Introduction to the top ten music types

⒈ R&B (HIP-HOP)

The full name of R&B is Rhythm & Blues, which is generally translated as "Rhythm & Blues" . In a broad sense, R&B can be regarded as "black pop music". It originated from black blues music and is the basis of today's western pop and rock. Billboard magazine once defined R&B as all black music, except for Jazz and Blues. It can be classified as R&B, which shows how broad the scope of R&B is. Hip Hop and Rap, which have become very popular in the black music circle in recent years, both originate from R&B and retain many R&B elements.

⒉ RAP

The origin of rap music can be traced back to the chanting passages in the roots of black music. In the 1970s, rap music formally established its own style, among which the most The main credit must be attributed to the DJs in the popular discotheques at the time. They mixed the funk rhythm that was popular among black people at the time into the popular disco rhythm, and repeated the content of the same record on the record player to create their own LOOPS. With the emergence of the "djing" methods that are now well-known and widely used by DJs, rap began to be spread by black street culture and spawned quite rich branches, such as West Coast Rap (West Coast Rap), Southern Rap ( Southern Rap, Pop Rap, Old Schold, Midwest Rap, Latin Rap, Hardcore Rap, Gangsta Rap , Foreign Rap, East Coast Rap, Crossover Rap, Comedy Rap, Christian Rap, Alternative Rap, etc. Etc., what we now call HIP-HOP is a new vocabulary born from the synthesis of today's popular elements from these genres. Although some people thought as early as the early 1990s that this kind of music, full of swear words and rebellious words, would soon disappear. In fact, in the late 1990s, with a group of new rap musicians and white people, With the popularity of rap and rock-based music, music that was once abandoned by black people has returned to the forefront of popular music. At least in the new century, this trend will not subside.

RAP is the quintessence of black American music. It is an important component, the main tone of street culture, and a piece of "black chocolate" in world pop music. This article attempts to introduce several popular American RAP singers/groups so that fans can understand the background information of these people and find their favorite RAP stars.

First of all, let’s briefly introduce the origin and development process of Rap music

⒊ Rock music (a bit like punk, but more comfortable than punk)

A, B, C, and D all have their own The answer, do you like it or don’t you like it? Are A, B, C and D smiling or sad? Forget it, I won’t discuss what rock and roll is here. Like a young man who is venturing into a different world for the first time, watching a movie called "School of Rock", but I can’t help but want to ask: What was your enlightenment? Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, "Elvis Presley" "Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Madonna, do we have a common topic? Can we also form a rock band?

"School of Rock" triggered my fragmentary memory of rock music in an uncomplicated plot - Whose hands did the red and blue Beatles records fall into? The "Audio and Video World" accumulated from issue after issue has probably turned into pulp, filled with other words? How long have the two thick volumes of "The Rock and Roll Guide" been sitting unused in a corner of the bookshelf?

But the movie actually wants to tell you: Rock music is actually very common. It has long been an organized industry - people with musical talents form bands - classical guitars placed vertically become The weapon of rock and roll, wouldn’t my dear cello become the bass after losing weight? Of course, it's a piece of cake for a pianist to talk about the keyboard - lively comedy movies have always been about finding objects to be ridiculed, so classical music has to be temporarily aggrieved. Anyway, there are more big movies that need you. There are also the lighting, styling, and costumes of the subordinate bands... everyone is waiting for everyone to do their part. The few who really have nothing to do can become the exclusive fans of the band - the little girl with a childish face asked seriously: "Fans" Aren't you just going to sleep with the musician? No, no, no, a cute girl who was unwilling to be an ordinary music fan turned into the band's manager because of her ability to speak well - the movie uses Dewey, a depressed rock musician, to transform the children of the rich into a middle-class elementary school. It was instantly transformed into a small rock troupe operating as a "one-stop service".

The scene where the rock musician Dewey, anonymously known as Mr. S, distributes rock and roll records in front of the teaching platform is really fascinating - look, how many years did that record of "The Dark Side of the Moon" come out? When you meet someone in the CD market, don't accuse him of "destroying people". In those short days, what he brought was not the great mission of "teaching you." What flows with this comedy is actually a kind of cuteness and relaxation of taking a temporary break and celebrating the holidays. It has nothing to do with challenging the system, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, and having nothing to do with ideals and beliefs.

