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I would like to ask what R&B is. Please tell me specifically about the history of R&B and how it is usually expressed in songs.

The full abbreviation of R&B is Rhythm and Blues, which is translated as "Rhythm and Blues" or "Rhythm and Blues". A fusion of jazz, gospel and blues music. This musical term was coined by Billboard magazine in the late 1940s. It has derived many different music types, such as the familiar Rock'n'Roll, Disco and Rap, all of which can be regarded as developed from R&B.

Origin

The predecessor of R&B appeared in the black areas of the United States in the 1940s.

At that time, not many people could afford colorful entertainment. Black people who loved music liked to gather on the streets after dinner and play music with simple instruments such as guitars and harmonicas to express their life, work, and life. Various feelings such as leaving home and leaving the well. This led to the development of Blues, the predecessor of R&B.

With the invention of the tape and the emergence of more and more small radio stations, blues music began to break out of the black circle and became popular in Chicago. I don’t know if it’s because blues music has been talked about as sad for too long. Music fans are eager to hear blues songs with strong rhythm, bright tunes and not too sad content.

But the term r&b was originally coined as a music marketing term by Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine in the United States in 1947, replacing ethnic music (originally derived from the black community, but was adopted by the post-war words that society considers to be offensive) and the Billboard category Harlem Hit Parade in June 1949. The term was originally used to define rock music that included 12 blues formats and boogie-woogie with a back beat. Transformed into a basic element of rock and roll.

In "Rock & Roll: An Unruly History" (1995), Robert Palmer defines rhythm and blues as a catchall rubric used to refer to any kind of music created by African Americans. In his 1981 book "Deep Blues," Palmer used "r&b" as an abbreviation for jump blues. Lawrence Cohn, author of "Nothing But the Blues," wrote that rhythm and blues was an umbrella term invented for industry convenience, In addition to classical and religious music, rhythm and blues included all black music, except that it was a gospel song and sold enough to make it onto the pop charts.

In the 1960s, rhythm and blues was used as an umbrella term for soul and funk music. Now that the abbreviation R&B has almost always been used in place of full rhythm and blues, in reference to modern soul and funk-influenced pop music developed from disco, the mainstream use of the term has become less popular.

In response to changes in public tastes, musicians added piano, drums, saxophone and the latest technology of the time - electric guitars to their works, allowing listeners to follow the rhythm (Rhythm) Dance to the strong new-school blues music (Blues) and create the classic "Rhythm Hate".

Fresh rhythm

Important R&B musicians from the 1950s to the 1960s included Ray Charles, Ruth Brown and The Drifters. Listening to their classic works, you will find that they are very different from the R&B music we are familiar with, such as Leehom Wang, Jay Chou, Hikaru Utada, etc. But as far as musical elements are concerned, they still have many similarities. The most outstanding thing is the rhythm part.

Most R&B works use 4 beats as a measure and 12 beats as a paragraph.

Different from traditional white pop music, Rhythm Complaint emphasizes the 2nd and 4th beats of a section, which is a very fresh rhythm effect.

The sound quality varies greatly

The timbre of the singing voice or musical instruments will vary greatly.

Sound quality is the "texture" of the sound. When we hear "Mud", we will feel that Xu Zhian's singing is very tragic; and the sound of the wooden boy flute often gives us a very lively feeling. This is the effect of the different timbres of vocals and instruments. Among R&B works

For example, Leehom Wang's "Unbelievable" makes Westernized music (especially jazz music) amazing. His music is the most profound organic fusion of Peking opera singing and blues singing, painting a splendid picture of the integration of China and the West. His songs basically use R&B style.

For example, in Jay Chou's "Bullfighting" or "Lady", we can easily find that the beginning and chorus have obviously different treatments in terms of music or vocal use.

Singing voices and instrumental parts often echo each other - in R&B songs, when the singer sings certain notes, the musical part or the harmony singer will repeat/sing those notes again. It's like "questions and answers", or it can be used as a "yes man".

