstream success. By the end of the 1970s, most music genres, including soul, had been disco-influenced. With the introduction of influences from electro music and funk in the late 1970s and early 1980s, soul music became less raw and more slickly produced, resulting in a genre of music that was once again called R&B, usually distinguished from the earlier rhythm and blues by identifying it as contemporary R&B.

The first contemporary R&B stars arose in the 1980s, with the dance-pop star Michael Jackson, funk-influenced singer Prince, and a wave of female vocalists like Tina Turner and Whitney Houston.^[75] Michael Jackson and Prince have been described as the most influential figures in contemporary R&B and popular music because of their eclectic use of elements from a variety of genres.^[97] Prince was largely responsible for creating the Minneapolis sound: «a blend of horns, guitars, and electronic synthesizers supported by a steady, bouncing rhythm.»^[98] Jackson’s work focused on smooth balladry or disco-influenced dance music; as an artist, he «pulled dance music out of the disco doldrums with his 1979 adult solo debut, Off the Wall, merged R&B with rock on Thriller, and introduced stylized steps such as the robot and moonwalk over the course of his career.»^[99] Jackson is often recognized as the «King of Pop» for his achievements.

By 1983, the concept of popular music crossover became inextricably associated with Michael Jackson. Thriller saw unprecedented success, selling over 10 million copies in the United States alone. By 1984, the album captured over 140 gold and platinum awards and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling record of all-time, a title it still holds today.^[87] MTV’s broadcast of «Billie Jean» was the first for any black artist, thereby breaking the «color barrier» of pop music on the small screen.^[87] Thriller remains the only music video recognized by the National Film Registry.

Janet Jackson collaborated with former Prince associates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on her third studio album Control (1986); the album’s second single «Nasty» has been described as the origin of the new jack swing sound, a genre innovated by Teddy Riley.^[97] Riley’s work on Keith Sweat’s Make It Last Forever (1987), Guy’s Guy (1988), and Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel (1998) made new jack swing a staple of contemporary R&B into the mid-1990s.^[97] New jack swing was a style and trend of vocal music, often featuring rapped verses and drum machines.^[58] The crossover appeal of early contemporary R&B artists in mainstream popular music, including works by Prince, Michael and Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Anita Baker, and The Pointer Sisters became a turning point for black artists in the industry, as their success «was perhaps the first hint that the greater cosmopolitanism of a world market might produce some changes in the complexion of popular music.»^[100]

The use of melisma, a gospel tradition adapted by vocalists Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey would become a cornerstone of contemporary R&B singers beginning in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.^[97] Whitney Houston’s R&B hits included «All the Man That I Need» (1990) and «I Will Always Love You» (1992), later became the best-selling physical single by a female act of all time, with sales of over 20 million copies worldwide. Her 1992 hit soundtrack The Bodyguard, spent 20 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 200, sold over 45 million copies worldwide and remains the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

Hip hop came to influence contemporary R&B later in the 1980s, first through new jack swing and then in a related series of subgenres called hip hop soul and neo soul. Hip hop soul and neo soul developed later, in the 1990s. Typified by the work of Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly and Bobby Brown, the former is a mixture of contemporary R&B with hip hop beats, while the images and themes of gangsta rap may be present. The latter is a more experimental, edgier, and generally less mainstream combination of 1960s and 1970s-style soul vocals with some hip hop influence, and has earned some mainstream recognition through the work of D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Alicia Keys, and Lauryn Hill.^[101] D’Angelo’s critically acclaimed album Voodoo (2000) has been recognized by music writers as a masterpiece and the cornerstone of the neo soul genre.^{[102][103][104]}

Pop music[edit]

Pop Music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. Although much of the music that appears on record charts is seen as pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music. Bing Crosby was one of the first artists to be nicknamed «King of Song» or «King of Popular Music». Indie pop, which developed in the late 1970s, marked another departure from the glamour of contemporary pop music, with guitar bands formed on the then-novel premise that one could record and release their own music without having to procure a record contract from a major label.^[106] By the early 1980s, the promotion of pop music had been greatly affected by the rise of music television channels like MTV, which «favoured those artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna who had a strong visual appeal». The 1980s are commonly remembered for an increase in the use of digital recording, associated with the usage of synthesizers, with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity.^[107] By 2014, pop music worldwide had been permeated by electronic dance music. In 2018, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, concluded that pop music has become ‘sadder’ since the 1980s. The elements of happiness and brightness have eventually been replaced with the electronic beats making the pop music more ‘sad yet danceable’.^[108] Kelly Clarkson is the only American singer to be a two-time winners of the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album as of 2021, Clarkson being the first to win twice. Clarkson and Justin Timberlake have both been nominated five times, more than any other artist, though Clarkson is the only artist to have the most solo albums nominated. Three of Timberlake’s are solo, two are from NSYNC.

Rock, metal, and punk[edit]

Rock and roll developed out of country, blues, and R&B. Rock’s exact origins and early influences have been hotly debated, and are the subjects of much scholarship. Though squarely in the blues tradition, rock took elements from Afro-Caribbean and Latin musical techniques.^[111] Rock was an urban style, formed in the areas where diverse populations resulted in the mixtures of African American, Latin and European genres ranging from the blues and country to polka and zydeco.^[112] Rock and roll first entered popular music through a style called rockabilly,^[113] which fused the nascent sound with elements of country music. Black-performed rock and roll had previously had limited mainstream success, but it was the white performer Elvis Presley who first appealed to mainstream audiences with a black style of music, becoming one of the best-selling musicians in history, and brought rock and roll to audiences across the world.^[114]

The 1960s saw several important changes in popular music, especially rock. Many of these changes took place through the British Invasion where bands such as The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones,^[115] became immensely popular and had a profound effect on American culture and music. These changes included the move from professionally composed songs to the singer-songwriter, and the understanding of popular music as an art, rather than a form of commerce or pure entertainment.^[116] These changes led to the rise of musical movements connected to political goals, such as the American Civil Rights Movement and the opposition to the Vietnam War. Rock was at the forefront of this change.

In the early 1960s, rock spawned several subgenres, beginning with surf. Surf was an instrumental guitar genre characterized by a distorted sound, associated with the Southern California surfing youth culture.^[117][118] Inspired by the lyrical focus of surf, The Beach Boys began recording in 1961 with an elaborate, pop-friendly, and harmonic sound.^[119][120] As their fame grew, The Beach Boys’ songwriter Brian Wilson experimented with new studio techniques and became associated with the counterculture. The counterculture was a movement that embraced political activism, and was closely connected to the hippie subculture. The hippies were associated with folk rock, country rock, and psychedelic rock.^[121] Folk and country rock were associated with the rise of politicized folk music, led by Pete Seeger and others, especially at the Greenwich Village music scene in New York.^[122] Folk rock entered the mainstream in the middle of the 1960s, when the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan began his career. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes The Beatles’ shift toward introspective songwriting in the mid-1960s to Bob Dylan’s influence at the time.^[110] He was followed by a number of country-rock bands and soft, folky singer-songwriters. Psychedelic rock was a hard-driving kind of guitar-based rock, closely associated with the city of San Francisco. Though Jefferson Airplane was the only local band to have a major national hit, the Grateful Dead, a country and bluegrass-flavored jam band, became an iconic part of the psychedelic counterculture, associated with hippies, LSD and other symbols of that era.^[121] Some say that the Grateful Dead were truly the most American patriotic rock band to have ever existed; forming and molding a culture that defines Americans today.^[123]

Following the turbulent political, social and musical changes of the 1960s and early 1970s, rock music diversified. What was formerly a discrete genre known as rock and roll evolved into a catchall category called simply rock music, which came to include diverse styles developed in the US like punk rock. During the 1970s most of these styles were evolving in the underground music scene, while mainstream audiences began the decade with a wave of singer-songwriters who drew on the deeply emotional and personal lyrics of 1960s folk rock. The same period saw the rise of bombastic arena rock bands, bluesy Southern rock groups and mellow soft rock stars. Beginning in the later 1970s, the rock singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen became a major star, with anthemic songs and dense, inscrutable lyrics that celebrated the poor and working class.^[75]

Punk was a form of rebellious rock that began in the 1970s, and was loud, aggressive, and often very simple. Punk began as a reaction against the popular music of the period, especially disco and arena rock. American bands in the field included, most famously, The Ramones and Talking Heads, the latter playing a more avant-garde style that was closely associated with punk before evolving into mainstream new wave.^[75] Other major acts include Blondie, Patti Smith, and Television. In the 1980s some punk fans and bands became disillusioned with the growing popularity of the style, resulting in an even more aggressive style called hardcore punk. Hardcore was a form of sparse punk, consisting of short, fast, intense songs that spoke to disaffected youth, with such influential bands as Bad Religion, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Minor Threat. Hardcore began in metropolises like Washington, D.C., though most major American cities had their own local scenes in the 1980s.^[124]

Hardcore, punk, and garage rock were the roots of alternative rock, a diverse grouping of rock subgenres that were explicitly opposed to mainstream music, and that arose from the punk and post-punk styles. In the United States, many cities developed local alternative rock scenes, including Minneapolis and Seattle.^[126] Seattle’s local scene produced grunge music, a dark and brooding style inspired by hardcore, psychedelia, and alternative rock.^[127] With the addition of a more melodic element to the sound of bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains, grunge became wildly popular across the United States^[128] in 1991. Three years later, bands like Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, Bad Religion, and NOFX hit the mainstream (with their respective then-new albums Dookie, Smash, Let’s Go, Stranger than Fiction and Punk in Drublic) and brought the California punk scene exposure worldwide.

Heavy metal is characterized by aggressive, driving rhythms, amplified and distorted guitars, grandiose lyrics, and virtuosic instrumentation. Heavy metal’s origins lie in the hard rock bands who took blues and rock and created a heavy sound built on guitar and drums. The first major American bands came in the early 1970s, like Blue Öyster Cult, KISS, and Aerosmith. Heavy metal remained, however, a largely underground phenomenon. During the 1980s the first major pop-metal style arose and dominated the charts for several years kicked off by metal act Quiet Riot and dominated by bands such as Mötley Crüe and Ratt; this was glam metal, a hard rock and pop fusion with a raucous spirit and a glam-influenced visual aesthetic. Some of these bands, like Bon Jovi, became international stars. The band Guns N’ Roses rose to fame near the end of the decade with an image that was a reaction against the glam metal aesthetic.

By the mid-1980s heavy metal had branched in so many different directions that fans, record companies, and fanzines created numerous subgenres. The United States was especially known for one of these subgenres, thrash metal, which was innovated by bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, with Metallica being the most commercially successful.^[131] The United States was known as one of the birthplaces of death metal during the mid to late 1980s. The Florida scene was the most well-known, featuring bands like Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Deicide, and many others. There are now countless death metal and deathgrind bands across the country.

Hip hop[edit]

Hip hop is a cultural movement, of which music is a part. Hip hop music for the most part is itself composed of two parts: rapping, the delivery of swift, highly rhythmic and lyrical vocals; and DJing and/or producing, the production of instrumentation through sampling, instrumentation, turntablism, or beatboxing, the production of musical sounds through vocalized tones.^[132] Hip hop arose in the early 1970s in The Bronx, New York City. Jamaican immigrant DJ Kool Herc is widely regarded as the progenitor of hip hop; he brought with him from Jamaica the practice of toasting over the rhythms of popular songs. Emcees originally arose to introduce the soul, funk, and R&B songs that the DJs played, and to keep the crowd excited and dancing; over time, the DJs began isolating the percussion break of songs (when the rhythm climaxes), producing a repeated beat that the emcees rapped over.

Unlike Motown which predicated its mainstream success on the class appeal of its acts that rendered racial identity irrelevant, hip hop of 1980s, particularly hip hop that crossed over to rock-and-roll, was predicated on its (implicit but emphatic) primary identification with black identity.^[133] By the beginning of the 1980s, there were popular hip hop songs, and the celebrities of the scene, like LL Cool J, gained mainstream renown. Other performers experimented with politicized lyrics and social awareness, or fused hip hop with jazz, heavy metal, techno, funk and soul. New styles appeared in the latter part of the 1980s, like alternative hip hop and the closely related jazz rap fusion, pioneered by rappers like De La Soul.

Gangsta rap is a kind of hip hop, most importantly characterized by a lyrical focus on macho sexuality, physicality, and a dangerous criminal image.^[134] Though the origins of gangsta rap can be traced back to the mid-1980s style of Philadelphia’s Schoolly D and the West Coast’s Ice-T, the style broadened and came to apply to many different regions in the country, to rappers from New York, such as Notorious B.I.G. and influential hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, and to rappers on the West Coast, such as Too Short and N.W.A. A distinctive West Coast rap scene spawned the early 1990s G-funk sound, which paired gangsta rap lyrics with a thick and hazy sound, often from 1970s funk samples; the best-known proponents were the rappers 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg. Gangsta rap continued to exert a major presence in American popular music through the end of the 1990s and early into the 21st century.

The dominance of gangsta rap in mainstream hip-hop was supplanted in the late-2000s, largely due to the mainstream success of hip-hop artists such as Kanye West.^[135] The outcome of a highly publicized sales competition between the simultaneous release of his and gangsta rapper 50 Cent’s third studio albums, Graduation and Curtis respectively, has since been accredited to the decline.^[136] The competition resulted in record-breaking sales performances by both albums and West outsold 50 Cent, selling nearly a million copies of Graduation in the first week alone.^[137] Industry observers remark that West’s victory over 50 Cent proved that rap music did not have to conform to gangsta-rap conventions in order to be commercially successful.^[138] West effectively paved the way for a new wave of hip-hop artists, including Drake, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, who did not follow the hardcore-gangster mold and became platinum-selling artists.^[139][140]

Jay-Z became an internationally renowned hip hop icon in the wake of the deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur in the mid-1990s.^[141] Kanye West was mentored by Jay-Z and produced for him,^[142] before attaining a similar level of success.^[143]

Female rappers Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Saweetie, Doja Cat, Iggy Azalea, City Girls and Megan Thee Stallion also entered the mainstream.^[144] There are many women that have notably influenced the hip hop culture. However, a few names that cannot go unsaid are MC Sha-rock, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliot, Lil Kim, Erykah Badu, Foxy Brown, and many more. Of this list MC Sha-rock is considered the historian/pioneer of female hip-hop culture. She started her career as a break-dancer in the Bronx, New York and later became «The hip-hop’s culture’s first female emcee/rapper».^[145] Her career has been long-lived. From being a former member of the Funky 4+1 more to having MC rhyming battles with groups such as Grandmaster Flash and Furious 5. Another notable pioneer of female hip-hop is the famous Queen Latifah, Born Dana Elaine Owens in Newark,NJ. Queen Latifah started her career from a young age, as early as 17. But, not long after it began it soon took-off. She released her first full length album, All Hail the Queen in 1989.^[146] As she continued to release music she grew more and more popular, and her fame increased amidst the hip-hop culture. However, Queen Latifah was not an ordinary rapper. She rapped about the issues surrounding being a black woman and overall social injustice issues that appear in the music industry. These early pioneers have led female rap culture and impacted today’s popular female hip-hop artists. For example, such popular artists may include Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Miss Mulatto, Flo Milli, Cupcakke and many others. Each artists has their own identity in the rap game, however as hip-hop evolves so does the style of music. Cardi B’s first studio album, Invasion of Privacy (2018), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was named the number-one female rap album of the 2010s by Billboard. Critically acclaimed, it made Cardi B the only woman to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album as a solo artist, and marked the first female rap album in fifteen years to be nominated for Album of the Year.

Other niche styles and Latin American music[edit]

The American music industry is dominated by large companies that produce, market, and distribute certain kinds of music. Generally, these companies do not produce, or produce in only very limited quantities, recordings in styles that do not appeal to very large audiences. Smaller companies often fill in the void, offering a wide variety of recordings in styles ranging from polka to salsa. Many small music industries are built around a core fanbase who may be based largely in one region, such as Tejano or Hawaiian music, or they may be widely dispersed, such as the audience for Jewish klezmer.

Among the Hispanic American musicians who were pioneers in the early stages of rock and roll were Ritchie Valens, who scored several hits, most notably «La Bamba» and Herman Santiago wrote the lyrics to the iconic rock and roll song «Why Do Fools Fall in Love». Songs that became popular in the United States and are heard during the Holiday/Christmas season are «¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?» is a novelty Christmas song with 12-year-old Augie Ríos was a record hit in 1959 which featured the Mark Jeffrey Orchestra. «Feliz Navidad»(1970) by José Feliciano is another famous Latin song.

The single largest niche industry is based on Latin music. Latin music has long influenced American popular music, and was an especially crucial part of the development of jazz. Modern pop Latin styles include a wide array of genres imported from across Latin America, including Colombian cumbia, Puerto Rican reggaeton, and Mexican corrido. Latin popular music in the United States began with a wave of dance bands in the 1930s and 1950s. The most popular styles included the conga, rumba, and mambo. In the 1950s Perez Prado made the cha-cha-cha famous, and the rise of Afro-Cuban jazz opened many ears to the harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic possibilities of Latin music. The most famous American form of Latin music, however, is salsa. Salsa incorporates many styles and variations; the term can be used to describe most forms of popular Cuban-derived genres. Most specifically, however, salsa refers to a particular style that was developed by mid-1970s groups of New York City-area Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants, and stylistic descendants like 1980s salsa romantica.^[147] Salsa rhythms are complicated, with several patterns played simultaneously. The clave rhythm forms the basis of salsa songs and is used by the performers as a common rhythmic ground for their own phrases.^[148]

Latin American music has long influenced American popular music, jazz, rhythm and blues, and even country music. This includes music from Spanish, Portuguese, and (sometimes) French-speaking countries and territories of Latin America.^[149]

Today, the American record industry defines Latin music as any type of release with lyrics mostly in Spanish.^[150][151] Mainstream artists and producers tend to feature more on songs from Latin artists and it’s also become more likely that English language songs crossover to Spanish radio and vice versa.

The United States played a significant role in the development of electronic dance music, specifically house and techno, which originated in Chicago and Detroit, respectively.

Today Latin American music has become a term for music performed by Latinos regardless of whether it has a Latin element or not. Acts such as Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Selena Gomez, Christina Aguilera, Gloria Estefan, Demi Lovato, Mariah Carey, Becky G, Paulina Rubio, and Camila Cabello are prominent on the pop charts. Iglesias who holds the record for most #1s on Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks released a bilingual album, inspired by urban acts he releases two completely different songs to Latin and pop formats at the same time.

Government, politics and law[edit]

The government of the United States regulates the music industry, enforces intellectual property laws, and promotes and collects certain kinds of music. Under American copyright law, musical works, including recordings and compositions, are protected as intellectual property as soon as they are fixed in a tangible form. Copyright holders often register their work with the Library of Congress, which maintains a collection of the material. In addition, the Library of Congress has actively sought out culturally and musicologically significant materials since the early 20th century, such as by sending researchers to record folk music. These researchers include the pioneering American folk song collector Alan Lomax, whose work helped inspire the roots revival of the mid-20th century. The federal government also funds the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, which allocate grants to musicians and other artists, the Smithsonian Institution, which conducts research and educational programs, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds non-profit and television broadcasters.^[152]

Music has long affected the politics of the United States. Political parties and movements frequently use music and song to communicate their ideals and values, and to provide entertainment at political functions. The presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison was the first to greatly benefit from music, after which it became standard practice for major candidates to use songs to create public enthusiasm. In more recent decades, politicians often chose theme songs, some of which have become iconic; the song «Happy Days Are Here Again», for example, has been associated with the Democratic Party since the 1932 campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since the 1950s, however, music has declined in importance in politics, replaced by televised campaigning with little or no music. Certain forms of music became more closely associated with political protest, especially in the 1960s. Gospel stars like Mahalia Jackson became important figures in the Civil Rights Movement, while the American folk revival helped spread the counterculture of the 1960s and opposition to the Vietnam War.^[153]

Industry and economics[edit]

The United States has the world’s largest music market with a total retail value of 4.9 billion dollars in 2014,^[154] The American music industry includes a number of fields, ranging from record companies to radio stations and community orchestras. Total industry revenue is about $40 billion worldwide, and about $12 billion in the United States.^[155] Most of the world’s major record companies are based in the United States; they are represented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The major record companies produce material by artists that have signed to one of their record labels, a brand name often associated with a particular genre or record producer. Record companies may also promote and market their artists, through advertising, public performances and concerts, and television appearances. Record companies may be affiliated with other music media companies, which produce a product related to popular recorded music. These include television channels like MTV, magazines like Rolling Stone and radio stations. In recent years the music industry has been embroiled in turmoil over the rise of the Internet downloading of copyrighted music; many musicians and the RIAA have sought to punish fans who illegally download copyrighted music.^[156]

Radio stations in the United States often broadcast popular music. Each music station has a format, or a category of songs to be played; these are generally similar to but not the same as ordinary generic classification. Many radio stations in the United States are locally owned and operated, and may offer an eclectic assortment of recordings; many other stations are owned by large companies like Clear Channel, and are generally formatted on smaller, more repetitive playlists. Commercial sales of recordings are tracked by Billboard magazine, which compiles a number of music charts for various fields of recorded music sales. The Billboard Hot 100 is the top pop music chart for singles, a recording consisting of a handful of songs; longer pop recordings are albums, and are tracked by the Billboard 200.^[157] Though recorded music is commonplace in American homes, many of the music industry’s revenue comes from a small number of devotees; for example, 62% of album sales come from less than 25% of the music-buying audience.^[158] Total CD sales in the United States topped 705 million units sold in 2005, and singles sales just under three million.^[159]

Though the major record companies dominate the American music industry, an independent music industry (indie music) does exist. Most indie record labels have limited, if any, retail distribution outside a small region. Artists sometimes record for an indie label and gain enough acclaim to be signed to a major label; others choose to remain at an indie label for their entire careers. Indie music may be in styles generally similar to mainstream music, but is often inaccessible, unusual, or otherwise unappealing to many people. Indie musicians often release some or all of their songs over the Internet for fans and others to download and listen.^[156] In addition to recording artists of many kinds, there are numerous fields of professional musicianship in the United States, many of whom rarely record, including community orchestras, wedding singers and bands, lounge singers, and nightclub DJs. The American Federation of Musicians is the largest American labor union for professional musicians. However, only 15% of the Federation’s members have steady music employment.^[160]

Education and scholarship[edit]

Music is an important part of education in the United States, and is a part of most or all school systems in the country. Music education is generally mandatory in public elementary schools, and is an elective in later years.^[161]

The scholarly study of music in the United States includes work relating music to social class, racial, ethnic and religious identity, gender and sexuality, as well as studies of music history, musicology, and other topics. The academic study of American music can be traced back to the late 19th century, when researchers like Alice Fletcher and Francis La Flesche studied the music of the Omaha peoples, working for the Bureau of American Ethnology and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. In the 1890s and into the early 20th century, musicological recordings were made among indigenous, Hispanic, African-American and Anglo-American peoples of the United States. Many worked for the Library of Congress, first under the leadership of Oscar Sonneck, chief of the Library’s Music Divisions.^[162] These researchers included Robert W. Gordon, founder of the Archive of American Folk Song, and John and Alan Lomax; Alan Lomax was the most prominent of several folk song collectors who helped to inspire the 20th century roots revival of American folk culture.^[163]

Early 20th scholarly analysis of American music tended to interpret European-derived classical traditions as the most worthy of study, with the folk, religious, and traditional musics of the common people denigrated as low-class and of little artistic or social worth. American music history was compared to the much longer historical record of European nations, and was found wanting, leading writers like the composer Arthur Farwell to ponder what sorts of musical traditions might arise from American culture, in his 1915 Music in America. In 1930, John Tasker Howard’s Our American Music became a standard analysis, focusing on largely on concert music composed in the United States.^[164] Since the analysis of musicologist Charles Seeger in the mid-20th century, American music history has often been described as intimately related to perceptions of race and ancestry. Under this view, the diverse racial and ethnic background of the United States has both promoted a sense of musical separation between the races, while still fostering constant acculturation, as elements of European, African, and indigenous musics have shifted between fields.^[162] Gilbert Chase’s America’s Music, from the Pilgrims to the Present, was the first major work to examine the music of the entire United States, and recognize folk traditions as more culturally significant than music for the concert hall. Chase’s analysis of a diverse American musical identity has remained the dominant view among the academic establishment.^[164] Until the 1960s and 1970s, however, most musical scholars in the United States continued to study European music, limiting themselves only to certain fields of American music, especially European-derived classical and operatic styles, and sometimes African American jazz. More modern musicologists and ethnomusicologists have studied subjects ranging from the national musical identity to the individual styles and techniques of specific communities in a particular time of American history.^[162] Prominent recent studies of American music include Charles Hamm’s Music in the New World from 1983 and Richard Crawford’s America’s Musical Life from 2001.^[165]

Holidays and festivals[edit]

Music is an important part of several American holidays, especially playing a major part in the wintertime celebration of Christmas. Music of the holiday includes both religious songs like «O Holy Night» and secular songs like «Jingle Bells». Patriotic songs like the national anthem, «The Star-Spangled Banner», are a major part of Independence Day celebrations. Music also plays a role at many regional holidays that are not celebrated nationwide, most famously Mardi Gras, a music and dance parade and festival in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The United States is home to numerous music festivals, which showcase styles ranging from the blues and jazz to indie rock and heavy metal. Some music festivals are strictly local in scope, including few or no performers with a national reputation, and are generally operated by local promoters. The large recording companies operate their own music festivals, such as Lollapalooza and Ozzfest, which draw huge crowds.

See also[edit]

• Protest songs in the United States

By region:

• Atlanta
• Austin
• Chicago
• Detroit
• Ketucky
• Los Angeles
• Massachusetts
• Miami
• Minneapolis
• Missouri
• Nevada
• New Orleans
• New York City
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Philadelphia
• San Francisco
• San Juan
• Seattle
• Texas
• Washington, D.C.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Baraka, Amiri; Leroi Jones (1963). Blues People: Negro Music in White America. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-18474-2.
• Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Feral House. ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2.
• Chase, Gilbert (2000). America’s Music: From the Pilgrims to the Present. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-00454-4.
• Clarke, Donald (1995). The Rise and Fall of Popular Music. St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 978-0-312-11573-9.
• Collins, Ace (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music’s All-Time Greatest 100 Songs. Boulevard Books. ISBN 978-1-57297-072-4.
• Crawford, Richard (2001). America’s Musical Life: A History. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-04810-0.
• Edmonds, Ben (2001). Let’s Get It On. booklet liner notes (Deluxe ed.). Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. MOTD 4757.
• Ewen, David (1957). Panorama of American Popular Music. Prentice Hall.
• Ferris, Jean (1993). America’s Musical Landscape. Brown & Benchmark. ISBN 978-0-697-12516-3.
• Flory, Andrew (2017). I Hear a Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-12287-5.
• Gilliland, John (1969). «Play A Simple Melody» (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
• Hall, Roger L. (2006). A Guide to Shaker Music. PineTree Press.
• Koskoff, Ellen, ed. (2000). Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 3: The United States and Canada. Garland Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8240-4944-7.
• Garofalo, Reebee (1997). Rockin’ Out: Popular Music in the USA. Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 978-0-205-13703-9.
• Gillett, Charlie (1970). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll. cited in Garofalo. Outerbridge and Dienstfrey. ISBN 978-0-285-62619-5.
• Nelson, George (2007). Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound?. New York: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07498-1.
• Kempton, Arthur (2003). Boogaloo: The Quintessence of American Popular Music. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-375-42172-3.
• Lipsitz, George (1982). Class and Culture in Cold War America. J. F. Bergin. ISBN 978-0-03-059207-2.
• Malone, Bill C. (1985). Country Music USA: Revised Edition. cited in Garofalo. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71096-2.
• Nettl, Bruno (1965). Folk and Traditional Music of the Western Continents. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 9780133228830.
• Palmer, Robert (April 19, 1990). «The Fifties». Rolling Stone. cited in Garofalo. p. 48.
• Ward, Ed, Geoffrey Stokes and Ken Tucker (1986). Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. Rolling Stone Press. ISBN 978-0-671-54438-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.) (2000). Rough Guide to World Music. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-85828-636-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Sawyers, June Skinner (2000). Celtic Music: A Complete Guide. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81007-7.
• Schuller, Gunther (1968). Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504043-2.
• Struble, John Warthen (1995). The History of American Classical Music. Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-2927-3.
• Szatmary, David (2000). Rockin’ in Time: A Social History of Rock-And-Roll. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-022636-5.
• Weisbard, Eric (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. 1st edition. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-679-75574-6.
• Werner, Craig (1998). A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race and the Soul of America. Plume. ISBN 978-0-452-28065-6.

Further reading[edit]

• Claghorn, Charles Eugene (1973). Biographical Dictionary of American Music. Parker Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-13-076331-0.
• Elson, Charles Louis (2005). The History of American Music. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4179-5961-7.
• Gann, Kyle (1997). American Music in the 20th Century. Schirmer. ISBN 978-0-02-864655-8.
• Hamm, Charles (1983). Music in the New World. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-95193-6.
• Hitchcock, H. Wiley (1999). Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-907643-5.
• Kingman, Daniel (1990). American Music: A Panorama (2nd ed.). New York: Schirmer Books.
• Nicholls, David, ed. (1998). The Cambridge History of American Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45429-2.
• Seeger, Ruth Crawford (2003). The Music of American Folk Song and Selected Other Writings on American Folk Music. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 978-1-58046-136-8.
• «Performing Arts, Music». Library of Congress Collections.

External links[edit]

• Audio clips: Traditional music of the United States. Musée d’Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010. (in French)
• American Guild of Music
• 6 Ever American Trending Music Stars
• Essential American Recordings Survey
• Music Publisher’s Association
• Music Library Association
• Historic American Sheet Music
• Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection popular American music, 1780–1960
• Impact Of American Music On Pop Culture

The music of the United States reflects the country’s multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. It is a mixture of music influenced by the music of Europe, Indigenous peoples, West Africa, Latin America, Middle East, North Africa, amongst many other places. The country’s most internationally renowned genres are traditional pop, jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, rock, rock and roll, R&B, pop, hip hop, soul, funk, gospel, disco, house, techno, ragtime, doo-wop, folk music, americana, boogaloo, tejano, reggaeton, surf, and salsa. American music is heard around the world. Since the beginning of the 20th century, some forms of American popular music have gained a near global audience.^[1]

Native Americans were the earliest inhabitants of the land that is today known as the United States and played its first music. Beginning in the 17th century, settlers from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Germany, and France began arriving in large numbers, bringing with them new styles and instruments. Slaves from West Africa brought their musical traditions, and each subsequent wave of immigrants contributed to a melting pot.

There are also some African-American influences in the musical tradition of the European-American settlers, such as jazz, blues, rock, country and bluegrass. The United States has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of the Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, Polish, Hispanic, and Jewish communities, among others.

Many American cities and towns have vibrant music scenes which, in turn, support a number of regional musical styles. Musical centers around the country have all have produced and contributed to the many distinctive styles of American music. The Cajun and Creole traditions in Louisiana music, the folk and popular styles of Hawaiian music, and the bluegrass and old time music of the Southeastern states are a few examples of diversity in American music.

Characteristics[edit]

The music of the United States can be characterized by the use of syncopation and asymmetrical rhythms, long, irregular melodies, which are said to «reflect the wide open geography of (the American landscape)» and the «sense of personal freedom characteristic of American life».^[2] Some distinct aspects of American music, like the call-and-response format, are derived from African techniques and instruments.

