With more and more young people becoming socially and economically independent, this "generation gap" has become wider and wider since the Second World War. The concert halls before the 1940s were not clearly dated. Since the war ended the Great Depression, bing crosby has been the highest-selling record artist in the United States. His fan base has no age division. The average age of the audience in the concert hall is 2 1 year. After crosby retired, 1954 had a big generation gap. Elvis Presley has become the most popular singer among teenagers, and Frank Sinatra is the most popular adult. Dingbang Lane is a place name, located at 28th Street (between Fifth Avenue and Broadway Street) in new york. Since the end of 19, there have been many music publishing companies, all of which have song salesmen playing the piano all day to attract customers. Due to the excessive use of Qin, the timbre is tired, like knocking on an iron plate, so some people jokingly call this place Dingbang Lane (or translated into Pan Ting Hutong). Ding Bangxiang is not only the publishing center of pop music, but also a symbol of an era and a representative of a style in the history of pop music. It lasted nearly half a century.
Ding Bangxiang's songs are generally written by white professional composers. Different writers have different styles in different periods, but there are similarities. From the content, it is mainly about love, full of romantic feelings, or slightly nostalgic and sad, or cheerful and funny. No matter what happens at home and abroad, it is rarely reflected in Ding Bangxiang's songs. Mainly show the sunny side of life, as if Americans are enjoying life carefree; From the form of expression, singing melody, uncomplicated rhythm and harmony of natural sound system (sometimes changing chords and tone sandhi between phrases) mostly appear in the form of verse-chorus (that is, main song plus chorus) (for example, 18). Ding Bangxiang's songs are generally sung by professional singers according to the score, paying attention to vocal skills, accompanied by bands or choirs, and often accompanied by string groups as the background timbre. For example, the famous pop singer Ping at that time? Bing crosby (1904 ~ 1977), Frank? Frank Sinatra (19 15 ~ 1997) and others mainly sang Ding Bangxiang's songs. Dingbang Lane songs mainly spread to white people in cities, and rarely spread to blacks or the lower classes. The appearance of rock music in 1950s challenged the position of traditional Ding Bangxiang songs in the whole pop music. Bruce was born in the 1990s of 19. Jazz and blues are closely related, because some jazz is based on blues music, while others are directly transformed from blues music, and they use the song structure of traditional blues music, that is, the so-called 12 bar blues.
"Bruce" has multiple meanings. In addition to the type of music, it is also an adjective of the scene. Usually, when people see this word, they often immediately think of melancholy and sadness, which are the basic characteristics of blues music. Bruce originated in the late19th century (1890), and its music content is a mixture of African battle cry and Christian hymns. The reason can be said to express the singer's personal feelings, and even can be said to be a portrayal of the early life of black people.
Bruce's development has mainly gone through four stages. The first stage is the "traditional blues period" from the end of 19 to the end of World War II, which is mainly manifested in three styles: country blues, classical blues and urban blues. The second stage is the "rhythm and blues period", which mainly refers to the rhythm and blues style prevailing in the 1940 s and 1950 s after World War II; The third stage is the "rock and blues period" in the 1960s and 1970s, which mainly refers to the integration of rock and blues. The fourth stage is the "modern blues period", which mainly refers to the electronic blues after the 1980 s and the popular songs created by the mainstream pop music at that time. Jazz has won the audience's love for its dynamic syncopation rhythm, distinctive jazz harmony and unconventional improvisation (or singing), and has been recognized by people from all walks of life in the music field. On the basis of Bruce and Ragtime, it was gradually formed by improvising in the form of a small band with some white music elements. After a whole century of development, it is now colorful and full of flowers.
Ragtime music was originally a kind of piano music. It prevailed from the end of 19 to the end of World War I, mainly among Creoles. There are both strict standards of European classical music and improvisational ideas of black music. It is considered as the embryonic form of jazz.
/kloc-At the end of 0/9, the "public prostitute" system in New Orleans provided a large number of pianists with opportunities to make a living, accompanying prostitutes and clients. Many Creole pianists have received a good education in classical music, and their skills in playing classical music works are perfect. But in that luxurious environment, the audience's main purpose is not music, and they don't have much musical literacy, so there is no high demand for what kind of music the pianist plays. Coupled with the long playing time (usually from night to early morning), the long-term boring work makes pianists tired of traditional music standards. So they began to play freely, modify the tracks at will, and even try new means of creation and composition. In this case, syncopation and improvisation were developed, which had an important influence on later jazz and most popular music and became the main characteristics of jazz. It also laid the foundation for the emergence of jazz harmony system.
