After a long period of development, American music acquired a unique American style at the beginning of the 20th century, and achieved an equally important status as the music culture of Western countries.

Prior to this, there was music from various ethnic groups or races living on this land in the United States, as well as professional music brought by European musicians from various European countries.

After a long period of mutual influence and integration, they promoted the formation and development of American music.

From the 16th to the 18th century, Indian singing was mainly used on occasions such as labor, weddings and funerals, and preparations for war. It was accompanied by drums and other percussion instruments, with simple tones and unique styles.

After the 16th century, with the arrival of immigrants from various countries, they also brought their own music culture.

After fierce competition, the British finally gained the advantage in the North American continent.

Therefore, British music has the greatest influence on American music, and it laid the initial cornerstone for the formation of American music.

In 1619, the first batch of African black slaves was trafficked to North America.

Black Africans love music and are used to singing while working.

The moving tunes and unique syncopated rhythms of black music played a huge role in the development of American music.

In 1640, "The Bay Psalms" was published in Massachusetts, which was the first book published in North America.

In the early 18th century, in order to improve singing skills, many pastors wrote books to guide singing.

At the same time, with the increase in immigration and the gradual prosperity of some large cities, secular music also became active.

European musical instruments such as violins, guitars, harpsicords, etc. became popular, and professional musicians emerged.

The first concert was held in Boston in 1731.

Usual concert programs include patriotic songs, opera arias, traditional folk songs, etc., and sometimes some titled or untitled instrumental works.

On this basis, the first batch of composers born in the United States were produced.

Compared with European music, the works of American composers at that time were considered immature.

19th-20th Century At the beginning of the 19th century, many European musicians came to the United States, and they brought music levels and techniques that were far more advanced than those in the United States.

After the European Revolution in 1848, a large number of German musicians immigrated to the United States.

They brought significant changes in the musical taste of Americans who were originally accustomed to hymns, and also had a huge impact on the creation of the younger generation of American composers.

At the same time, music education has developed rapidly.

After the Civil War, American music life became more active, and some important music groups were established one after another, such as the Metropolitan Opera (1881), the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1881), etc.

More importantly, a group of composers with considerable professional skills emerged.

They raised American music to the level of Europe, but their works lacked originality and had an obvious tendency to imitate.

Among them, the most accomplished one is E. McDowell is considered the first American composer to achieve international fame.

While American composers were almost all following European styles, songwriter S. C. Foster used the tunes of African American music to compose.

Many of his songs were written for the "Negro Troupe" that was popular at the time (white people dressed up as black people, and their members were called troubadours); but the real African American music was not taken seriously. It only spreads and develops among black people.

The main types of popular black music at that time included spiritual songs, blues, labor songs, etc.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, a new trend emerged in the United States to break away from the control of German music.

Czech composer A. Dvozak played a big role in this.

He was invited to serve as president of the New York Academy of Music from 1892 to 1895.

He suggested that American composers use American Indian and black music into their own creations.

Some composers also turned to French music, and their creations were closely related to Impressionism.

There is another composer C. E. Ives was on his own to explore an Americanized musical language.

He went unnoticed at the time and was later recognized as the most famous composer of the older generation in America.

In the 1920s, public opinion encouraged American composers to create works with American style and characteristics.

A group of composers, with support from various quarters, contributed to the establishment of American nationalist music.

Especially in the field of symphony, they have won a position for American music to keep pace with the music of European countries.

He studied in Paris from the French composer N. Boulanger learned A. Copeland, R. Harris, W. Piston, V. Thomson and R. Sessions (1896-) and others, to a certain extent, combined the American musical language with the top Western composition techniques.

Their students and followers such as W. Schumann, S. Barber, L. Burstein and others followed in their footsteps.

Most of these young composers were trained domestically.

American music in the 1920s and 1930s did not just develop in one direction.

Western music experienced unprecedented drastic changes after World War I, and new modern music genres emerged; even the above-mentioned composers, in some of their works, showed varying degrees of the nature of the experiment.

The most important experimentalist was the French composer E. who settled in the United States in 1915. Varèse.

At the same time, American popular music developed unprecedentedly.

In particular, jazz music, which evolved from black music such as blues and ragtime, is popular across the country.

The independent American-style musical (also known as Broadway musical) was gradually developed on the basis of European operettas and comic operas, and occupies a special position in popular music.

Famous musical theater composers include R. Rogers (1902-1979), G. Gershwin, Burstein, etc.

The emergence of the Nazi regime and World War II brought many famous European composers to the United States, such as P. Hindemith, B. Bartók, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, D. Milhaud et al.

They brought a new and huge influence to American musical life.

The United States became an important center of Western music culture.

The national character of American music creation is no longer taken seriously, and the stylistic differences between the works of many American composers and European music have almost disappeared.

After the 1950s, American music became more diverse.

Although some composers basically create according to traditional musical language, what attracts the new generation of composers is the endless emergence of various new music genres. The representative figure is J. Cage.

In the field of popular music, new varieties have also emerged.

Rock music, developed from blues and other music, became popular across the country, and jazz music took a back seat.

The representative figures of rock music include E. Presley (1935-1977) and other famous singers of folk songs include B. Dylan (1941- ) et al.

After the 1970s, the craze of rock music gradually declined. Various pop music influenced each other and tended to be comprehensive in style.

The most famous pop music singer is M. Jackson (1958—).

In terms of musical performance, the United States often reaches a high level by having some of the world's best conductors, soloists, and opera singers.

The United States accounts for more than half of the world's symphony orchestras.

Among them, the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia symphony orchestras all enjoy international reputation.