Another characteristic of R&B is that it repeats some phrases and sentences many times. Just like the continuous "I don't, I don't, I don't" in "Tornado", it is an obvious example.

The craze spread all over the world

R&B in the 1950s was able to shock white youth in the United States. In addition to its strong rhythm, the main reason was its frank, direct and non-coy lyrics. one.

Affected by different music types, markets, technology and culture, today's R&B has evolved from the black street music of the past to a global hit that has dominated the major sales pop charts in the UK, America, Europe and Asia.

The impact of R&B is not limited to music. Even our fashion, dress, culture, life attitude, behavior and behavior have also had some changes due to R&B music. Hey man! Duckbill hat, panties and Bao Daili braided hair, I believe you and I are familiar with them! In this way, R&B has become a channel for many blacks, reds, yellows and whites to understand each other and appreciate each other's culture!

Representatives

There are many songs in the form of R&B, and they are the most representative. There are JAY and Tao Zhe, many of their songs are r&b! For example, Tao Zhe's Melody, love is very simple, love me or him, etc.!

There are more from Jay Chou, such as Simple Love, His Eyelashes, Split, etc.! Dongfeng Po should also belong to R&B with Chinese folk music characteristics!

And Lee Hom's love for you is equal to loving yourself. The sun and moon in your heart, let go of your heart, there are many in that distant place.

Rock is rock and roll. Rock and roll was formed in the 1950s and is based on the "Rhythm and Blues" music of African Americans.

From the perspective of musical form structure, most of them are based on the structure of "twelve-bar blues", or with slight changes on this basis.

From the perspective of the instruments used, rock music usually uses non-electronic instruments or relatively simple electroacoustic instruments, such as amplified electric guitars and amplified electric basses. The sound is simple and dry.

From a rhythm perspective, rock music is faster, and its rhythm is dominated by the balanced rhythm of eighth notes.

From the perspective of lyric content, rock lyrics are mainly passionate love songs and noisy entertainment life, and the subject matter is relatively single and concentrated.

Representative figure: BEYOND

Jazz first developed from the southern city of New Orleans in the United States at the end of the 19th century. Jazz is based on the existing music forms of African Americans, especially blues and ragtime, combined with some elements of white music, and gradually formed through improvisation in the form of a small wind band.

Jazz is divided into cold jazz, free jazz, country jazz and fusion jazz.

Cold jazz: a form of jazz that emerged in the 1950s in response to Bo music. It paid more attention to the overall structure of the music rather than improvisation, and was characterized by restrained emotions and low and melancholy performances.

Closely related to the West Coast of the United States.

Free jazz: Free jazz was developed in the late 1950s. It abandoned the traditional conservative rhythm, harmony and melody composition and pursued a broader space for self-performance.

Country jazz: In order to counter cold jazz, country jazz was born under the influence of the Blue Hole in the 1950s, using powerful rhythms and country-flavored themes. What is called "country music" in jazz terms originated many years before the emergence of country music in the completely different genre of soul music.

Fusion jazz: Jazz that mixes two or more musical forms, jazz rock, that is.

Representative: Lee Hom

Hip-Hop from the street

In order to avoid confusion, you must first understand two Concept: Rap and Hip-Hop. Rap ??is just a form of music, which is a rhythmic language statement made by a singer based on rhythm; while Hip-Hop is first and foremost a cultural form, which in addition to music, It is also a complex of DJ, graffiti art, dance, etc. Hip-Hop music is a style formed on the basis of Rap by adding DJing, accompaniment singing and other musical elements.

Hip-Hop culture was originally formed by the working class at the bottom of New York City society. In the 1970s, the gap between the rich and the poor in New York gradually widened, and Hip-Hop originated from the culture of the common class and was actually the abbreviation of the life of the middle and lower class people.

The essence of Hip-Hop culture is actually its "poverty". The largest proportion of the Hip-Hop group is black, so Hip-Hop culture is also called black culture. Originally, oversized clothes were worn because of poverty, but due to the popularity of Hip-Hop music, they evolved into the extremely classic extra-large knee-length breeches, large T-shirts, and high-heeled boots in pop music.

