If you don't own a car with a custom stereo or any type of musical instrument than you probably are not aware of what an amplifier is and what it does. An amplifier is simply a piece of electronic equipment that takes the sound produced from a musical instrument or a stereo and increases or amplifies that signal and that electronic output comes through the speaker.
An amplifier is necessary for many musical instruments in order to connect them to speakers. Amplifiers also help produce unique sounds that you hear many musicians play, most notably guitar players.
Most guitar players can people with car stereos basically just want an amplifier to produce very loud sounds without a lot of distortion of the sound.
How good the amplifier depends on a number of specifications. The gain is the ratio between the output and the input and is usually measured in decibels.
Bandwidth is another important specification to consider. It is the range of frequencies that the amplifier can produce.
Another quality to consider it the efficiency, especially for car stereos. The efficiency tells you how much of the power that goes to the amplifier is actually applied to the output. Class A amplifier is the most inefficient, while Class AB amps are the best.
The bottom line is that people use amplifiers to make their cars and musical instruments sound very allow. More sophisticated musicians buy amplifiers to produce a higher and richer sound than what the instrument could produce just by itself.
Since humans first walked this Earth we have been banging inanimate objects and noticing tonal harmonies in all that we do. Music evokes such a deep-rooted emotion in us, connecting with our inner being on an infinite number of levels.
From the depths of depression to the awesome high of life itself there is a music which can touch us in a profound manner at every single step of the way.
Someone once said to me "I don't like music" ... I simply couldn't fathom this concept of actually not liking music. I could obviously see how one could dislike a certain type of music but do not like any music at all was a totally alien idea to me.
I was lucky I suppose, growing up, I was privy to the tastes of my "60's generation" parents and all that hippy stuff, along with a fine selection of very early blues, reggae, jazz and some really raw grooves which have all but been lost to our super fickle modern generation. In fact, my Father owned one of the first copies of the first 45 from a label named Chess. Worth a fortune now no doubt. Music has always been a big part of my life.
So why does music reach us at this most basic level? What is it about the human being that makes us crave this "soul food"? Well, music is a multifaceted means of communication. It is possible through music to create all the acoustic features that we use in our everyday language. Furthermore, these acoustic features can be generated in a very definite way. This makes it possible for composers to reach us at our most primeval state, simply by structuring the music according to predefined patterns.
The most basic musical element that we respond to is a rhythmical beat or pulse. If you need proof of this then notice how a newborn baby will begin to rock or move to the beat without prompting. This is the human instinct naturally reacting to a rhythm, the roots of which are deeply embedded in all of us. This is the case whether you like music or not.
The next level of musical recognition is the conscious awareness of the interval between certain vibrations or frequencies. In other words the musical scale. It was not long before humans realized that certain notes work together and certain notes do not - harmonious sequences and discordant sounds.
In fact, not all that long ago a discordant sound was associated with the work of the devil because it made the listener feel quite uncomfortable. These days we have moved on with many modern jazz musicians purposefully using discordant sounds - something which horrifies the purists.
One level up from the musical scale is the combination of many different types of musical instrument. This is what we know today as pop music, orchestral music and many other genres. It pleases us when we hear harmonious combinations of many different types of instrument. These chords and harmonious sequences connect with us at our most basic level. It is these musical progressions which can evoke such strong emotions in all of us.
To this day, there are no generally accepted definitions of this musical complexity at a logical and objective level. Many people report that when they hear a piece of music they really like and which touches them emotionally they will feel the hairs on their arms stand on end. This is hardly a scientific observation but is one of the only indicators we have telling us when somebody is emotionally moved by a piece of music.
To be perfectly honest, maybe the scientists should just leave it alone - I believe some things were not meant to be explained. Music is music and it makes us feel the way we do because of some ancient connection handed down from generation to generation. The best thing to do with music is just to enjoy it!
Without music, the world would indeed be a very dull place.
Holophones during the second edition of Arte Scienza, a biennial of art, music and contemporary culture hosted in Rome by CRM - Centro Ricerche Musicali. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Music is experienced by individuals in a range of social settings ranging from being alone to attending a large concert. Musical performances take different forms in different cultures and socioeconomic milieus. In Europe and North America, there is often a divide between what types of music are viewed as a "high culture" and "low culture." "High culture" types of music typically include Western art music such as Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and modern-era symphonies, concertos, and solo works, and are typically heard in formal concerts in concert halls and churches, with the audience sitting quietly in seats.
