|
Banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashioned by African Americans in the United States. The banjo is frequently associated with folk, bluegrass and country music, and has also been used in some rock, pop and hip-hop. Several rock bands, such as the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and the Grateful Dead, have used the five-string banjo in some of their songs. Historically, the banjo occupied a central place in Black American traditional music and the folk culture of rural whites before entering the mainstream via the minstrel shows of the 19th century. Along with the fiddle, the banjo is a mainstay of American styles of music, such as bluegrass and old-time music. It is also very frequently used in Dixieland jazz, as well as in Caribbean genres like biguine, calypso and mento. Histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akonting
The ''akonting'' (, or ''ekonting'' in French transliteration) is the folk lute of the Jola people, found in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. It is a banjo-like instrument with a skin-headed gourd body, two long melody strings, and one short drone string, akin to the short fifth "thumb string" on the five-string banjo. Jola oral tradition places the birthplace of the ''akonting'' in the village of Kanjanka in Lower Casamance (Senegal), near the banks of the Casamance River. The name of the instrument's home village is recalled in the most common tuning pattern for the akonting's three open strings (from the 3rd short "thumb" string to the 1st long melody string): ''kan'' (the 5th note of the scale, tuned an octave higher), ''jan'' (root note), ''ka'' (flatted 7th note). Like in the traditional old-time/folk styles of playing the 5-string banjo, the akonting is tuned in different tunings. Using the ''kanjanka'' tuning pattern of 5/1/-7, a common tuning in Cas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old-time Music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music. History Reflecting the cultures that settled North America, the roots of old-time music are in the traditional musics of the British Isles and Europe. African influences are notably found in instruments such as the banjo. In some regions French and German sources are also prominent. While many dance tunes and ballads can be traced to European sources, many others are of North American origin. The term "old-time" Old-time music represents perhaps the oldest form of North American traditional music other than Native American music, and thus the term "old-time" is an appropriate one. Fiddlin' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bluegrass Music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ''roots music''. Many traditional songs have been sung ... that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like Country music, mainstream country music, it largely developed out of Old-time music, old-time string music, though in contrast, bluegrass is traditionally played exclusively on Acoustic music, acoustic instruments and also has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish Ballads, Irish ballads and dance tunes as well as in blues and jazz. Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black American Music
African-American music is an umbrella term covering a diverse range of music and musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their culture. Their origins are in musical forms that first came to be due to the condition of slavery that characterized the lives of African Americans prior to the American Civil War. Slavery and other impositions such as the Jim Crow laws shaped the world view of African Americans. Some of the globally most popular music types today, such as rock and roll, funk, jazz, rap, blues, hip-hop, and rhythm and blues were developed from the worldview of the African Americans who created and influenced these genres. It has been said that "every genre that is born from America has black roots." White slave owners sought to completely subjugate their slaves physically, mentally, and spiritually through brutal and demeaning acts. African Americans used music to counter this dehumanization. White Americans considered African Americans separate and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dixieland Jazz
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band (which shortly thereafter changed the spelling of its name to "Original Dixieland Jazz Band"), fostered awareness of this new style of music. A revival movement for traditional jazz began in the 1940s, formed in reaction to the orchestrated sounds of the swing era and the perceived chaos of the new bebop sounds (referred to as "Chinese music" by Cab Calloway), Led by the Assunto brothers' original Dukes of Dixieland, the movement included elements of the Chicago style that developed during the 1920s, such as the use of a string bass instead of a tuba, and chordal instruments, in addition to the original format of the New Orleans style. That reflected that virtually all of the recorded repertoire of New Orleans musicians was from the peri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagles (band)
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in North America. Founding members Glenn Frey (guitars, vocals), Don Henley (drums, vocals), Bernie Leadon (guitars, vocals), and Randy Meisner (bass guitar, vocals) were recruited by Linda Ronstadt as band members, some touring with her, and all playing on her third solo album, before venturing out on their own on David Geffen's new Asylum Records label. Their debut album, ''Eagles'' (1972), spawned two top-20 singles in the US and Canada: "Take It Easy" and "Witchy Woman". The next year's follow-up album, ''Desperado'', peaked at only number 41 in the US, although the song "Desperado" became a popular track. In 1974, guitarist Don Felder joined, and ''On the Border'' produced the top-40 hit " Already Gone" and the Eagles' first numbe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