Throughout the later part of American history, and into modern times, the relationship between American and European music has been a discussed topic among scholars of American music. Some have urged for the adoption of more purely European techniques and styles, which are sometimes perceived as more refined or elegant, while others have pushed for a sense of musical nationalism that celebrates distinctively American styles. Modern classical music scholar John Warthen Struble has contrasted American and European, concluding that the music of the United States is inherently distinct because the United States has not had centuries of musical evolution as a nation. Instead, the music of the United States is that of dozens or hundreds of indigenous and immigrant groups, all of which developed largely in regional isolation until the American Civil War, when people from across the country were brought together in army units, trading musical styles and practices. Struble deemed the ballads of the Civil War «the first American folk music with discernible features that can be considered unique to America: the first ‘American’ sounding music, as distinct from any regional style derived from another country.»^[3]

The Civil War, and the period following it, saw a general flowering of American art, literature and music. Amateur musical ensembles of this era can be seen as the birth of American popular music. Music author David Ewen describes these early amateur bands as combining «the depth and drama of the classics with undemanding technique, eschewing complexity in favor of direct expression. If it was vocal music, the words would be in English, despite the snobs who declared English an unsingable language. In a way, it was part of the entire awakening of America that happened after the Civil War, a time in which American painters, writers, and ‘serious’ composers addressed specifically American themes.»^[4] During this period the roots of blues, gospel, jazz, and country music took shape; in the 20th century, these became the core of American popular music, which further evolved into the styles like rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and hip hop music.

[edit]

Music intertwines with aspects of American social and cultural identity, including through social class, race and ethnicity, geography, religion, language, gender, and sexuality. The relationship between music and race is perhaps the most potent determiner of musical meaning in the United States. The development of an African American musical identity, out of disparate sources from Africa and Europe, has been a constant theme in the music history of the United States. Little documentation exists of colonial-era African American music, when styles, songs, and instruments from across West Africa commingled with European styles and instruments, leading to the creation of new genres and self expression from enslaved people. By the mid-19th century, a distinctly African American folk tradition was well-known and widespread, and African American musical techniques, instruments, and images became a part of mainstream American music through spirituals, minstrel shows, and slave songs.^[6] African American musical styles became an integral part of American popular music through blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and then rock and roll, soul, and hip hop; all of these styles were consumed by Americans of all races, but were created in African American styles and idioms before eventually becoming common in performance and consumption across racial lines. In contrast, country music derives from both African and European, as well as Native American and Hawaiian, traditions and has long been perceived as a form of white music.^[7]

Economic and social classes separates American music through the creation and consumption of music, such as the upper-class patronage of symphony-goers, and the generally poor performers of rural and ethnic folk musics. Musical divisions based on class are not absolute, however, and are sometimes as much perceived as actual;^[8] popular American country music, for example, is a commercial genre designed to «appeal to a working-class identity, whether or not its listeners are actually working class».^[9] Country music is also intertwined with geographic identity, and is specifically rural in origin and function; other genres, like R&B and hip hop, are perceived as inherently urban.^[10] For much of American history, music-making has been a «feminized activity».^[11] In the 19th century, amateur piano and singing were considered proper for middle- and upper-class women. Women were also a major part of early popular music performance, though recorded traditions quickly become more dominated by men. Most male-dominated genres of popular music include female performers as well, often in a niche appealing primarily to women; these include gangsta rap and heavy metal.^[12]

History[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (May 2021)

Diversity[edit]

The United States is often said to be a cultural melting pot, taking in influences from across the world and creating distinctively new methods of cultural expression. Though aspects of American music can be traced back to specific origins, claiming any particular original culture for a musical element is inherently problematic, due to the constant evolution of American music through transplanting and hybridizing techniques, instruments and genres. Elements of foreign musics arrived in the United States both through the formal sponsorship of educational and outreach events by individuals and groups, and through informal processes, as in the incidental transplantation of West African music through slavery, and Irish music through immigration. The most distinctly American musics are a result of cross-cultural hybridization through close contact. Slavery, for example, mixed persons from numerous tribes in tight living quarters, resulting in a shared musical tradition that was enriched through further hybridizing with elements of indigenous, Latin, and European music.^[13] American ethnic, religious, and racial diversity has also produced such intermingled genres as the French-African music of the Louisiana Creoles, the Native, Mexican and European fusion Tejano music, and the thoroughly hybridized slack-key guitar and other styles of modern Hawaiian music.

The process of transplanting music between cultures is not without criticism. The folk revival of the mid-20th century, for example, appropriated the musics of various rural peoples, in part to promote certain political causes, which has caused some to question whether the process caused the «commercial commodification of other peoples’ songs … and the inevitable dilution of mean» in the appropriated musics. The use of African American musical techniques, images, and conceits in popular music largely by and for white Americans has been widespread since at least the mid-19th century songs of Stephen Foster and the rise of minstrel shows. The American music industry has actively attempted to popularize white performers of African American music because they are more palatable to mainstream and middle-class Americans.^{[citation needed]} This process has been related to the rise of stars as varied as Benny Goodman, Eminem, and Elvis Presley, as well as popular styles like blue-eyed soul and rockabilly.^[13]

Folk music[edit]

Folk music in the US is varied across the country’s numerous ethnic groups. The Native American tribes each play their own varieties of folk music, most of it spiritual in nature. African American music includes blues and gospel, descendants of West African music brought to the Americas by slaves and mixed with Western European music. During the colonial era, English, French and Spanish styles and instruments were brought to the Americas. By the early 20th century, the United States had become a major center for folk music from around the world, including polka, Ukrainian and Polish fiddling, Ashkenazi, Klezmer, and several kinds of Latin music.

The Native Americans played the first folk music in what is now the United States, using a wide variety of styles and techniques. Some commonalities are near universal among Native American traditional music, however, especially the lack of harmony and polyphony, and the use of vocables and descending melodic figures. Traditional instrumentations use the flute and many kinds of percussion instruments, like drums, rattles, and shakers.^[14] Since European and African contact was established, Native American folk music has grown in new directions, into fusions with disparate styles like European folk dances and Tejano music. Modern Native American music may be best known for pow wows, pan-tribal gatherings at which traditionally styled dances and music are performed.^[15]

The Thirteen Colonies of the original United States were all former English possessions, and Anglo culture became a major foundation for American folk and popular music. Many American folk songs are identical to British songs in arrangements, but with new lyrics, often as parodies of the original material. American-Anglo songs are also characterized as having fewer pentatonic tunes, less prominent accompaniment (but with heavier use of drones) and more melodies in major.^[16] Anglo-American traditional music also includes a variety of broadside ballads, humorous stories and tall tales, and disaster songs regarding mining, shipwrecks, and murder. Legendary heroes like Joe Magarac, John Henry, and Jesse James are part of many songs. Folk dances of British origin include the square dance, descended from the quadrille, combined with the American innovation of a caller instructing the dancers.^[17] The religious communal society known as the Shakers emigrated from England during the 18th century and developed their own folk dance style. Their early songs can be dated back to British folk song models.^[18] Other religious societies established their own unique musical cultures early in American history, such as the music of the Amish, the Harmony Society, and the Ephrata Cloister in Pennsylvania.^[19]

The ancestors of today’s African American population were brought to the United States as slaves, working primarily in the plantations of the South. They were from hundreds of tribes across West Africa, and they brought with them certain traits of West African music including call and response vocals and complexly rhythmic music,^[20] as well as syncopated beats and shifting accents.^[21] The African musical focus on rhythmic singing and dancing was brought to the New World, where it became part of a distinct folk culture that helped Africans «retain continuity with their past through music». The first slaves in the United States sang work songs, field hollers^[22] and, following Christianization, hymns. In the 19th century, a Great Awakening of religious fervor gripped people across the country, especially in the South. Protestant hymns written mostly by New England preachers became a feature of camp meetings held among devout Christians across the South. When blacks began singing adapted versions of these hymns, they were called Negro spirituals. It was from these roots, of spiritual songs, work songs, and field hollers, that blues, jazz, and gospel developed.

Blues and spirituals[edit]

Spirituals were primarily expressions of religious faith, sung by slaves on southern plantations.^[23] In the mid to late 19th century, spirituals spread out of the U.S. South. In 1871 Fisk University became home to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a pioneering group that popularized spirituals across the country. In imitation of this group, gospel quartets arose, followed by increasing diversification with the early 20th-century rise of jackleg and singing preachers, from whence came the popular style of gospel music.

Blues is a combination of African work songs, field hollers, and shouts.^[24] It developed in the rural South in the first decade of the 20th century. The most important characteristics of the blues is its use of the blue scale, with a flatted or indeterminate third, as well as the typically lamenting lyrics; though both of these elements had existed in African American folk music prior to the 20th century, the codified form of modern blues (such as with the AAB structure) did not exist until the early 20th century.^[25]

Other immigrant communities[edit]

The United States is a melting pot consisting of numerous ethnic groups. Many of these peoples have kept alive the folk traditions of their homeland, often producing distinctively American styles of foreign music. Some nationalities have produced local scenes in regions of the country where they have clustered, like Cape Verdean music in New England,^[26] Armenian music in California,^[27] and Italian and Ukrainian music in New York City.^[28]

The Creoles are a community with varied non-Anglo ancestry, mostly descendant of people who lived in Louisiana before its purchase by the U.S. The Cajuns are a group of Francophones who arrived in Louisiana after leaving Acadia in Canada.^[29] The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, being a major port, has acted as a melting pot for people from all over the Caribbean basin. The result is a diverse and syncretic set of styles of Cajun music and Creole music.

Spain and subsequently Mexico controlled much of what is now the western United States until the Mexican–American War, including the entire state of Texas. After Texas joined the United States, the native Tejanos living in the state began culturally developing separately from their neighbors to the south, and remained culturally distinct from other Texans. Central to the evolution of early Tejano music was the blend of traditional Mexican forms such as mariachi and the corrido, and Continental European styles introduced by German and Czech settlers in the late 19th century.^[30] In particular, the accordion was adopted by Tejano folk musicians around the start of the 20th century, and it became a popular instrument for amateur musicians in Texas and Northern Mexico.

Classical music[edit]

Classical music was brought to the United States with some of the first colonists. European classical music is rooted in the traditions of European art, ecclesiastical and concert music. The central norms of this tradition developed between 1550 and 1825, centering on what is known as the common practice period. Many American classical composers attempted to work entirely within European models until late in the 19th century. When Antonín Dvořák, a prominent Czech composer, visited the United States from 1892 to 1895, he iterated the idea that American classical music needed its own models instead of imitating European composers; he helped to inspire subsequent composers to make a distinctly American style of classical music.^[31] By the beginning of the 20th century, many American composers were incorporating disparate elements into their work, ranging from jazz and blues to Native American music.

Early classical music[edit]

During the colonial era, there were two distinct fields of what is now considered classical music. One was associated with amateur composers and pedagogues, whose style was originally drawn from simple hymns and gained sophistication over time. The other colonial tradition was that of the mid-Atlantic cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore, which produced a number of prominent composers who worked almost entirely within the European model; these composers were mostly English in origin, and worked specifically in the style of prominent English composers of the day.^[32]

Classical music was brought to the United States during the colonial era. Many American composers of this period worked exclusively with European models, while others, such as William Billings, Supply Belcher, and Justin Morgan, also known as the First New England School, developed a style almost entirely independent of European models.^[33] Of these composers, Billings is the most well-remembered; he was also influential «as the founder of the American church choir, as the first musician to use a pitch pipe, and as the first to introduce a violoncello into church service».^[34] Many of these composers were amateur singers who developed new forms of sacred music suitable for performance by amateurs, and often using harmonic methods which would have been considered bizarre by contemporary European standards.^[35] These composers’ styles were untouched by «the influence of their sophisticated European contemporaries», using modal or pentatonic scales or melodies and eschewing the European rules of harmony.^[36]

In the early 19th century, America produced diverse composers such as Anthony Heinrich, who composed in an idiosyncratic, intentionally American style and was the first American composer to write for a symphony orchestra. Many other composers, most famously William Henry Fry and George Frederick Bristow, supported the idea of an American classical style, though their works were very European in orientation. It was John Knowles Paine, however, who became the first American composer to be accepted in Europe. Paine’s example inspired the composers of the Second New England School, which included such figures as Amy Beach, Edward MacDowell, and Horatio Parker.^[37]

Louis Moreau Gottschalk is perhaps the best-remembered American composer of the 19th century, said by music historian Richard Crawford to be known for «bringing indigenous or folk, themes and rhythms into music for the concert hall». Gottschalk’s music reflected the cultural mix of his home city, New Orleans, Louisiana, which was home to a variety of Latin, Caribbean, African American, Cajun, and Creole music. He was well acknowledged as a talented pianist in his lifetime, and was also a known composer who remains admired though little performed.^[38]

20th century[edit]

The New York classical music scene included Charles Griffes, originally from Elmira, New York, who began publishing his most innovative material in 1914. His early collaborations were attempts to use non-Western musical themes. The best-known New York composer was George Gershwin. Gershwin was a songwriter with Tin Pan Alley and the Broadway theatres, and his works were strongly influenced by jazz, or rather the precursors to jazz that were extant during his time. Gershwin’s work made American classical music more focused, and attracted an unheard of amount of international attention. Following Gershwin, the first major composer was Aaron Copland from Brooklyn, who used elements of American folk music, though it remained European in technique and form. Later, he turned to the ballet and then serial music.^[39] Charles Ives was one of the earliest American classical composers of enduring international significance, producing music in a uniquely American style, though his music was mostly unknown until after his death in 1954.

Many of the later 20th-century composers, such as John Cage, John Corigliano, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, John Adams, and Miguel del Aguila, used modernist and minimalist techniques. Reich discovered a technique known as phasing, in which two musical activities begin simultaneously and are repeated, gradually drifting out of sync, creating a natural sense of development. Reich was also very interested in non-Western music, incorporating African rhythmic techniques in his compositions.^[40] Recent composers and performers are strongly influenced by the minimalist works of Philip Glass, a Baltimore native based out of New York, Meredith Monk, and others.^[41]

Popular music[edit]

The United States has produced many popular musicians and composers in the modern world. Beginning with the birth of recorded music, American performers have continued to lead the field of popular music, which out of «all the contributions made by Americans to world culture… has been taken to heart by the entire world».^[42] Most histories of popular music start with American ragtime or Tin Pan Alley; others, however, trace popular music to the Renaissance and through broadsheets, ballads, and other popular traditions.^[43] Other authors typically look at popular sheet music, tracing American popular music to spirituals, minstrel shows, vaudeville, and the patriotic songs of the Civil War.

Early popular song[edit]

The patriotic lay songs of the American Revolution constituted the first kind of mainstream popular music. These included «The Liberty Tree» by Thomas Paine. Cheaply printed as broadsheets, early patriotic songs spread across the colonies and were performed at home and at public meetings.^[44] Fife songs were especially celebrated, and were performed on fields of battle during the American Revolution. The longest lasting of these fife songs is «Yankee Doodle», still well known today. The melody dates back to 1755 and was sung by both American and British troops.^[45] Patriotic songs were based mostly on English melodies, with new lyrics added to denounce British colonialism; others, however, used tunes from Ireland, Scotland or elsewhere, or did not utilize a familiar melody. The song «Hail, Columbia» was a major work^[46] that remained an unofficial national anthem until the adoption of «The Star-Spangled Banner». Much of this early American music still survives in Sacred Harp. Although relatively unknown outside of Shaker Communities, Simple Gifts was written in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett and the tune has since become internationally famous.^[47]

During the Civil War, when soldiers from across the country commingled, the multifarious strands of American music began to cross-fertilize each other, a process that was aided by the burgeoning railroad industry and other technological developments that made travel and communication easier. Army units included individuals from across the country, and they rapidly traded tunes, instruments and techniques. The war was an impetus for the creation of distinctly American songs that became and remained wildly popular.^[3] The most popular songs of the Civil War era included «Dixie», written by Daniel Decatur Emmett. The song, originally titled «Dixie’s Land», was made for the closing of a minstrel show; it spread to New Orleans first, where it was published and became «one of the great song successes of the pre-Civil War period».^[48] In addition to popular patriotic songs, the Civil War era also produced a great body of brass band pieces.^[49]

Following the Civil War, minstrel shows became the first distinctively American form of music expression. The minstrel show was an indigenous form of American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, usually performed by white people in blackface. Minstrel shows used African American elements in musical performances, but only in simplified ways; storylines in the shows depicted blacks as natural-born slaves and fools, before eventually becoming associated with abolitionism.^[50] The minstrel show was invented by Daniel Decatur Emmett and the Virginia Minstrels.^[51] Minstrel shows produced the first well-remembered popular songwriters in American music history: Thomas D. Rice, Daniel Decatur Emmett, and, most famously, Stephen Foster. After minstrel shows’ popularity faded, coon songs, a similar phenomenon, became popular.

The composer John Philip Sousa is closely associated with the most popular trend in American popular music just before the start of the 20th century. Formerly the bandmaster of the United States Marine Band, Sousa wrote military marches like «The Stars and Stripes Forever» that reflected his «nostalgia for [his] home and country», giving the melody a «stirring virile character».^[52]

In the early 20th century, American musical theater was a major source for popular songs, many of which influenced blues, jazz, country, and other extant styles of popular music. The center of development for this style was in New York City, where the Broadway theatres became among the most renowned venues in the city. Theatrical composers and lyricists like the brothers George and Ira Gershwin created a uniquely American theatrical style that used American vernacular speech and music. Musicals featured popular songs and fast-paced plots that often revolved around love and romance.^[53]

Blues and gospel[edit]

The blues is a genre of African American folk music that is the basis for much of modern American popular music. Blues can be seen as part of a continuum of musical styles like country, jazz, ragtime, and gospel; though each genre evolved into distinct forms, their origins were often indistinct. Early forms of the blues evolved in and around the Mississippi Delta in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The earliest blues music was primarily call and response vocal music, without harmony or accompaniment and without any formal musical structure. Slaves and their descendants created the blues by adapting the field shouts and hollers, turning them into passionate solo songs.^[54] When mixed with the Christian spiritual songs of African American churches and revival meetings, blues became the basis of gospel music. Modern gospel began in African American churches in the 1920s, in the form of worshipers proclaiming their faith in an improvised, often musical manner (testifying). Composers like Thomas A. Dorsey composed gospel works that used elements of blues and jazz in traditional hymns and spiritual songs.^[55]

Ragtime was originally a piano style, featuring syncopated rhythms and chromaticisms.^[25] It is primarily a form of dance music utilizing the walking bass, and is generally composed in sonata form. Ragtime is a refined and evolved form of the African American cakewalk dance, mixed with styles ranging from European marches^[56] and popular songs to jigs and other dances played by large African American bands in northern cities during the end of the 19th century. The most famous ragtime performer and composer was Scott Joplin, known for works such as «Maple Leaf Rag».^[57]

Blues became a part of American popular music in the 1920s, when classic female blues singers like Bessie Smith grew popular. At the same time, record companies launched the field of race music, which was mostly blues targeted at African American audiences. The most famous of these acts went on to inspire much of the later popular development of the blues and blues-derived genres, including the legendary delta blues musician Robert Johnson and Piedmont blues musician Blind Willie McTell. By the end of the 1940s, however, pure blues was only a minor part of popular music, having been subsumed by offshoots like rhythm & blues and the nascent rock and roll style. Some styles of electric, piano-driven blues, like boogie-woogie, retained a large audience. A bluesy style of gospel also became popular in mainstream America in the 1950s, led by singer Mahalia Jackson.^[58] The blues genre experienced major revivals in the 1950s with Chicago blues musicians such as Muddy Waters and Little Walter,^[59] as well as in the 1960s in the British Invasion and American folk music revival when country blues musicians like Mississippi John Hurt and Reverend Gary Davis were rediscovered. The seminal blues musicians of these periods had tremendous influence on rock musicians such as Chuck Berry in the 1950s, as well as on the British blues and blues rock scenes of the 1960s and 1970s, including Eric Clapton in Britain and Johnny Winter in Texas.

Jazz[edit]

Main article: Jazz

Jazz is a kind of music characterized by swung and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Though originally a kind of dance music, jazz has been a major part of popular music, and has also become a major element of Western classical music. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music.^[60] Early jazz was closely related to ragtime, with which it could be distinguished by the use of more intricate rhythmic improvisation. The earliest jazz bands adopted much of the vocabulary of the blues, including bent and blue notes and instrumental «growls» and smears otherwise not used on European instruments. Jazz’s roots come from the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, populated by Cajuns and black Creoles, who combined the French-Canadian culture of the Cajuns with their own styles of music in the 19th century. Large Creole bands that played for funerals and parades became a major basis for early jazz, which spread from New Orleans to Chicago and other northern urban centers.

Though jazz had long since achieved some limited popularity, it was Louis Armstrong who became one of the first popular stars and a major force in the development of jazz, along with his friend pianist Earl Hines. Armstrong, Hines, and their colleagues were improvisers, capable of creating numerous variations on a single melody. Armstrong also popularized scat singing, an improvisational vocal technique in which nonsensical syllables (vocables) are sung. Armstrong and Hines were influential in the rise of a kind of pop big band jazz called swing. Swing is characterized by a strong rhythm section, usually consisting of double bass and drums, medium to fast tempo, and rhythmic devices like the swung note, which is common to most jazz. Swing is primarily a fusion of 1930s jazz fused with elements of the blues and Tin Pan Alley.^[57] Swing used bigger bands than other kinds of jazz, leading to bandleaders tightly arranging the material which discouraged improvisation, previously an integral part of jazz. Swing became a major part of African American dance, and came to be accompanied by a popular dance called the swing dance.

Jazz influenced many performers of all the major styles of later popular music, though jazz itself never again became such a major part of American popular music as during the swing era. The later 20th-century American jazz scene did, however, produce some popular crossover stars, such as Miles Davis. In the middle of the 20th century, jazz evolved into a variety of subgenres, beginning with bebop. Bebop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody, and use of the flatted fifth. Bebop was developed in the early and mid-1940s, later evolving into styles like hard bop and free jazz. Innovators of the style included Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, who arose from small jazz clubs in New York City.^[61]

Country music[edit]

Country music is primarily a fusion of African American blues and spirituals with Appalachian folk music, adapted for pop audiences and popularized beginning in the 1920s. The origins of country are in rural Southern folk music, which was primarily Irish and British, with African and continental European musics.^[62] Anglo-Celtic tunes, dance music, and balladry were the earliest predecessors of modern country, then known as hillbilly music. Early hillbilly also borrowed elements of the blues and drew upon more aspects of 19th-century pop songs as hillbilly music evolved into a commercial genre eventually known as country and western and then simply country.^[63] The earliest country instrumentation revolved around the European-derived fiddle and the African-derived banjo, with the guitar later added.^[64] String instruments like the ukulele and steel guitar became commonplace due to the popularity of Hawaiian musical groups in the early 20th century.^[65]

The roots of commercial country music are generally traced to 1927, when music talent scout Ralph Peer recorded Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family.^[66] Popular success was very limited, though a small demand spurred some commercial recording. After World War II, there was increased interest in specialty styles like country music, producing a few major pop stars.^[67] The most influential country musician of the era was Hank Williams, a bluesy country singer from Alabama.^[58][68] He remains renowned as one of country music’s greatest songwriters and performers, viewed as a «folk poet» with a «honky-tonk swagger» and «working-class sympathies».^[69] Throughout the decade the roughness of honky-tonk gradually eroded as the Nashville sound grew more pop-oriented. Producers like Chet Atkins created the Nashville sound by stripping the hillbilly elements of the instrumentation and using smooth instrumentation and advanced production techniques.^[70] Eventually, most records from Nashville were in this style, which began to incorporate strings and vocal choirs.^[71]

By the early part of the 1960s, however, the Nashville sound had become perceived as too watered-down by many more traditionalist performers and fans, resulting in a number of local scenes like the Bakersfield sound. A few performers retained popularity, however, such as the long-standing cultural icon Johnny Cash.^[72] The Bakersfield sound began in the mid to late 1950s when performers like Wynn Stewart and Buck Owens began using elements of Western swing and rock, such as the breakbeat, in their music.^[73] In the 1960s performers like Merle Haggard popularized the sound. In the early 1970s, Haggard was also part of outlaw country, alongside singer-songwriters such as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.^[61] Outlaw country was rock-oriented and lyrically focused on the criminal antics of the performers, in contrast to the clean-cut country singers of the Nashville sound.^[74] By the middle of the 1980s, the country music charts were dominated by pop singers, alongside a nascent revival of honky-tonk-style country with the rise of performers like Dwight Yoakam. The 1980s also saw the development of alternative country performers like Uncle Tupelo, who were opposed to the more pop-oriented style of mainstream country. At the beginning of the 2000s, rock-oriented country acts remained among the best-selling performers in the United States, especially Garth Brooks.^[75]

Soul, R&B and funk[edit]

R&B, an abbreviation for rhythm and blues, is a style that arose in the 1930s and 1940s. Early R&B consisted of large rhythm units «smashing away behind screaming blues singers (who) had to shout to be heard above the clanging and strumming of the various electrified instruments and the churning rhythm sections».^[77] R&B was not extensively recorded and promoted because record companies felt that it was not suited for most audiences, especially middle-class whites, because of the suggestive lyrics and driving rhythms.^[78] Bandleaders like Louis Jordan innovated the sound of early R&B, using a band with a small horn section and prominent rhythm instrumentation. By the end of the 1940s, he had had several hits, and helped pave the way for contemporaries like Wynonie Harris and John Lee Hooker. Many of the most popular R&B songs were not performed in the rollicking style of Jordan and his contemporaries; instead they were performed by white musicians like Pat Boone in a more palatable mainstream style, which turned into pop hits.^[79] By the end of the 1950s, however, there was a wave of popular black blues rock and country-influenced R&B performers like Chuck Berry gaining unprecedented fame among white listeners.^[80][81]

Motown Records became highly successful during the early and mid-1960s for producing music of black American roots that defied racial segregation in the music industry and consumer market. Music journalist Jerry Wexler (who coined the phrase «rhythm and blues») once said of Motown: «[They] did something that you would have to say on paper is impossible. They took black music and beamed it directly to the white American teenager.» Berry Gordy founded Motown in 1959 in Detroit, Michigan. It was one of few R&B record labels that sought to transcend the R&B market (which was definitively black in the American mindset) and specialize in crossover music. The company emerged as the leading producer (or «assembly line,» a reference to its motor-town origins) of black popular music by the early 1960s and marketed its products as «The Motown Sound» or «The Sound of Young America»—which combined elements of soul, funk, disco and R&B.^[82] Notable Motown acts include the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5. Visual representation was central to Motown’s rise; they placed greater emphasis on visual media than other record labels. Many people’s first exposure to Motown was by television and film. Motown artists’ image of successful black Americans who held themselves with grace and aplomb broadcast a distinct form of middle-class blackness to audiences, which was particularly appealing to whites.^[83]

Soul music is a combination of rhythm and blues and gospel which began in the late 1950s in the United States. It is characterized by its use of gospel-music devices, with a greater emphasis on vocalists and the use of secular themes. The 1950s recordings of Ray Charles, Sam Cooke,^[84] and James Brown are commonly considered the beginnings of soul. Charles’ Modern Sounds (1962) records featured a fusion of soul and country music, country soul, and crossed racial barriers in music at the time.^[85] One of Cooke’s most well-known songs «A Change Is Gonna Come» (1964) became accepted as a classic and an anthem of the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s.^[86] According to AllMusic, James Brown was critical, through «the gospel-impassioned fury of his vocals and the complex polyrhythms of his beats», in «two revolutions in black American music. He was one of the figures most responsible for turning R&B into soul and he was, most would agree, the figure most responsible for turning soul music into the funk of the late ’60s and early ’70s.»^[76]

Pure soul was popularized by Otis Redding and the other artists of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee. By the late 1960s, Atlantic recording artist Aretha Franklin had emerged as the most popular female soul star in the country.^[88][89] Also by this time, soul had splintered into several genres,^[90] influenced by psychedelic rock and other styles. The social and political ferment of the 1960s inspired artists like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield to release albums with hard-hitting social commentary, while another variety became more dance-oriented music, evolving into funk. Despite his previous affinity with politically and socially-charged lyrical themes, Gaye helped popularize sexual and romance-themed music and funk,^[91] while his 70s recordings, including Let’s Get It On (1973) and I Want You (1976) helped develop the quiet storm sound and format.^[92] One of the most influential albums ever recorded, Sly & the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971) has been considered among the first and best examples of the matured version of funk music, after prototypical instances of the sound in the group’s earlier work.^[93] Artists such as Gil Scott-Heron and The Last Poets practiced an eclectic blend of poetry, jazz-funk, and soul, featuring critical political and social commentary with afrocentric sentiment. Scott-Heron’s Proto-rap work, including «The Revolution Will Not Be Televised» (1971) and Winter in America (1974), has had a considerable impact on later hip hop artists,^[94] while his unique sound with Brian Jackson influenced neo soul artists.^[95]

During the mid-1970s, highly slick and commercial bands such as Philly soul group The O’Jays and blue-eyed soul group Hall & Oates achieved mainstream success. By the end of the 1970s, most music genres, including soul, had been disco-influenced. With the introduction of influences from electro music and funk in the late 1970s and early 1980s, soul music became less raw and more slickly produced, resulting in a genre of music that was once again called R&B, usually distinguished from the earlier rhythm and blues by identifying it as contemporary R&B.

The first contemporary R&B stars arose in the 1980s, with the dance-pop star Michael Jackson, funk-influenced singer Prince, and a wave of female vocalists like Tina Turner and Whitney Houston.^[75] Michael Jackson and Prince have been described as the most influential figures in contemporary R&B and popular music because of their eclectic use of elements from a variety of genres.^[97] Prince was largely responsible for creating the Minneapolis sound: «a blend of horns, guitars, and electronic synthesizers supported by a steady, bouncing rhythm.»^[98] Jackson’s work focused on smooth balladry or disco-influenced dance music; as an artist, he «pulled dance music out of the disco doldrums with his 1979 adult solo debut, Off the Wall, merged R&B with rock on Thriller, and introduced stylized steps such as the robot and moonwalk over the course of his career.»^[99] Jackson is often recognized as the «King of Pop» for his achievements.

By 1983, the concept of popular music crossover became inextricably associated with Michael Jackson. Thriller saw unprecedented success, selling over 10 million copies in the United States alone. By 1984, the album captured over 140 gold and platinum awards and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling record of all-time, a title it still holds today.^[87] MTV’s broadcast of «Billie Jean» was the first for any black artist, thereby breaking the «color barrier» of pop music on the small screen.^[87] Thriller remains the only music video recognized by the National Film Registry.

