History of American Pop Music

The European musical tradition comes in the form of classical and folk music springing from both the aristocratic music halls of France to the common poor people in the hills of the British Isles. Mostly what came over from Europe in America’s early days and had a great impact are the traditions and musical styles taken from the British Isles. These people came to America with their instru

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”(Levine 22) Nowhere in musical history as the combination of efforts been more apparent than the music created out of America’s earliest days. In order to study pop music of today, it’s origins must be traced. In the time that one culture is borrowing from another’s, innovations are made and the music changes, taking on characteristics of another culture.

“There was ample opportunity for white and black to influence and learn from each other, and the music they left behind attests to the fact that this is precisely what they did. Musical ideas and traditions are always borrowed from another tradition. ”(Levine 19) It seems that the slaves heard much of the white’s spiritual music and adapted for their own designs incorporating their own musical ideas. The banjo, the mandolin and basic drums have some of their roots in this tradition. I suppose it would be accurate to say that the sense of ownership on behalf of the whites might have made them feel that the music and song of the slaves was theirs to manipulate and take into their own culture. These spirituals were religious tunes they acquired from the whites and then added their own spin on them.

Though the white slave owners were in fact the owner’s and degraders of the Africans, it was not impossible for a white man to have respect for the African’s seemingly “natural” musical and rhythmic ability. According to Levine, “The vast preponderance of spirituals over any other sort of slave music rather than being merely the result of accident or error is instead an accurate reflection of slave culture during the antebellum period. Frequently the slave songs would be an outlet for the slaves in that some of their tales and songs were actually a device to comment and even poke fun at their white owners. ”(Levine 18)

According to Levine, “insofar as white evangelical music departed from traditional Protestant hymnology and embodies or approached the complex rhythmic structure, the percussive qualities, the polymeter, the syncopation, the emphasis on overlapping call and response patterns that characterized Negro music both in West Africa and the New World, the probability that it was influenced by the slaves who attended and joined in the singing at religious meetings is quite high.

Common topics in this essay:
British Isles, Journal Music, Pan Africanism, Africa World, According Levine, Pop Music, Throughout Americas, European African, Francis Allen, Music European, pop music, popular music, american popular music, american popular, slave spirituals, musical history, american pop, folk music, musical ideas, musical tradition, musical traditions, american pop music,

Approximate Word count = 1388
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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