Mr.S stood on the podium, facing those lovely children, and said: Use rock and roll to serve the society. So we heard a rock song composed by a child, slowly telling a little bit about the troubles of a teenager amidst the inexplicable pain, sadness and madness of the adult world. At that moment, music did not express the mood in a specific form after all. , that’s a song!

Using a relaxed and cheerful movie to tell you that rock and roll is a part of life is also another way to recommend rock and roll from the serious ones. The method is never the only one, Rock’n Roll.

⒋ Jazz (Blues, Soul)

Probably the most influential among the so-called “pop music” in the 20th century was jazz. There are various theories about its origin, some of which border on legend. There have been countless specialized studies on its musical form. However, it is still difficult for us to simply answer the most basic question, "What is jazz?" Someone once asked the famous jazz master Louis Armstrong, "What exactly is jazz?" He replied: "If you use words to answer , you will never understand it in your lifetime.”

Jazz originated in New Orleans, the United States. This city was once the capital of Louisiana, located at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and played a very important role in the history of the United States. role.

Louisiana has several main characteristics: 1. It has a warm climate and is rich in sugar cane and cotton; 2. It was originally a French colony (Louisiana LOUISIANA means "Louis' place". When the place was named in 1682, the French king Louis XIV), the U.S. government bought it from Napoleon in 1803 for $15 million, but the French language did not disappear with the change of government; 3. Due to the needs of large plantations, this is where the largest concentration of black slaves , so far black people account for one-third of the population of this state; 4. Because of its very important strategic position, this is a battleground for military strategists. French, Spanish, British and American armies have all fought hard here. In 1861, the North and South of the United States During the war, this was also the battlefield where the armies of both sides fought fiercely. It is these characteristics that make it the cradle of jazz.

Among the musical components of jazz, there are the rhythms of black music originating from Africa, the legacy of simplified church music, labor songs from plantations, and songs from that time. Performance techniques evolved from popular songs and their singing styles. Storyville (literally translated as "Story City"), the red-light district of New Orleans, is generally regarded as the birthplace of modern jazz. There are many black musicians here who are experts in improvisation and often use instruments from both sides during the Civil War. Wind instruments left over from the army. In 1917, Storyville was closed down by the police, so these black musicians went to other places to make a living. The most concentrated and famous city was Chicago. Within a few years, jazz had replaced ragtime as the most popular music. It was originally only popular among black people, but has since gradually become the most popular dance music in the world, and its fanaticism has surpassed the most popular waltzes and polkas in the past. The style of jazz has also entered the symphony, the concert hall, the university classroom, and become a formal course.

There are many theories about the origin of the word "jazz". One of the more credible theories is that it comes from the French word jaser. As mentioned earlier, the residents of these southern states in the United States spoke French at the time. The original meaning of jaser was to chat and talk nonsense; music was the main form of entertainment for black slaves. They got together and made of clay They played the instruments randomly, sang miscellaneous songs, and beat the rhythm with whatever was at hand. There was no notation or harmony that everyone had to follow, and there were no technical restrictions. It was like a group of people gathering together. Like chatting, that's exactly what the word jaser means. There are many other theories. For example, some people say that it comes from the name of a drummer. Because he can push the music to a climax with exciting drum beats, the audience shouts his name loudly every time they want more exciting effects. Over time, it became the name of this music; some people believe that based on the analysis of the cultural background of the place where jazz was performed (a*house) and the participants (black slaves), the word originated from the local black dialect and sexual behavior. related vocabulary. The first known official appearance of this word was in 1914, when a band in Chicago was named the "Old Dixieland Jazz Band". In 1917, the record recorded by Victory Company for the band used the name "jazz".

The instruments of early jazz bands included banjos, pianos, violins, saxophones, simple brass instruments and percussion instruments. The musicians do not use music scores at all, but rely entirely on their own memory and imagination to play. A common situation is that a well-known song is played on the piano first, and other instruments are performed one after another. Although the outline of the song has not changed, after such improvisation, it has been "jazzed" and changed. It became something else that no one had ever heard of.