Janet Jackson collaborated with former Prince associates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on her third studio album Control (1986); the album’s second single «Nasty» has been described as the origin of the new jack swing sound, a genre innovated by Teddy Riley.^[97] Riley’s work on Keith Sweat’s Make It Last Forever (1987), Guy’s Guy (1988), and Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel (1998) made new jack swing a staple of contemporary R&B into the mid-1990s.^[97] New jack swing was a style and trend of vocal music, often featuring rapped verses and drum machines.^[58] The crossover appeal of early contemporary R&B artists in mainstream popular music, including works by Prince, Michael and Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Anita Baker, and The Pointer Sisters became a turning point for black artists in the industry, as their success «was perhaps the first hint that the greater cosmopolitanism of a world market might produce some changes in the complexion of popular music.»^[100]

The use of melisma, a gospel tradition adapted by vocalists Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey would become a cornerstone of contemporary R&B singers beginning in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.^[97] Whitney Houston’s R&B hits included «All the Man That I Need» (1990) and «I Will Always Love You» (1992), later became the best-selling physical single by a female act of all time, with sales of over 20 million copies worldwide. Her 1992 hit soundtrack The Bodyguard, spent 20 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 200, sold over 45 million copies worldwide and remains the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

Hip hop came to influence contemporary R&B later in the 1980s, first through new jack swing and then in a related series of subgenres called hip hop soul and neo soul. Hip hop soul and neo soul developed later, in the 1990s. Typified by the work of Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly and Bobby Brown, the former is a mixture of contemporary R&B with hip hop beats, while the images and themes of gangsta rap may be present. The latter is a more experimental, edgier, and generally less mainstream combination of 1960s and 1970s-style soul vocals with some hip hop influence, and has earned some mainstream recognition through the work of D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Alicia Keys, and Lauryn Hill.^[101] D’Angelo’s critically acclaimed album Voodoo (2000) has been recognized by music writers as a masterpiece and the cornerstone of the neo soul genre.^{[102][103][104]}

Pop music[edit]

Pop Music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. Although much of the music that appears on record charts is seen as pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music. Bing Crosby was one of the first artists to be nicknamed «King of Song» or «King of Popular Music». Indie pop, which developed in the late 1970s, marked another departure from the glamour of contemporary pop music, with guitar bands formed on the then-novel premise that one could record and release their own music without having to procure a record contract from a major label.^[106] By the early 1980s, the promotion of pop music had been greatly affected by the rise of music television channels like MTV, which «favoured those artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna who had a strong visual appeal». The 1980s are commonly remembered for an increase in the use of digital recording, associated with the usage of synthesizers, with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity.^[107] By 2014, pop music worldwide had been permeated by electronic dance music. In 2018, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, concluded that pop music has become ‘sadder’ since the 1980s. The elements of happiness and brightness have eventually been replaced with the electronic beats making the pop music more ‘sad yet danceable’.^[108] Kelly Clarkson is the only American singer to be a two-time winners of the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album as of 2021, Clarkson being the first to win twice. Clarkson and Justin Timberlake have both been nominated five times, more than any other artist, though Clarkson is the only artist to have the most solo albums nominated. Three of Timberlake’s are solo, two are from NSYNC.

Rock, metal, and punk[edit]

Rock and roll developed out of country, blues, and R&B. Rock’s exact origins and early influences have been hotly debated, and are the subjects of much scholarship. Though squarely in the blues tradition, rock took elements from Afro-Caribbean and Latin musical techniques.^[111] Rock was an urban style, formed in the areas where diverse populations resulted in the mixtures of African American, Latin and European genres ranging from the blues and country to polka and zydeco.^[112] Rock and roll first entered popular music through a style called rockabilly,^[113] which fused the nascent sound with elements of country music. Black-performed rock and roll had previously had limited mainstream success, but it was the white performer Elvis Presley who first appealed to mainstream audiences with a black style of music, becoming one of the best-selling musicians in history, and brought rock and roll to audiences across the world.^[114]

The 1960s saw several important changes in popular music, especially rock. Many of these changes took place through the British Invasion where bands such as The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones,^[115] became immensely popular and had a profound effect on American culture and music. These changes included the move from professionally composed songs to the singer-songwriter, and the understanding of popular music as an art, rather than a form of commerce or pure entertainment.^[116] These changes led to the rise of musical movements connected to political goals, such as the American Civil Rights Movement and the opposition to the Vietnam War. Rock was at the forefront of this change.

In the early 1960s, rock spawned several subgenres, beginning with surf. Surf was an instrumental guitar genre characterized by a distorted sound, associated with the Southern California surfing youth culture.^[117][118] Inspired by the lyrical focus of surf, The Beach Boys began recording in 1961 with an elaborate, pop-friendly, and harmonic sound.^[119][120] As their fame grew, The Beach Boys’ songwriter Brian Wilson experimented with new studio techniques and became associated with the counterculture. The counterculture was a movement that embraced political activism, and was closely connected to the hippie subculture. The hippies were associated with folk rock, country rock, and psychedelic rock.^[121] Folk and country rock were associated with the rise of politicized folk music, led by Pete Seeger and others, especially at the Greenwich Village music scene in New York.^[122] Folk rock entered the mainstream in the middle of the 1960s, when the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan began his career. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes The Beatles’ shift toward introspective songwriting in the mid-1960s to Bob Dylan’s influence at the time.^[110] He was followed by a number of country-rock bands and soft, folky singer-songwriters. Psychedelic rock was a hard-driving kind of guitar-based rock, closely associated with the city of San Francisco. Though Jefferson Airplane was the only local band to have a major national hit, the Grateful Dead, a country and bluegrass-flavored jam band, became an iconic part of the psychedelic counterculture, associated with hippies, LSD and other symbols of that era.^[121] Some say that the Grateful Dead were truly the most American patriotic rock band to have ever existed; forming and molding a culture that defines Americans today.^[123]

Following the turbulent political, social and musical changes of the 1960s and early 1970s, rock music diversified. What was formerly a discrete genre known as rock and roll evolved into a catchall category called simply rock music, which came to include diverse styles developed in the US like punk rock. During the 1970s most of these styles were evolving in the underground music scene, while mainstream audiences began the decade with a wave of singer-songwriters who drew on the deeply emotional and personal lyrics of 1960s folk rock. The same period saw the rise of bombastic arena rock bands, bluesy Southern rock groups and mellow soft rock stars. Beginning in the later 1970s, the rock singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen became a major star, with anthemic songs and dense, inscrutable lyrics that celebrated the poor and working class.^[75]

Punk was a form of rebellious rock that began in the 1970s, and was loud, aggressive, and often very simple. Punk began as a reaction against the popular music of the period, especially disco and arena rock. American bands in the field included, most famously, The Ramones and Talking Heads, the latter playing a more avant-garde style that was closely associated with punk before evolving into mainstream new wave.^[75] Other major acts include Blondie, Patti Smith, and Television. In the 1980s some punk fans and bands became disillusioned with the growing popularity of the style, resulting in an even more aggressive style called hardcore punk. Hardcore was a form of sparse punk, consisting of short, fast, intense songs that spoke to disaffected youth, with such influential bands as Bad Religion, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Minor Threat. Hardcore began in metropolises like Washington, D.C., though most major American cities had their own local scenes in the 1980s.^[124]

Hardcore, punk, and garage rock were the roots of alternative rock, a diverse grouping of rock subgenres that were explicitly opposed to mainstream music, and that arose from the punk and post-punk styles. In the United States, many cities developed local alternative rock scenes, including Minneapolis and Seattle.^[126] Seattle’s local scene produced grunge music, a dark and brooding style inspired by hardcore, psychedelia, and alternative rock.^[127] With the addition of a more melodic element to the sound of bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains, grunge became wildly popular across the United States^[128] in 1991. Three years later, bands like Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, Bad Religion, and NOFX hit the mainstream (with their respective then-new albums Dookie, Smash, Let’s Go, Stranger than Fiction and Punk in Drublic) and brought the California punk scene exposure worldwide.

Heavy metal is characterized by aggressive, driving rhythms, amplified and distorted guitars, grandiose lyrics, and virtuosic instrumentation. Heavy metal’s origins lie in the hard rock bands who took blues and rock and created a heavy sound built on guitar and drums. The first major American bands came in the early 1970s, like Blue Öyster Cult, KISS, and Aerosmith. Heavy metal remained, however, a largely underground phenomenon. During the 1980s the first major pop-metal style arose and dominated the charts for several years kicked off by metal act Quiet Riot and dominated by bands such as Mötley Crüe and Ratt; this was glam metal, a hard rock and pop fusion with a raucous spirit and a glam-influenced visual aesthetic. Some of these bands, like Bon Jovi, became international stars. The band Guns N’ Roses rose to fame near the end of the decade with an image that was a reaction against the glam metal aesthetic.

By the mid-1980s heavy metal had branched in so many different directions that fans, record companies, and fanzines created numerous subgenres. The United States was especially known for one of these subgenres, thrash metal, which was innovated by bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, with Metallica being the most commercially successful.^[131] The United States was known as one of the birthplaces of death metal during the mid to late 1980s. The Florida scene was the most well-known, featuring bands like Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Deicide, and many others. There are now countless death metal and deathgrind bands across the country.

Hip hop[edit]

Hip hop is a cultural movement, of which music is a part. Hip hop music for the most part is itself composed of two parts: rapping, the delivery of swift, highly rhythmic and lyrical vocals; and DJing and/or producing, the production of instrumentation through sampling, instrumentation, turntablism, or beatboxing, the production of musical sounds through vocalized tones.^[132] Hip hop arose in the early 1970s in The Bronx, New York City. Jamaican immigrant DJ Kool Herc is widely regarded as the progenitor of hip hop; he brought with him from Jamaica the practice of toasting over the rhythms of popular songs. Emcees originally arose to introduce the soul, funk, and R&B songs that the DJs played, and to keep the crowd excited and dancing; over time, the DJs began isolating the percussion break of songs (when the rhythm climaxes), producing a repeated beat that the emcees rapped over.

Unlike Motown which predicated its mainstream success on the class appeal of its acts that rendered racial identity irrelevant, hip hop of 1980s, particularly hip hop that crossed over to rock-and-roll, was predicated on its (implicit but emphatic) primary identification with black identity.^[133] By the beginning of the 1980s, there were popular hip hop songs, and the celebrities of the scene, like LL Cool J, gained mainstream renown. Other performers experimented with politicized lyrics and social awareness, or fused hip hop with jazz, heavy metal, techno, funk and soul. New styles appeared in the latter part of the 1980s, like alternative hip hop and the closely related jazz rap fusion, pioneered by rappers like De La Soul.

Gangsta rap is a kind of hip hop, most importantly characterized by a lyrical focus on macho sexuality, physicality, and a dangerous criminal image.^[134] Though the origins of gangsta rap can be traced back to the mid-1980s style of Philadelphia’s Schoolly D and the West Coast’s Ice-T, the style broadened and came to apply to many different regions in the country, to rappers from New York, such as Notorious B.I.G. and influential hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, and to rappers on the West Coast, such as Too Short and N.W.A. A distinctive West Coast rap scene spawned the early 1990s G-funk sound, which paired gangsta rap lyrics with a thick and hazy sound, often from 1970s funk samples; the best-known proponents were the rappers 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg. Gangsta rap continued to exert a major presence in American popular music through the end of the 1990s and early into the 21st century.

The dominance of gangsta rap in mainstream hip-hop was supplanted in the late-2000s, largely due to the mainstream success of hip-hop artists such as Kanye West.^[135] The outcome of a highly publicized sales competition between the simultaneous release of his and gangsta rapper 50 Cent’s third studio albums, Graduation and Curtis respectively, has since been accredited to the decline.^[136] The competition resulted in record-breaking sales performances by both albums and West outsold 50 Cent, selling nearly a million copies of Graduation in the first week alone.^[137] Industry observers remark that West’s victory over 50 Cent proved that rap music did not have to conform to gangsta-rap conventions in order to be commercially successful.^[138] West effectively paved the way for a new wave of hip-hop artists, including Drake, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, who did not follow the hardcore-gangster mold and became platinum-selling artists.^[139][140]

Jay-Z became an internationally renowned hip hop icon in the wake of the deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur in the mid-1990s.^[141] Kanye West was mentored by Jay-Z and produced for him,^[142] before attaining a similar level of success.^[143]

Female rappers Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Saweetie, Doja Cat, Iggy Azalea, City Girls and Megan Thee Stallion also entered the mainstream.^[144] There are many women that have notably influenced the hip hop culture. However, a few names that cannot go unsaid are MC Sha-rock, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliot, Lil Kim, Erykah Badu, Foxy Brown, and many more. Of this list MC Sha-rock is considered the historian/pioneer of female hip-hop culture. She started her career as a break-dancer in the Bronx, New York and later became «The hip-hop’s culture’s first female emcee/rapper».^[145] Her career has been long-lived. From being a former member of the Funky 4+1 more to having MC rhyming battles with groups such as Grandmaster Flash and Furious 5. Another notable pioneer of female hip-hop is the famous Queen Latifah, Born Dana Elaine Owens in Newark,NJ. Queen Latifah started her career from a young age, as early as 17. But, not long after it began it soon took-off. She released her first full length album, All Hail the Queen in 1989.^[146] As she continued to release music she grew more and more popular, and her fame increased amidst the hip-hop culture. However, Queen Latifah was not an ordinary rapper. She rapped about the issues surrounding being a black woman and overall social injustice issues that appear in the music industry. These early pioneers have led female rap culture and impacted today’s popular female hip-hop artists. For example, such popular artists may include Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Miss Mulatto, Flo Milli, Cupcakke and many others. Each artists has their own identity in the rap game, however as hip-hop evolves so does the style of music. Cardi B’s first studio album, Invasion of Privacy (2018), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was named the number-one female rap album of the 2010s by Billboard. Critically acclaimed, it made Cardi B the only woman to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album as a solo artist, and marked the first female rap album in fifteen years to be nominated for Album of the Year.

Other niche styles and Latin American music[edit]

The American music industry is dominated by large companies that produce, market, and distribute certain kinds of music. Generally, these companies do not produce, or produce in only very limited quantities, recordings in styles that do not appeal to very large audiences. Smaller companies often fill in the void, offering a wide variety of recordings in styles ranging from polka to salsa. Many small music industries are built around a core fanbase who may be based largely in one region, such as Tejano or Hawaiian music, or they may be widely dispersed, such as the audience for Jewish klezmer.

Among the Hispanic American musicians who were pioneers in the early stages of rock and roll were Ritchie Valens, who scored several hits, most notably «La Bamba» and Herman Santiago wrote the lyrics to the iconic rock and roll song «Why Do Fools Fall in Love». Songs that became popular in the United States and are heard during the Holiday/Christmas season are «¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?» is a novelty Christmas song with 12-year-old Augie Ríos was a record hit in 1959 which featured the Mark Jeffrey Orchestra. «Feliz Navidad»(1970) by José Feliciano is another famous Latin song.

The single largest niche industry is based on Latin music. Latin music has long influenced American popular music, and was an especially crucial part of the development of jazz. Modern pop Latin styles include a wide array of genres imported from across Latin America, including Colombian cumbia, Puerto Rican reggaeton, and Mexican corrido. Latin popular music in the United States began with a wave of dance bands in the 1930s and 1950s. The most popular styles included the conga, rumba, and mambo. In the 1950s Perez Prado made the cha-cha-cha famous, and the rise of Afro-Cuban jazz opened many ears to the harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic possibilities of Latin music. The most famous American form of Latin music, however, is salsa. Salsa incorporates many styles and variations; the term can be used to describe most forms of popular Cuban-derived genres. Most specifically, however, salsa refers to a particular style that was developed by mid-1970s groups of New York City-area Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants, and stylistic descendants like 1980s salsa romantica.^[147] Salsa rhythms are complicated, with several patterns played simultaneously. The clave rhythm forms the basis of salsa songs and is used by the performers as a common rhythmic ground for their own phrases.^[148]

Latin American music has long influenced American popular music, jazz, rhythm and blues, and even country music. This includes music from Spanish, Portuguese, and (sometimes) French-speaking countries and territories of Latin America.^[149]

Today, the American record industry defines Latin music as any type of release with lyrics mostly in Spanish.^[150][151] Mainstream artists and producers tend to feature more on songs from Latin artists and it’s also become more likely that English language songs crossover to Spanish radio and vice versa.

The United States played a significant role in the development of electronic dance music, specifically house and techno, which originated in Chicago and Detroit, respectively.

Today Latin American music has become a term for music performed by Latinos regardless of whether it has a Latin element or not. Acts such as Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Selena Gomez, Christina Aguilera, Gloria Estefan, Demi Lovato, Mariah Carey, Becky G, Paulina Rubio, and Camila Cabello are prominent on the pop charts. Iglesias who holds the record for most #1s on Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks released a bilingual album, inspired by urban acts he releases two completely different songs to Latin and pop formats at the same time.

Government, politics and law[edit]

The government of the United States regulates the music industry, enforces intellectual property laws, and promotes and collects certain kinds of music. Under American copyright law, musical works, including recordings and compositions, are protected as intellectual property as soon as they are fixed in a tangible form. Copyright holders often register their work with the Library of Congress, which maintains a collection of the material. In addition, the Library of Congress has actively sought out culturally and musicologically significant materials since the early 20th century, such as by sending researchers to record folk music. These researchers include the pioneering American folk song collector Alan Lomax, whose work helped inspire the roots revival of the mid-20th century. The federal government also funds the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, which allocate grants to musicians and other artists, the Smithsonian Institution, which conducts research and educational programs, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds non-profit and television broadcasters.^[152]

Music has long affected the politics of the United States. Political parties and movements frequently use music and song to communicate their ideals and values, and to provide entertainment at political functions. The presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison was the first to greatly benefit from music, after which it became standard practice for major candidates to use songs to create public enthusiasm. In more recent decades, politicians often chose theme songs, some of which have become iconic; the song «Happy Days Are Here Again», for example, has been associated with the Democratic Party since the 1932 campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since the 1950s, however, music has declined in importance in politics, replaced by televised campaigning with little or no music. Certain forms of music became more closely associated with political protest, especially in the 1960s. Gospel stars like Mahalia Jackson became important figures in the Civil Rights Movement, while the American folk revival helped spread the counterculture of the 1960s and opposition to the Vietnam War.^[153]

Industry and economics[edit]

The United States has the world’s largest music market with a total retail value of 4.9 billion dollars in 2014,^[154] The American music industry includes a number of fields, ranging from record companies to radio stations and community orchestras. Total industry revenue is about $40 billion worldwide, and about $12 billion in the United States.^[155] Most of the world’s major record companies are based in the United States; they are represented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The major record companies produce material by artists that have signed to one of their record labels, a brand name often associated with a particular genre or record producer. Record companies may also promote and market their artists, through advertising, public performances and concerts, and television appearances. Record companies may be affiliated with other music media companies, which produce a product related to popular recorded music. These include television channels like MTV, magazines like Rolling Stone and radio stations. In recent years the music industry has been embroiled in turmoil over the rise of the Internet downloading of copyrighted music; many musicians and the RIAA have sought to punish fans who illegally download copyrighted music.^[156]

Radio stations in the United States often broadcast popular music. Each music station has a format, or a category of songs to be played; these are generally similar to but not the same as ordinary generic classification. Many radio stations in the United States are locally owned and operated, and may offer an eclectic assortment of recordings; many other stations are owned by large companies like Clear Channel, and are generally formatted on smaller, more repetitive playlists. Commercial sales of recordings are tracked by Billboard magazine, which compiles a number of music charts for various fields of recorded music sales. The Billboard Hot 100 is the top pop music chart for singles, a recording consisting of a handful of songs; longer pop recordings are albums, and are tracked by the Billboard 200.^[157] Though recorded music is commonplace in American homes, many of the music industry’s revenue comes from a small number of devotees; for example, 62% of album sales come from less than 25% of the music-buying audience.^[158] Total CD sales in the United States topped 705 million units sold in 2005, and singles sales just under three million.^[159]

Though the major record companies dominate the American music industry, an independent music industry (indie music) does exist. Most indie record labels have limited, if any, retail distribution outside a small region. Artists sometimes record for an indie label and gain enough acclaim to be signed to a major label; others choose to remain at an indie label for their entire careers. Indie music may be in styles generally similar to mainstream music, but is often inaccessible, unusual, or otherwise unappealing to many people. Indie musicians often release some or all of their songs over the Internet for fans and others to download and listen.^[156] In addition to recording artists of many kinds, there are numerous fields of professional musicianship in the United States, many of whom rarely record, including community orchestras, wedding singers and bands, lounge singers, and nightclub DJs. The American Federation of Musicians is the largest American labor union for professional musicians. However, only 15% of the Federation’s members have steady music employment.^[160]

Education and scholarship[edit]

Music is an important part of education in the United States, and is a part of most or all school systems in the country. Music education is generally mandatory in public elementary schools, and is an elective in later years.^[161]

The scholarly study of music in the United States includes work relating music to social class, racial, ethnic and religious identity, gender and sexuality, as well as studies of music history, musicology, and other topics. The academic study of American music can be traced back to the late 19th century, when researchers like Alice Fletcher and Francis La Flesche studied the music of the Omaha peoples, working for the Bureau of American Ethnology and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. In the 1890s and into the early 20th century, musicological recordings were made among indigenous, Hispanic, African-American and Anglo-American peoples of the United States. Many worked for the Library of Congress, first under the leadership of Oscar Sonneck, chief of the Library’s Music Divisions.^[162] These researchers included Robert W. Gordon, founder of the Archive of American Folk Song, and John and Alan Lomax; Alan Lomax was the most prominent of several folk song collectors who helped to inspire the 20th century roots revival of American folk culture.^[163]

Early 20th scholarly analysis of American music tended to interpret European-derived classical traditions as the most worthy of study, with the folk, religious, and traditional musics of the common people denigrated as low-class and of little artistic or social worth. American music history was compared to the much longer historical record of European nations, and was found wanting, leading writers like the composer Arthur Farwell to ponder what sorts of musical traditions might arise from American culture, in his 1915 Music in America. In 1930, John Tasker Howard’s Our American Music became a standard analysis, focusing on largely on concert music composed in the United States.^[164] Since the analysis of musicologist Charles Seeger in the mid-20th century, American music history has often been described as intimately related to perceptions of race and ancestry. Under this view, the diverse racial and ethnic background of the United States has both promoted a sense of musical separation between the races, while still fostering constant acculturation, as elements of European, African, and indigenous musics have shifted between fields.^[162] Gilbert Chase’s America’s Music, from the Pilgrims to the Present, was the first major work to examine the music of the entire United States, and recognize folk traditions as more culturally significant than music for the concert hall. Chase’s analysis of a diverse American musical identity has remained the dominant view among the academic establishment.^[164] Until the 1960s and 1970s, however, most musical scholars in the United States continued to study European music, limiting themselves only to certain fields of American music, especially European-derived classical and operatic styles, and sometimes African American jazz. More modern musicologists and ethnomusicologists have studied subjects ranging from the national musical identity to the individual styles and techniques of specific communities in a particular time of American history.^[162] Prominent recent studies of American music include Charles Hamm’s Music in the New World from 1983 and Richard Crawford’s America’s Musical Life from 2001.^[165]

Holidays and festivals[edit]

Music is an important part of several American holidays, especially playing a major part in the wintertime celebration of Christmas. Music of the holiday includes both religious songs like «O Holy Night» and secular songs like «Jingle Bells». Patriotic songs like the national anthem, «The Star-Spangled Banner», are a major part of Independence Day celebrations. Music also plays a role at many regional holidays that are not celebrated nationwide, most famously Mardi Gras, a music and dance parade and festival in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The United States is home to numerous music festivals, which showcase styles ranging from the blues and jazz to indie rock and heavy metal. Some music festivals are strictly local in scope, including few or no performers with a national reputation, and are generally operated by local promoters. The large recording companies operate their own music festivals, such as Lollapalooza and Ozzfest, which draw huge crowds.

See also[edit]

• Protest songs in the United States

By region:

• Atlanta
• Austin
• Chicago
• Detroit
• Ketucky
• Los Angeles
• Massachusetts
• Miami
• Minneapolis
• Missouri
• Nevada
• New Orleans
• New York City
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Philadelphia
• San Francisco
• San Juan
• Seattle
• Texas
• Washington, D.C.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Baraka, Amiri; Leroi Jones (1963). Blues People: Negro Music in White America. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-18474-2.
• Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Feral House. ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2.
• Chase, Gilbert (2000). America’s Music: From the Pilgrims to the Present. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-00454-4.
• Clarke, Donald (1995). The Rise and Fall of Popular Music. St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 978-0-312-11573-9.
• Collins, Ace (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music’s All-Time Greatest 100 Songs. Boulevard Books. ISBN 978-1-57297-072-4.
• Crawford, Richard (2001). America’s Musical Life: A History. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-04810-0.
• Edmonds, Ben (2001). Let’s Get It On. booklet liner notes (Deluxe ed.). Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. MOTD 4757.
• Ewen, David (1957). Panorama of American Popular Music. Prentice Hall.
• Ferris, Jean (1993). America’s Musical Landscape. Brown & Benchmark. ISBN 978-0-697-12516-3.
• Flory, Andrew (2017). I Hear a Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-12287-5.
• Gilliland, John (1969). «Play A Simple Melody» (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
• Hall, Roger L. (2006). A Guide to Shaker Music. PineTree Press.
• Koskoff, Ellen, ed. (2000). Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 3: The United States and Canada. Garland Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8240-4944-7.
• Garofalo, Reebee (1997). Rockin’ Out: Popular Music in the USA. Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 978-0-205-13703-9.
• Gillett, Charlie (1970). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll. cited in Garofalo. Outerbridge and Dienstfrey. ISBN 978-0-285-62619-5.
• Nelson, George (2007). Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound?. New York: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07498-1.
• Kempton, Arthur (2003). Boogaloo: The Quintessence of American Popular Music. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-375-42172-3.
• Lipsitz, George (1982). Class and Culture in Cold War America. J. F. Bergin. ISBN 978-0-03-059207-2.
• Malone, Bill C. (1985). Country Music USA: Revised Edition. cited in Garofalo. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71096-2.
• Nettl, Bruno (1965). Folk and Traditional Music of the Western Continents. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 9780133228830.
• Palmer, Robert (April 19, 1990). «The Fifties». Rolling Stone. cited in Garofalo. p. 48.
• Ward, Ed, Geoffrey Stokes and Ken Tucker (1986). Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. Rolling Stone Press. ISBN 978-0-671-54438-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.) (2000). Rough Guide to World Music. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-85828-636-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Sawyers, June Skinner (2000). Celtic Music: A Complete Guide. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81007-7.
• Schuller, Gunther (1968). Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504043-2.
• Struble, John Warthen (1995). The History of American Classical Music. Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-2927-3.
• Szatmary, David (2000). Rockin’ in Time: A Social History of Rock-And-Roll. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-022636-5.
• Weisbard, Eric (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. 1st edition. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-679-75574-6.
• Werner, Craig (1998). A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race and the Soul of America. Plume. ISBN 978-0-452-28065-6.

Further reading[edit]

• Claghorn, Charles Eugene (1973). Biographical Dictionary of American Music. Parker Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-13-076331-0.
• Elson, Charles Louis (2005). The History of American Music. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4179-5961-7.
• Gann, Kyle (1997). American Music in the 20th Century. Schirmer. ISBN 978-0-02-864655-8.
• Hamm, Charles (1983). Music in the New World. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-95193-6.
• Hitchcock, H. Wiley (1999). Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-907643-5.
• Kingman, Daniel (1990). American Music: A Panorama (2nd ed.). New York: Schirmer Books.
• Nicholls, David, ed. (1998). The Cambridge History of American Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45429-2.
• Seeger, Ruth Crawford (2003). The Music of American Folk Song and Selected Other Writings on American Folk Music. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 978-1-58046-136-8.
• «Performing Arts, Music». Library of Congress Collections.

External links[edit]

• Audio clips: Traditional music of the United States. Musée d’Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010. (in French)
• American Guild of Music
• 6 Ever American Trending Music Stars
• Essential American Recordings Survey
• Music Publisher’s Association
• Music Library Association
• Historic American Sheet Music
• Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection popular American music, 1780–1960
• Impact Of American Music On Pop Culture

Особенности формирования
муз. культуры США, начавшегося в кон. 17 в., во многом определялись
колониальным типом развития страны. Перенесённые на амер. почву
муз. традиции Европы, Африки, позднее Азии усваивались и,
взаимодействуя, трансформировались применительно к новым условиям;
одновременно происходило зарождение новых, типично амер. муз.
традиций, отражавших образ жизни и духовные запросы «молодой нации»
(к сер. 19 в. в США сложился ряд традиций, отмеченных нац.
характерностью: хор. пение, игра бэндов, представления т. н.
минстрел-шоу, спиричуэлы и др.). Сформировавшаяся в целом к нач. 20
в. муз. культура США включает развитые формы муз. жизни, широко
разветвлённую и разработанную систему спец. учреждений и орг-ций,
также отличающихся своеобразием (новые формы управления культурными
процессами и их финансирования, типы коммерч. и некоммерч. проф.
организаций и характер их деятельности; роль ун-тов, центров
исполнит. иск-в и др.). В первые десятилетия 20 в. сложились
специфич. нац. виды музыки, обладавшие совершенно новым типом
выражения, — блюз, джаз, мьюзикл, т. н. кантри-мьюзик и др.
(нек-рые из них явились результатом афро-амер. культурного
синтеза); возникли нац. композиторская, несколько позднее
исполнительская и музыковедческая школы. Пестрота состава населения
США (в этнич., социальном и религ. отношениях) и специфика развития
амер. общества — неравномерное освоение разл. частей страны,
приведшее к образованию нескольких (при отсутствии тяготения к
единому центру) историко-культурных областей (Новая Англия, Юг,
Калифорния, Северо-Восток, Аллеганы, Ср. Запад и др.),- обусловили
значит. многообразие видов, жанров, стилей музыки (не все стали
общеамериканскими) и форм муз. жизни. Развитие амер. муз. культуры,
к-рое отличается особой интенсивностью, во многом определяется
коммерч. фактором: «индустриализацией» одних видов муз. иск-ва
(джаз, кантри-мьюзик и особенно поп-музыка) и зависимостью других
(серьёзная музыка) от частных и гос. фондов. Критерии оценки всё в
большей степени стали зависеть от «рыночного» успеха; это породило
стремление к сенсационности, созданию «кратковременных ценностей»,
позднее привело к «идоломании».

В 20 в. наряду с продолжающимся усвоением элементов муз. культур
др. стран начинается обратный процесс — усиливающегося влияния
музыки США на иск-во народов др. континентов. Экспансия амер.
культуры связана с общей политико-идеологич. доктриной США и
обеспечивается гос. финансированием и мощной системой средств
массовой информации.

Наиболее древнее на территории совр. США — иск-во сев.-амер.
индейцев, многочисл. племена к-рых (ирокезы, чиппева, сиу и др.)
имели (а остатки индейского населения в совр. резервациях
сохранили) самобытную муз. культуру, связанную со сложной системой
верований, ритуалов и обычаев. В неё входит песенная и танц.
музыка; в зависимости от назначения она имеет культовый или чисто
бытовой характер. Музыка индейцев гл. обр. одноголосна, преим.
пентатонич. склада, с характерным нисходящим мелодич. движением. В
песнях (трудовые, военные, лирич., обрядовые и др.) важная роль
принадлежит ритмич. началу; они исполняются соло или в унисон
группой участников; техника пения отличается специфич. эффектами,
часто связанными со звукоподражанием голосам природы. Среди
инструментов — гл. обр. духовые (флейты, свистки) и ударные
(барабаны, трещотки). Иск-во аборигенов долгое время не привлекало
внимания переселенцев из Европы. Описание нек-рых особенностей
индейских песен содержится в очерках художника Дж. Кэтлина
(1832-39), в заметках этнографа X. Р. Скулкрафта (1851). Первое
науч. исследование в этой области — «Музыка североамериканских
индейцев» Т. Бейкера (1882). С кон. 19 в. резервации стали
регулярно посещать фольклористы и этнографы (Э. Флетчер, Н. Кёртис,
Ф. Денсмор и др.), собиравшие и нотировавшие индейскую музыку, а
позднее фиксировавшие её средствами звукозаписи. В сер. 20 в. она
стала записываться на пластинки; появились серьёзные исследования
А. Мерриама, Б. Нетля и др. Индейский фольклор использовали нек-рые
амер. композиторы: впервые — Дж. Хьюитт (балладная опера «Таммани»,
1794), затем Э. Мак-Доуэлл (2-я, «Индейская сюита», 1895), позднее
— А. Фаруэлл, Ч. Кэдмен и др.