It is generally believed that jazz originated in New Orleans, and jazz appeared in 65438+1990s. But the first jazz record in history appeared in 19 17, which was recorded by the original Dixieland jazz band in New Orleans. Therefore, we will never know the characteristics of jazz music before 19 17, but according to the music records and photography at that time, the speed of early jazz music was between medium speed and fast speed, and people who first came into contact with jazz music felt full of energy and excitement.
Another feature of early New Orleans jazz, perhaps the most important feature, was collective improvisation. Mutual humility and cooperation are only limited by the chord progression structure. The most attractive thing about this kind of performance is that the band members have both competition and cooperation, and they pay attention to and turn a blind eye to the restrictions imposed on them. This new sound can be heard by any audience at the beginning of the 20th century, which is called "jazz". Country music appeared in the 1920s. It originated from the folk music of South China agriculture in the United States, and was first developed under the influence of traditional British folk songs. The earliest country music is traditional folk music, with simple tunes, stable rhythm and strong narrative. Different from the sad pop songs in the city, it has a strong local flavor.
Folk songs began to blend into the mainstream of American pop music, and the earliest country singers appeared, such as James Rogers (1897 ~ 1933), Bruce, Yodels and folk songs. They were regarded as pioneers of country music and were named "country music".
The Disabled Children's Family (composed of AJvin Carter, 189 1-l960, his wife and brother-in-law) won the audience's love with its comfortable and harmonious style, focusing on themes such as home, God and faith. For artists like the Carters, singing is just an amateur way to make a living. But in the primary stage of country music, they did make great contributions to the development of country music, and also left valuable recording materials for early country music.
Many country musicians have made great contributions to bringing country music out of the south or midwest, among which hank williams is the most important. Jambalaya is Williams' most famous masterpiece and has become a world-famous classic song. The most famous is Taylor Swift, who has won many country music awards in succession.
Since the 1990s, country music has been fully integrated into the mainstream of pop music. Of course, in this process, its popular color has also become stronger. By the end of the 20th century, almost no kind of music was not popular, on the contrary, it would be considered "different". Another feature is that it has become a very common phenomenon that singers and their songs win prizes across the list, and few people insist on one position. This is the result of commercial speculation. Economic leverage is playing a regulatory role, and people are willing to stoop for five buckets of rice, so following the trend has become a fashion. In 1990s, country music became more and more global, which was related to economic globalization. The world has become a global village, and "walking around" is no longer unusual. Country music is no longer a patent in the United States, and can be heard in every corner of the world, but it is less original and more contemporary. This brand-new country music has become the local accent of the villagers of the earth. There is no doubt that most singers in this period are cross-century. Young and full of hope, they are pioneers in the new century. In the early 1950s, there was a tripartite confrontation in the American pop music market. Black people like rhythm and blues, white people above the middle class listen to Ding Bangxiang's songs, and rural listeners in the midwest like country music related to rural life. But in the mid-1950s (about 1954- 1956), two obvious phenomena appeared in the record market, namely "market crossover" and "cover version".
"Market cross-border" refers to the record originally released in one market, and it has also achieved good results in another market. For example, some songs are among the best in R&B sales charts, and they are also very popular in pop songs (referring to the pop songs at that time, the continuation of Ding Bangxiang's songs). Seeing this profitable cross-market situation, some big record companies quickly produced their own versions according to popular rhythm and blues songs, resulting in a large number of "cover versions". At this time, the three markets that have been divided suddenly demanded that the middle wall fall down, and a new music style-rock music was born in this ruin.
In the early stage of rock music (from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s), rock music grew rapidly from a toddler, which made the rock music stage show a prosperous scene. First of all, the two pioneers made a relatively complete positioning for the concept of rock music. Bill haley (1925 ~ 198 1) was the first rock idol worshipped by teenagers, and was called "the father of rock music". His music style involves three aspects: country music, rhythm and blues and pop music, which also explains the three sources of rock music in the mid-1950s. As one of the pioneers of rock music, bill haley played an indelible role in the creation of rock music.
Early rock singers included Presley, Berry, Domino, Liu Fusi and the Avery brothers. 1964, British The Beatles (also translated as "The Beatles") performed in the United States for the first time, which aroused enthusiastic response. The main content of their singing is to express love, but they also oppose war and violence. At that time, there was a wave of anti-Vietnam War and anti-racial discrimination in the United States, and rock music played a great role in this wave. Few Americans who grew up in the 1960s had nothing to do with rock music. The singing of rock music has influenced the artistic taste of modern Americans. The famous rock bands formed in the 1970s and 1980s in the United States include punk, Rolling Stones, Sol, Heavy Metal, Rip and Pop.