In other words, jazz did not have any melodic characteristics at first, but was mainly characterized by improvisation without scores; but as it became more popular, musicians developed more novel melodies. The earliest sources are mainly black field songs, blues, spirituals, white pop songs and folk songs; and the factor that has the greatest influence on jazz in terms of rhythm, in addition to some dance music in Africa and South America, is "Ragtime" music . The specific characteristics of these factors will be introduced below.

As mentioned just now, a major feature of jazz is improvisation. However, like any other form of music, it is almost unthinkable if there is no recording method after long-term development.

Later jazz bands used music scores, but the degree of reliance on music scores was different, which led to the distinction between "straight jazz" (playing according to the score) and "sweet jazz" (improvisation). However, it should be noted that this kind of name is very confusing and is often just a common saying that was popular in a certain period. In addition, even if you play according to the music score, there are still a lot of improvisational elements, such as this notation:

The musicians may play:

And such a "routine" Notation:

The effect of the performance will be similar to:

Generally speaking, jazz music is in two beats, with two or four beats per measure. This double-beat rhythmic background always exists in the bass, giving jazz a stable and regular rhythmic foundation. Above the rhythmic bass, there are melody, harmony and counterpoint parts with irregular accent positions. Their usual syncopation effects form a strong contrast with the regular bass parts.

Among the tunes of jazz, in addition to the elements drawn from European traditional music, white folk songs and popular songs, the most distinctive one is the "blues scale" (about the structure of this scale, we will be introduced specifically in the section about blues), and jazz harmony can be said to be completely based on traditional harmony, but uses various chord changes more freely. The main difference is also caused by Brought to you by blues chords.

Jazz is very unique in the instruments used and playing methods, which is completely different from traditional bands. Since the "Jazz Age", the saxophone has become one of the most sold instruments; the trombone is able to play funny or weird slides that other brass instruments cannot do, making it popular in jazz bands; the trumpet It is also the instrument favored by jazz musicians. The novel timbre produced by this instrument plus different mutes and the several notes in the highest register have almost become the unique timbre characteristics of jazz; piano, banjo, guitar and later appeared The electric guitar occupies an important position for its powerful percussive sound and ability to play chords. On the contrary, the most important string instruments (violin, viola, cello) in traditional bands play a relatively minor role; the rich tone of the French horn is very charming in the orchestra, but for the jazz band, its temperament is too tame , almost no one uses it. In an orchestra, each instrument is integrated into the overall sound as much as possible in terms of timbre and volume control. In a jazz band, on the contrary, the musicians strive to make each instrument "stand up."

The formation of the band is very flexible. The most basic parts are the rhythm group and the melody group. In early jazz bands, the rhythm section consisted of euphonium, banjo and drums. Later, euphonium and banjo were gradually replaced by double bass (bass) and guitar, and piano was also added. In the 1930s, a dance band emerged, called the "big band" at the time, which consisted of three parts: rhythm section, brass section and woodwind section. The instruments used by the rhythm section are still double bass, guitar, piano and drums; the common arrangement of the brass section is three trumpets and two trombones, but this number is not fixed; the woodwind section usually consists of four or five saxophones , everyone also plays clarinet or other woodwind instruments. If there are five saxophones, usually two altos, two tenors, and one alto. There is also a kind of commercial (sometimes also called "sweet", "hotel", etc.) band. The organization is similar to the "big band", but all tenor saxophones are often used, and there are more woodwind groups. They use other instruments (such as flutes, oboes), and sometimes three or four violins. The sound of this type of band can often be heard on commercial tapes.

Compared with traditional music, another major feature of jazz is its pronunciation method and timbre. Whether it is an instrument or a human voice, these characteristics are enough that people will never compare them with any traditional music. timbre confusion. Most of these special features come from the imitation of African American folk songs with musical instruments or vocals. If we have the opportunity to listen to real black field songs and spiritual songs, we will find how distinctive the dramatic changes from rough to smooth, from suffocating to loud, from harsh to soft, from barbaric to lyrical are. , touching. In jazz, non-singing roars, shouts and moans are added to accentuate this feeling. In addition, special playing and singing techniques are also important means to create special effects. Among these techniques, the most commonly used is vibrato that is different from traditional concepts.