В процессе колонизации Сев. Америки постепенно складывалась муз.
культура, тесно связанная с европейской (в 17 в. — с культурой
Великобритании), однако вскоре приобретшая ряд отличит. признаков.
Колонисты-англичане были пуританами, строгость нравов и религ.
этика к-рых препятствовали развитию светских муз. жанров (см.
Английская музыка); они ограничивались пением псалмов (псалтыри
Эйнсуорта, 1618, «Bay Psalm Book», 1692, и др. сб-ки, составленные
в Европе). В юж. колониях, где влияние пуритан было не столь
сильным (в отличие от Новой Англии), в среде англ., шотл. и ирл.
переселенцев были распространены песни и танцы их родных мест. В то
же время суровый образ жизни переселенцев, формировавшиеся новые
уклады, обычаи и вкусы постепенно вызывали потребность в ином,
отличном от европейского муз. иск-ве. В соответствии с духом
складывавшейся нации особое значение приобрёл в США религ. гимн. В
противоположность жанрам культовой музыки, утвердившимся в странах
Европы, религ. гимн в США стал по существу универсальной формой
муз. выражения; отсюда его большая динамичность, более живой,
«земной» характер. В связи с повсеместным распространением религ.
гимна получили особое развитие традиции хор. пения, приобретшие
важнейшее значение для муз. культуры США (свои хор. коллективы
имеют почти все ун-ты, колледжи и др.). Стали возникать хор. школы,
издававшие спец. руководства (первое — Дж. Тафтса, 1721), в Бостоне
было осн. Об-во по распространению пения на проф. уровне (1722). Т.
н. движение певч. школ, наиболее характерное для Бостона и его
окрестностей, было связано с деятельностью мн. талантливых
любителей, сочинявших религ. гимны; среди них — С. Белчер, О.
Холден, Дж. Ингалс, Дж. Морган, Д. Рид, Т. Суон, Дж. Кимбелл.
Ведущим в этой группе представителей т. н. Первой новоангл. школы
(так назвали её впоследствии муз. историки) стал У. Биллингс —
композитор-любитель (дубильщик по профессии), хор. сочинения к-рого
отмечены мастерством, художеств. и нац. самобытностью. Им изданы
сб-ки «Новоанглийский псалмопевец» (1770), «Спутник мастера пения»
(1778), «Континентальная гармония» (1794) и др., в к-рые включены
лучшие его гимны и хоралы, в т. ч. «И будь счастлива, Америка»,
«Честер», «Когда Иисус плакал». Многие из них исполняются и ныне
амер. хор. коллективами; совр. композиторы США (в т. ч. Г. Коуэлл,
У. Шумен, Р. Л. Финни) используют их в своих сочинениях. Биллингсу
принадлежат также неск. инструктивных работ о традициях хор.
исполнительства. Отличит. черты хор. музыки кон. 18 в. — 3-4-гол.
фактура смешанного хора, мелодич. угловатость, ритмич. острота,
гармонич. жёсткость. Излюбленной формой стали т. н. фугированные
напевы (fuguing tunes) с имитац. развитием в средней части. В кон.
18 в. У. Смит, У. Литл и Э. Лоу ввели новую систему нотации
невменного типа (shape notes), впервые использованную в сб.
«Пособие для начинающих» (изд. в Олбани, 1798). Ставящая целью
максимальную доступность, эта система, однако, не получила
достаточно широкого распространения и просуществовала сравнительно
недолго.

Большое значение в развитии проф. муз. традиций имела деятельность
нем. т. н. протестантов-пиетистов и Моравских братьев
(последователей идей Я. Гуса), основавших поселения Эфрата, Литиц,
Назарет, Сейлем, а также Бетлехем (близ Филадельфии). В жизни этих
поселений культовая музыка (гимны, псалмы и энсземы) играла особую
роль: строились органы, создавались «Collegium musicum» (первый в
Бетлехеме — в 1744), куда входили хор. и инстр. ансамбли
(исполнялись также светские соч. крупнейших европ. композиторов),
было введено (впервые на территории США) спец. муз. образование.
Многие из членов религ. общин сочетали свою деятельность с
музыкальным творчеством — К. Байссел (Эфрата), И. Денк, Дж. Петер,
Д. М. Михаэль (Бетлехем) и др. В 1769 испан. монахи-францисканцы
основали в Калифорнии неск. католич. миссий, в жизни к-рых большую
роль играла музыка (сохранились мессы священника Дурана).

К 18 в., по мере расселения иммигрантов из разных стран Европы,
образовались центры разл. нац. муз. культур (сами поселения
строились в соответствии с нац. традициями): Калифорния и др.
юго-зап. штаты, граничившие с Мексикой, стали районами средоточия
испан. культуры, Каролина — французской, Луизиана —
испано-французской, Пенсильвания — немецкой и английской и др.
Европ. музыканты, продолжавшие переселяться в США (гл. обр. из
Англии), вносили новые светские тенденции, характерные для англ.
музыки 18 в. (театр. представления с музыкой, домашнее
музицирование). Всё это, а также рост городов способствовали
развитию светской муз. жизни. Выделились её центры — Бостон (30 XII
1731 здесь состоялся первый в США платный любительский концерт в
частном доме), Уильямсберг, Филадельфия, а также Нью-Йорк, (здесь в
1736 прошёл первый публич. концерт — выступление органиста К. Т.
Пахельбеля), Чарлстон, Балтимор и др.

Стала популярна англ. балладная опера. Первая такая опера («Флора,
или Крюк в колодце») пост. в Чарлстоне в 1735; позднее шли оперы
англ. комп. М. и Т. Арнов, Ч. Дибдина, С. Сторейс и др. В 1750 в
Нью-Йорке филадельфийские актёры поставили «Оперу нищих» Дж. Гея и
Дж. Пепуша. Англ. оперная труппа У. Холлема, игравшая в 1752 в
Уильямсберге, а затем обосновавшаяся в Нью-Йорке, стала называться
Амер. компанией. В 1792 англичане Т. Уигнелл и А. Рейнагль создали
в Филадельфии т. н. Новую компанию; её спектакли шли в помещении
т-ра на ул. Честнат (здесь в 1808 пост. опера Дж. Брея «Индейская
принцесса, или Прекрасная дикарка»). Любительские муз. собрания и
спектакли получили распространение во всех значит. амер. городах
(за исключением Бостона, где в то время по морально-религ.
соображениям не разрешались театр. представления).

Во 2-й пол. 18 — нач. 19 вв. гл. роль в муз. жизни страны
продолжали играть проф. музыканты-иммигранты из Европы — муз.
руководители театр. трупп, церк. органисты, учителя музыки (в их
числе также были концертанты), в то время как коренные американцы
оставались «благородными любителями» («genteel amateur», по
определению историка амер. музыки Г. Чейза). Просвещённые
американцы, однако, стремились получить хорошее образование, в т.
ч. музыкальное. Известны высказывания о музыке Т. Джефферсона и Б.
Франклина, содержавшиеся в ряде их трудов; Франклину принадлежит и
ряд изобретений в области музыки (усовершенствование стеклянной
гармоники и др.); были популярны муз. соч. Ф. Хопкинсона
(муз.-драм. произв. «Храм Минервы», 1781; фп. пьесы, патриотич.
песни). Появлению его патриотич. песен, а также революц. песен и
маршей др. амер. авторов способствовала атмосфера подъёма,
вызванного Войной за независимость 1775-83 (в США сохранили
популярность и поныне песни «Янки Дудль», «Звёздно-полосатый флаг»,
«Славься, Колумбия» и др.). Музыка стала важной частью повседневной
жизни американцев; особенное развитие получило домашнее
музицирование (household music), с к-рым связано распространение
клавишных и др. муз. инструментов; стали издаваться широкодоступные
сб-ки популярных соч. Концерты того времени носили салонный
характер и состояли гл. обр. из чередования вок. и инстр. номеров
(баллады, марши, танцы). Из танцев были распространены хорнпайп,
рил, стреспей (англо-кельтской традиции), гавот, менуэт, котильон,
контрданс и кадриль (франц. и смешанного англо-франц.
происхождения); позднее стал популярен вальс. Чисто инстр. музыки в
Сев. Америке колониального периода появлялось мало — издавались и
исполнялись гл. обр. произв. Г. Ф. Генделя, Й. Гайдна, В. А.
Моцарта, Л. Бетховена, К. М. Ве-бера; из соч. амер. авторов — лишь
увертюры и сюиты Б. Kappa, Дж. Хьюитта, Ж. Гео.

Благодаря деятельности иммигрантов в кон. 18 в. получили активное
развитие и проф. формы муз. жизни. В качестве политич. и
культурного центра выдвинулась Филадельфия; здесь ведущую роль
играли А. Рейнагль (автор песен, театр. музыки, пианист и учитель
музыки), семья Карров (наиболее известен Б. Kapp), Р. Тейлор, а
также Дж. Лайон (издал сб. религ. гимнов «Урания», 1762). В 1820
было осн. Об-во муз. фонда, организовавшее и субсидировавшее конц.
жизнь и муз.-уч. заведения. В музыкальной жизни Нью-Йорка важную
роль сыграли Дж. Хьюитт, И. X. Мёллер, а также В. Пелисье (опера
«Эдвин и Анжелика», пост. в 1796), в муз. жизни Бостона — органист
Дж. К. Джэксон и И. К. Г. Граупнер, организатор муз. Об-ва Генделя
и Гайдна (1815), хор к-рого исполнял гл. обр. соч. этих
композиторов. Граупнер, автор симф. соч. (его считают «отцом амер.
орк. музыки»), создал также оркестр для исполнения симф. соч.
Гайдна; из этого коллектива в нач. 19 в. образовалось Филармонич.
об-во, оркестр к-рого стал основой Бостонского симфонического
оркестра. Своеобразными муз. традициями, обусловленными географич.
положением и особенной пестротой этнич. состава населения,
отличается Новый Орлеан. В кон. 18 в. здесь получила
распространение франц. опера (в 1796 пост. «Сильвен» А. Гретри, а
затем оперы др. композиторов), с 1810 стала выступать постоянная
оперная труппа.

С 1820-х гг. в стране началось общее увлечение итал. оперой; первой
гастролировала исполнявшая итал. репертуар испан. труппа М. П.
Гарсии; она также выступала в Нью-Йорке, Филадельфии, Чикаго,
Сан-Франциско. Вслед за Новым Орлеаном в этих городах возникли
первые постоянные оперные т-ры; исполнялись оперы Дж. Россини, В.
Беллини, Г. Доницетти и др. Позднее здесь, а также в др. (даже
небольших) городах гастролировали многочисл. итал. оперные труппы;
среди их солистов — Дж. Монтрезор (тенор), Г. Зонтаг (сопрано).
Популярность итал. оперы способствовала обращению к оперному жанру
амер. композиторов. В числе первых амер. опер — «Леонора» и «Собор
Парижской богоматери» У. Г. Фрая (пост. в Филадельфии в 1845 и
1864) и «Рип ван Винкль» Дж. Бристоу (по У. Ирвингу, пост. в
Нью-Йорке в 1855).

В 1820-40 особенно чётко обозначились две важнейшие тенденции,
ставшие определяющими в последующем развитии музыки США: одна из
них связана со стремлением культивировать на амер. почве разл. виды
и формы муз. культуры (включая композиторское творчество и
исполнительство) и муз. жизни европ. типа, другая — с
возникновением чисто амер. форм, гл. обр. бытовых, рождающихся
стихийно и ставших характерными для разл. региональных, этнич.,
социальных и религ. групп населения. Взаимодействие между этими
тенденциями привело к большому разнообразию видов, жанров и стилей
музыки США. Первая тенденция выразилась в культивировании религ.
гимнов проф. типа (в отличие от любительского характера творчества
представителей новоангл. школы), распространении сентиментальных
баллад англо-амер. традиции, развитии форм конц. жизни (регулярные
выступления пианистов, хоров, оркестров); в 1830-40-х гг. появились
сб-ки наиболее популярных гимнов («The Boston academy collection of
choruses», 1836; «The Sacred lyre», 1840, и др.). Их авторами и
составителями были Т. Хейстингс, Л. Мейсон, Т. Уэбб и др.

Сентиментальные баллады (т. н. благородные мелодии — genteel airs)
стали наиболее демократич. и широкораспространённой формой
«привитого» (cultivated) иск-ва; среди их авторов — X. Расселл
(исполнял собств. баллады), Дж. X. Хьюитт, У. Б. Брэдбери, Ч. Хорн,
С. Ланьир (также поэт). В подражание модной в сер. 19 в. европ.
традиции «поющих семейств» появились «поющие» амер. семьи (напр.,
Хатчинсоны и др.). Получила распространение характерная для европ.
конц. жизни сер. 19 в. традиция фп. виртуозного исполнительства;
концерты гастролёров — известных европ. пианистов, становившиеся
всё более частыми, вызывали значительно больший интерес, чем
выступления оркестров или хор. коллективов. Музыку для фп. писало
большинство амер. композиторов сер. 19 в., как известных (Р.
Хофман, У. Мейсон и др.), так и второстепенных (напр., Ч. Гроуб,
неск. сотен фп. соч. к-рого тем не менее были изданы). Выделялся
композитор и концертирующий пианист-виртуоз Л. М. Готшалк (Готчок;
уроженец Нового Орлеана). Он учился в Париже, где слушавшие его
игру Ф. Шопен и Г. Берлиоз дали высокую оценку 14-летнему
концертанту; много гастролировал в странах Европы и Америки; автор
фп. пьес экзотич. характера («Банджо», «Сувенир из Пуэрто-Рико») и
сентиментальных баллад («Умирающий поэт» и др.), а также опер и
симф. соч., в к-рых отразились специфич. особенности креольской и
афро-карибской музыки. Возникли мн. фирмы по производству клавишных
инструментов, в т. ч. «Дж. Чикеринг», «У. Кнабе» и ставшая особенно
популярной «Г. Стенуэй» (в 1829 в США производилось ок. 2500
инструментов в год, в 1860 — более 21 тыс.), что во многом
объяснялось ростом интереса к фп. музыке.

Развитие симф. музыки привело к созданию постоянных симф.
оркестров. В 1842 У. К. Хиллом, X. К. Тиммом и У. Шарфенбергом осн.
Нью-Йоркское филармонич. об-во со своим оркестром (1-й концерт
Нью-Йоркского филармонического оркестра, завоевавшего впоследствии
мировую известность, состоялся 7 XII 1842); возглавивший позднее
этот коллектив Т. Томас расширил его репертуар, часто гастролировал
в разл. городах США. В 1848 группа революционно настроенных
музыкантов, вынужденных покинуть Германию, переселилась в США и
основала муз. об-во «Германия»; в программах концертов его оркестра
— соч. Л. Бетховена, Ф. Шуберта, Ф. Мендельсона.

В кон. 19 в. по образцу нем. филармонич. об-в создавались и амер.
филармонии. Были осн. первые крупные орк. коллективы, многие из
к-рых сохранили и ныне своё назв. и художеств. традиции; прообразом
многочисл. муж. хор. об-в и клубов были нем. лидертафели. Начиная с
последней четверти 19 в. в крупнейших городах США стали создаваться
орк. коллективы. В 1878 осн. Нью-Йоркский симфонический оркестр, в
1881 — симф. оркестры в Бостоне и Сент-Луисе, в 1892 — в Чикаго, в
1895 — Питсбурге, в 1896 — Цинциннати, в 1897 — Лос-Анджелесе, в
1900 — Филадельфии. Оркестрами руководили гл. обр. нем. дирижёры
(помимо Томаса, В. и Л. Дамроши, В. Герике и др.), исполнявшие
преим. соч. венских классиков, произв. романтиков, а также Ф.
Листа. Музыка даже наиболее известных амер. композиторов того
времени (симфонии, симф. картины, оратории, кантаты Э. Ф. Хайнриха,
Бристоу, Фрая и др.), написанная в духе европ. романтизма,
исполнялась крайне редко.

С сер. 19 в. гастроли в США крупнейших европ. музыкантов стали
регулярными. В их организации важную роль играл импресарио Ф. Т.
Барнум; своё значение функция импресарио сохранила и позднее —
широко известна деятельность О. Хаммерстайна-первого, М.Стракоша,
С. Юрока и др. В США выступали скрипач У. Булль (жил там нек-рое
время), певица Е. Линд, пианисты З. Тальберг, X. Херц, дирижёр Л.
А. Жюльен и др. Характерной чертой коммерч. подхода к иск-ву стало
стремление к сенсационности прежде всего — организаторы старались
сосредоточить выступления неск. «звёзд» в одном концерте, а также
привлечь как можно больше участников — иногда до неск. тысяч. Часто
это делалось в ущерб вкусу и общепринятым нормам артистич. этики —
выступление пианиста с мировым именем могло оказаться между
цирковым номером и маршем в исполнении дух. бэнда и пр.

К 1830-м гг. относятся первые рус.-амер. контакты в области муз.
иск-ва (работа в России амер. музыкантов Дж. Зандела и Дж.
Белчера).

Вторая тенденция, связанная с зарождением местных муз. традиций,
выражалась в распространении хор. пения на молитвенных собраниях,
формировании разл. видов афро-амер. музыки, популярности бродячих
театр. трупп белых американцев (т. н. минстрел-шоу) и бэндов.
Наряду с более строгой и регламентированной церковной музыкой на
устраиваемых методистами, баптистами и др. длительных и многолюдных
молитвенных собраниях под открытым небом (до 15 тыс. чсл., напр. в
Кейн-Ридже, шт. Кентукки, 1801) звучали евангелич. песни и духовные
песнопения белых американцев, т. н. белые спиричуэлы (в отличие от
негр. спиричуэлов), псалмы с их простотой и непосредственностью
выражения. Издавались сб-ки наиболее популярных религ. песнопений —
«Гармония Кентукки», составленный Э. Дейвиссоном (1816), «Священная
арфа», изданный Б. Ф. Уайтом и Э. Дж. Кингом, (1844), и многие
другие, в к-рые входили лучшие напевы Ф. Д. Блисса, А. Д. Сэнки и
др.

Важную роль в становлении местных традиций и затем в развитии
музыки США в целом сыграло муз. иск-во амер. негров. Начиная с 17
в. привезённые из Африки в Новый Свет негры-невольники были
носителями самобытной муз. традиции, связанной с древней афр.
культурой, к-рая подверглась в Америке воздействию муз. традиций
переселенцев из Европы (в т. ч. религ. псалмодии). На плантациях
Юга звучали т. н. холлерс и шаутс — виды пения импровизац.
характера, отличавшиеся обилием восклицаний, междометий, которыми
рабы подбадривали себя. По ночам на молитвенных собраниях (shouting
congregations) пелись старинные обрядовые песни, псалмы, а также
негритянские спиричуэлы, ставшие первой синтетич. афро-амер. формой
муз. выражения. Своеобразие негр. музыки в 18 в. стало привлекать
просвещённых американцев (о муз. иск-ве негров писал в своих
«Вирджинских заметках» Т. Джефферсон, 1782). Систематизацией негр.
фольклора начал заниматься Ч. Лайелл (1840-е гг.). В 1867 У. Ф.
Эллин, Ч. П. Уэйр и Л. М. Гаррисон опубликовали первый сб-к негр.
песен «Невольничьи песни Соединённых Штатов», в к-рый были включены
популярные спиричуэлы — «Кати свои воды, Иордан», «Воструби,
Гавриил» и др. Появились сб-ки спиричуэлов в обр. Г. Берли и С.
Фостера (аранжировки последнего отличались большей свободой).
Постепенно изменялось отношение к муз. иск-ву негров;
рассматриваемое вначале как экзотика, примитивная форма выражения,
оно получило признание в качестве важной составной части амер. муз.
культуры — афро-амер. муз. традиции.

Характерной чертой муз. жизни с сер. 19 в. был «театр менестрелей»,
или «минстрел-шоу» (назывались также «эфиопскими группами»); актёры
и музыканты — участники этих представлений гримировались под
негров, выступали в экзотич. костюмах, сопровождали своё исполнение
танцами, комич. мимикой и разл. эксцентрич. номерами, пародируя
негр. манеру музицирования. Подобная традиция, возникшая в Англии в
18 в., была привнесена в амер. иск-во англ. актёром Ч. Мэтьюсом,
приехавшим в США в 1822. Значение минстрел-шоу определялось тем,
что эти представления привлекли внимание широкой публики к музыке
амер. негров (несмотря на то, что мн. номера носили оскорбительный
для них характер). Особенно популярен был персонаж «Джим Кроу» —
«негр-простак», воплощавший «здравый смысл». Он издевался над
манерностью салонной музыки, преклонением перед итал. оперой и т.
д. Первыми «звёздами» этого жанра стали артисты Дж. У. Диксон, Т.
Д. «Джим Кроу» Райс и др. В нач. 1840-х гг. в Нью-Йорке и Бостоне
выступали группы «Менестрели Кристи», «Менестрели Брайанта»,
«Вирджинские менестрели». Последней руководил «Старина» Д. Эмметт —
автор популярных песен «Старина Дэн Теккер», «Дикси» и др. Песни
этого жанра, отличавшиеся простотой, доходчивостью мелодии и
текста, легко запоминались; они обычно пелись в сопр. скрипок,
банджо, кастаньет. Лучшие из групп часто гастролировали в странах
Европы. К 1860-м гг. было ок. 30 постоянных групп, а также
временных, набиравшихся для сезонных гастролей по стране. Всё чаще
в них выступали негры, утрированно гримировавшиеся «под негров».
Лирико-комедийные традиции минстрел-шоу оказали значит. влияние на
б. ч. последующих форм амер. муз. т-ра и эстрады. К 1870-м гг.
минстрел-шоу начали вытесняться ставшими популярными к тому времени
водевилями, бурлесками, «верайети-шоу» (представления, сочетавшие
песни и танцы с акробатич. номерами) и др., к-рые отличались
динамичностью действия, грубоватым юмором, рассчитанным на
непритязательные вкусы. Минстрел-шоу же ещё в течение неск.
десятилетий сохраняли популярность в небольших городках, удалённых
от культурных центров.

С традициями т-ра менестрелей тесно связано творчество С. Фостера,
сентиментальные, патриотич. и к-мич. песни к-рого завоевали
огромную популярность в США (многие из них воспринимались как
народные); такие песни, как «О, Сюзанна», «Кэмптонские скачки» и
др., оказали большое влияние на позднейшее песенное творчество в
США.

В сер. 19 в. получила распространение традиция «плавучего т-ра»,
связанная с бурным развитием судоходства на Миссисипи. Труппа
совершала поездку по реке на судне с сооружённой на нём сценой и
давала спектакль на каждой пристани. Стали популярны также дух.
оркестры (бэнды), к-рые создавались вначале при армейских
подразделениях, полицейских участках, пожарных командах и др.; они
существовали даже в небольших городках и часто выступали на разл.
празднествах, обществ. церемониях и пр. Наиболее ранние из
известных ансамблей — Массачусетсский бэнд (осн. в 1783) и Бэнд
флота Соединённых Штатов (осн. в 1798); исполнением маршей, танцев
и гимнов завоевал популярность духовой бэнд Нью-Йорка (осн. в 1834,
рук. Т. Додуорт). Распространению бэндов и музыки для бэндов
способствовали патриотич. настроения, вызванные Гражданской войной
1861-65 и выраженные в популярных песнях Дж. Ф. Рута и X. К. Уорка.
Эволюция бэнда от марширующего ансамбля до концертного, а затем
совр. симф. бэнда получила отражение в творчестве известных
руководителей бэндов П. С. Гилмора, В. Херберта и Дж. Ф. Сузы
(«король маршей», гастролировавший во мн. странах), затем Э. Ф. и
Р. Ф. Голдменов (ныне в США неск. десятков тысяч бэндов). Росло
мастерство, усложнялась техника, увеличивался состав; становились
более развитыми и разнообразными по характеру сочинения для бэнда.
Этому способствовал и выпуск муз. инструментов высокого качества
фирмами «Селмер», «Уорлицер», «Конн», «В. Бах», «Греч» и др.
(богатая коллекция муз. инструментов — от старинных до современных
— хранится в Смитсоновском ин-те в Вашингтоне). После окончания
Гражданской войны развитие получило муз. образование; видная роль в
этом принадлежит композитору, органисту и педагогу Л. Мейсону (ещё
в 1832 основал Бостонскую академию музыки, в 1854 — Нью-Йоркский
институт музыки), разработавшему важнейшие принципы муз. педагогики
(был последователем И. Г. Песталоцци). Возникли муз. уч. заведения
в разл. городах: Академия музыки в Филадельфии (1857), Оберлинская
консерватория (Огайо, 1865), Консерватория в Цинциннати,
Новоанглийская консерватория в Бостоне, Чикагский муз. колледж (все
— в 1867), Муз. ин-т Пибоди в Балтиморе (1868, на средства мецената
Дж. Пибоди) и др. Изучение музыки включалось в университетские
программы; если в кон. 19 в. ун-ты готовили гл. обр. историков
музыки, то позднее в них стали преподавать и муз.-теоретич.
предметы, композицию, игру на разл. инструментах и др. В 1875 осн.
первый муз. колледж в Гарвардском ун-те (колледжи в США примерно
соответствуют факультетам в сов. ун-тах), затем в Пенсильванском
(Филадельфия), Йельском (Нью-Хейвен) и др. Большое значение имели
Нац. ассоциация учителей музыки (MTNA, с 1876) и Нац. конференция
муз. просветителей (MENC, с 1907). Всё ярче проявлялась тенденция к
воспитанию собств. муз. кадров в муз.-уч. заведениях США; со 2-й
пол. 19 в. амер. музыканты стали обучаться в США и выезжали в
Европу (гл. обр. во Францию и Германию) завершать обучение и
совершенствовать мастерство.

Широкий размах приобрело меценатство — отдельные богатые американцы
или целые группы лиц финансировали оркестры, муз.-уч. заведения,
делали творч. заказы композиторам, субсидировали строительство
оперных т-ров, а также конц. залов — в Цинциннати (1878), Чикаго
(1889), Нью-Йорке («Карнеги-холл», 1891; основан на средства
мультимиллионера Э. Карнеги), Бостоне (1900) и др.

Если Нью-Йорк ко 2-й пол. 19 в. стал центром муз. исполнительства,
то муз.-просвет. центром оставался Бостон. Здесь стал выходить
первый амер. муз. журн. «Journal of music» (1852-81, основан
священником и муз. критиком-любителем Дж. С. Дуайтом), оказавший
влияние на формирование муз. вкуса американцев. Начала развиваться
муз. наука; были опубликованы труды по истории музыки А. У. Тейера,
Ф. Л. Риттера и др. С Бостоном связано и становление в 19 в. проф.
композит. школы (т. н. бостонской или Второй новоанглийской), ещё
не являвшейся национальной по духу, но уже представленной амер.
композиторами; её осн. тенденцией было стремление к академичности
стиля, стройности и завершённости форм и высокому профессионализму.
Представителей этой школы (их называли «бостонскими классицистами»)
привлекала музыка нем. мастеров того времени, особенно И. Брамса.
Глава бостонской школы — профессор Гарвардского ун-та Дж. Н. Пейн
(учился в Германии), автор орк. произв. (многие исполнялись амер.
оркестрами, в т. ч. 2-я симфония, 1880). Среди его младших
современников (б. ч. его ученики) — А. Фут («Ночная пьеса» для
флейты и струнных, фп. квинтет), Д. Г. Мейсон (симфония No 3,
«Линкольновская», струн. квартет на негр. темы), X. Паркер (кантата
«Ноrа novissima»), Дж. У. Чедуик (симф. сюита), Ф. Ш. Конверс
(первый амер. композитор, опера к-рого была пост. в
«Метрополитен-опера» — «Трубка желаний», 1909), а также Ч. М.
Лёфлер («Воспоминания детства» и «Языческая поэма» для симф.
оркестра), Э. Б. Хилл (симфония No 3, прелюд для оркестра), Д. Бак,
У. У. Гилкрист, Ф. Г. Глисон и др. Их произв. (гл. обр. симф.,
камерно-инстр. и кантатно-ораториальные, а также оперы)
свидетельствовали о композиторском мастерстве авторов, отражали их
творч. индивидуальность.

Особое место среди композиторов этого периода занимал Э.
Мак-Доуэлл, пианистич. мастерство и произв. к-рого получили
известность не только в Америке, но и в Европе. Типичный романтик,
он стремился своим творчеством и муз.-обществ. деятельностью
способствовать духовному развитию амер. общества. Однако и его
значит. сочинения, в т. ч. фп. концерты, «Индейские сюиты» для
оркестра, сочинения для фп. отмечены сильным влиянием позднего нем.
романтизма. Большое значение для развития творчества амер.
композиторов имела работа в США А. Дворжака, возглавившего в 1892
Нац. консерваторию в Нью-Йорке (осн. в 1885; среди его учеников —
Р. Голдмарк, X. У. Лумис, X. Р. Шелли). Он обратил внимание амер.
композиторов на те возможности, к-рые даёт использование нац. муз.
фольклора (создал в США струн. квартет F-dur, 1892, и симфонию «Из
Нового Света», 1893; ввёл в них негр. и индейские ритмы и мелодич.
обороты).

В кон. 19 в. для музыки США большое значение приобрело т. н.
фольклорное направление, целью к-рого являлось изучение и
использование в композиторском творчестве богатого и многообразного
муз. фольклора страны. Его возглавил А. Фаруэлл, композитор,
педагог и обществ. деятель, объединивший вокруг изд-ва «Уа-Уан»
(выпускало произв. амер. авторов) неск. десятков композиторов;
среди них — Г. Ф. Б. Гилберт (ученик Мак-Доуэлла), автор жанровых
картинок «Американеска», «Комической увертюры» на негр. темы и
«Танцев на площади Конго» для оркестра. К фольклорному направлению
относится и творчество комп. Ч. У. Кэдмена, Ч. С. Скилтона, А.
Нэвина (использовали индейский муз. фольклор), Э. Стилмена-Келли,
Дж. Пауэлла, М. Хау (англо-кельтский фольклор) и др. Фольклорные
элементы проявлялись в их творчестве в разл. сочетаниях и
претворены в музыке разл. стилей, но в целом традиц. муз. иск-во
своей страны трактовалось ими как нечто экзотическое — оно не было
достаточно глубоко художественно осмыслено.

Со 2-й пол. 19 в. в США активно развивались разл. формы муз. т-ра.
В 1866 в т-ре «Нибло-Гарден» в Нью-Йорке был пост. спектакль
«Мрачный жулик» («Black Crook») с песнями и танцами, в к-ром, по
мнению нек-рых историков амер. музыки, впервые проявились черты,
ставшие впоследствии специфич. для мьюзикла — тип сценич. движения,
взаимодействие пения и пластики, муз. язык и др. В т. н. весёлые
девяностые («gay nineties»; назв. характеризовало период экономич.
процветания США — бурного роста городов, атмосферу
предпринимательства, оптимизма — отличительных черт амер. общества
кон. 19 в.) широкое распространение получили характерные формы
европ. и амер. эстрады. Среди них т. н. экстраваганца (заимствована
из франц. эстрады, содержит много балетных номеров), ревю, шоу и
др. виды представлений, сюжетных и бессюжетных, состоящих из вок. и
танц. номеров, пантомимы и акробатики. Они давались как в новых
роскошных мюзик-холлах, так и в помещениях второсортных театров и
салунов, их специфич. особенностью стала группа расположенных в
линию танцовщиц — «шоу гёрлз».

