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The American music has developed a system of genres formed under the influence of diverse factors. The multinational population of the country predetermined the diversity in musical directions reflecting the cultural traditions of particular nations. With time, the role of music and its character depending on the genre evolved. It is essential to distinguish between different kinds of music, its particular features in traditional and contemporary cultures.
Musical Similarities and Differences in Bluegrass and Alternative Country
Country music as a genre developed from the collision of various nations who settled in America and brought their traditions with them. It formed a rhythmic, spiritual and original country style. Multiple sub-genres emerged in the framework of this music style. However, the most influential and distinctive ones include bluegrass and alt-country. These subgenres commonly share distinct features of the country. They utilize a typical array of primary musical instruments including guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass. The two sub-genres compositions are created according to the regular rhythm pattern which makes both of them recognizable as the subgenres of country music.
As for the differences, bluegrass is more traditional and older than alt-country. It has the soft sounding, “standardized instrumentation” and “vocal harmonies” which are most expressively heard in the Sailor’s Hornpipe by Bill Monroe and his band Blue Grass Boys. In alt-country, the number and variety of instruments, and the sounding of the compositions differ from the traditional country music rules and is closely linked to the rock-n-roll music features. A different, more intense sounding is vividly observed in Dwight Yoakam’s Pretty Horses. In general, bluegrass is a mix of African motifs and Anglo-Saxons musical tradition. As for alt-country, it is a more modern style, more aggressive than traditional country.
Differences and Similarities between the Use of Music in Traditional Native American Cultures and Contemporary American Popular Culture
The American society is characterized by multiculturalism, the gap between traditional Native American and contemporary cultures is based on the variety of factors influencing the development of this sphere. The similar features between the use of music in traditional Native American culture and contemporary American culture are in the shared aim music serves. In both cultures, the particularity of music is its applicability to festive occasions. In both, Native American and contemporary cultures music usually assembles the events of joy or celebration. Obviously, for both cultures, music is a resemblance of the life of the society because people implement their life tendencies in their songs.
However, music for Native Americans had a sacred, religious meaning because it was “an integral part of native worship.” One might conclude that the music was of great importance for the Native Americans’ spiritual life. When compared to such a use of music to contemporary popular culture, it has more general meaning implied in diverse applications. Popular music is embodied in the media world and does not reflect the religious life of the nation. Being commercialized, it primarily refers to the trends in fashion and popular culture as a whole. Thus, the popular music is distanced from the traditional spiritual life of people unlike music in Native American culture.
Differences and Similarities between Early Euro-American and African-American Musical Traditions
The American music is shaped by a variety of national cultures. The most influential ones are Euro-American and African-American. The geographical locations of the primary ethnic groups that made their impact on the musical world of the USA are different. Early Euro-American music is marked with a long-term classical tradition. It has a significant sounding linked to the European rhythms and melodies and utilizes traditional forms of folk music. On the contrary, African-American music emerges as a unique form that breaks the rules of conventionality. It introduces wind instruments, new rhythmic figures and, therefore, sounding. The musicians representing this direction introduced a variety of new genres like jazz and blues which underlines the uniqueness of African-American musical tradition.
Both traditions have similar origins taking their roots at folklore songs and reflect the particularities of the ethnicities they represent. However, music does not only depend on the melodic features of the folklore they are originated from but also integrates the historical and philosophical backgrounds. Accordingly, for both Euro-American and African American cultures, “the music of the past is related to the music of the present” (Bohlman 249). They similarly emerged as the integral parts of the American culture and enriched it with styles and genres.
In conclusion, music is a fundamental element of culture as a social phenomenon. It represents the particularities of each people and embodies all the changes in the cultural environment. The numerous ethnicities that inhabit the country influence the diversity of styles in American music. The differences between them underline their uniqueness when the similarities indicate the unity and harmony between them as parts of one culture.
Works Cited
“Alt-Country.”AllMusic. Web.
Bohlman, Philip, V. “The Musical Culture of Europe.” Excursions in World Music, edited by Bruno Nettl et al., Routledge, 2015, pp. 196-238.
Burkhart, Louise M. and Janine Gasco. “The Colonial Period in Mesoamerica.” The Legacy of Mesoamerica: History and Culture of a Native American Civilization, edited by Robert M. Carmack et al., Routledge, 2016, pp. 182-222.
Burnim, Mellonee V. and Portia K. Maultsby. African American Music: An Introduction. Routledge, 2014.
Malone, Bill C. and Tracey Laird. Country Music USA: 50th Anniversary Edition, University of Taxes Press, 2018.
Shuker, Roy. Popular Music: The Key Concepts. 4th ed., Routledge, 2017.
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