We know that the so-called vibrato is caused by regular changes in pitch (and sometimes intensity); for example, the vibrato on the violin uses this change to produce a vibrant sound effect. Vibrato in jazz changes. The direction of change is generally from narrow to wide, and from slow to fast. The vibrato amplitude and speed often increase near the end of a note, which further enhances the expressiveness of this technique. . At the same time, jazz musicians will slide from bottom to top to a predetermined pitch at the beginning of a note, and slide back down from the original pitch at the end. All of these changes cannot be recorded in detail with music scores. Experienced jazz musicians have mastered this type of method, especially this concept. They can "manufacture" these effects according to different melodies or accompaniment patterns. "come out. Therefore it can be said that due to the tradition of improvisation and the individual play of skills, jazz is created jointly by composers and musicians. The reason why it is difficult for musicians with traditional education to perform jazz is because they have not developed such special musical concepts. If we carefully compare the difference between real folk singers and formally trained singers singing the same folk song, we will have a more intuitive concept of the meaning.

Since the birth of jazz, it has attracted many composers who have changed careers. In 1920, American conductor Paul Whiteman organized a famous band and brought adapted jazz works into the concert hall. This new trend aroused fierce opposition from many "serious" jazz lovers. However, it was from then on that jazz became a household name and became widely popular in the United States and Europe. Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" was born at this time, and the person who orchestrated this work was Grofi, the composer of the Whiteman Band. According to the records in the manuscript, it took only three weeks to write this work, and it caused a sensation almost immediately after the performance. European composers also have many works based on jazz or influenced by jazz, such as: Debussy's piano music "The Dance of the Black Monster" (1908), "Il Trovatore" (1910), "Weirdo LaVey" "General" (1910); the slow movement (blues) in Ravel's Violin Sonata; Stravinsky's "Ragtime for 11 Solo Instruments" (1919), "The Soldier's Story" (1918) ), "Blackwood Concerto"; Hindemith's "Chamber Music No. 1" (Op. 24, atonal) and Piano Suite (1922).

⒌ Country music (bluegrass music, swing music, not rock and roll)

1. The birth of country music

Country Music (Country Music) appeared in the 20th century In the 1920s, it originated from folk music in the agricultural areas of the southern United States, and was first developed under the influence of traditional British folk songs. The earliest country music is traditional mountain music (Hillbilly Music). It has simple tunes, steady rhythm, and narrative. Different from the sad pop songs in the city, it has a strong rural flavor. The lyrics of mountain music mainly focus on hometown, lost love, wandering, and religious beliefs. The singing is usually performed by solo singers, sometimes with accompaniment singers, and the accompaniment instruments include violin, banjo, guitar, etc. (Before the mid-1950s, traditional country music There are no drums in the band). She performs mainly in homes, churches and country fairs, and sometimes participates in regional tours. It is isolated from the cultural life of big cities and has always been in a state of self-isolation.

In the 1920s, some radio stations began to play mountain music in order to cater to rural listeners, such as Chicago's "National Barn Dance" program (1924), Nashville's "Old Fashioned" "Grand old Opry" program (1925), etc., are very popular. This practice encouraged mountain music musicians to go to radio stations to record, and also inspired record companies to discover talents and record records in various places. From then on, mountain music began to merge into the mainstream of American pop music, and the first batch of country singers emerged, such as Jimmie Rodgers and the "Carter Family" singing group.

Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933) blended blues, white mountain songs (yodels) and folk (Folk) and other musical styles. He is considered the founder of country music and was crowned the With the title of "King of Country Music".

His singing is calm and leisurely, and he has developed a unique mountain folk singing method that switches back and forth between true and false sounds: "blue yodel". Although he suffered from lung disease throughout his life, he never gave up his dedication to country music. From 1929 to 1933, Rogers recorded one hundred and ten songs. On May 26, 1933, Jimmie Rogers, who was in his prime, died due to deterioration of his condition on May 26, 1933.

"The Carter family" (The Carter family, composed of Alvin Carter, 1891-1960, his wife and sister-in-law) uses a comfortable and harmonious style and focuses on home and family. God and faith and other themes and won the love of the audience. For artists like the Carter Family, singing is just an amateur way to make a living. But in the initial stage of country music, they did make a huge contribution to the development of country music, and also left valuable recording materials for early country music.