Наряду с распространением европ. оперетты (в первую очередь
английской) развивались традиции амер. комич. оперы (произв. У.
Спенсера, Р. Де Ковена, Сузы, 1880-90-е гг.). Их взаимодействие
нашло отражение в творчестве переселившихся в США из разл. стран
Европы комп. В. Херберта («Капризная Мариэтта», 1910), З. Ромберга
(«Принц-студент», 1924), Р. Фримля («Роз-Мари», 1924). Среди
ведущих представителей амер. муз. т-ра нач. 20 в.- постановщики и
артисты Ф. Зигфелд, Т. Пастор, Ф. Брайс, Э. Райе.

На рубеже 19-20 вв. на Юге США сложились своеобразные формы негр.
муз. выражения — блюз и регтайм. Блюз — вид сольного пения
импровизац. характера, отличающегося своеобразием ладовой структуры
(«блюзовые интонации»), фразировки; мелодика и (словесные) тексты
блюзов отражают глубину личного переживания и часто связаны с
ностальгич. настроением. Блюз, в к-ром получили развитие нек-рые
элементы спиричуэла, стал качественно новым явлением в афро-амер.
традиции. Зародившийся в сельских негр. общинах Юга, он
распространился вверх по Миссисипи и, образовав неск. осн.
разновидностей, с нач. 20 в. оказывал влияние практически на все
виды музыки США. Введённый в сферу коммерч. музыки, блюз стал
характеризоваться особой (12-тактной) структурой и определённой
гармонич. схемой, к-рые служили основой для импровизаций с листов.
Из представителей т. н. архаич. блюза о наибольшей известностью
пользовались «Биг Билл» Брунзи, «Блайнд Лемон» Джефферсон. Среди
авторов т. н. городского (проф.) блюза — У. К. Хенди («Сент-Луис
блюз», «Джо Тернер блюз» и др.); в числе исполнителей — Г. «Ma»
Рейни, Б. Смит, X. Ледбеттер (Ледбелли) и др.; инструментальную
разновидность блюза — буги-вуги (связана с получившим позднее
огромную популярность танцем) развивали пианисты Дж. Янси, А.
Эммонс и др. В 1870-1900-е гг. на Юге США возник регтайм, специфич.
стиль игры на фп., осн. особенности к-рого — синкопирование,
элементы полиритмии и характерная акцентуация, связанные с
постоянными незначит. смещениями по времени правой и левой рук
относительно друг друга (влияние негр. манеры игры на банджо и
распространённого на Юге танца кэк-уок, в к-ром негры пародировали
«утончённые» манеры своих хозяев — белых плантаторов). Получили
известность пианист-композитор С. Джоплин, прозванный «королём
регтайма» (опера «Тримониша», фп. пьесы «Peг клуба «Мейпл лиф»»,
«Беспечные удачники» и др.), а также Ф. «Джелли Ролл» Мортон, Дж.
С. Скотт и др. Под воздействием регтайма сложилась гарлемская школа
джазовой игры на фп. (Т. «Фетс» Уоллер, Дж. П. Джонсон, Ю. Блейк и
др.). Развившаяся позднее орк. разновидность регтайма оказала
большое влияние на музыку духовых бэндов (марши Сузы и др.),
популярную музыку и особенно джаз. Характерные особенности регтайма
использовались И. Ф. Стравинским, П. Хиндемитом, Ч. Айвсом и др.
композиторами. Интерес к регтайму возродился в 1970-е гг., в манере
регтайма играли мн. джаз. и эстр. музыканты; в Новоангл.
консерватории в Бостоне создан ансамбль, исполняющий музыку в стиле
регтайма (в 1978 выступал в СССР).

В нач. 20 в. в Нью-Йорке возник центр «индустрии» коммерч. музыки —
Тин-Пэн-Элли, где находятся издат. фирмы, связанные с т. н.
популярной музыкой (гл. обр. песни лирич., сентиментального и
комич. характера, а также танц. пьесы), нотные магазины и др.;
здесь проходили коммерч. «обработку» (приведение в соответствие
определённым стандартам путём гармонизации, оркестровки и т. д.) и
издавались многочисл. песни, танцы, эстр. пьесы мн. композиторов
(У. Доналдсона, В. Шерцингера, Дж. Макхью и др.).

Формирование к кон. 19 в. в крупнейших городах квалифицированной
конц. аудитории привело к более частым и регулярным выступлениям в
США известнейших музыкантов Европы, среди них — X. Бюлов, И.
Штраус, А. Г. Рубинштейн, Р. Штраус, Дж. Пуччини, П. И. Чайковский
(встретил восторженный приём), А. Н. Скрябин, певцы и певицы — А.
Патти, М. Хаук, Л. Нордика, Ф. И. Шаляпин, К. Л. Келлог, М. Гарден,
Л. Хомер, Ф. Таманьо, Дж. Де Лука, позднее А. Галли-Курчи, Л.
Леман, Т. Даль Монте, Т. Скипа, Р. Понсель, Л. Понс, Э. Карузо, Б.
Джильи. В 1903 М. Альтшулер осн. в Нью-Йорке Рус. симф. оркестр
(исполнял гл. обр. сочинения рус. композиторов). В 1906-09 В. И.
Сафонов возглавлял Нью-Йоркский филармонич. оркестр и Нац.
консерваторию в Нью-Йорке. Возросший интерес к оперному иск-ву
послужил стимулом к основанию ряда оперных т-ров. Были открыты
оперный т-р «Метрополитен-опера» (1883), затем Манхаттанская опера
в Нью-Йорке (осн. О. Хаммерстайном-первым в 1906), позднее —
оперные т-ры в Филадельфии, Новом Орлеане, Бостоне, Цинциннати,
«Лирическая опера» в Чикаго (1954) и др. (в 70-е гг. 20 в. в США
сравнительно мало постоянных оперных трупп и оперных т-ров); в
репертуар мн. т-ров входили и рус. классич. оперы.

С нач. 20 в. муз. жизнь стала развиваться и в городах штатов
Среднего Запада, в Калифорнии, а также др. штатах; возникли новые
исполнит. коллективы и муз.-уч. заведения. Симф. оркестры были
созданы в Миннеаполисе (1903; с 1970, после слияния с оркестром
Сент-Пола, носит назв. Оркестр Миннесоты), Сан-Франциско (1911),
Хьюстоне (1913), Детройте (1914), Балтиморе (1916), Кливленде
(1918), Далласе, Рочестере, а также Луисвилле, где практикуется
система творч. заказов композиторам США и др. стран. Открылись
консерватории в Сан-Франциско и Кливленде, муз. колледжи ун-тов в
Корнелле (Итака, шт. Нью-Йорк), Станфорде, Калифорнийском ун-те в
Лос-Анджелесе (UCLA) и др.

Творчество б. ч. амер. композиторов нач. 20 в. в целом оставалось
эклектичным, но черты «американизма» проявлялись в сочинениях всё
более отчётливо. Характерны смешение разл. стилей и использование
разнообразного фольклорного материала; в противовес нем. позднему
романтизму, к-рый стал к этому времени утрачивать своё влияние,
усиливается популярность в США муз. течений, формировавшихся в
Париже (соч. К. Дебюсси, Э. Сати и др.), позднее — также музыки И.
Ф. Стравинского. Среди наиболее видных композиторов нач. 20 в. — Ч.
Т. Грифс (соч. для оркестра «Дом развлечений Кубла Хана», «Белый
павлин» и др.), X. К. Хедли (основатель Нац. ассоциации
композиторов и дирижёров; автор опер, симфоний), А. Шеперд и др.
Тогда же создаёт свои лучшие произв. Ч. Айвс (симфонии, орк. соч.
«Три места в Новой Англии», «Вопрос, оставшийся без ответа», фп.
соната «Конкорд» и др. орк., фп., вок. и камерно-инстр. соч.). Один
из крупнейших амер. композиторов, он сумел обобщить в своих
сочинениях всё богатство традиций музыки США — протестантские
гимны, патриотич. и трудовые песни, сельские танцы, спиричуэлы,
регтайм, марши для бэндов, а также традиции минстрел-шоу и др., что
позволяет считать Айвса первым действительно нац. амер.
композитором. Сочетая разл. виды, формы и стили амер. музыки, Айвс
выработал новые для того времени технику композиции и принципы
организации муз. материала, основанные на использовании
политональных наложений, полиритмии и полиметрии, отчасти
алеаторики, коллажа и др. приёмов, получивших развитие в творчестве
др. композиторов лишь в сер. 20 в. (признание пришло к Айвсу только
в 1950-х гг., спустя 20-40 лет после создания его осн. произв.).

В 1920-е гг., характеризовавшиеся бурным развитием амер. науки,
техники и промышленности и особенно интенсивным развитием амер.
общества (этот период назывался американцами «roaring twenties» —
«ревущие двадцатые»), сформировались нек-рые из важнейших видов
совр. музыки США — джаз, мьюзикл, а также «кантри-мьюзик» (т. н.
сельская музыка), определились их особенности, пути развития и
формы бытования. Ранние виды джаза (hot), отличавшиеся особой
непосредственностью, динамичностью и импульсивной остротой,
возникли в многонац. Новом Орлеане, городе красочных фестивалей
(«Mardi Gras», «Lundi Gras» и др.) с музыкой, танцами и
карнавальными шествиями и многих увеселит. заведений (р-н
Сторивилл). Эти виды явились результатом сложного взаимодействия
разл. культурных тенденций. Ведущими представителями раннего джаза
стали негры — трубачи и руководители небольших бэндов Ч. «Бадди»
Болден, Дж. «Кинг» Оливер и др. (т. н. классич. новоорлеанский
стиль) и белые музыканты — руководитель бэнда Дж. «Папа» Лейн,
корнетист Д. «Ник» Ла Рокка и др. (стиль диксиленд). Позднее джаз
получил развитие в Чикаго и Нью-Йорке; выдвинулись певец и трубач
Л. Армстронг, кларнетист «Пи Уи» Расселл и др., затем джаз
распространился по всей стране и за рубежом.

Мьюзикл зародился в т. н. бродвейских т-рах Элвина, Шуберта, в т-ре
«Мэджестик» и др. (Бродвей — улица в Нью-Йорке, являющаяся
средоточием разл. т-ров, в т. ч. музыкальных; стал своеобразным
символом мьюзикла). Здесь были поставлены первые мьюзиклы — «Нет,
нет, Нанетта» (1925) В. Юменса, «Плавучий театр» (1927) Дж. Керна,
«Пусть гремит оркестр» (1930), «О тебе я пою» (1931) Дж. Гершвина и
др. В них сформировался новый тип сценич. действия, основанный на
специфич. сочетании элементов драмы, пения и пластики,
объединявшихся характерной динамикой.

Т. н. популярная музыка (гл. обр. её танц. формы и жанры) испытала
сильное воздействие афро-карибских стилей; получили распространение
танцы чарльстон, фокстрот, тустеп, танго и др.

В 20-е гг. возрос интерес к традиц. нац. песенному и танц. иск-ву.
Если в 19 — нач. 20 вв. большое внимание уделялось фольклору амер.
индейцев и негр. населения (работы М. К. Хейр, X. Кребила, Н. К.
Бёрлин, X. Курлендера, Н. Дж. Белленты-Тейлора и др.), то в эти
годы привлекли внимание песни, сложившиеся ещё в 19 в. в среде
белого населения США и ставшие типично американскими. Это — песни
строителей железных дорог (railroad ballads), лесорубов (lumberjack
songs), моряков (sea shanties), так наз. парикмахерские баллады
(barbershop ballads; получили назв. по традиции, возникшей в
парикмахерских, где ожидающие своей очереди клиенты, коротая время,
пели ансамблем; отличались характерными аккордовыми параллелизмами;
в 30-50-е гг. оказали влияние на манеру эстр. ансамблевого пения),
а также креольские песни-танцы Юга, песни амер. венгров, поляков и
др. Началось систематич. собирание этих песен, их науч.
классификация и пр.; появились первые сб-ки песен, составленные
ведущими фольклористами Дж. Ломаксом (1910) и С. Шарпом (1917).
Стали проводиться спец. фестивали — Нац. фольклорный фестиваль, а
также Фестиваль амер. нар. песни в г. Ашленд (шт. Кентукки) и др.

Среди жителей изолированных местностей р-на Аппалачских гор (в
штатах Сев. Каролина, Виргиния, Теннесси) сформировалось традиц.
песенное и танц. иск-во, долгое время не известное за пределами
этого региона, получившее позднее назв. «кантри-мьюзик». В сер.
20-х гг. Нашвилл, одна из радиостанций к-рого с 1925 начала
регулярно транслировать музыку этого стиля, стал общепризнанным
центром кантри-мьюзик (сам этот стиль нередко называется
«нашвиллским»). Для кантри-мьюзик характерны пение в сопровождении
гитары, а также сольная и ансамблевая игра на скрипках, банджо,
цитрах, губных гармониках и др. Диапазон исполнит. традиций широк —
от непритязательного и безыскусного пения любителей до выступлений
мастеров-профессионалов; среди них — Дж. Роджерс (исполнял т. н.
железнодорожные баллады), семейство Картеров, Ч. Аткинс (гитарист),
Р. Эйкаф (скрипач), позднее — X. Уильямс, Б. Айвс, Т. Э. Форд
(выступал со своим ансамблем в СССР в 1976), Г. Кэмпбелл, Дж.
Денвер, Дж. Кэш (особенно популярен). В 20-30-е гг. традиц.
песенные и танц. стили белых американцев Юга объединялись общим
термином «хилбилли», отделявшим их от негр. музыки. В результате
миграций населения страны в период 2-й мировой войны 1939-45 этот
стиль стал ещё более популярным. В кон. 40-х гг. появились стиль
«блюграсс» — музицирование на струн. инструментах (скрипка, банджо
и др.), часто в сочетании с пением (Б. Монро и др.), музыка ковбоев
Запада — honky-tonk (Техас; ведущие певцы — Э. Табб, Б. Уилс и
др.), стиль «вестерн» (Т. Риттер, Дж. Отри и др.). В зале
«Грэнд-оул-опри» в Нашвилле стали проводиться нац. фестивали
кантри-мьюзик (в 70-х гг. в США более 60 ежегодных фестивалей
посвящены разл. стилям и манерам исполнения), была осн. Академия
«кантри» и «вестерн» музыки, присуждающая премии лучшим
исполнителям. Дальнейшее развитие кантри-мьюзик определялось
введением её в 50-е гг. в сферу коммерч. иск-ва (платные концерты,
радио- и телетрансляции, выпуск грампластинок и др.), а также её
взаимодействие с разл. формами популярной музыки, блюза, джаза,
рока и др., что сказалось на исполнит. манере мн. совр. мастеров
этого стиля (Дж. Рид, Р. Милсап, Л. Линн, М. Молдейр и др.).
Кантри-мьюзик, являющаяся по существу традиц. иск-вом лишь части
населения США, стала в 50-60-е гг. восприниматься многими в Америке
и др. странах в качестве «амер. нар. музыки».

Если в 19 — нач. 20 вв. в США были популярны механич. муз.
инструменты (автоматич. пианино, муз. автоматы, пианолы и др.), то
развитие техники в 20-е гг. 20 в. привело к распространению
звукозаписи, радиовещания и др. Изобретение фонографа, с помощью
к-рого удалось записать и сохранить для истории исполнение как
выдающихся исполнителей классич. музыки, так и представителей
раннего джаза, блюза и др. видов устного и полуустного муз. иск-ва,
дало импульс к дальнейшему развитию звукозаписи. Особое значение
имело распространение граммофонных пластинок, вначале выпускаемых
небольшими студиями, а затем мощными индустриальными фирмами
грамзаписи («RCA Victor», «Коламбия», «Кэпитол», «Меркьюри» и мн.
др.). В программах многочисл. государственных и частных
радиостанций значит. место стала занимать музыка: как прямые
трансляции, так и звукозаписи. В 1926 в США создан первый звуковой
кинофильм с музыкой. Радио, грамзапись, позднее — телевидение,
магнитозапись, видеозапись, а также применение электронной
аппаратуры (в т. ч. звукосинтезаторов и компьютеров) начали
оказывать всё большее воздействие на разл. формы амер. муз.
культуры, развитие к-рой стало во многом определяться
совершенствовавшимися технич. средствами и рыночным подходом к
музыке.

В сер. 1920-30-х гг. происходят качеств. изменения в композиторском
творчестве. Из эклектичного оно постепенно превратилось в иск-во с
явно выраженными амер. особенностями. Для композиторов разл.
самобытных творч. индивидуальностей (независимо от их художеств.
вкусов и стилистич. направления их творчества; мн. из них учились в
Амер. академии в Фонтенбло, близ Парижа, у Н. Буланже) стали
характерны нек-рые общие тенденции, свидетельствовавшие о
возникновении и формировании нац. амер. композиторской школы. Если
раньше нац. начало проявлялось в привлечении фольклорных цитат,
использовании танц. ритмов, элементов джаза и др., то к 30-м гг. в
музыке амер. композиторов выработался свой тип муз. экспрессии,
характеризующийся специфич. «звуковой динамикой», к-рая отличает и
др. виды музыки США (джаз, популярная музыка и др.). Специфика нац.
стиля музыки амер. композиторов — свободное обращение с традиц.
муз. формами, особенно интенсивное развёртывание муз. ткани
(динамичность развития, активность метрич. пульсации, специфич.
мелоритмич. образования); в характере общего движения импульсивное
начало преобладает над формально-логическим.

В сер. 1920-30-х гг. созданы (гл. обр. для симф. оркестра)
«Рапсодия в стиле блюз», фп. концерт F-dur, «Американец в Париже»
Дж. Гершвина, «Люди и горы», «Шагающий по солнцу» К. Раглса, «Плач
по Беовулфу» Г. Хенсона, «Темнокожие американцы», «Африка» и
«Афро-американская симфония» У. Г. Стилла, «Признаки», «Немного
музыки» Коуэлла, балет «Грог», 1-я и 2-я симфонии, «Ода» А.
Копленда, «Джазовая симфония» и «Механический балет» Дж. Антейла,
концерт для фп., кларнета и струн. квартета, 1-я симфония Р.
Харрпса, «Чёрные маски», концерт для скрипки с оркестром Р. Сешнса,
симф. пьеса и сюита для оркестра У. Пистона, «Этюд на звучание» и
«Дихотомия» У. Риггера, 3-я симфония и «Обонго» Дж. Дж. Беккера,
Симфония на тему гимнического напева В. Томсона, балеты «Крейзи
Кэт» и «Небоскрёбы» Дж. Э. Карпентера, «Большой каньон» Ф. Грофе, а
также соч. Р. Томсона, Д. Мура, Л. Соуэрби, Кв. Портера, Б.
Роджерса, Л. Стрингфилда, Р. Донована, Б. Филлипса, О. Люнинга и
др. В творчестве этих композиторов были заложены все важнейшие
черты муз. «американизма», позднее разнообразно развивавшиеся ими и
композиторами «более поздних поколений. Свой вклад в развитие муз.
культуры США внесли и композиторы-иммигранты Л. Саминский, Л.
Орнстайн, Дж. Шиллингер, И. Фрид (выходцы из России) и прибывшие из
разных европ. стран Э. Леви, П. А. Писк, Д. Рудьяр, особенно Э.
Блох (рапсодия «Америка») и Э. Варез («Аркана», «Ионизация»,
«Октандр»), к-рый создал в 1921 в Нью-Йорке Междунар. гильдию
композиторов (вскоре она была преобразована в Лигу композиторов, в
1954 слилась с Междунар. об-вом совр. музыки).

Эксперименты нек-рых композиторов в области звукотворчества и муз.
форм (У. Риггер, X. Коуэлл, Дж. Антейл и др.) связаны гл. обр. с
желанием преодолеть «комплекс провинциализма» (его ощущали мн.
амер. композиторы по отношению к европ. музыке) и стремлением
переориентироваться на собств. культурные ценности. Модернистские
тенденции, сказавшиеся в расширении выразит. возможностей муз.
языка (элементы джаза, острая диссонантность и механистичность
ритмов — «урбанистич.» музыка и т. д.), явились своеобразным
протестом против консервативности амер. общества в целом, вкусовой
умеренности среднего американца. Стали заметны бравирование
свободой и независимостью художника, желание эпатировать слушателя
постоянной сменой стилей, техник и манер письма, то, что в
дальнейшем во многом способствовало развитию авангардизма.
Популяризации музыки амер. композиторов способствовали серии
концертов, организованные и проведённые в Нью-Йорке Коплендом и
Сешнсом («Копленд — Сешнс консерто», 1928-31). Новые сочинения
амер. композиторов постоянно включали в программы своих концертов
С. А. Кусевицкий, П. Монтё, А. Тосканини, Ф. Сток, Л. Стоковский,
позднее Ю. Орманди и др. видные дирижёры.

Большое значение приобрела система творч. заказов и премий (нек-рые
давали возможность в течение опредсл. срока жить и работать в
странах Европы), морального стимулирования и материального
поощрения композиторов; были учреждены премии меценатов С.
Гуггенхейма, Дж. Пулицера, Нью-Йоркского кружка критиков, Э. С.
Кулидж (делала заказы Стравинскому, М. Равелю, С. С. Прокофьеву и
др.), фондов Кусевицкого, У. Номберга, Э. Дитсон и др. Лучшие
композиторы стали избираться чл. Академии иск-в и лит-ры. Заметное
воздействие на развитие музыки США оказывали регулярные выступления
в стране крупнейших музыкантов, многие из к-рых жили в США долгое
время — Ф. Крейслер, П. Касальс, А. Корто, Ф. Бузони, Ж. Тибо, И.
Падеревский, С. В. Рахманинов (создал в США 3-ю симфонию, Симф.
танцы и ряд др. соч.), позднее — С. С. Прокофьев и др. В 1910-
1920-е гг. в США поселились мн. выдающиеся исполнители (гл. обр. из
России), конц. и педагогич. деятельность к-рых способствовала
формированию нац. исполнит. школы; среди них: пианисты — Артур
Рубинштейн, О. С. Габрилович, И. А. Венгерова, Р. Левина, Э. Петри,
М. Задора, П. Витгенштейн; скрипачи — Л. С. Ауэр, Я. Хейфец, М.
Эльман, Е. А. Цимбалист, Дж. Сигети; виолончелист Г. П.
Пятигорский. Среди исполнителей 1920-30-х гг., как уроженцев США,
так и переселившихся в США из стран Европы и внёсших большой вклад
в амер. исполнит. иск-во, выделяются дирижёры Ф. Райнер, А.
Родзинский, пианист Дж. Керкпатрик, органист Дж. Яссер, скрипачи Ф.
Кнейзель, А. Сполдинг, М. Поуэлл, Л. Персингер, виолончелист и
дирижёр А. Уолленстайн; певицы Э. Троубелл, Д. Джаннини, М.
Андерсон, М. Форрестер, певцы Л. Мельхиор, Ж. Пирс, Р. Хейс, Л.
Тиббетт, Э. Пинца.

В США получило развитие евр. муз. иск-во, синагога Эмануэль в
Нью-Йорке стала центром иудаистской культовой музыки, к-рую писали
Э. Блох, А. Биндер, Ф. Джэкоби (20-40-е гг.), позднее — С. Адлер и
Р. Стейрер. В числе канторов — И. Мейзельс и Й. Розенблат. В кон.
60-х гг. в синагогальную музыку проникла рок-музыка; её авторы — Г.
Кингсли, Р. Смоловер и др. Распространились также разл. формы
театр. (пьесы с музыкой Дж. Броди и др.) и бытовой музыки.

Для развития музыки США большое значение имело расширение в 20-30-е
гг. системы муз. образования и муз.-издат. дела. Были открыты
муз.-уч. заведения — Истменская школа музыки в Рочестере (штат
Нью-Йорк; осн. в 1921 на средства мецената Дж. Истмена, владельца
фирмы «Кодак»), Джульярдская муз. школа в Нью-Йорке (осн. в 1923
промышленником О. Джульярдом) и Муз. ин-т Кёртис в Филадельфии
(осн. семьёй Кёртис в 1924), ставшие вскоре ведущими, и ряд др.
Книги по музыке и ноты большими тиражами стали выпускать изд-ва Г.
Ширмера, К. Фишера, А. Элкана и А. Фогела, Т. Прессера и др.

Крупнейшая в истории США экономич. депрессия 1930-х гг. отразилась
на муз. жизни страны и развитии муз. иск-ва. Большое значение для
музыкантов США имели проводившиеся в 30-е гг. программы социальных
преобразований, задачей к-рых было обеспечение занятости
музыкантов, в т. ч. Федеральный проект развития музыки (FMP — часть
общей программы WPA — Work Project Administration).
Активизировалась деятельность Амер. федерации музыкантов (AFM, осн.
в 1896), были созданы Амер. гильдия артистов-музыкантов (AGMА,
1936), Объединение амер. композиторов (АСА, 1937); наряду с Амер.
об-вом композиторов, авторов и издателей (ASCAP — American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1914), защищающим права амер.
авторов, стало действовать также об-во «Бродкаст мьюзик
инкорпорейтед» (BMI — Broadcast Music Incorporated, 1939).

Новая волна рабочего движения в 30-е гг. («красные тридцатые») в
США привела к росту значения политич. песни, к-рую пропагандировали
разл. муз. орг-ции; союз «Индустриальные рабочие мира» создал во
мн. городах США клубы им. П. Дегейтера. Копленд, М. Блицстайн, Э.
Сигмейстер, Э. Робинсон и др. музыканты, входившие в «Коллектив
композиторов», возникший при подобном клубе в Нью-Йорке, сочиняли
песни для рабочих хор. кружков. В США сохраняют популярность песни
«Кейси Джонс», «Солидарность навсегда», «Мы победим» и др.
Прогрессивные тенденции несли песни солидарности трудящихся,
борьбы, протеста, основывающиеся на богатых фольклорных традициях и
получившие распространение ещё в нач. 20 в. в творчестве Джо Хилла,
позднее звучавшие в исп. Вуди Гатри, П. Робсона, затем П. Сигера,
М. Тревиса, X. Белафонте, Б. Дилана, Дж. Бэз, Г. Пэкстона и другие
(многие из них — авторы исполняемых песен).

К кон. 30-х гг. наряду с Харрисом, Коплендом, Сешнсом, Пистоном,
Коуэллом, Хенсоном и др. в группу крупнейших представителей нац.
композиторской школы вошли У. Шумен, С. Барбер, П. Крестон, Э.
Картер; их сочинения (гл. обр. симф., а также камерно-инстр.)
отличаются глубиной и серьёзностью содержания, а также виртуозной
техникой письма, развитию к-рой способствовало высокое исполнит.
мастерство солистов-инструменталистов, ансамблей и оркестров.

В 30-х гг. возрос интерес амер. композиторов к опере; выделяются
спектакли «Питер Иббетсон» (1931) Д. Тейлора, «Весёлая гора» (1933)
Хенсона, «Император Джонс» (по Ю. О’Нилу, 1933) Л. Грюнберга,
«Четверо святых в трёх актах» (по Г. Стайн, 1934) В. Томсона,
«Колыбель будет качаться» (1937) М. Блицстайна, «Дьявол и Дэниэл
Уэбстер» (1939) Мура. Особенно большое значение имела опера «Порги
и Бесс» (1935) Гершвина — первая амер. опера, получившая междунар.
признание. В кон. 30-х гг. появились оперы В. Джаннини,
А.Л.Энджела, а также Дж. Менотти («Амелия едет на бал», 1937),
который вскоре стал ведущим оперным композитором страны. Его оперы
«Медиум» (1946), «Телефон» (1947), «Консул» (1950), «Святая с
Бликер-стрит» (1954) и др. характеризуются драматизмом сюжета,
точностью и выразительностью муз. языка.

В 1920-30-е гг. осн. симф. оркестры ещё в ряде городов США — в
Вашингтоне (Национальный), Индианаполисе, Канзас-Сити, позднее в
Солт-Лейк-Сити, Сиэтле, Буффало. Выдвигается новое поколение
исполнителей (многие из них приехали из Европы, став уже известными
у себя на родине): дирижёры — Д. Митропулос, Ш. Мюнш, Дж. Селл, У.
Стейнберг, Р. Уитни, М. Эбревенел, X. Митчелл, Т. Джонсон; пианисты
— Р. Серкин, В. С. Горовиц, Б. Уэбстер, Р. Фиркупши, Ю. Лист;
скрипачи — Н. Мильштейн, У. Кролл, Р. Тотенберг, И. Менухин, И.
Стерн, Р. Риччи; виолончелисты — Р. Гарбузова, Л.Роуз; органист Э.
Пауэр-Бигс; клавесинист Р. Кёркпатрик; певицы — Дж. Фаррар, Э.
Стибер, Р. Стивенс, Б. Тибом, Дж. Турел; певцы — М. Ланца, Р.
Меррилл, Д. Уоррен, Дж. Лондон.

Всё большее распространение получал джаз; в 1930-е гг., названные
«джазовой эрой», доминировал стиль «суинг» (см. Джаз),
представленный большими орк. составами (т. н. биг бэнд — big band),
к-рыми руководили Ф. Хендерсон, Дж. Лансфорд, Ч. Барнет, У. «Чик»
Уэбб, Т. Дорси, Э. К. «Дюк» Эллингтон (посетил Сов. Союз в 1971),
У. Каунт Бейзи, а также А. Шоу, Б. Гудмен, Г. Джеймс, Г. Миллер, В.
Херман и др. Оптимизм 20-х гг. сменился ностальгией 30-х; стал
популярен т. н. мягкий (sweet) джаз в исполнении коммерч. танц.
оркестров симфоджазового типа (рук. П. Уайтмен, Ф. Уэринг и др.).
Популярная музыка этих лет отличалась значит. разнообразием жанров,
стилей и манер исп.; получили известность артисты кино и эстрады Ж.
Макдональд, Ф. Астор, Э. Джонсон и др., распространился лирич.
интимный стиль эстр. пения, т. н. крунинг (Б. Кросби, Р. Вэлли и
др.). Среди лучших исполнителей блюзов этих лет — Э. Уотерс, Дж.
Рашинг, М. Уотерс. В числе авторов популярной музыки — X. Эрлин,
Дж. Мёрсер, В. Дьюк (Дукельский), X. Кармайкл.

Эмигрировавшие в США из разных стран Европы после установления в
них фашистского режима крупнейшие музыканты из разных стран — П.
Хиндемит, Б. Барток, Б. Мартину, А. Шёнберг, Д. Мийо, Э. Кшенек, Г.
Эйслер, К. Вейль, а также П. Дессау, Э. Тох, С. Уолпе и др.
способствовали проникновению новых европ. влияний в музыку США.
Хиндемит, а также обосновавшийся в США И. Ф. Стравинский (с 1939)
способствовали развитию неоклассицизма, заметного в творчестве Д.
Дайамонда, М. Гулда, П. Нордоффа, Р. П. Палмера, Ю. Кея и др. Под
влиянием творчества А. Шёнберга (работал в Бостоне, затем в
Лос-Анджелесе) нек-рые амер. композиторы (А. Уэйсс, Дж. Перл,
частично М. Бэббитт, Э. Файн, Б. Уэбер) обратились к использованию
техники додекафонии.