Rap

Black slang, equivalent to "talking", originates from poor black neighborhoods in New York. It is characterized by a series of rhymed verses spoken quickly against a background of mechanical rhythmic sounds. One source of this form is the rapid, rhyming jargon used by radio presenters in the past when introducing records. Rap's lyrics are humorous, witty, and often ironic. It was especially popular among black people in the 1980s.

Representative: EMINEM

We really don’t know how to describe this person. People all over the world say he is a rogue, as natural as breathing, but Why was there never cynicism in his eyes, but instead a look of hurt horror and innocence? "Hey, are you pretending? What are you doing squatting there pitifully? Didn't you see that all the ruffians in the world are worshiping you like a leader? Come out with your contempt for everything! Take out your bitter and poisonous water Spit it all out! But he didn't, he still used his sexy lips to spit out all the harshest words in the world with his misty eyes.

EMINEM, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, is now extremely popular and is known as the most successful white rapper

Representative work: "Lose Yourself"

Heavy Metal< /p>

A type of rock that mainly attracted white male teenagers in the 1980s. It developed from hard rock, psychedelic rock, rhythm and blues, and Hendrix's guitar riffs and went to the extreme. The music is deliberately simple, rigid, and ruthless, supported by loyal, fast beats and powerful chords of the electric guitar. It uses a screaming, roaring singing style, and the lyrics involve sex, rebellion, violence, etc. The costumes during the performance. Strange, flashy lights, smoky, and with all kinds of dramatic stage effects, "heavy metal" is usually transmitted through video, rather than audio or vinyl records.

Representative: Guns N'Roses

Heavy metal music should be the most distinctive subgenre in rock music. In the 1980s, it dominated the entire rock scene. Among them, Guns N'Roses Guns N' Roses was the most representative and influential band of that period, and the most influential among all European and American heavy metal bands that had an impact in China.

Representative work: "Don’t cry"

Pop

This is the most widely used pop music term with the most complex meaning in daily life. In different times and on different occasions. The connotation is very different. Mainly used as the abbreviation of Popular Music, it refers to various types of popular music in various regions and periods.

Representative: MICHAEL JACKSON

Today’s fans, if someone says they don’t know who Michael Jackson is, they will definitely be regarded as an alien monster. In the history of pop music, no singer has had such a huge impact on the world as Michael Jackson. Even though there are constant negative news about him, it does not affect his position in the hearts of fans at all. After all, not just anyone can be called "King Of Pop".

Michael Jackson's music has an irresistible charm. He perfectly combines rock, R&B and dance music to create his own music style, coupled with his natural His unique singing voice, mysterious image, and his original "Moon Walker" dance steps that are popular all over the world have made him the unique king of pop. He has brought European and American pop music to the top. He is a truly epoch-making person. singer.

Representative work: "Black or White"

Backstreet Boys

All the five members of Backstreet Boys are healthy, handsome in appearance, with first-class dancing skills and beautiful singing voices. And each has its own unique characteristics. They are known for their beautiful harmonies in foreign singing. Whether it is a soulful love song or a energetic song, their performance can give off a fresh and sunny sound. feeling. Since its establishment in Orlando in 1996, BSB has experienced seven years of continuous growth. This is a miracle today when boy bands are constantly emerging.

Representative work: "Everybody"

Britney Spears

A little girl from Louisiana spent 7 years in the entertainment industry and finally became The Pop Princess of today's pop music scene. The name Britney Spears has become more than just a singer, it has become a pop culture phenomenon that has spread all over the world.

An active member of the Mickey Mouse Club, Britney, who has dreamed of becoming a star since she was a child, has officially announced Teen since the release of her first album and single "---Baby One More Time" in 1998. - With the advent of the Pop era, her music, her clothes, her words and deeds have become the objects of imitation by girls in the new century.

Representative work: "...Baby one more time"

Domestic representative figure: Bruce Lee (you read that right)

Bruce Lee is known as "the number one R&B artist in the Mainland" "People"