Other types of music such as jazz, blues, soul, and country are often performed in bars, nightclubs, and theatres, where the audience may be able to drink, dance, and express themselves by cheering. Until the later 20th century, the division between "high" and "low" musical forms was widely accepted as a valid distinction that separated out better quality, more advanced "art music" from the popular styles of music heard in bars and dance halls.
However, in the 1980s and 1990s, musicologists studying this perceived divide between "high" and "low" musical genres argued that this distinction is not based on the musical value or quality of the different types of music. Rather, they argued that this distinction was based largely on the socioeconomic standing or social class of the performers or audience of the different types of music. For example, whereas the audience for Classical symphony concerts typically has above-average incomes, the audience for a Rap concert in an inner-city area may have below-average incomes. Even though the performers, audience, or venue where non-"art" music is performed may have a lower socioeconomic status, the music that is performed, such as blues, rap, punk, funk, or ska may be very complex and sophisticated.
When composers introduce styles of music which break with convention, there can be a strong resistance from academic music experts and popular culture. Late-period Beethoven string quartets, Stravinsky ballet scores, serialism, bebop-era jazz, hip hop, punk rock, and electronica have all been considered non-music by some critics when they were first introduced.
Such themes are examined in the sociology of music. The sociological study of music, sometimes called sociomusicology, is often pursued in departments of sociology, media studies, or music, and is closely related to the field of ethnomusicology.
A trio of karaoke machines. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"Always keep a song in your heart - it's like karaoke for the voices in your head"
-Robert Fulton Abernethy
Music has been part of the development of every culture in the world. People had few forms of entertainment and song and dance were the biggest among them.
Karaoke came into existence in Japan in early 1970?s when a group of businessmen asked popular nightclub performer Daisuke Inoue to make recordings of his songs for their entertainment. Since what they were really interested in was singing along, these businessmen also asked him to remove the singing from the songs and then display the lyrics. With some insight, Inoue realized that this could actually be a good business opportunity and he invented the first karaoke machine. This was actually a tape recorder that allowed people to play a song after accepting a hundred yen coin. Moreover, Inoue did not sell these tapes; instead, he rented them out. Although this amount was entirely too expensive for the Japanese, the trend caught on.
Karaoke started as supplementary entertainment, the kind placed as an alternative to drinking and eating. Machines were placed in hotels, parks, and restaurants for this very purpose. It took a few years for karaoke to come into its own, and when it did, it took an inescapable grip on the populace. The first sort of karaoke bars was a small booth with a karaoke machine and was referred to as a karaoke box. This could be rented on an hourly basis to small groups for private entertainment. These developments took place even before karaoke had become popular recreation in western nations and karaoke boxes continue to be popular places in Japan. The karaoke bar, in its modern form, came in to being when karaoke finally reached the west. The trend spread like wildfire. Soon, nightclubs, lounges, cafés, and restaurants in the US and Canada had shipped in karaoke machine for customer entertainment.
The latest karaoke machine uses all sorts of media formats to play karaoke music. There are VCD and DVD versions that have become popular for household entertainment as well. Daisuke Inoue won the IgNoble Award in the year 2004 for providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other?.
You’ve probably seen videos and CDs for babies. There are some theories that classical music can make your baby smarter, and exposing your baby to music is part of what we do to introduce them to all the sights and sounds of their world.
Music can definitely help calm your baby down and put him in a restful state at bedtime or nap time. What are some good choices for a baby?
Almost anything you love or use for relaxation is good for a baby too. There are good collections of Mozart or Bach for bedtime. The music of Enya can be very soothing as well. Georgia Kelly’s harp music is also relaxing and peaceful.
When your baby’s awake, there are lots of nursery rhymes or music from kids’ movies that can stimulate his senses. We’ve known kids who respond to minimalist Phillip Glass’s music; it’s simple and rhythmic and when they get older, they’ll dance with it. Spirituals and soft gospel music are also good choices to help the baby get to sleep.
White noise, in the form of a fan (not directed right at the baby), or from sound machines that simulate the sound of an ocean or rain can be restful as well and can block out noise from the home. You don’t need to create an artificially silent environment for the baby, however, since that can make it harder for them to get to sleep when the home’s rhythms and noises get back to normal.