На развитие музыковедения (муз.-теоретич., историч. и др.
исследования) влияние оказали эмигрировавшие в США из Европы
крупнейшие музыковеды и муз. писатели А. Эйнштейн, M. P. Букофцер,
К. Энгель, П. Нетль, К. Закс, П. X. Ленг, П. Беккер и др.,
связавшие свою науч. деятельность с амер. ун-тами. Они, а также
ведущие амер. музыковеды разл. поколений и направлений А. Дж. Суон,
О. Кинкелди, О. Дж. Т. Соннек, Г. Риз, О. Странк, Дж. Т. Хауард, Ч.
Л. Сигер, Г. Чейз, О. Даниел, Н. Слонимский, позднее У. Остин, X.
Уайли Хичкок способствовали расширению исследовательской тематики.
Всё большее число работ посв. изучению амер. музыки в её разл.
аспектах, возрос интерес к развитию музыки в США, её разл. видам, к
муз. жизни амер. городов. Получает развитие этномузыкология (М.
Херсковиц, М. Колинский, Р, Уотермен и др.). Среди муз. критиков —
А. Томпсон, А. Франкенстайн, X. Шёнберг, О. Даунс, Г. Либерзон, X.
Тобмен, Н. Броудер. Создаётся Амер. музыковедч. об-во (1934).
Издаются разл. справочники, энциклопедич. словари, указатели и др.
Среди муз. журналов — «The Musical America» (1898-1964; в 1965
слился с журн. «High Fidelity»), «The Musical Quarterly» (с 1915),
«Musical digest» (c 1920), «Journal of American Musicological
Society» (c 1947), «Notes» (c 1934), «Ethnomusicology», «Journal of
Music Theory», «Perspectives of New Music», «Black Perspectives in
Music» и др. журналы узкого профиля. Богатые фонды книг, нот,
журналов, а также рукоп. имеют б-ки (особенно славится Б-ка
Конгресса в Вашингтоне).

После окончания 2-й мировой войны 1939-45 активизировалась муз.
жизнь в штатах, где до 40-х гг. она была менее развита, — в
Калифорнии, Техасе, Флориде, Аризоне и др.; в городах этих штатов
были основаны муз.-уч. заведения, возникли исполнит. коллективы.
Создание новых муз. центров сопровождалось перемещением целых групп
музыкантов, что стало характерным явлением для муз. жизни США.

В 1940-е гг., помимо композиторов, получивших известность в 20-30-е
гг., сохранивших творч. активность и завоевавших широкое признание,
выдвинулись композиторы, к-рые, несмотря на нек-рую общую
эклектичность стиля, искали собств. пути муз. выражения уже внутри
сложившейся нац. школы. Их творчество свидетельствует о
разнообразии направлений в композиторской музыке США. Так, в
произв. Э. Сигмейстера, К. Кеннана, Д. Гиллиса ощущается тяготение
к описательности, колористичности; произв. Дж. Маккея, Н.
Березовского, Р. Р. Беннетта отмечены большей динамичностью
пульсации и звуковой насыщенностью; б. ч. соч. Г. Рида, Н.
Набокова, Э. Бекона, А. Черепнина отличается подчёркнутым
интеллектуализмом; творчество X. Брента и Э. Клафлина носит
экспериментаторский характер. Возникает интерес к муз. культурам
внеевроп. стран, особенно заметный в соч. К. Мак Фи, П. Боулса, Дай
Кеонгли.

Достижения выдающихся амер. хореографов Дж. Баланчина, М. Грэхем,
А. Де Милль, Дж. Роббинса, А. Тюдора и др. и руководимых ими
нью-йоркских балетных трупп «Караван», «Балетный т-р»,
Нью-Йоркского центра и др. способствовали развитию амер. балетного
иск-ва. В 30-е гг. были пост. балетные спектакли, музыку к к-рым
писали Копленд («Парень Билли», 1938; «Аппалачская весна», 1944),
Л. Бернстайн («Невлюбляющиеся», 1944), Шумен («Подводное течение»,
1945; «Ночная прогулка», 1947), Картер («Минотавр», 1947), Гулд
(«Легенда осенней реки», 1948), Барбер, Н. Делло Джойо и др.

В связи с распространением амер. влияния в странах Зап. Европы с
кон. 40-х гг. музыка композиторов США стала чаще исполняться за
рубежом. Одноврем. в США получили известность крупнейшие произв.
сов. композиторов (успех 7-й и 8-й симфоний Д. Д. Шостаковича). В
эти годы заметное отрицательное влияние на музыку США оказали
усилившиеся реакц. социальные и политич. тенденции (маккартизм,
обострение расизма и др.), выразившиеся в преследовании
прогрессивных музыкантов, запрещении исполнения ряда муз. произв. и
т. д.

В сер. 40-х гг. в области джазовой музыки на смену полнозвучному
орк. «суингу» пришёл более утончённый стиль «боп» («би-боп»),
рассчитанный гл. обр. на небольшие ансамбли (представители этого
стиля саксофонисты Л. Янг, Ч. «Бёрд» Паркер, С. Роллинс, пианист Т.
Манк, трубачи Д. «Диззи» Гиллеспи, Ш. Роджерс, барабанщик К. Кларк
и др.). В отличие от «биг бэндов», вышедших в эти годы из сферы
джазовой музыки и игравших гл. обр. музыку для танцев (немногие
исключения — бэнды Эллингтона, Бейзи), «боп» и последующие стили
джаза уже не предназначались для утилитарно-развлекат. целей, а
адресовались сложившейся аудитории любителей джазовой музыки. С
кон. 40 — нач. 50-х гг. среди исполнителей джазовой и популярной
музыки выдвигаются певцы Ф. Синатра, П. Комо, Д. Мартин, Джо
Уильямс, Б. Экстайн, Н. «Кинг» Коул, Т. Беннетт, певицы Э.
Фицжералд, Б. Холидей, Дж. Гарланд, К. Макре, Л. Хорн, А. О’Дей,
Джо Стаффорд (стили «крунинг», «шаутинг» и др.). Большой
известностью пользовались эстр. оркестры А. П. Мантовани, Дж.
Глисона, А. Костелянеца, П. Уэстона, Г. Дженкинса, П. Фейта и др.
Стали популярны песни и эстр. пьесы В. Янга, А. Уайлдера, Л.
Андерсона, X. Уоррена, А. Шуорца. Музыку к фильмам писали М. Роса,
Э. Корнголд, А. Ньюмен, Б. Херман, М. Стайнер, Д. Тёмкин и др. На
сценах «бродвейских т-ров» появляются мьюзиклы Р. Роджерса
(«Оклахома!», 1943; «Карусель», 1945; «На юге Тихого океана»,
1948), Бернстайна, Э. Берлина, К. Портера, Вейля и др.

В кон. 50-60-х гг. муз. иск-во стало субсидироваться более
планомерно и целенаправленно — были созданы федеральные фонды (Нац.
фонд иск-ва, 60-е гг.), фонды в нек-рых штатах, муниципалитетах.
Важное значение имеют фонды Форда, Рокфеллера, Фулбрайта.
Продолжает функционировать и система меценатства. Формы муз.
иск-ва, не входящие в сферу коммерч. отношений, попадают в полную
зависимость от дотаций этих фондов, к-рые, т. о., определяют
политику в области культуры (исполнение, издание, запись на
грампластинки произв. мн. амер. композиторов, организация
фестивалей совр. музыки и пр.).

В 50-е гг. в число ведущих композиторов США входят В. Персикетти,
П. Меннин, Р. Л. Финни и др. авторы гл. обр. симф., камерно-инстр.
и хор. сочинений. В творчестве б. ч. композиторов, работающих в это
время, — Г. Кубика, Р. Уорда, Г. Бинкерда, Р. Келли, Б. Лииса —
ощутимо пристрастие к неоклассицизму. Дж. Винсент, С. Эффинджер, У.
Бергсма и др. тяготеют к использованию элементов фольклорного
«американизма», Л. Кёрчнер, Дж. Рочберг, Э. Имбри, Н. Рорем
используют серийную технику. Если до кон. 40-х гг. композиторское
творчество США сохраняло в целом традиц. характер, то с 50-х гг.
усиливаются экспериментальные тенденции. Так, для Дж. Кейджа,
сыгравшего значит. роль в усилении тенденций авангардизма в США и
др. странах, экспериментаторство становится осн. принципом
творчества, его «философией». Муз. деятельность Кейджа представляет
собой серию экспериментов («Воображаемые пейзажи» No 1 — 4, «4 мин.
33 сек.», концерт для фп. с оркестром и др.), приведших к
утверждению роли случайного, «непреднамеренного» (indeterminacy),
затем — к отказу от музыки как иск-ва вообще («антимузыка»).
Экспериментаторство в области соноризма, также во многом связанное
с древними религиозно-философскими концепциями, характерно и для
творчества X. Парча (они отражены в его кн. «Генезис музыки»,
1949), к-рый для исп. своих соч., в т. ч. «Эдип», «Барстоу» и др.,
сконструировал ряд оригинальных муз. инструментов. Творчество О.
Люнинга и В. Усачевского (часто работали в соавторстве) связано с
электронной музыкой (их совм. соч. «Рапсодические вариации» и др.).
Творчество А. Хованесса, Л. Харрисона и Чу Вэньчуна
свидетельствовало об усиливающемся интересе к внеевропейским
культурам, особенно к азиатским, что во многом связано с
интенсивной эмиграцией из Японии, Юж. Кореи в 50-х гг., а также с
гастролями мн. музыкантов из стран Азии, в т. ч. Рави Шанкара, Али
Акбар Хана (Индия) и др. Интерес к внеевропейским культурам
способствовал дальнейшему развитию этномузыкологии (деятельность А.
Ломакса, А. Мерриема, Б. Нетля, М. Худа, К. Уоксмена и др.).

Среди опер 50-х гг. выделяются «Мощный Кейси» (1953) Шумена,
«Ласковая земля» (1954) Копленда, «Обмененные головы» (по Т. Манну,
1954) П. Гленвилл-Хикс, «Бравый солдат Швейк» (1958) Р. Кёрки,
«Ванесса» (1958) Барбера, оперы Робинсона, X. Вейсгалла и др. В
1950-е гг. среди амер. композиторов возник интерес к камерной опере
(«Волнения на Таити», 1952, Бернстайна; «Сусанна», 1955, К. Флойда;
оперы Л. Фосса, Л. Хойби и др.); появились также телеоперы («Амал и
ночные гости», 1951, Менотти и др.). Открылись оперные т-ры (в
Далласе, Сент-Луисе, Питсбурге, Санта-Фе), студии (ныне в США ок.
1000 оперных трупп); мн. композиторы совм. с постановщиками и
исполнителями экспериментируют в поисках новых форм взаимодействия
со слушателями (часто это связано с вовлечением аудитории в
действие спектакля).

Музыка ведущих композиторов всё чаще стала исполняться в странах
Европы и Лат. Америки. Междунар. известность приобрели среди
крупнейших коллективов ансамбли «Pro musica» (худ. рук. Н.
Гринберг) и «Pro arte» (худ. рук. Р. Адлер) в Нью-Йорке, а также
камерные оркестры Бостона, Миннесоты (худ. рук. Д. Р. Дейвис),
струн. квартеты (Джульярдский, Нью-Йоркский, Будапештский, квартет
Козна и др.), духовой ансамбль Истменской школы, духовой бэнд
Мичиганского ун-та, «Табернакл хор» из Солт-Лейк-Сити, хоры Р. Шоу,
Р. Вагнера, позднее Г. Смита (б. ч. из них выступала в СССР). Среди
исполнителей: дирижёры (многие из них иностранцы, временно живущие
в США) — Л. Маазель, Т. Шипперс, С. Одзава, М. Т. Томас,
представители старшего поколения, приехавшие в 50-60-е гг. из др.
стран, — Р. Кубелик, Дж. Шолти, Э. Лайнсдорф, К. Краус, С.
Скровачевский, З. Мета, П. Булез и др.; пианисты — Дж. Браунинг, Л.
Пеннарио, Байрон Джайнис, X. Л. Ван Клиберн, М. Дихтер и др.;
скрипачи — С. Харт, Дж. Силверстайн, Р. Зуковский, Ю. Фодор (многие
из них — ученики скрипача-педагога И. Галамяна); виолончелист Л.
Парнас; певицы — М. Доббс, Э. Феррелл, Б. Силс, Ф. Кёртин, Р.
Питерс, Л. Прайс, А, Аддисон, М. Арройо, Г. Бэмбри; певцы — Р.
Таккер, Дж. Хайнс и др.

В джазе в 50-е гг. наметились новые тенденции. Осн. стилями стали
«хард боп», «фанки» и «кул», позднее «прогрессив» (импровизационные
по характеру, отличающиеся остротой и жёсткостью муз. языка,
рассчитанные на небольшие инстр. ансамбли). Лучшие музыканты этих
лет — трубач М. Дейвис, пианисты Б. Эванс, Э. Гарнер, Д. Брубек,
саксофонисты Дж. Колтрейн, Дж. Маллиген, С. Гец, ансамбли — «Модерн
джаз квартет» (рук. Дж. Льюис) и «Посланцы джаза» (рук. пианист X.
Силвер), оркестры Э. Сотера — Б. Финегана, Дж. Ричардса и особенно
С. Кентона. Среди исполнителей джазовой и т. н. популярной музыки —
певцы М. Торме, С. Дейвис-младший, Э. Уильяме, С. Лоуренс, Дж.
Джонс, певицы С. Воан, П. Ли, Д. Дей, Н. Уилсон и др. В Ньюпорте (с
1954) и Монтерее (с 1958) стали проводиться фестивали джазовой
музыки. К джазу начали относиться как к серьёзному иск-ву;
появились его теоретики: У. Сарджент, Р. Блеш, позднее — Л. Фэзер,
Б. Уланов и др.; стали издаваться спец. журналы («Down Beat» и
др.). Из стилей т. н. популярной музыки 50-х гг. особое
распространение получили рок-н-ролл (певцы Б. Холли, Э. Пресли, Б.
Хейли, Ф. Домино, Ч. Чэккер) и танец твист, среди негр. Населения —
эстр. формы стиля «госпел» («сестра» Р.Тарп, М.Джэксон), блюза (Лу
Роулс; Одетта, выступала в СССР в 1974), ритм-энд-блюз (Ти-Боун
Уокер; Би Би Кинг, выступал в СССР в 1979), а также стиль «соул»,
сочетающий интимность блюза с экстатичностью «рока» (певцы Р.
Чарлз, Дж. Хендрикс, Дж. Браун, певицы А. Франклин, Р. Флэк и др.).
Популярную музыку исполняли оркестры под рук. Н. Ридла, Б. Мея, Л.
Брауна, Р. Энтони, Л. Уэлка, X. Клебанова, Р. Конниффа, хор.
ансамбли Н. Любова и М. Миллера (завоевали известность его
телевизионные шоу). На песенные и танц. формы и жанры большое
влияние оказал распространившийся в США стиль «боса-нова». Среди
авторов лирич. песен — Дж. Башкин, Дж. Ван Хьюзен, Б. Лейн, Б.
Стрейхорн, а также композиторы голливудских киностудий Э.
Бернстайн, X. Мансини, Э. Голди А. Норт.

В 50-е гг., в период наивысшего расцвета «бродвейских т-ров», были
пост. мьюзиклы «Зовите меня госпожой» (1950) Берлина, «Пареньки и
куколки» (1950) Ф. Лёссера, «Кандид» (1950) и «Вестсайдская
история» (1957) Бернстайна, «Король и я» (1951) и «Звуки музыки»
(1959) Роджерса, «Канкан» (1953) Портера, «Моя прекрасная леди»
(1956) Ф. Лоу, «Крошка Эбнер» (1956) Дж. де Поула, «Звонят звонки»
(1956) и «Джипси» (1959) Дж. Стайна, «Музыкальный человек» (1957)
М. Уилсона. Ведущие артисты мьюзикла этого периода — А. Дрейк, Р.
Престон, Дж. Эндрюс, Дж. Холидей и др. Наиболее удачные мьюзиклы
экранизировались.

Муз. жизнь 60-70-х гг. отличается исключит. разнообразием. В этот
период основаны мн. культурные центры — Линкольн-сентр в Нью-Йорке
(1962), в к-рый вошли Джульярдская муз. школа, «Метрополитен-опера»
(при ней в 1973 создан камерный оперный т-p «Мин-Мет»), Балетный
т-р и др.; Центр им. Кеннеди в Вашингтоне, Центр иск-в в
Лос-Анджелесе и др. В конц. залах разл. муз. центров выступают
лучшие артисты и коллективы США и др. стран. Интенсивна исполнит.
деятельность большого количества муз. коллективов. Помимо неск.
десятков ведущих проф. оркестров, много гастролирующих по стране и
за рубежом (в СССР выступали Нью-Йоркский — 2 раза, Бостонский,
Филадельфийский, Кливлендский, Рочестерский и Сан-Францисский
оркестры), существуют многочисл. университетские, муниципальные и
др. коллективы (ок. 1500), а также неск. тысяч хор. групп и дух.
бэндов.

Организованы проф. труппы исполнителей совр. танца (рук. X. Лимон,
Э. Айли, Э. Николаис, М. Каннингем, Р. Джофри, Д. Хамфри, М.
Дюшан), а также Танц. т-р Джадсона и др. (нек-рые выступали в
СССР), группы фольклорного танца. Возникают новые проф. и
общественные муз. организации, в т. ч. создаваемые для
популяризации определённых видов музыки; разл. виды и стили музыки
США занимают большое место в программах радиовещания и телевидения
(федеральных, разл. штатов и частных). Празднование 200-летия
независимости США (1976) было отмечено большим количеством спец.
муз. мероприятий (серии ретроспективных концертов, фестивали), а
также выпусками книг, нот и звукозаписей (в т. ч. антологии музыки
США, состоящей из 100 пластинок).

Продолжаются традиции основанных ещё в 19 в. муз. фестивалей
(многие из них международные) — в Вустере (Массачусетс), Бетлехеме
(Пенсильвания; ежегодный Баховский фестиваль), Литчфилде. С 30-х
гг. проводится фестиваль камерной музыки в помещении Б-ки конгресса
(Вашингтон). Известные артисты и коллективы участвуют в фестивалях
в Саратога-Спрингс (шт. Нью-Йорк, 1932), а также в Эспине (шт.
Колорадо), Танглвуде (шт. Массачусетс; Бёркширский муз. центр,
1934); здесь же проводятся летние семинары для музыкантов из разл.
стран, руководимые крупнейшими амер. и зарубежными мастерами.
Учреждены фестивали в Карамуре (шт. Нью-Йорк), Филадельфии
(«Марлборо»), Чикаго («Равиния») и др.; проводятся междунар.
конкурсы: пианистов — Вана Клиберна (в Форт-Уэрте, шт. Техас; 1 раз
в 4 года, с 1962), Ассоциации Лешетицкого, У. Кейпелла, дирижёров —
им. Митропулоса (с 1966; все — в Нью-Йорке) и др.

В 60-е гг. произошли изменения в конц. жизни — напр., б. ч. совр.
композиторской музыки, не вызывающей интереса у широкой публики,
всё реже включается в филармонич. программы и исполняется
университетскими муз. коллективами (гл. обр. во время спец.
фестивалей). С 60-х гг. университеты начинают играть особо важную
роль в развитии музыкальной культуры США. Помимо
муз.-образовательной и научной деятельности, муз. колледжи мн.
ун-тов проводят циклы концертов для популяризации старинной,
новейшей, а также внеевроп. музыки. Разнообразие форм муз. жизни,
большое количество квалифициров. муз. коллективов (оперные студии,
симф. оркестры, дух. бэнды, хоры, камерно-инстр. ансамбли, а также
джаз- и рок-группы и др.), наличие студий электронной музыки
(оборудованных синтезаторами звука, а иногда и компьютерной
техникой) отличают наиболее крупные и хорошо финансируемые ун-ты —
Сев.-Зап. ун-т в Эванстоне, Индианский в Блумингтоне, Сев. Техаса в
Дентоне, Юж. Калифорнии в Лос-Анджелесе, Бёркли в Сан-Франциско.
Мн. ун-ты приглашают на определённый срок видных композиторов и
исполнителей, к-рые руководят их муз. жизнью, дают консультации и
участвуют в концертах (напр., Сешнс был связан с ун-тами Принстона
и Бёркли, Пистон — с Гарвардским); в 60-е гг. создано Об-во
университетских композиторов. Особое развитие в ун-тах получило
музыковедение (комплексные исследоват. программы, конференции,
публикации и т. д.). При ун-тах создаются летние лагеря (помимо
Танглвудского летнего семинара в Интерлакене, шт. Нью-Йорк, и др.)
для совершенствования молодых музыкантов США, а также др. стран.
Важное значение для развития музыки США имела созданная по
инициативе Делло Джойо в кон. 50-х гг. т. н. Программа совр. музыки
(Contemporary Music Project — CMP; субсидировалась фондом Форда),
по к-рой талантливые молодые композиторы направлялись в
общеобразоват. колледжи с целью содействовать развитию интереса к
совр. музыке. В кон. 60-х гг. были введены Джульярдская и
Манхаттанвиллская программы, направленные на совершенствование муз.
образования; их проводили Нац. ассоциация муз. школ (NASM, осн. в
1924 Хенсоном), Об-во музыки в колледжах (CMS) и др. организации.
Большое внимание уделяется муз. воспитанию детей и юношества
(широко используются методы К. Орфа и Судзуки Синитьи).

Накопляются и обостряются противоречивые тенденции в непрерывно
усложняющейся муз. жизни и особенно в области композиторского
творчества. Разнообразие форм и стилей всё возрастающего количества
произв. разных жанров и видов при их постоянном взаимодействии и
при возникновении новых течений приводит к ситуации множественности
— распаду единой системы муз. культуры, к образованию отд., мало
связанных между собой «подсистем», к неуправляемости процессами,
происходящими в них. Повышенный динамизм, искусственно вызываемый
средствами массовой информации и диктуемый законами рынка,
порождает неустойчивость критериев ценностей и вкусов, результатом
чего являются частая смена стилей, композиторской техники (нек-рые
не успевают утвердиться даже на короткое время) и откровенная
спекулятивность отд. творч. концепций. Эта общая нестабильность
распространилась и на формы деятельности мн. муз. орг-ций и
учреждений, функции, структура и место расположения к-рых часто
меняются.

Поиски новых принципов организации муз. материала, средств
выразительности и способов воздействия на восприятие слушателя
превратили творчество мн. композиторов в ряд непрерывных
экспериментов. Приверженцы авангардистских тенденций, начав с
поисков средств к расширению выразительных возможностей муз. языка
(«подготовленное» фп., звуковые «пучки», «электронные» звучания,
включение эпизодов свободной импровизации), отдав дань увлечению
«философией случая» (алеаторика, «словесные» и «графические»
партитуры) и «машинным» творчеством (с использованием компьютеров),
пришли к разрушению музыки как целостного художеств. явления
(антимузыка, включающая т. н. хэппенинг, мультимедии, концептуализм
и др.), к необратимым изменениям её эстетич. и социальной функций.
Ориентация на элитарность 50 — нач. 60-х гг. сменилась привлечением
элементов массовой культуры, что в сочетании с рядом др. тенденций
привело к возникновению т. н. неоавангардизма (кон. 60-70-е гг.).
Традиции Вареза (20-30-е гг.), Люнинга и Усачевского (50-е гг.)
развивали в кон. 60-70-х гг. М. Поуэлл, Э. Браун, Д. Эрб, Э.
Солсмен: пытаясь расширить сонористич. возможности муз.
инструментов, они используют электроакустич. эффекты (монтаж и
наложение магнитофонных записей, деформация звучания посредством
изменения скорости проигрывания и др. приёмы т. н. записанной
музыки); позднее для этих целей применялись звукосинтезаторы. Др.
группа музыкантов, развивая традиции Айвса (его сочинений
1910-1920-х гг.), Раглса (30-40-е гг.) и Брента (50-е гг.),
стремится к автономии голосов, метрич. независимости линий (нередко
применяется микрохроматика). Это обычно связано с разделением
ансамбля на неск. отд. групп, размещением исполнителей в разл.
точках конц. зала и др. Подобные принципы (при всё возрастающей
роли алеаторики) используются во мн. соч. Дж. Крэма, М. Фелдмена,
Ч. Вуоринена, С. Мартирено, У. Крафта и др.

Возникает традиция композитора- исполнителя и импровизац. ансамбля
(первый такой ансамбль создан Л. Фоссом в 1957, другие — Р. Шейпи,
X. Фарберменом, X. Солбергером). Среди исполнителей-импровизаторов
— пианист Д. Тюдор, певица Б. Бёрдсли, исполнитель на ударных
инструментах К. Дероч.

Взаимопроникновение серьёзной и джазовой музыки образовало т. н.
третье течение, возглавляемое Г. Шуллером; на сочетании принципов
формально-структурной техники композиции с джазовой
импровизационностью, специфич. звукоизвлечением и ритмич.
пульсацией основано творчество Л. Остина, О. Коулмена, М.
Колграсса, Д. Брубека, Л. Шифрина. Элементы джаза используют и
совр. негр. комп. Д. Бейкер, Дж. Уокер, С. Чеймберс и др. С сер.
50-х гг. ведутся эксперименты по программированию муз. моделей с
использованием компьютеров; в 1957 в Иллинойсском ун-те было
создано первое в мире «машинное» муз. произв.- сюита «Иллиак» для
струн. квартета. Под влиянием идей М. Баббита, композитора с
математич. образованием, директора электронной студии Принстонского
— Колумбийского ун-тов, сформировалась т. н. принстонская школа (Д.
Мартино, X. Уайнберг, Б. Борец и др.). В 1967-69 Кейдж совм. с
композитором и инженером Л. Хиллером создал композицию под назв.
«HPSCHD» для неск. клавесинов в сопр. магнитофонных записей
(программа подготовлена с помощью компьютера). С синтезаторами
звука активно работают М. Суботник, возглавляющий Тейп-сентер в
Сан-Франциско, Дж. К. Рэндолл, Дж. Дрэкмен, П. Оливерос. Получило
развитие коллективное творчество: группы «Флуксус» («Fluxus»;
Нью-Йорк, кроме комп. Д. Хиггинса, Дж. Брехта включает и
представителей др. видов иск-в), «ONCE» (Анн-Арбор, шт. Мичиган; Р.
Эшли, Г. Мамма и др.), «Группа звучащих иск-в» («Sonic Art Group»),
«Измерения новой музыки» («Dimensions of new music», Сиэтл) и др.
Проводятся фестивали авангардистской музыки (гл. обр. в
университетских центрах). Для 70-х гг. характерно возникновение
«минимализма»; его представители — Ла Монт Янг, С. Райх, Т. Райли,
Ф. Гласс и др., соч. к-рых состояли из бесконечного повторения
одной и той же муз. фигуры, одного или неск. продолжит. звуков,
абстрактных «программ», предписывающих исполнителю определённое
поведение на сцене (при этом от него зачастую не требовалось играть
на к.-л. муз. инструменте, издавать к.-л. звуки вообще — «музыкой»
объявлялся естественный звуковой фон окружения). Авангардистские
тенденции стали ощущаться и в использовании амер. композиторами
элементов музыки др. стран: если в 50-60-е гг. многие из них
применяли отд. элементы и принципы построения, характерные для
разл. азиатских муз. культур (Коуэлл — иранской и японской,
Хованесс — древнеармянской и индийской, Мак-Фи — балийской, Чу
Вэньчун — китайской и т. д.), то соч. 60-70-х гг. Кейджа, Парча,
Харрисона и др. основывались на спекулятивной интерпретации
интуитивно-мистич. начал др.-вост. религ.-философских систем.
Стремления воплотить в музыке «философские идеи» коснулись и
оперного жанра («Князь Мышкин» Дж. Итона, по роману «Идиот»
Достоевского, «Слон шагает» — оккультная опера С. Силвермена,
«Эйнштейн на пляже» — научно-фантастич. опера Р. Уилсона и др.). В
числе композиторов, выдвинувшихся в 70-е гг., — У. Волком, М.
Брезник, Ч. Додж, Ф. Ржевский, Т. Пасатьери, У. Олбрайт, Дж.
Шуонтнер; их творчество отличается большим разнообразием.

В джазе в 60-70-е гг. поиски новых средств выражения связаны гл.
обр. с негр. движением в США, с борьбой негров (в их жизни музыка
занимает особо важное место и имеет большое социальное значение) за
независимость своей культуры (free jazz). Приобрели известность Сон
Ра, О. Нелсон, К. Джонс, Ч. Мингес, Э. Долфи, А. Шепп, Дж. Чикай,
С. Тейлор и др., оркестры Т. Джоунса — М. Льюиса, Д. Эллиса и др.
(большинство музыкантов — негры), представляющие разл. течения и
стили. Открылись джазовые школы, студии, ф-ты в консерваториях, при
ун-тах, во мн. ун-тах возникли джазовые группы.

В 60-70-е гг. особое развитие получила поп-музыка, тесно связанная
с «молодёжным движением» и ставшая его важнейшим средством
самовыражения. Как социальное явление поп-музыка весьма
противоречива: наряду с протестом против ценностей, навязанных
обществом потребления, она отражала чувства неудовлетворения и
разочарования, проповедовала анархич. индивидуализм, сексуальную
свободу и «философию наркотиков». Поп-музыка сложилась во
взаимодействии последовательно возникавших стилей — ритм-энд-блюз,
рок-н-ролл, «соул». Её ранние формы (нач. 60-х гг.) — т. н.
калифорнийский рок, «психоделическая музыка», погружающая
исполнителей и слушателей в состояние «транса», прострации, часто с
помощью наркотич. средств. В сер. 60-х гг. она впитала элементы
«кантри-мьюзик», джаза, а также серьёзной, авангардистской музыки.
На амер. поп-музыку кон. 60-х гг. оказали влияние англ. вок.-инстр.
группа «Битлз» и т. н. детройтский стиль (группы «Temptation»,
«Supremes», а также М. Гей, С. Уандер и др.). Наиболее известные
группы («America», «Jefferson Airplane», «Santana», «Chicago»)
представляют разл. её направления (hard-rock, blues-rock,
glitter-rock, new rock и др.); многие группы широко использовали
электронную аппаратуру, отличались не только стилем исп., но и
манерой сценич. поведения. Индустрия развлечений США, используя
успех поп-музыки и получая огромные прибыли, создавала ажиотаж
вокруг отдельных имён и явлений, способствовала быстрой смене мод,
размежеванию её потребителей по вкусовому признаку. Завоевал
популярность «фолк-рок», т. н. фолкники — Дилан, Бэз, П. Саймон и
А. Гарфанкел — внесли в поп-музыку острую социальную тематику
(антивоенные песни, песни протеста и т. д.). Примечательной чертой
стали фестивали поп-музыки (в 1969 в Вудстоке, штат Нью-Йорк,
аудитория превысила полмиллиона человек), нередко сопровождавшиеся
беспорядками и насилием. Тяготение к устному характеру муз.
творчества и исполнительства специфично не только для поп-музыки,
но и для разл. форм бытового музицирования, широко
распространённого среди совр. американцев (местные фестивали, в т.
ч. проводимые разл. нац. общинами, «хутнени» — своеобразные
концерты, предполагающие активное включение слушателей в исполнение
популярных несен) и др. Движение индейцев США, борющихся за свои
гражданские права, привело к появлению нового песенного стиля,
сочетающего черты традиц. творчества с элементами совр. песни (Б.
Сент-Мэри и др.).

Поп-музыка оказала влияние на творчество авторов серьёзной музыки и
авангардистов США и Европы («Месса» Бернстайна, произв. Д. Брубека,
К. Штокхаузена, Л. Берио и др.), а также формы церк. музыки. Многие
её элементы были восприняты т. н. новым джазом и джаз-роком (X.
Хэнкок, Ч. Кориа, X. Мэнн, Дж. Завинул, У. Шортер и др.). В 1974 в
Нью-Йорке осн. компания «Репертуарный джаз», ставящая целью
сохранение и популяризацию разл. форм классич. джаза.

