What most people look for in country music is a song that is easy to sing along to. During football games, both fans and players sing “Country Roads.” The song has an easy to remember chorus, which listeners are particularly fond of. Throughout John Denver’s music career, his song “Country Roads” was the one that most exemplified the ideals of country music as a genre. His instrumentation demonstrates the acoustic guitar that is prominent is several notably country songs. More importantly, his lyrics are inspiring for many of his listeners and fans, who may also be going through emotional hardships, such as the struggle of missing home.
The Role of Music in Thomas Hardy's Writing Music played a role of marked importance in the life of Thomas Hardy. Hardy was surrounded by a family and a community in which music enhanced everything from church services to social gatherings at the local alehouse. His family was full of active musicians; his father and grandfather were instrumentalists in local church bands, his uncle was a violin player, and his mother often sang traditional ballads. Like many village musicians, Hardy had the ability to read music and play the violin. Although he owned a written collection of music, Hardy, like other villagers, focused on an oral musical tradition.
Songs from the genre usually include instruments such as the guitar, banjo, drum, fiddle, harmonica, piano and many other instruments. Since the south is where country music's most popular, it is usually easy to identify the southern accent of country artists. The lyrics of these songs are usually very important. Most country artists use their platform to tell stories of their life. Songs told stories of good times and bad times and the consumer was able to relate.
Because of how close the two communities were, the songs that each would sing would influence the other (Scherman, 1994). A lot of the African American sound can be heard through jazz and blues. Many of the early country artists were "hillbillies", singing their folk music. However, country music is NOT folk music. When Gene Autry went to Hollywood in 1934 and became "the movies first singing cowboy" the image of the cowboy stuck with the "hillbilly sound" (Scherman, 1994).
They were a mixture of story telling and talking with a definite call and response. Religious music was very important in forming blues music. Because most blacks went to Christian churches from an early age and were exposed to Christian hymns. Ragtime was an influence that came later and is a faster blues played with the piano and someone singing which was usually played in bars called barrel houses. The first country blues that was written and published was "Memphis Blues" by W.C.
Musically the blues are defined as a 12-bar chord progression, harmonized with the corresponding scales and patterns. The chord progression pattern is four measures of tonic chords followed by two measures of sub- dominate chords, two more measures of tonic chords, one measure of dominate chords, one measure of sub dominate chords, and finally two measures of tonic chords. Blues performers would travel around the south singing about their loss of love and family, and the pains they were forced to endure. The music became popular because nearly every one who heard it could identify with its message. This type of Blues later became known as country blues because it was rooted in rural areas.
The Blues became the defining black sound and it was Blind Lemon Jefferson that was the frontrunner of this image. The video “Folk America ep01 Birth of a Nation” talks about Jefferson’s style of music as something that had never been seen before. His voice was referred to as a street corners voice and his guitar style was very free rolling. Many Blues Musicians tried to imitate his form but nobody could do it quite like him. His first recordings were gospels and his descendants became preachers and musicians.
Only the vague recollections of his friends and family link us to the mysterious life of Robert Johnson. From these accounts the story of Robert Johnson is brought to life, and the events which fueled his powerful music are pieced together. Robert Johnson was born on May eighth, 1911, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Robert was the eleventh child born to Mrs. Julia Dodds. Robert’s mother described little Robert as a playful little boy, who "Always used to be listenin, listenin to the wind or the chickens cluckin in the backyard or me, when I’d be singin round the house.
Many might say that Bach was into music because most of his family was and it was expected for him to follow the same steps. Bach decided to follow music not just because it was part of his family, but because he was devoted to it. Many people who listen to Bach will say that listening to his compositions make them feel like they are at home, it feels natural and
She had been a public school music teacher for many years and had... ... middle of paper ... ... day at work and relaxes by playing his guitar and Woody Allen plays clarinet weekly in a local jazz band for fun (Lipman). These men have continued to enjoy music throughout their lifetime. Music has brought great joy to my life, and as a music teacher, I want to show tomorrows generation how it can do the same for them. Works Cited Baker, S. L. "Music Benefits the Brain, Research Reveals." NaturalNews.