2. Western Swing

In the 1930s, due to the economic downturn in the southeastern United States, record sales dropped sharply, and country music could only maintain it through a large number of radio programs. audience. At this time, a phenomenon occurred, the original singing group was gradually replaced by individual singing. People such as Roy Acuff and Gene Autry became the focus of attention at this time. In this context, Bob Wills from Texas incorporated a large number of western cowboy songs (a romantic love song from the countryside) and swing elements into country music to create A Western Swing style similar to a "big band" lineup. In 1933, Bob Wells successfully introduced this new style to the market that combined dance rhythms, violin sounds, big band lineups, jazz singing, drums, and distorted guitars, thus giving it the name "Western Swing" King" title.

3. Bluegrass Music

In the 1940s, another branch of country music appeared in the mountains of Kentucky, called Bluegrass Music. It is developed on the basis of country music, absorbing factors such as banjo and fiddle music from the local ancient corn threshing party, as well as narrative songs from the southern mountains.

The singing of bluegrass music is generally multi-part. In addition to the main melody part, there is often a falsetto superimposed harmony part above, and sometimes one or two additional parts are added below the main melody. a bass part. Its accompaniment instruments are unique in the form of banjos and fiddles, and sometimes folk instruments such as mandolins and double basses are also used. The lack of drums in traditional country music is also retained in bluegrass music. The tempo of bluegrass music is generally relatively fast, around 160-330 beats per minute.

Bluegrass music was influenced by jazz during its development, and gorgeous improvised solos often appear in instrumental passages. In the 1970s, when other country music generally adopted electroacoustic instruments, they still used traditional instruments. Famous bluegrass musicians and bands include: the "Bluegrass Boys" band led by Bill Monroe (1911~), the Osborne Brothers, "The Johnson Mountain Boys" Johnson Mountain Boys), "The Nashville Bluegrass Band" (The Nashville Bluegrass Band), etc.

4. The Sound of Nashville

In the 1950s, Nashville became a country music concentration camp, and most of the famous country musicians came from here. Therefore, the "Nashville Sound" has become synonymous with country music.

Before World War II, although country music had been widely spread, in general, it was still a regional music genre. The war accelerated population movement, which brought more contact between people from different cultural backgrounds. In particular, many young people from southern rural areas immigrated to northern and eastern and western cities.

As a result, the influence of country music further expanded, becoming a popular music form with national influence, and was officially called country music (country music had no specific name before this), sometimes also called country and western music. ).

Many country musicians were instrumental in bringing country music out of the South or Midwest, the greatest contributor being Hank Williams.

Hank williams (1923～1953) was born in Alabama in 1923. Stylistically, he was neither close to the harmony style of the Southeast nor the popular Western swing style of the West, and he created a melancholic but determined singing style. Hank Williams' status in country music in the 1940s was like that of Jimmie Rodgers in the 1920s, or even higher.

Williams began making records in 1946. He released a series of songs that hit the pop music market, such as "Lovesick Blues" and "There will be no teardrops tonight" tonight), "Your cheatin' heart" and "You win again", etc. Among them, the most famous representative work "Jambalaya" (Example 12) has become the world's most famous masterpiece. A well-known classic song. Williams also retained a certain old-time religious element in his music, crafting some powerful traditional gospel songs.

On New Year's Day, 1953, Williams died of a drug overdose in the back seat of his car. Nearly all of his country singer contemporaries were influenced by him, and he may have more songs in the country songbook than anyone else.

Due to the prosperity of American society after the end of World War II, country music developed rapidly. For example: at this time, the "Old Theater" radio program had 10 million listeners, and the "Ethnic Barn Dance" program was becoming more and more popular. The "Nashville Sound" soon began to spread across the country.