В 60-70-е гг. большой успех имели мьюзиклы «Камелот» (1960) Лоу,
«До-ре-ми» (1960) и «Смешная девчонка» (1964) Стайна, «Как достичь
успеха, не прилагая особых усилий» (1961) Лёссера, «Скрипач на
крыше» (1964) Дж. Бока, «Хэлло, Долли» (1964) Дж. Хермана, «Человек
из Ламанчи» (1965) М. Ли, «Кабаре» (1966) Дж. Кендера, «Маленькая
ночная музыка» (1973) С. Сондхайма, «Кордебалет» (1976) М. Хемлиша
и др., в к-рых проявилось мастерство актрис Б. Стрейзанд, К.
Чэннинг, Л. Минелли, актёра З. Мостела и др. Получили
распространение новые жанры — рок-мьюзикл и рок-опера: «Волосы»
(1967) Г. Макдермота, «Иисус Христос — суперзвезда» (1970) Э. Л.
Уэббера, «Томми» (1970) П. Тауншенда, «Божьи чары» (1971) С. Шуорца
и др. Авторами нек-рых из этих произв. были англичане, но первые
пост. (затем и экранизации) осуществлены в США.

В сер. 60-70-х гг. выдвинулись оркестры Б. Кемпферта, Д. Косты,
Мансини, певицы Дж. Джоплин, Д. Росс, Энн-Маргрет, В. Kapp, Л.
Нироу, Дж. Митчелл; наиболее известные авторы песен — Б. Бакрак, Р.
Мак Кен и др.; сверхдинамизм т. н. популярной музыки (частое
появление новых стилей, «идолов», выпуск их грамзаписей и
магнитозаписей миллионными тиражами) стал сочетаться с возникшей
тенденцией к возрождению старых, забытых стилей (рэг,
сентиментальная баллада, мьюзикл 20-30-х гг. и т. д.) как в
оригинальном виде, так и в новых аранжировках — «ретро», что было
связано не только с ностальгич. настроениями, но и с вторичным,
коммерч. использованием этой музыки. Широкое распространение
получили дискотеки и разл. формы музыки в стиле «диско» (Дж.
Траволта, Д. Саммер и др.).

Характер совр. муз. жизни США обусловливается ситуацией «открытого
культурного пространства» — постоянным поглощением элементов др.
муз. культур (европ., афр., азиатских) и в то же время активной
экспансией за рубеж собств. муз. «продукции», что в значит. степени
«размывает» нац. своеобразие мн. явлений амер. муз. иск-ва. США
участвуют во мн. междунар. муз. программах, состоят в многочисл.
междунар. организациях; во мн. городах выступают ведущие солисты и
исполнит. коллективы из разных стран, в свою очередь, амер. артисты
много гастролируют за рубежом. В стране проводятся междунар. муз.
конференции, фестивали и конкурсы. Широкий культурный обмен в
области муз. иск-ва происходит между США и др. странами, в т. ч. с
СССР.

Литература: Шнеерсон Г., Современная американская музыка, М., 1945;
его же, О музыке живой и мертвой, М., 1964; его же, Портреты
американских композиторов, М., 1977; Heстьев И., Американские
заметки, «СМ», 1961, No 7-8; Конен В., Пути американской музыки.
Очерки по истории музыкальной культуры США, М., 1961, 1977; eё же,
Рождение блюзов, «СМ», 1979, No 5; Мартынов И., Очерки о зарубежной
музыке первой половины XX века, М., 1970; Михайлов Дж., Размышления
об американской музыке, «США: экономика, политика, идеология»,
1978, No 12; Ritter F. L., Music in America, N. Y., 1883; Mathews
W. S. В., A hundred years of music in America, Chi., 1889; Paine J.
К. (а. о.), Famous composers and their music, Boston, 1901; Mason
W., Memories of musical life, N. Y., 1902; Farwell A., Dermot D.
W., Music in America, N. Y., 1915; Sonneck O.G., Miscellaneous
studies in the history of music, N. Y., 1921; Elson L. C, The
national music in America and its sources, Boston, 1924; его же,
The history of American music, N. Y., 1925; Densmore F., The
American Indians and their music, N. Y., 1926; Mason D. G., The
dilemma of American music, N. Y., 1928; eго жe, Tune in, America! A
study of our coming musical independence, N. Y., 1931; Rosenfeld
P., An hour with American music, Phil., 1929; Соwell H., American
composers on American music, Stanford, 1933; Bauer M., Twentieth
century music, N. Y., 1933; Morris H., Contemporary American music,
Houston, 1934; Вarnes E. N. C., American music from Plymouth Rock
to Tin Pan Alley, Wash., 1936; Sargeant W., Jazz, hot and hybrid,
N. Y., 1938, 1975; Fооte H. W., Three centuries of American
hymnody, Camb., 1940; Graf H., Opera and its future in America, N.
Y., 1941; Copland A., Our new music, N. Y., 1941; Spaeth S., A
history of popular music in America, N. Y., 1948; Slonimsky N.,
Music since 1900, N. Y., 1949; Ewen D., American composers today,
N. Y., 1949; его же, Composers since 1900, N. Y., 1969; Smith C,
Musical comedy in America, N. Y., 1950; McSpadden J. W., Operas and
musical comedies, N.Y., 1951; Swan H., Music in the South-west,
1825-1950, San Marino (Calif.), 1952, N. Y., 1977; Hanson H., Music
in contemporary American civilization, Nebraska, 1951; Goss M.,
Modern music makers, N. Y., 1952; Howard J. T., Our American music:
three hundred years of it, N. Y., 1954; Сhase G., America’s music,
N.Y., 1955; Howard J. T., Bellоws G. К., A short history of music
in America, N.Y., 1957; One hundred years of music in America, ed.
by P. H. Lang, N. Y., 1961; Cage J., Silence, Camb. (Mass.), 1961;
его же, A year from Monday, Middletown (Connecticut), 1963, 1967;
Mасhlis J., American composers of our time, N. Y., 1963; Lowens I.,
Music and musicians in early America, N.Y., 1964; Mellers W., Music
in new found land. Themes and developments in the history of
American music, L., 1964; Daniel R. T., The anthem in New England
before 1800, Evanston, 1966; Schwartz E., Childs В. (ed.),
Contemporary composers on contemporary music, N. Y., 1967; Abrahams
R. D., Foss G., Anglo-American folksong style, Englewood Cliffs (N.
Y.), 1968; Lanее Н. С, Annals of music in America, N. Y., 1969;
Вelz С., The story of rock, N. Y., 1969; The age of rock sounds of
the American cultural revolution, ed. by L. Eisen, N. Y., 1969;
Hitchcock H. W., Music in the United States, a historical
introduction, Englewood Cliffs (N. Y.), 1969; Sablosky I., American
music, Chi., 1969; Sessions R., Questions about music, Cambr.
(Mass.), 1970; Shaw A., The world of soul, N. Y., 1971; Thomson V.,
American music since 1910, N. Y., 1971; Hemphill P., The Nashville
sound: bright lights and country music, N. Y., 1970; Shemel S.,
Krasilovsky M. W., This business of music, N. Y., 1971; Lovell
J.-junior, Black song: the forge and the flame, N. Y., 1972; De
Lerma D. R., Reflections on Afro-American music, Kent (Ohio), 1973;
Hart P., Orpheus in the new world. The symphony orchestra as an
American cultural institution, N. Y., 1973; Вierley P. E., John
Philip Sousa: American phenomenon, N. Y., 1973; Jablonski E.,
Stewart L. D., The Gershwin years, Garden City (N. Y.), 1973;
Wooldridge D., From the steeples and mountains. A study of Charles
Ives, N. Y., 1974; Malone B. C., Country music USA. A fifty-year
history, Austin-L., 1974; MсСarthy A. J., Big band Jazz, L., 1974;
Toll S. C., Blacking up. The minstrel show in nineteenth century
America, N. Y., 1974; Haralambos M., Right on: from blues to soul
in black America, N. Y.-L., 1975; Wilder A., American popular song.
The great innovators, 1900-1950, L., 1975; Foner P. O., American
labour songs of the nineteenth century, Urbana (Ill.), 1975;
AustinW., «Susanna», «Jeannie» and «The old folks at home», N. Y.,
1975; The professional symphony orchestra in the United States,
compiled by G. Seltzer, Metuchen (N. Y.), 1975; Сharters S. В., The
country blues, N. Y., 1975; Prices D., Old as the hills. The story
of bluegrass music, N. Y., 1975; Вryant C., And the band played on.
1776-1976, Wash., 1975; Engel L., The American musical theatre, N.
Y., 1975; Grossman L., A social history of rock music (from the
greasers to glitter rock), N. Y., 1976; Camus R., Military music of
the American revolution, Chapel Hill, 1976; Nettl В., Folk music in
the United States: an introduction, Detroit, 1976; Hubbard W. L.
(ed.), History of American music, N. Y., 1976; Вlesh R., Shining
trumpets. A history of jazz, N. Y., 1976; Mordden E., Better foot
forward. The history of American musical theatre, N. Y., 1976;
Murray A., Stomping the blues, N. Y., 1976; McCue G., Music in
American society. 1776- 1976, New Brunswick, 1977; Jackson A., The
best musicals: from Show boat to a Chorus line, N. Y., 1977;
Schafer W. J., Riedel J., The art of ragtime: form and meaning of
an original black American art, N. Y., 1977; Ewen D., All the years
of American popular music, Englewood Cliffs, 1977; Tirro F., Jazz,
a history, N. Y., 1977; Titon J. T., Early Downhome blues: a
musical and cultural analysis, Urbana (Ill.), 1977; Engel L., The
making of a musical, N. Y., 1977; Epstein D. J., Sinful tunes and
spirituals: Black folk music to the Civil war, Urbana (a. o.),
1977; Donakovski C., A muse for the masses. Ritual and music in an
age of Democratic Revolution, 1770-1870, Chi.-L., 1977; Jasen D.
A., Tichenor A., Trevor J., Rags and ragtime: a musical history, N.
Y., 1978; Вакer D. N.. Belt L. M., Hudson H. C., The black composer
speaks, Metuchen (N. Y.), 1978; Cobb В. Е. jr., The sacred harp: a
tradition and its music, Athens (Ga), 1978; Hipsher E. E., American
opera and its composers, N. Y., 1978; Вalliett W., American
singers, N. Y., 1979; Johnson H., First performances in America to
1900, Detroit, 1979.

Дж. Я. Михайлов

Главы из книг

Публикации

Music history of the United States includes many styles of folk, popular and classical music. Some of the best-known genres of American music are rhythm and blues, jazz, rock and roll, rock, soul, hip hop, pop, and country. The history began with the Native Americans, the first people to populate North America. The music of these people was highly varied in form, and was mostly religious in purpose.

With the colonization of America from European countries like France, Spain, Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales came Christian choirs, musical notation, broadsides, as well as West African slaves. West African slaves played a variety of instruments, especially drums and string instruments similar to the banjo. The Spanish also played a similar instrument called the Bandora. Both of these cultures introduced polyrhythms and call-and-response style vocals.

As the United States incorporated more land, spreading west towards the Ocean, more immigrants began to arrive in the country, bringing with them their own instruments and styles. During this time, the United States grew to incorporate the Cajun and Creole music of Louisiana, the Polynesian music of Hawaii and Tex-Mex and Tejano music. Immigrants brought with them the Eastern European polka, Chinese and Japanese music, and Polish fiddling, Scottish and Irish music, Ashkenazi Jewish klezmer, and other styles of Indian, Russian, French, German, Italian, Arab and Latin music.

In the 21st century, American popular music achieved great international acclaim. Even since the ragtime and minstrel songs of the 19th century, African Americans have greatly influenced American popular music. The rural blues of poor black Southerners and the jazz of black urbanites were among the earliest styles of American popular music. At the time, black performers typically did not perform their own material, instead using songs produced by the music publishing companies of Tin Pan Alley. African American blues evolved during the early 20th century, later evolving to create genres like rhythm and blues. During this time, jazz diversified into steadily more experimental fields. By the end of the 1940s, jazz had grown into such varied fields as bebop and jazz.

Rock and roll was soon to become the most important component of American popular music, beginning with the rockabilly boom of the 1950s. In the following decade, gospel evolved into secular soul. Rock, country and soul, mixed with each other and occasionally other styles, spawned a legion of subgenres over the next few decades, ranging from heavy metal to punk and funk. In the 1970s, urban African Americans in New York City began performing spoken lyrics over a beat provided by an emcee; this became known as hip hop music. By the dawn of the 21st century, hip hop had become a part of most recorded American popular music, and by the 2010s had surpassed rock music in overall listenership.

American roots music[edit]

The first musicians anywhere in North America were Native Americans, who consist of hundreds of ethnic groups across the country, each with their own unique styles of folk music. Of these cultures, many, and their musical traditions, are now extinct, though some remain relatively vibrant in a modern form, such as Hawaiian music.

By the 16th century, large-scale immigration of English, French and Spanish settlers brought new kinds of folk music. This was followed by the importation of Africans as slaves, bringing their music with them. The Africans were as culturally varied as the Native Americans, descended from hundreds of ethnic groups in West Africa. American music is, like most of its hemispheric neighbors, a mixture of African, European and a little bit of native influences. Still later in the country’s history, ethnic and musical diversity grew as the United States grew into a melting pot of different peoples. Immigration from China began in large numbers in the 19th century, most of them settling on the West Coast. Later, Japanese, Indian, Scottish, Polish, Italian, Irish, Mexican, Swedish, Ukrainian and Armenian immigrants also arrived in large numbers.

The first song copyrighted under the new United States Constitution was The Kentucky Volunteer, composed by a recent immigrant from England, Raynor Taylor, one of the first notable composers active in the US, and printed by the most prolific and notable musical publisher of the country’s first decade, Benjamin Carr.

African American music[edit]

In the 19th century, African-Americans were freed from slavery following the American Civil War. Their music was a mixture of Scottish and African origin, like African American gospel displaying polyrhythm and other distinctly African traits. Work songs and field hollers were popular, but it was spirituals which became a major foundation for music in the 20th century.

Spirituals (or Negro spirituals, as they were then known) were Christian songs, dominated by passionate and earthy vocals similar to the church music of Scotland, which were performed in an African-style and Scottish style call-and-response format using hymns derived from those sung in colonial New England choirs, which were based on Moravian, English and Dutch church music. These hymns spread south through Appalachia in the late 18th century, where they were partnered with the music of the African slaves. During the Great Awakening of religious fervor in the early 19th century, spirituals spread across the south. Among some whites, slave music grew increasingly popular, especially after the American Civil War, when black and white soldiers worked together and Southern slaves fled north in huge numbers.

By the end of the 19th century, minstrel shows had spread across the country, and even to continental Europe. In minstrel shows, performers imitated slaves in crude caricatures, singing and dancing to what was called «Negro music», though it had little in common with authentic African American folk styles. An African American variety of dance music called the cakewalk also became popular, evolving into ragtime by the start of the 20th century.

Appalachian folk music[edit]

The Appalachian Mountains run along the East Coast of the United States. The region has long been historically poor compared to much of the rest of the country; many of the rural Appalachian people travelled to cities for work, and were there labeled hillbillies, and their music became known as hillbilly music. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants arrived in large numbers. They mingled there with poor whites of other ethnic backgrounds, as well as many blacks. The result was a diverse array of folk styles which have been collectively referred to as Appalachian folk music. These styles included jug bands, honky tonk and bluegrass, and are the root of modern country music.

Appalachian folk music began its evolution towards pop-country in 1927, when Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family began recording in a historic session with Ralph Peer (Barraclough and Wolff, 537). Rodgers sang often morbid lyrical themes that drew on the blues to create tales of the poor and unlucky (Collins, 11), while the Carters preferred more upbeat ballads with clear vocals, complementary instrumentation and wholesome lyrics (Garofalo, 53). Their success paved the way for the development of popular country, and left its mark on the developing genre of rock and roll.

Other forms of American roots music[edit]

Though Appalachian and African American folk music became the basis for most of American popular music, the United States is home to a diverse assortment of ethnic groups. In the early 20th century, many of these ethnic groups supported niche record industries and produced minor folk stars like Pawlo Humeniuk, the «King of the Ukrainian Fiddlers» (Kochan and Kytasty, 308). Some of these ethnic musicians eventually became well-known across the country, such as Frankie Yankovic, the Slovenian polka master.

This same period also saw the rise of Native American powwows around the start of the 20th century. These were large-scale intertribal events featuring spiritual activity and musical performances, mostly group percussion based (Means, 594).

Large-scale immigration of Eastern European Jews and their klezmer music peaked in the first few decades of the 20th century. People like Harry Kandel and Dave Tarras become stars within their niche, and made the United States the international center for klezmer (Broughton, 583).

In Texas, ethnic Mexicans who had lived in the area for centuries, played a distinct style of conjunto, different from that played in Mexico. The influence of Czech polka music was a major distinguishing characteristic of this music, which gradually evolved into what is now known as norteño (Burr, 604).

The Cajuns and Creoles of Louisiana have long constituted a distinct minority with their own cultural identity. The Cajuns are descendants of French-Canadians from the region of Acadia, the Creoles are black and French-speaking. Their music was a mixture of bluesy work songs mixed with jazz and other influences, and included styles like la la and juré. Though these genres were geographically limited, they were modernized and mixed with more mainstream styles, evolving into popular zydeco music by the middle of the century (Broughton and Kaliss, 558).

Beginnings of popular music[edit]

The first field of American music that could be viewed as popular, rather than classical or folk, was the singing of the colonial New England choirs, and travelling singing masters like William Billings. It was here that techniques and traditions like shape note, lined-out hymnody and Sacred Harp were created, gradually spreading south and becoming an integral part of the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening of the 1730s and ’40s was a period of religious fervor, among whites and blacks (both slave and free), that saw passionate, evangelical «Negro spirituals» grow in popularity (Ferris, 98).

During the 19th century, it was not spirituals that gained truly widespread acclaim, but rather peppy comic songs performed by minstrels in blackface, and written by legendary songwriters like Stephen Foster and Daniel Emmett. During the Civil War, popular ballads were common, some used liberally by both the North and the South as patriotic songs. Finally, late in the century, the African American cakewalk evolved into ragtime, which became a North American and European sensation, while mainstream America was enthralled by the brass band marches of John Philips Sousa.

Tin Pan Alley was the biggest source of popular music early in the 20th century (Garofolo, 17). Tin Pan Alley was a place in New York City which published sheet music for dance songs like «After the Ball Is Over». The first few decades of the 20th century also saw the rise of popular, comic musical theater, such as the vaudeville tradition and composers and writers like Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin. At the same time, jazz and blues, two distinct but related genres, began flourishing in cities like Memphis, Chicago and New Orleans and began to attract some mainstream audiences.

Blues and jazz were the foundation of what became American popular music. The ability to sell recorded music through phonographs changed the music industry into one that relied on the charisma of star performers rather than songwriters. There was increased pressure to record bigger hits, meaning that even minor trends and fads like Hawaiian steel guitar left a permanent influence (the steel guitar is still very common in country music). Dominican merengue and Argentinian tango also left their mark, especially on jazz, which has long been a part of the music scene in Latin America. During the 1920s, classic female blues singers like Mamie Smith became the first musical celebrities of national renown. Gospel, blues and jazz were also diversifying during this period, with new subgenres evolving in different cities like Memphis, New York, New Orleans and Chicago.

Jazz quickly replaced the blues as American popular music, in the form of big band swing, a kind of dance music from the early 1930s. Swing used large ensembles, and was not generally improvised, in contrast with the free-flowing form of other kinds of jazz. With swing spreading across the nation, other genres continued to evolve towards popular traditions. In Louisiana, Cajun and Creole music was adding influences from blues and generating some regional hit records, while Appalachian folk music was spawning jug bands, honky tonk bars and close harmony duets, which were to evolve into the pop-folk of the 1940s, bluegrass and country. The American Popular music reflects and defines American Society.

1940s and 1950s[edit]

In the 1940s, jazz evolved into an ever more experimental bebop scene. Country and folk music further developed as well, gaining newfound popularity and acclaim for hard-edged folk music.

The dawn of rock & roll[edit]

Starting in the 1920s, Boogie Woogie began to evolve into what would become rock and roll, with decided blues influences, from 1929’s «Crazy About My Baby» with fundamental rock elements to 1938’s «Roll ‘Em Pete» by Big Joe Turner, which contained almost the complete formula. Teenagers from across the country began to identify with each other and launched numerous trends. Perhaps most importantly, the 1940s saw the rise of the youth culture. The first teen stars arose, beginning with the bobby soxer idol Frank Sinatra; this opened up new audiences for popular music, which had been primarily an adult phenomenon prior to the 1940s. In the 1940s, boogie woogie was using terms like «rocking» and «rolling» borrowed from gospel and blues music, as in «Good Rockin’ Tonight» by Roy Brown. In the 1950s, rock and roll musicians began producing direct covers of boogie woogie and R&B stars, for example «Shake Rattle and Roll» by Big Joe Turner (covered by Bill Haley and his Comets in 1954) and «Hound Dog» by Big Mama Thornton (covered by Elvis Presley in 1956), and their own original works like Chuck Berry’s «Maybellene» in 1955.

Roots of country music[edit]

The early 1940s saw the first major commercial success for Appalachian folk. Singers like Pete Seeger emerged, in groups like the Almanac Singers and The Weavers.^[1] Lyrically, these performers drew on early singer-songwriters like Woody Guthrie, and the whole scene became gradually associated with the political left (Garofolo, 196). By the 1950s, the anti-Communism scare was in full swing, and some performers with a liberal or socialist bent were blacklisted from the music industry.

In the middle of the 1940s, Western swing reached its peak of popularity. It was a mixture of diverse influences, including swing, blues, polka and popular cowboy songs, and included early stars like Bob Wills, who became among the best known musicians of the era.

With a honky tonk root, modern country music arose in the 1940s, mixing with R&B and the blues to form rockabilly. Rockabilly’s earliest stars were Elvis Presley^[2] and Bill Haley,^[3] who entertained to crowds of devoted teenage fans. At the time, black audiences were listening to R&B, doo wop and gospel, but these styles were not perceived as appropriate for white listeners. People like Haley and Presley were white, but sang in a black style. This caused a great deal of cheeze^{[check spelling]} controversy from concerned parents who felt that «race music», as it was then known, would corrupt their children. Nevertheless, rockabilly’s popularity continued to grow, paving the way for the earliest rock stars like Chuck Berry,^[3] Bo Diddley,^[4] Little Richard and Fats Domino.^[5]

Among country fans, rockabilly was not well-regarded.^{[citation needed]} Instead, the pop sounds of singers like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline became popular. Williams had an unprecedented run of success, with more than ten chart-topping singles in two years (1950–1951), including well-remembered songs still performed today like «I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry» and «Cold, Cold Heart».^[6] It was performers like Williams that established the city of Nashville, Tennessee as the center of the country music industry. There, country and pop were mixed, resulting in what was known as the Nashville Sound.

Gospel and doo wop[edit]

The 1950s also saw the widespread popularization of gospel music, in the form of powerful singers like Mahalia Jackson. Gospel first broke into international audiences in 1948, with the release of Jackson’s «Move on Up a Little Higher», which was so popular it couldn’t be shipped to record stores fast enough. As the music became more mainstream in the later part of the decade, performers began adding influences from R&B to make a more palatable and dance-able sound. Early in the next decade, the lyrics were secularized, resulting in soul music. Some of soul’s biggest stars began performing in the 1950s gospel scene, including Sam Cooke, Dinah Washington, Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin.

Doo wop, a complex type of vocal music, also became popular during the 1950s, and left its mark on 1960s soul and R&B. The genre’s exact origins are debatable, but it drew on groups like the Mills Brothers and The Ink Spots, who played a kind of R&B with smooth, alternating lead vocals. With the addition of gospel inflections, doo wop’s polished sound and romantic ballads made it a major part of the 1950s music scene, beginning in 1951. The first popular groups were The Five Keys («Glory Of Love») and The Flamingos («Golden Teardrops»). Doo wop diversified considerably later in the decade, with groups like The Crows («Gee»), creating a style of uptempo doo wop and the ballad style via The Penguins («Earth Angel»), while singers like Frankie Lymon became sensations; Lymon became the first black teen idol in the country’s history after the release of the Top 40 pop hit «Why Do Fools Fall in Love» (1956).

Latin music[edit]

Latin music imported from Cuba (chachachá, mambo, rumba) and Mexico (ranchera and mariachi) had brief periods of popularity during the 1950s. The earliest popular Latin music in the United States came with rumba in the early 1930s, and was followed by calypso in the mid-40s, mambo in the late 1940s and early 1950s, chachachá and charanga in the mid-50s, bolero in the late 1950s and finally boogaloo in the mid-60s, while Latin music mixed with jazz during the same period, resulting in Latin jazz and the bossa nova fusion cool jazz.

The first Mexican-Texan pop star was Lydia Mendoza, who began recording in 1934. It was not until the 1940s, however, that musica norteña became popularized by female duets like Carmen y Laura and Las Hermanas Mendoza, who had a string of regional hits. The following decade saw the rise of Chelo Silva, known as the «Queen of the (Mexican) Bolero», who sang romantic pop songs.

The 1950s saw further innovation in the Mexican-Texan community, as electric guitars, drums and elements of rock and jazz were added to conjunto. Valeria Longoria was the first major performer of conjunto, known for introducing Colombian cumbia and Mexican ranchera to conjunto bands. Later, Tony de la Rosa modernized the conjunto big bands by adding electric guitars, amplified bajo sexto and a drum kit and slowing down the frenetic dance rhythms of the style. In the mid-1950s, bandleader Isidro Lopez used accordion in his band, thus beginning the evolution of Tejano music. The rock-influenced Little Joe was the first major star of this scene.

Cajun and Creole music[edit]

Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole communities saw their local music become a brief mainstream fad during the 1950s. This was largely due to the work of Clifton Chenier, who began recording for Speciality Records in 1955. He took authentic Cajun and Creole music and added more elements of rock and roll: a rollicking beat, frenetic vocals and a dance-able rhythm; the result was a style called zydeco. Chenier continued recording for more than thirty years, releasing over a hundred albums and paving the way for later stars like Boozoo Chavis and Buckwheat Zydeco.

1960s and 1970s[edit]

In the 1960s, music became heavily involved in the burgeoning youth counter culture, as well as various social and political causes. The beginning of the decade saw the peak of doo wop’s popularity, in about 1961, as well as the rise of surf, girl groups and the first soul singers. Psychedelic and progressive rock arose during this period, along with the roots of what would later become funk, hip hop, salsa, electronic music, punk rock and heavy metal. An American roots revival occurred simultaneously as a period of sexual liberation and racial conflict, leading to growth in the lyrical maturity and complexity of popular music as songwriters wrote about the changes the country was going through.

Early 1960s[edit]

The first few years of the 1960s saw major innovation in popular music. Girl groups, surf and hot rod, and the Nashville Sound were popular, while an Appalachian folk and African American blues roots revival became dominant among a smaller portion of the listening audience. An even larger population of young audiences in the United Kingdom listened to American blues. By the middle of the decade, British blues and R&B bands like The Beatles, The Who and the Rolling Stones were topping the charts in what became known as the British Invasion, alongside newly secularized soul music and the mainstreaming of the Bakersfield Sound. Folk-based singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan also added new innovations to popular music, expanding its possibilities, such as by making singles more than the standard three minutes in length.

Psychedelic rock[edit]

Psychedelic rock became the genre most closely intertwined with the youth culture. It arose from the British Invasion of blues in the middle of the decade, when bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones The Yardbirds and The Who dominated the charts and only a few American bands, such as The Beach Boys and The Mamas & the Papas, could compete. It became associated with hippies and the anti-war movement, civil rights, feminism and environmentalism, paralleling the similar rise of Afrocentric Black Power in soul and funk. Events like Woodstock became defining symbols for the generation known as the Baby Boomers, who were born immediately following World War 2 and came of age in the mid to late 1960s.

Later in the decade, psychedelic rock and the youth culture splintered. Punk rock, heavy metal, singer-songwriter and progressive rock appeared, and the connection between music and social activism largely disappeared from popular music.

Among the key venues that promoted psychedelic rock were the Matrix, the Avalon Ballroom, Fillmore Auditorium and the Berkeley Community Theater in San Francisco, The Family Dog Denver, the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Whisky A-Go-Go and Kaleidoscope in Los Angeles, and Cafe Au Go Go in New York.

Soul and funk[edit]

From 1960s to 1970s, female soul singers like Aretha Franklin, and female pop singer Dionne Warwick and Diana Ross were popular, while innovative performers like James Brown invented a new style of soul called funk. Influenced by psychedelic rock, which was on the charts at the time, funk was a very rhythmic, dance-able kind of soul. Later in the decade and into the 1970s, funk too split into two strands. Sly & the Family Stone made pop-funk palatable for the masses, while George Clinton and his P Funk collective pioneered a new, psychedelic funk. In 1970s Kool & the Gang and the Ohio Players were popular. Album-oriented soul also appeared very late in the decade and into the next, with artists like Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Curtis Mayfield taking soul beyond the realm of the single into cohesive album-length artistic statements with a complex social conscience.

It was in this context, of album-oriented soul and funk, influenced by Black Power and the civil rights movement, that African Americans in Harlem invented hip hop music.

Country and folk[edit]

Merle Haggard led the rise of the Bakersfield Sound in the 1960s, when the perceived superficiality of the Nashville Sound led to a national wave that almost entirely switched country music’s capital and sound within the space of a few years. At the same time, bluegrass became a major influence on jam bands like Grateful Dead and also evolved into new, progressive genres like newgrass. As part of the nationwide roots revival, Hawaiian slack-key guitar and Cajun swamp pop also saw mainstream success.

Tejano[edit]

With the widespread success of Tony de la Rosa’s big band conjunto in the late 1950s, the style became more influenced by rock and pop. Esteban Jordan’s wild, improvised style of accordion became popular, paving the way for the further success of El Conjunto Bernal. The Bernal brothers’ band sold thousands of albums and used faster rhythms than before.

1970s[edit]

The early 1970s saw popular music being dominated by folk-based singer-songwriters like John Denver, Carole King and James Taylor, followed by the rise of heavy metal subgenres, glam, country rock and later, disco. Philly soul and pop-funk was also popular, while world music fusions became more commonplace and a major klezmer revival occurred among the Jewish community. Beginning in the early 1970s, hip hop arose in New York City, drawing on diverse influences from both white and black folk music, Jamaican toasting and the performance poetry of Gil Scott-Heron.

Heavy metal[edit]

Heavy metal’s early pioneers included the British bands The Yardbirds Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, though American cult bands Blue Cheer and The Velvet Underground also played a major role. Their music was hard-edged and bluesy, with an often menacing tone that became more pronounced in later subgenres. In the beginning of the 1970s, heavy metal-influenced glam rock arose, and musicians like David Bowie became famous for gender-bending costumes and themes. Glam was followed by mainstream bombastic arena rock and light progressive rock bands becoming mainstream, with bands like Styx and Chicago launching popular careers that lasted most of the decade. Glam metal, a glitzy form of Los Angeles metal, also found a niche audience but limited mainstream success.

Outlaw country[edit]

With the Bakersfield Sound the dominant influence, outlaw country singers like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings were the biggest country stars of the 1970s, alongside country rock bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Allman Brothers Band who were more oriented towards crossover audiences. Later in the decade and into the next, these both mixed with other genres in the form of heartland rockers like Bruce Springsteen, while a honky tonk revival hit the country charts, led by Dwight Yoakam.