The most brilliant page in the history of rock music was10/500,000 live broadcast of the disaster relief benefit concert held in London's humble gymnasium and Philadelphia's Kennedy Gymnasium on July 3, 1985, which was broadcast to the whole world. More than 80 first-class rock bands appeared on stage to raise money for Africa, which suffered from severe famine. This unprecedented charity performance not only found a brand-new and spectacular expression for rock music, but also made it gain global significance. Saul also translated "Soul Music" or "Soul Music". It was popular in the United States in the 1960s. It was based on the gospel, a black religious music, and blended with rhythm and blues, rock music and other styles. It is an important representative of African American music.
Sol's music pays attention to freedom and improvisation, and pays equal attention to passion and affection in music. In singing, it is a kind of singing from the soul with strong emotional color. As a representative of African-American music, it has had an important influence on homophonic music such as Motown, funk, contemporary R & ampb and Hip-Hop. Play less musical instruments when singing. Saul's famous singers include james brown, ray charles, Ons Redding, SteveWonder and Prince. Latin music refers to Latin American pop music from the Rio Grande on the border between the United States and Mexico to the southernmost Cape Horn. Latin America is a multi-ethnic group, therefore, Latin music is a diversified mixed music composed of various kinds of music. Both white music in Europe, black music in Africa, Indian music in America and even Asian music in the East have made different contributions to Latin music. After a long period of precipitation, on the basis of European culture, they also absorbed a lot of factors from Indian culture and African black culture, and gradually formed a colorful, vibrant and energetic Latin culture. Among many countries in Latin America, Latin music, led by Brazil and Cuba, is at the forefront of world pop music.
Latin music attracts the attention of the world music circle with its unique rhythm and long cultural background, and Latin musicians emerge one after another. In recent years, Ricky Martin, marc anthony, enrique iglesias and other pop stars are all representatives of a new generation of Latin music with great personality, and Shakira has become the diva of Latin.
The pop music culture in today's world comes from the fertile soil of people's lives and is closely related to people's joys and sorrows. It is a diversified combination of the world, accepted by people of different schools, styles and singing forms, and has developed into an indispensable and necessary music culture package for international music culture. The development of pop music culture is not isolated, but a manifestation of group consciousness. It has irreplaceable unique charm and is the crystallization of many cultures. What happened by Michael Jackson, the king of pop music, is also a Latin style song. The word rap (sometimes translated as "Rip" or "Rip") originally meant to talk or chat in black slang. As a form of pop music, it originated from the poor black residential areas in new york in the late 1970s. The main feature is to recite a series of rhyming words quickly with the mechanical rhythm as the background. Musically, its music is simple and repetitive, and most of it has no melody, only bass lines and powerful rhythms. One of its sources is that the DJ (CD player) at the disco ball inserted it according to the dance rhythm in order to introduce the record. James brown's half-speaking and half-singing style is generally regarded as one of the pioneers of rap music. Rap music became popular after the mid-1980s, and has been active in the music world since then in the form of underground music. From 65438 to 0986, Run-D.M.C's album "Rising Hell" won the first place, which indicated that rap music was commercially successful and influential nationwide.
Generally speaking, rap music can be divided into two types. One is rebellious, such as "Public Enimy", which is sometimes called "gang rap" because it often takes a challenging posture. Therefore, such songs often cause social controversy, so it is difficult to enter the charts; The other is more moderate, such as the songs sung by M.C. Hammer. M·c· Hammer was born in Oakland, California, a place full of drugs and violence. Many of his early friends were engaged in drug smuggling. Some of them became rich and some went to prison. He realized that young people must meet honest people and choose the right path. His rap music opposes drug abuse and violence and actively speaks for the younger generation of blacks. Therefore, he has achieved great success in business. New era music, but also the translation of new era music. It is a form of music that appeared in the late 1970s. It rose in the 1980s and has some characteristics of light music, but it is very popular. The original purpose was to help meditate and purify the mind, but many later creators no longer had this starting point. There is a saying that because of its richness and diversity, it is different from any previous music: it is not just a category, but a category, and all the improved music symbolizing the changes of the times and interpreting the spiritual connotation can be classified into this category, so it is named new era music. In fact, the correct reason is that people who advocate cleaning with musical mind originated from a heretical religious faction called the New Age Movement.
In the late 1960s, some German musicians integrated the concept of electronic synthesizer sound into acoustic performance or improvisation, which inspired many new musicians to explore new fields with more diversified methods. The music of this period has taken shape in a new era. 1973, a group of unknown musicians met at a music festival in San Francisco. These people suddenly found that although they had never communicated before, their music had a lot in common. Their music is created from meditation and soul, which is different from any previous music. The experimental music style is named New Age, which means "epoch-making, new age music". Today, in the 1990s, the music of the new era presents diversified styles. The music industry has formed a new force, and a hundred schools of thought contend. For this reason, New Age is not only a term that simply defines the difference of musical styles, but also a new century style that symbolizes the evolution of the times and the promotion of spiritual connotation.