⒍ New Age Music (NEW AGE)

New Age Music----New Age Music is also translated as New Age Music. There are different opinions about her origins, but

One thing is certain, the emergence of this music form will not be earlier than the 1970s. The Oxford Music Dictionary published at that time did not have the entry New Age. In the late 1960s, some German musicians integrated the concept of electronic synthesizer sound into original sound performance or

improvisational performance, inspiring many new musicians to use more diverse techniques to explore new fields. The music of this period already had the prototype of the development of the New Age. In 1973, a group of unknown musicians met at a music festival in San Francisco. These people suddenly discovered that although they had never communicated before, there were many similarities in each other's music. Common place. Their

music is created from the starting point of meditation and the soul. This type of music is different from any previous music. They

make this non-popular, non-popular music The classical and experimental music style is named New Age, which refers to an "epoch-making, new century music". Today in the 1990s, New Age music presents a more diverse look. The music world has formed a new force with hundreds of schools of thought contending and each having their own unique ideas. Because of this, New Age is not just a term that simply defines the difference between music styles, but a new style of the century that symbolizes the evolution of the times and the improvement of metaphysical spiritual connotations.

There is also a small allusion here. New Age also refers to The Aquarian Age. Western mystics

believe that mankind is entering the Age of Aquarius, which symbolizes the future of mankind. The pursuit of material transitions to the exploration of one's own heart. Although human beings are different in race, skin color, language, religious beliefs, etc. in terms of material quality, there is a common thread deep in the human heart. point.

Because of this, all people are of the same origin and equal.

As Loveland, the creator of Secret Garden, said: Everyone has a secret garden in their heart. You can find solace here. When you calm down and listen to "Song

From A Secret Garden" alone, you will know that this statement is true.

New Age music often sounds around us, and now more and more advertisements are beginning to use New Age as background music

Many TV movies also tend to use New Age as their background The ending song; major shopping malls have also found that it is better to replace the original pop sound with a new century one. If you search carefully, you will find that this kind of music has always been with us when we grew up.

When I was a child, I loved watching "Animal World" narrated by Zhao Zhongxiang, and I could never forget the opening song of the film until Only when I grew up

I discovered that this was an authentic New Age song. The song was called "Westay" and can be found on the album "The Future Sound Of World"

At first glance, New Age music is somewhere between classical music and light music, but New Age music is more varied because it does not

refer to a single category but to a Category, she includes almost all music that is different from the past, symbolizes the change of the times, and interprets the improvement of spiritual connotation

. Therefore, you will find that the music that can be called the new century is so rich. All natural sounds may appear in the music. All types of musical instruments are treated equally here, and the human voice is even more abundant. , from singers to indigenous

musicians, everything is so natural. Generally speaking, New Age still has its own characteristics:

Firstly, New Age music rarely has a strong rhythm (but ENIGMA’s music has a very obvious rhythm), which is the same as Rao< /p>

There is a sharp contrast between tongue and rock. The latter two are almost full of various percussion instruments, in addition to rhythm. For the new century, rhythm can be limiting.

Secondly, New Age music often has little sense of melody. This is different from pop music, which requires beautiful and easy-to-remember melodies so that everyone can sing them. Sometimes after listening to a certain New Age piece of music several times, I still can't remember its melody. This is why the New Age gives everyone so much room for imagination.

Thirdly, new age music always avoids the use of harsh and rapid sounds, because this will increase the pressure of the music and thus destroy the listener's feeling.

Fourthly, the basis of new century music is harmony and harmony. It has abandoned the sound production methods of jazz and rock, because this will bring disharmony and unpleasantness. feeling.

⒎ Classical Pop

Classical Pop refers to pop music with a classical symphony flavor. Songs that mostly use string accompaniment can be included in this category, such as "Eleanorrigby" by The Beatles. "that is. Some works by the Australian band Crowded House can also be included in this category. If we say Classical Pop, we mean classic pop songs.

⒏ Folk Songs

Folk songs (Folk) originally refer to the traditional songs of each nation. The ancestors of each nation have their own songs that have existed since ancient times. These songs Most of them don't know who the author is, and they spread it orally, from one person to another, from one generation to the next, and it has been passed down from generation to generation to this day. However, what we call folk songs today mostly refers to folk songs from the pop era. It refers to songs that mainly use wooden guitar as accompaniment, sing in a natural and frank way, and sing out people’s simple life feelings. kind of songs. The records of American folk singer Woody Guthrie in the 1950s can be said to be the earliest folk song recordings, so they are generally regarded as the ancestors of modern folk songs (Folk). Afterwards, Pete Seeger and The Weavers continued to promote this type of music. During the Vietnam War in the 1960s, anti-war folk singers?/ca>