Hip hop[edit]

Hip hop was a cultural movement that began in Bronx in the early 1970s, consisting of four elements. Two of them, rapping and DJing, make up hip hop music. These two elements were imported from Jamaica by DJ Kool Herc. At neighborhood block parties, DJs would spin popular records while the audience danced. Soon, an MC arose to lead the proceedings, as the DJ began isolating and repeating the percussion breaks (the most popular, dance-able part). MCs’ introductions became more and more complex, drawing on numerous African-derived vocal traditions, and became the foundation of rapping. By the end of the decade, hip hop had spread across the country, especially in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Salsa[edit]

Cuban and Puerto Ricans in New York invented salsa in the early 1970s, using multiple sources from Latin America in the pan-Latin melting pot of the city. Puerto Rican plena and bomba and Cuban chachacha, son montuno and mambo were the biggest influences, alongside Jamaican, Mexican, Dominican, Trinidadian, Argentinian, Colombian and Brazilian sources. Many of the earliest salsa musicians, like Tito Puente, had had a long career in various styles of Latin music. Salsa grew very popular in the 1970s and into the next two decades, spreading south to Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Peru and especially Cuba.

Punk rock[edit]

Punk rock arose as a reaction against what had come before. Early punks believed that hollow greed had destroyed American music, and hated the perceived bombasity and arrogance of the biggest bands of the 1970s. It arose in London and New York, with numerous regional centers by the end of the decade when acts like Ramones and Patti Smith saw unprecedented success for their defiantly anti-mainstream genre. It was the British band The Clash, however, that became wildly popular, more so in the UK than the U.S., and set the stage for adoption of elements of punk in popular music in the 1980s.

1980s and 1990s[edit]

The 1980s began with new wave dominating the charts, and continued through a new form of silky smooth soul, and ended with a popular glam metal trend dominating mainstream America. Meanwhile, the first glimmer of punk rock’s popularity began, and new alternative rock and hardcore found niche markets. Hip hop diversified as a few artists gained mainstream success, finally breaking through in the last few months of the decade.

Hip hop[edit]

In the 1980s, hip hop saw its first taste of mainstream success with LL Cool J and Kurtis Blow. Meanwhile, hip hop was continuing its spread from the East Coast to most major urban areas across the country, and abroad. At the end of the decade, two albums broke the genre into the mainstream. Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton broke through with highly controversial and sometimes violent lyrics. N.W.A proved especially important, launching the career of Dr. Dre and the dominant West Coast rap sound of the next decade. That same year (1989), De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising became the earliest release of alternative hip hop, and numerous regional styles of hip hop saw their first legitimization, including Chicago hip house, Los Angeles electroclash, Miami’s bass, Washington, D.C.’s go-go and Detroit’s ghettotech. Drawing inspiration from the rebellious attitudes of the Civil Rights Movement and groups like Public Enemy, many intelligent and politically minded rappers began what is known as underground hip-hop with artists like Boots Riley from The Coup leading the way.

1990s[edit]

As the 1990s began, hair metal was dominating the charts, especially formulaic bands like Extreme. In reaction to that, the first few years saw a sea change in American popular music. Nirvana’s Nevermind along with Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden launched the defiantly anti-mainstream grunge movement among mainstream audiences, while Dr. Dre’s The Chronic brought his West Coast G Funk sound to widespread success.

Both these trends died out quickly, however, grunge done in by Kurt Cobain’s death and disillusionisment with grunge, a form of alternative rock, becoming mainstream. G Funk lasted a few years, displacing East Coast rap as the dominant sound of hip hop. A rivalry began, fed by the music news, focusing on West Coast’s Tupac Shakur and the East Coast’s Notorious B.I.G. By the middle of the decade, Tupac and Biggie were shot dead, and Dr. Dre’s Death Row Records had fallen apart. East Coast rappers like Puff Daddy, 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes re-established the East Coast, while Atlanta’s OutKast and other performers found a mainstream audience.

Alanis Morissette, one of the top-selling artist of the 1990s, injected renewed popularity to singer-songwriters such as Tori Amos, Jewel, and Sarah McLachlan. In the wake of grunge and gangsta rap came a fusion of soul and hip hop, called neo soul, some popularity for British Britpop and the rise of bands like Sublime and No Doubt, playing a form of pop punk influenced by Jamaican ska and British two tone ska/punk fusionists from the early 1980s. Techno also became popular, though nowhere’s near as much so as in most of the rest of the world.

At the turn of the millennium, bubblegum pop groups like Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears were dominating the charts, many of them with a Latin beat (Shakira, Ricky Martin), and rappers like Jay-Z and Eminem were huge stars. Some garage rock revivalists like The White Stripes and The Hives became highly hyped bands in the indie rock field, and achieved substantial mainstream success. The first few years of the 2000s saw the further rise of pop-hip hop, fed by the breakthrough success of Eminem. Indeed, hip hop became an essential element of nearly all popular music during this period, resulting in new fusions like nu metal. Pop thug rappers like Ja Rule were nationally renowned, though hard-edged hip made a return within a few years with the rise of 50 Cent. Politically minded hip hop in the tradition of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions has also diversified since the early 1990s with groups like The Coup, Sweatshop Union, Mr. Lif, Paris, Immortal Technique and many others.^[7]

References[edit]

See also[edit]

• Music history of the United States in the 1950s
• Music history of the United States in the 1960s
• Music history of the United States in the 1970s
• Music history of the United States in the 1980s
• Music history of the United States in the 1990s
• Music history of the United States in the 2000s
• Music history of the United States in the 2010s
• Music history of the United States in the 2020s

Music history of the United States includes many styles of folk, popular and classical music. Some of the best-known genres of American music are rhythm and blues, jazz, rock and roll, rock, soul, hip hop, pop, and country. The history began with the Native Americans, the first people to populate North America. The music of these people was highly varied in form, and was mostly religious in purpose.

With the colonization of America from European countries like France, Spain, Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales came Christian choirs, musical notation, broadsides, as well as West African slaves. West African slaves played a variety of instruments, especially drums and string instruments similar to the banjo. The Spanish also played a similar instrument called the Bandora. Both of these cultures introduced polyrhythms and call-and-response style vocals.

As the United States incorporated more land, spreading west towards the Ocean, more immigrants began to arrive in the country, bringing with them their own instruments and styles. During this time, the United States grew to incorporate the Cajun and Creole music of Louisiana, the Polynesian music of Hawaii and Tex-Mex and Tejano music. Immigrants brought with them the Eastern European polka, Chinese and Japanese music, and Polish fiddling, Scottish and Irish music, Ashkenazi Jewish klezmer, and other styles of Indian, Russian, French, German, Italian, Arab and Latin music.

In the 21st century, American popular music achieved great international acclaim. Even since the ragtime and minstrel songs of the 19th century, African Americans have greatly influenced American popular music. The rural blues of poor black Southerners and the jazz of black urbanites were among the earliest styles of American popular music. At the time, black performers typically did not perform their own material, instead using songs produced by the music publishing companies of Tin Pan Alley. African American blues evolved during the early 20th century, later evolving to create genres like rhythm and blues. During this time, jazz diversified into steadily more experimental fields. By the end of the 1940s, jazz had grown into such varied fields as bebop and jazz.

Rock and roll was soon to become the most important component of American popular music, beginning with the rockabilly boom of the 1950s. In the following decade, gospel evolved into secular soul. Rock, country and soul, mixed with each other and occasionally other styles, spawned a legion of subgenres over the next few decades, ranging from heavy metal to punk and funk. In the 1970s, urban African Americans in New York City began performing spoken lyrics over a beat provided by an emcee; this became known as hip hop music. By the dawn of the 21st century, hip hop had become a part of most recorded American popular music, and by the 2010s had surpassed rock music in overall listenership.

American roots music[edit]

The first musicians anywhere in North America were Native Americans, who consist of hundreds of ethnic groups across the country, each with their own unique styles of folk music. Of these cultures, many, and their musical traditions, are now extinct, though some remain relatively vibrant in a modern form, such as Hawaiian music.

By the 16th century, large-scale immigration of English, French and Spanish settlers brought new kinds of folk music. This was followed by the importation of Africans as slaves, bringing their music with them. The Africans were as culturally varied as the Native Americans, descended from hundreds of ethnic groups in West Africa. American music is, like most of its hemispheric neighbors, a mixture of African, European and a little bit of native influences. Still later in the country’s history, ethnic and musical diversity grew as the United States grew into a melting pot of different peoples. Immigration from China began in large numbers in the 19th century, most of them settling on the West Coast. Later, Japanese, Indian, Scottish, Polish, Italian, Irish, Mexican, Swedish, Ukrainian and Armenian immigrants also arrived in large numbers.

The first song copyrighted under the new United States Constitution was The Kentucky Volunteer, composed by a recent immigrant from England, Raynor Taylor, one of the first notable composers active in the US, and printed by the most prolific and notable musical publisher of the country’s first decade, Benjamin Carr.

African American music[edit]

In the 19th century, African-Americans were freed from slavery following the American Civil War. Their music was a mixture of Scottish and African origin, like African American gospel displaying polyrhythm and other distinctly African traits. Work songs and field hollers were popular, but it was spirituals which became a major foundation for music in the 20th century.

Spirituals (or Negro spirituals, as they were then known) were Christian songs, dominated by passionate and earthy vocals similar to the church music of Scotland, which were performed in an African-style and Scottish style call-and-response format using hymns derived from those sung in colonial New England choirs, which were based on Moravian, English and Dutch church music. These hymns spread south through Appalachia in the late 18th century, where they were partnered with the music of the African slaves. During the Great Awakening of religious fervor in the early 19th century, spirituals spread across the south. Among some whites, slave music grew increasingly popular, especially after the American Civil War, when black and white soldiers worked together and Southern slaves fled north in huge numbers.

By the end of the 19th century, minstrel shows had spread across the country, and even to continental Europe. In minstrel shows, performers imitated slaves in crude caricatures, singing and dancing to what was called «Negro music», though it had little in common with authentic African American folk styles. An African American variety of dance music called the cakewalk also became popular, evolving into ragtime by the start of the 20th century.

Appalachian folk music[edit]

The Appalachian Mountains run along the East Coast of the United States. The region has long been historically poor compared to much of the rest of the country; many of the rural Appalachian people travelled to cities for work, and were there labeled hillbillies, and their music became known as hillbilly music. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants arrived in large numbers. They mingled there with poor whites of other ethnic backgrounds, as well as many blacks. The result was a diverse array of folk styles which have been collectively referred to as Appalachian folk music. These styles included jug bands, honky tonk and bluegrass, and are the root of modern country music.

Appalachian folk music began its evolution towards pop-country in 1927, when Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family began recording in a historic session with Ralph Peer (Barraclough and Wolff, 537). Rodgers sang often morbid lyrical themes that drew on the blues to create tales of the poor and unlucky (Collins, 11), while the Carters preferred more upbeat ballads with clear vocals, complementary instrumentation and wholesome lyrics (Garofalo, 53). Their success paved the way for the development of popular country, and left its mark on the developing genre of rock and roll.

Other forms of American roots music[edit]

Though Appalachian and African American folk music became the basis for most of American popular music, the United States is home to a diverse assortment of ethnic groups. In the early 20th century, many of these ethnic groups supported niche record industries and produced minor folk stars like Pawlo Humeniuk, the «King of the Ukrainian Fiddlers» (Kochan and Kytasty, 308). Some of these ethnic musicians eventually became well-known across the country, such as Frankie Yankovic, the Slovenian polka master.

This same period also saw the rise of Native American powwows around the start of the 20th century. These were large-scale intertribal events featuring spiritual activity and musical performances, mostly group percussion based (Means, 594).

Large-scale immigration of Eastern European Jews and their klezmer music peaked in the first few decades of the 20th century. People like Harry Kandel and Dave Tarras become stars within their niche, and made the United States the international center for klezmer (Broughton, 583).

In Texas, ethnic Mexicans who had lived in the area for centuries, played a distinct style of conjunto, different from that played in Mexico. The influence of Czech polka music was a major distinguishing characteristic of this music, which gradually evolved into what is now known as norteño (Burr, 604).

The Cajuns and Creoles of Louisiana have long constituted a distinct minority with their own cultural identity. The Cajuns are descendants of French-Canadians from the region of Acadia, the Creoles are black and French-speaking. Their music was a mixture of bluesy work songs mixed with jazz and other influences, and included styles like la la and juré. Though these genres were geographically limited, they were modernized and mixed with more mainstream styles, evolving into popular zydeco music by the middle of the century (Broughton and Kaliss, 558).

Beginnings of popular music[edit]

The first field of American music that could be viewed as popular, rather than classical or folk, was the singing of the colonial New England choirs, and travelling singing masters like William Billings. It was here that techniques and traditions like shape note, lined-out hymnody and Sacred Harp were created, gradually spreading south and becoming an integral part of the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening of the 1730s and ’40s was a period of religious fervor, among whites and blacks (both slave and free), that saw passionate, evangelical «Negro spirituals» grow in popularity (Ferris, 98).

During the 19th century, it was not spirituals that gained truly widespread acclaim, but rather peppy comic songs performed by minstrels in blackface, and written by legendary songwriters like Stephen Foster and Daniel Emmett. During the Civil War, popular ballads were common, some used liberally by both the North and the South as patriotic songs. Finally, late in the century, the African American cakewalk evolved into ragtime, which became a North American and European sensation, while mainstream America was enthralled by the brass band marches of John Philips Sousa.

Tin Pan Alley was the biggest source of popular music early in the 20th century (Garofolo, 17). Tin Pan Alley was a place in New York City which published sheet music for dance songs like «After the Ball Is Over». The first few decades of the 20th century also saw the rise of popular, comic musical theater, such as the vaudeville tradition and composers and writers like Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin. At the same time, jazz and blues, two distinct but related genres, began flourishing in cities like Memphis, Chicago and New Orleans and began to attract some mainstream audiences.

Blues and jazz were the foundation of what became American popular music. The ability to sell recorded music through phonographs changed the music industry into one that relied on the charisma of star performers rather than songwriters. There was increased pressure to record bigger hits, meaning that even minor trends and fads like Hawaiian steel guitar left a permanent influence (the steel guitar is still very common in country music). Dominican merengue and Argentinian tango also left their mark, especially on jazz, which has long been a part of the music scene in Latin America. During the 1920s, classic female blues singers like Mamie Smith became the first musical celebrities of national renown. Gospel, blues and jazz were also diversifying during this period, with new subgenres evolving in different cities like Memphis, New York, New Orleans and Chicago.

Jazz quickly replaced the blues as American popular music, in the form of big band swing, a kind of dance music from the early 1930s. Swing used large ensembles, and was not generally improvised, in contrast with the free-flowing form of other kinds of jazz. With swing spreading across the nation, other genres continued to evolve towards popular traditions. In Louisiana, Cajun and Creole music was adding influences from blues and generating some regional hit records, while Appalachian folk music was spawning jug bands, honky tonk bars and close harmony duets, which were to evolve into the pop-folk of the 1940s, bluegrass and country. The American Popular music reflects and defines American Society.

1940s and 1950s[edit]

In the 1940s, jazz evolved into an ever more experimental bebop scene. Country and folk music further developed as well, gaining newfound popularity and acclaim for hard-edged folk music.

The dawn of rock & roll[edit]

Starting in the 1920s, Boogie Woogie began to evolve into what would become rock and roll, with decided blues influences, from 1929’s «Crazy About My Baby» with fundamental rock elements to 1938’s «Roll ‘Em Pete» by Big Joe Turner, which contained almost the complete formula. Teenagers from across the country began to identify with each other and launched numerous trends. Perhaps most importantly, the 1940s saw the rise of the youth culture. The first teen stars arose, beginning with the bobby soxer idol Frank Sinatra; this opened up new audiences for popular music, which had been primarily an adult phenomenon prior to the 1940s. In the 1940s, boogie woogie was using terms like «rocking» and «rolling» borrowed from gospel and blues music, as in «Good Rockin’ Tonight» by Roy Brown. In the 1950s, rock and roll musicians began producing direct covers of boogie woogie and R&B stars, for example «Shake Rattle and Roll» by Big Joe Turner (covered by Bill Haley and his Comets in 1954) and «Hound Dog» by Big Mama Thornton (covered by Elvis Presley in 1956), and their own original works like Chuck Berry’s «Maybellene» in 1955.

Roots of country music[edit]

The early 1940s saw the first major commercial success for Appalachian folk. Singers like Pete Seeger emerged, in groups like the Almanac Singers and The Weavers.^[1] Lyrically, these performers drew on early singer-songwriters like Woody Guthrie, and the whole scene became gradually associated with the political left (Garofolo, 196). By the 1950s, the anti-Communism scare was in full swing, and some performers with a liberal or socialist bent were blacklisted from the music industry.

In the middle of the 1940s, Western swing reached its peak of popularity. It was a mixture of diverse influences, including swing, blues, polka and popular cowboy songs, and included early stars like Bob Wills, who became among the best known musicians of the era.

With a honky tonk root, modern country music arose in the 1940s, mixing with R&B and the blues to form rockabilly. Rockabilly’s earliest stars were Elvis Presley^[2] and Bill Haley,^[3] who entertained to crowds of devoted teenage fans. At the time, black audiences were listening to R&B, doo wop and gospel, but these styles were not perceived as appropriate for white listeners. People like Haley and Presley were white, but sang in a black style. This caused a great deal of cheeze^{[check spelling]} controversy from concerned parents who felt that «race music», as it was then known, would corrupt their children. Nevertheless, rockabilly’s popularity continued to grow, paving the way for the earliest rock stars like Chuck Berry,^[3] Bo Diddley,^[4] Little Richard and Fats Domino.^[5]

Among country fans, rockabilly was not well-regarded.^{[citation needed]} Instead, the pop sounds of singers like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline became popular. Williams had an unprecedented run of success, with more than ten chart-topping singles in two years (1950–1951), including well-remembered songs still performed today like «I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry» and «Cold, Cold Heart».^[6] It was performers like Williams that established the city of Nashville, Tennessee as the center of the country music industry. There, country and pop were mixed, resulting in what was known as the Nashville Sound.

Gospel and doo wop[edit]

The 1950s also saw the widespread popularization of gospel music, in the form of powerful singers like Mahalia Jackson. Gospel first broke into international audiences in 1948, with the release of Jackson’s «Move on Up a Little Higher», which was so popular it couldn’t be shipped to record stores fast enough. As the music became more mainstream in the later part of the decade, performers began adding influences from R&B to make a more palatable and dance-able sound. Early in the next decade, the lyrics were secularized, resulting in soul music. Some of soul’s biggest stars began performing in the 1950s gospel scene, including Sam Cooke, Dinah Washington, Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin.

Doo wop, a complex type of vocal music, also became popular during the 1950s, and left its mark on 1960s soul and R&B. The genre’s exact origins are debatable, but it drew on groups like the Mills Brothers and The Ink Spots, who played a kind of R&B with smooth, alternating lead vocals. With the addition of gospel inflections, doo wop’s polished sound and romantic ballads made it a major part of the 1950s music scene, beginning in 1951. The first popular groups were The Five Keys («Glory Of Love») and The Flamingos («Golden Teardrops»). Doo wop diversified considerably later in the decade, with groups like The Crows («Gee»), creating a style of uptempo doo wop and the ballad style via The Penguins («Earth Angel»), while singers like Frankie Lymon became sensations; Lymon became the first black teen idol in the country’s history after the release of the Top 40 pop hit «Why Do Fools Fall in Love» (1956).

Latin music[edit]

Latin music imported from Cuba (chachachá, mambo, rumba) and Mexico (ranchera and mariachi) had brief periods of popularity during the 1950s. The earliest popular Latin music in the United States came with rumba in the early 1930s, and was followed by calypso in the mid-40s, mambo in the late 1940s and early 1950s, chachachá and charanga in the mid-50s, bolero in the late 1950s and finally boogaloo in the mid-60s, while Latin music mixed with jazz during the same period, resulting in Latin jazz and the bossa nova fusion cool jazz.

The first Mexican-Texan pop star was Lydia Mendoza, who began recording in 1934. It was not until the 1940s, however, that musica norteña became popularized by female duets like Carmen y Laura and Las Hermanas Mendoza, who had a string of regional hits. The following decade saw the rise of Chelo Silva, known as the «Queen of the (Mexican) Bolero», who sang romantic pop songs.

The 1950s saw further innovation in the Mexican-Texan community, as electric guitars, drums and elements of rock and jazz were added to conjunto. Valeria Longoria was the first major performer of conjunto, known for introducing Colombian cumbia and Mexican ranchera to conjunto bands. Later, Tony de la Rosa modernized the conjunto big bands by adding electric guitars, amplified bajo sexto and a drum kit and slowing down the frenetic dance rhythms of the style. In the mid-1950s, bandleader Isidro Lopez used accordion in his band, thus beginning the evolution of Tejano music. The rock-influenced Little Joe was the first major star of this scene.

Cajun and Creole music[edit]

Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole communities saw their local music become a brief mainstream fad during the 1950s. This was largely due to the work of Clifton Chenier, who began recording for Speciality Records in 1955. He took authentic Cajun and Creole music and added more elements of rock and roll: a rollicking beat, frenetic vocals and a dance-able rhythm; the result was a style called zydeco. Chenier continued recording for more than thirty years, releasing over a hundred albums and paving the way for later stars like Boozoo Chavis and Buckwheat Zydeco.

1960s and 1970s[edit]

In the 1960s, music became heavily involved in the burgeoning youth counter culture, as well as various social and political causes. The beginning of the decade saw the peak of doo wop’s popularity, in about 1961, as well as the rise of surf, girl groups and the first soul singers. Psychedelic and progressive rock arose during this period, along with the roots of what would later become funk, hip hop, salsa, electronic music, punk rock and heavy metal. An American roots revival occurred simultaneously as a period of sexual liberation and racial conflict, leading to growth in the lyrical maturity and complexity of popular music as songwriters wrote about the changes the country was going through.

Early 1960s[edit]

The first few years of the 1960s saw major innovation in popular music. Girl groups, surf and hot rod, and the Nashville Sound were popular, while an Appalachian folk and African American blues roots revival became dominant among a smaller portion of the listening audience. An even larger population of young audiences in the United Kingdom listened to American blues. By the middle of the decade, British blues and R&B bands like The Beatles, The Who and the Rolling Stones were topping the charts in what became known as the British Invasion, alongside newly secularized soul music and the mainstreaming of the Bakersfield Sound. Folk-based singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan also added new innovations to popular music, expanding its possibilities, such as by making singles more than the standard three minutes in length.

Psychedelic rock[edit]

Psychedelic rock became the genre most closely intertwined with the youth culture. It arose from the British Invasion of blues in the middle of the decade, when bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones The Yardbirds and The Who dominated the charts and only a few American bands, such as The Beach Boys and The Mamas & the Papas, could compete. It became associated with hippies and the anti-war movement, civil rights, feminism and environmentalism, paralleling the similar rise of Afrocentric Black Power in soul and funk. Events like Woodstock became defining symbols for the generation known as the Baby Boomers, who were born immediately following World War 2 and came of age in the mid to late 1960s.

Later in the decade, psychedelic rock and the youth culture splintered. Punk rock, heavy metal, singer-songwriter and progressive rock appeared, and the connection between music and social activism largely disappeared from popular music.

Among the key venues that promoted psychedelic rock were the Matrix, the Avalon Ballroom, Fillmore Auditorium and the Berkeley Community Theater in San Francisco, The Family Dog Denver, the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Whisky A-Go-Go and Kaleidoscope in Los Angeles, and Cafe Au Go Go in New York.

Soul and funk[edit]

From 1960s to 1970s, female soul singers like Aretha Franklin, and female pop singer Dionne Warwick and Diana Ross were popular, while innovative performers like James Brown invented a new style of soul called funk. Influenced by psychedelic rock, which was on the charts at the time, funk was a very rhythmic, dance-able kind of soul. Later in the decade and into the 1970s, funk too split into two strands. Sly & the Family Stone made pop-funk palatable for the masses, while George Clinton and his P Funk collective pioneered a new, psychedelic funk. In 1970s Kool & the Gang and the Ohio Players were popular. Album-oriented soul also appeared very late in the decade and into the next, with artists like Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Curtis Mayfield taking soul beyond the realm of the single into cohesive album-length artistic statements with a complex social conscience.

It was in this context, of album-oriented soul and funk, influenced by Black Power and the civil rights movement, that African Americans in Harlem invented hip hop music.

Country and folk[edit]

Merle Haggard led the rise of the Bakersfield Sound in the 1960s, when the perceived superficiality of the Nashville Sound led to a national wave that almost entirely switched country music’s capital and sound within the space of a few years. At the same time, bluegrass became a major influence on jam bands like Grateful Dead and also evolved into new, progressive genres like newgrass. As part of the nationwide roots revival, Hawaiian slack-key guitar and Cajun swamp pop also saw mainstream success.

Tejano[edit]

With the widespread success of Tony de la Rosa’s big band conjunto in the late 1950s, the style became more influenced by rock and pop. Esteban Jordan’s wild, improvised style of accordion became popular, paving the way for the further success of El Conjunto Bernal. The Bernal brothers’ band sold thousands of albums and used faster rhythms than before.

1970s[edit]

The early 1970s saw popular music being dominated by folk-based singer-songwriters like John Denver, Carole King and James Taylor, followed by the rise of heavy metal subgenres, glam, country rock and later, disco. Philly soul and pop-funk was also popular, while world music fusions became more commonplace and a major klezmer revival occurred among the Jewish community. Beginning in the early 1970s, hip hop arose in New York City, drawing on diverse influences from both white and black folk music, Jamaican toasting and the performance poetry of Gil Scott-Heron.

Heavy metal[edit]

Heavy metal’s early pioneers included the British bands The Yardbirds Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, though American cult bands Blue Cheer and The Velvet Underground also played a major role. Their music was hard-edged and bluesy, with an often menacing tone that became more pronounced in later subgenres. In the beginning of the 1970s, heavy metal-influenced glam rock arose, and musicians like David Bowie became famous for gender-bending costumes and themes. Glam was followed by mainstream bombastic arena rock and light progressive rock bands becoming mainstream, with bands like Styx and Chicago launching popular careers that lasted most of the decade. Glam metal, a glitzy form of Los Angeles metal, also found a niche audience but limited mainstream success.

Outlaw country[edit]

With the Bakersfield Sound the dominant influence, outlaw country singers like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings were the biggest country stars of the 1970s, alongside country rock bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Allman Brothers Band who were more oriented towards crossover audiences. Later in the decade and into the next, these both mixed with other genres in the form of heartland rockers like Bruce Springsteen, while a honky tonk revival hit the country charts, led by Dwight Yoakam.

Hip hop[edit]

Hip hop was a cultural movement that began in Bronx in the early 1970s, consisting of four elements. Two of them, rapping and DJing, make up hip hop music. These two elements were imported from Jamaica by DJ Kool Herc. At neighborhood block parties, DJs would spin popular records while the audience danced. Soon, an MC arose to lead the proceedings, as the DJ began isolating and repeating the percussion breaks (the most popular, dance-able part). MCs’ introductions became more and more complex, drawing on numerous African-derived vocal traditions, and became the foundation of rapping. By the end of the decade, hip hop had spread across the country, especially in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Salsa[edit]

Cuban and Puerto Ricans in New York invented salsa in the early 1970s, using multiple sources from Latin America in the pan-Latin melting pot of the city. Puerto Rican plena and bomba and Cuban chachacha, son montuno and mambo were the biggest influences, alongside Jamaican, Mexican, Dominican, Trinidadian, Argentinian, Colombian and Brazilian sources. Many of the earliest salsa musicians, like Tito Puente, had had a long career in various styles of Latin music. Salsa grew very popular in the 1970s and into the next two decades, spreading south to Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Peru and especially Cuba.

Punk rock[edit]

Punk rock arose as a reaction against what had come before. Early punks believed that hollow greed had destroyed American music, and hated the perceived bombasity and arrogance of the biggest bands of the 1970s. It arose in London and New York, with numerous regional centers by the end of the decade when acts like Ramones and Patti Smith saw unprecedented success for their defiantly anti-mainstream genre. It was the British band The Clash, however, that became wildly popular, more so in the UK than the U.S., and set the stage for adoption of elements of punk in popular music in the 1980s.

1980s and 1990s[edit]

The 1980s began with new wave dominating the charts, and continued through a new form of silky smooth soul, and ended with a popular glam metal trend dominating mainstream America. Meanwhile, the first glimmer of punk rock’s popularity began, and new alternative rock and hardcore found niche markets. Hip hop diversified as a few artists gained mainstream success, finally breaking through in the last few months of the decade.

Hip hop[edit]

In the 1980s, hip hop saw its first taste of mainstream success with LL Cool J and Kurtis Blow. Meanwhile, hip hop was continuing its spread from the East Coast to most major urban areas across the country, and abroad. At the end of the decade, two albums broke the genre into the mainstream. Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton broke through with highly controversial and sometimes violent lyrics. N.W.A proved especially important, launching the career of Dr. Dre and the dominant West Coast rap sound of the next decade. That same year (1989), De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising became the earliest release of alternative hip hop, and numerous regional styles of hip hop saw their first legitimization, including Chicago hip house, Los Angeles electroclash, Miami’s bass, Washington, D.C.’s go-go and Detroit’s ghettotech. Drawing inspiration from the rebellious attitudes of the Civil Rights Movement and groups like Public Enemy, many intelligent and politically minded rappers began what is known as underground hip-hop with artists like Boots Riley from The Coup leading the way.

1990s[edit]

As the 1990s began, hair metal was dominating the charts, especially formulaic bands like Extreme. In reaction to that, the first few years saw a sea change in American popular music. Nirvana’s Nevermind along with Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden launched the defiantly anti-mainstream grunge movement among mainstream audiences, while Dr. Dre’s The Chronic brought his West Coast G Funk sound to widespread success.

Both these trends died out quickly, however, grunge done in by Kurt Cobain’s death and disillusionisment with grunge, a form of alternative rock, becoming mainstream. G Funk lasted a few years, displacing East Coast rap as the dominant sound of hip hop. A rivalry began, fed by the music news, focusing on West Coast’s Tupac Shakur and the East Coast’s Notorious B.I.G. By the middle of the decade, Tupac and Biggie were shot dead, and Dr. Dre’s Death Row Records had fallen apart. East Coast rappers like Puff Daddy, 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes re-established the East Coast, while Atlanta’s OutKast and other performers found a mainstream audience.

Alanis Morissette, one of the top-selling artist of the 1990s, injected renewed popularity to singer-songwriters such as Tori Amos, Jewel, and Sarah McLachlan. In the wake of grunge and gangsta rap came a fusion of soul and hip hop, called neo soul, some popularity for British Britpop and the rise of bands like Sublime and No Doubt, playing a form of pop punk influenced by Jamaican ska and British two tone ska/punk fusionists from the early 1980s. Techno also became popular, though nowhere’s near as much so as in most of the rest of the world.

At the turn of the millennium, bubblegum pop groups like Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears were dominating the charts, many of them with a Latin beat (Shakira, Ricky Martin), and rappers like Jay-Z and Eminem were huge stars. Some garage rock revivalists like The White Stripes and The Hives became highly hyped bands in the indie rock field, and achieved substantial mainstream success. The first few years of the 2000s saw the further rise of pop-hip hop, fed by the breakthrough success of Eminem. Indeed, hip hop became an essential element of nearly all popular music during this period, resulting in new fusions like nu metal. Pop thug rappers like Ja Rule were nationally renowned, though hard-edged hip made a return within a few years with the rise of 50 Cent. Politically minded hip hop in the tradition of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions has also diversified since the early 1990s with groups like The Coup, Sweatshop Union, Mr. Lif, Paris, Immortal Technique and many others.^[7]

References[edit]

See also[edit]

• Music history of the United States in the 1950s
• Music history of the United States in the 1960s
• Music history of the United States in the 1970s
• Music history of the United States in the 1980s
• Music history of the United States in the 1990s
• Music history of the United States in the 2000s
• Music history of the United States in the 2010s
• Music history of the United States in the 2020s