Music Thru the Years of the 20th Century

Music thru the years of the 20th Century

By

Jim Lemburg

Eng 121

Week 5 Final Essay

Music has changed much in the 20th century it started with modern Powwows by the Native Americans which is called Native American gospel it is a fusion of gospel and traditional music revolving around ceremonies. In Arizona and Mexico, waila, or chicken scratch, music, had arisen as a fusion of native Tohono O'odham music with German polka and Mexican-American norteño. In addition to jazz, blues, folk, country, and gospel, music from the Caribbean region also briefly became popular during the first half of the twentieth century. Trinidadian calypso, Argentinian tango and Dominican merengue and other styles influenced American popular music. Hawaiian music (especially slack-key guitar) enjoyed an early vogue in the 1910s, influencing the developing genre of country music (this is the source of the steel guitar sound that is characteristic of modern country). The blues started in the rural communities, primarily in the south. In the 1930's Blues went thru the country it was most popular in Memphis, New Orleans, the mid-Atlantic coast, Texas, Kansas City and, most importantly, Chicago During the Great Depression Gospel started to become popular by people like Thomas A. Dorsey and Mahalia Jackson, who adapted Christian hymns to blues and jazz structures. By 1925, three main styles of gospel had become popular among mainstream audiences.The first Itinerant jackleg preachers like Blind Willie Johnson and Washington Phillips released recordings that are now collector's items but were then only marginally popular,The second were the Jubilee quartets like the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet and the Golden Gate Quartet were popular and sophisticated, The third and the most successful form of gospel was singing preachers like Reverend J. M. Gates, who...