This is a great time for you to explore classical music as well if it’s not already part of your life. The same music that’s helping your baby get to sleep can help soothe your own nerves and provide a wonderful time of bonding and restfulness for you and your baby together.
If you are a musician, and interested in teaching, then you will never go hungry! There is always a want for tutors - people will always want to learn music and need the guidance of someone else... you!
Ask one hundred random people, and chances are that the large majority will have an interest in singing, or playing some sort of musical instrument. Whether they enjoy singing or playing, once you ask a little deeper you'll find that a large percentage of this number have at some stage sought the guidance of a tutor.
While the music industry booms, so will the need for tutors. Some people will always aspire to recreate the sounds that they love to hear, others enjoy the relaxation that playing can bring, and some even aim to write their own number one hit. Tutors will always be needed to help get wannabe musicians rocking.
There's another reason why savvy tutors will always find employment and a comfortable income. They know that the process of learning a musical instrument helps a growing child realize a few of life's lessons - practice really does make perfect, and like the date of a recital, a deadline always needs to be planed towards and constant action taken to complete the assignment well, and on time.
Mindful parents are also aware of this, and if they're not, they probably soon will be as the wise tutor advises about the positive benefits of learning the discipline to work at something. The instrument may be slightly irrelevant in the long run, but the lessons learned are completely transferable.
It is possible to earn a good living from doing something as enjoyable as teaching. And you'll find various articles and tips on achieving the best of this career on the net.
On March 21, 1685, a German organist and regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach was born. He came from a family of musicians. His father is Ambrosius Bach who worked as the town piper.
His father's profession included organizing the town's secular music and participating in the church music. In addition, his uncles were church chamber musicians to various composers and organists for the church. It is believed that Bach started his interest in music at an early age when he started helping his father in his work. During that time, sons were expected to aid their father's work.
Bach lost his mother when he was just a young boy. When he turned nine, his father passed away. Bach then moved with his brother Johann Christoph Bach who worked as an organist in Ohrdruf. He continued studying, copying, and playing music at his brother's house.
In Ohrdruf, Bach started to learn the process of building an organ, where he would usually fix the church's organ. During that time, an organ is considered a very complex machine in the European town. Bach's knowledge with the innards of the organ is believed to be influential to his exemplary skills in playing said instrument.
At the very young age of 18, Bach finished his Latin school, which is considered as an extraordinary accomplishment. He started working as an organist in Arnstadt in 1703. He then became a court organist in 1708 where he was given the chance of not just playing the organ but composing and playing a varied repertoire of music as well.
Bach gained immense popularity because of his exceptional talent. Some of his works include "Brandenburg Concertos," the "Partitas," and "Mass in B Minor." His works have given inspiration to almost all musicians in the European tradition including Mozart.
Every one of us has music inside. And it is not an abstract statement, but scientifically proved fact. Molecules of DNA "sound" inside us and it is very important if music from outside is in keeping with music inside us.
Scientists pay great attention to researches concerning music’s influence on human beings. Attention to such researches has increased recently and their results are interesting and convincing. For example, after listening to classical music cows have increased their yield of milk and mimosa and petunias have grown faster and burst into bloom 2 weeks earlier. 120 breast-feed mothers took part in an experiment in Japan. Some women listened to classical music, other women listened to pop and rock music. In the first group the amount of milk increased by 20 percent, and in the second group - reduced twice.
Such researches are the attempt to synthesize science and art (music). But in ancient India, science and art were considered to be the parts of single creative power. All knowledge of ancient India one can find in the Vedas (Holy Indian Scripture) and one of four main Vedas Sama-Veda is entirely dedicated to music. According to the Vedas, the creating of the world started from the primordial sound "OM", which appeared while a division of the Almighty (Sadashiva) and his creative energy (Adi Shakti). "OM" was the foundation of the universe and the first musical sound.
A human subtle system consists of 7 main chakras (energetic centers) and 3 channels, which rule mental, emotional and physical life activity of a person. 7 chakras of our subtle body revolve with a certain frequency and form an octave, which consists of 7 tones of proper altitude. Intervals between them should reflect intervals between chakras. These tones were called musical sounds - notes (’svars’ in Indian music). They sound - sa, re, ga, ma, pa, da, ni and they are in keeping with chakras - from first till seventh. 5 notes can change (fall and rise), creating 5 additional sounds (left and right aspects of chakras). Thus, these notes are a built-in subtle body and represent the ideal "repository" of information, the repository of those feelings, emotions, wishes, and thoughts, which composer or performer has.
While listening music a person receives some influence on a subtle level, which later appears on the physical body. Same notes can bring destruction or good, it depends on the inner condition of a person. For example, anger, aggression, drug intoxication and so on, which have power over the mind of composer or musician, will find the reflection in his music. There are some styles and forms in music which reflect only such bad qualities. Such music may do harm not only the musician but also a person who listen to it. Clear, inspired people, who have lucid mind will never create such music. They created only folk music with great variety and classical music which has its roots in folk music.
Let’s listen to music, which is in keeping with music inside us.
Learning how to read a musical piano sheet music should not cause you to worry. You do not need to have a very high IQ to do this. All you need to do is to have the patience for constant practice and an easy-to-read musical piano sheet. If you have all these, then learning would be easier. There are tips that you can follow and hopefully, these will help you as you slowly learn to read piano music.
Firstly, you need to begin by having a quick glance over the music sheet in its entirety. Next, look over the music sheet a second time, but this time, try getting familiar with the notes, tempo indications, articulations, and chords. Spend extra time reading notes that are difficult. Flagging these cords may help you understand them later.
Next, you should also study its key and time signatures. These keys might still be very unfamiliar to you, you can consult music books first. These key signatures are very important in understanding the music piece.
The third thing you should do is look for significant changes in the piece, tempo changes included. You need to identify key changes throughout the entirety of the music. When these changes have been seen, you should try to become familiar with the crucial key changes and the new keys.
Next, you need to look for common passages within the music piece. You need to point out whether there are repetitions in certain motifs or phrases in the piece. If you see that there is a variation somewhere, then you can always choose to familiarize yourself with the basic passages. Familiarizing yourself with basic passages can make you learn the variations much faster.
Most importantly, always try to play the musical piece incessantly especially for the first time. Try not to stop playing when you do it for the first time even if you feel it impossible to continue playing. This manner of playing helps you get a closer look and an aural experience of the entire musical piece. Repeat it for several times until you already get the hang it the piece. You will notice later on that you know how to read piano notes.
A new musical fusion has arisen in New York and it's not the kind you can catch for ten dollars at a club in the West Village. For the many thousands of Chinese immigrants trying to stay afloat in a new world and for those westerners who have always wanted to understand the Chinese but have shied away for lack of a way in--for anyone who has wondered where the two civilizations connect, the answer may lie not in words, but in music.
Lisa Li is a master of the pipa (Chinese lute) and a graduate of the Chinese Conservatory of China. She has composed and performed across Europe, Asia and the United States, and her playing was featured in the Academy Award-winning movie The Last Emperor. Now, as one of the lead composers for New Tang Dynasty Television's Chinese New Year Spectacular, a grand scale performance of traditional Chinese dance and song, Lisa has created what she believes to be a new kind of sound--based on ancient Chinese folk and religious music, but going beyond either of them.
“Music is alive because, in the view of the Chinese ancients, every single object in the world has a life. In fact, in Chinese, when we refer to a musical note we call it a ‘live note,’” she explains. But according to Lisa, it must be composed and played from the heart—sometimes in ways that sound foreign to the western ear.
But the melodies are far from random. Lisa’s music, like all traditionally composed Chinese music, is based on a series of pentatonic (5-note) scales. This system has its roots in Taoism, which teaches that all matter is formed from the five basic elements of metal, earth, wood, fire, and water. It teaches that in order for a being to be healthy, it must have all of these elements in balance. So, from the Chinese perspective, a song or piece of music must also contain a uniquely crafted balance of these elements. There are also eight note scales that relate to the Taoist symbol called the Bagua, which is most commonly known in the West as part of the practice of Feng Shui, or geomancy.
An example of this is the piece she wrote for the dance “A Dunhuang Dream.” The dance is set against a backdrop of thousands of caves carved into the sides of cliffs as they are in the Moago Grottoes in the Dunhuang region of China. Seated at the mouth of each cave is a Buddhist or Taoist deity. As the dancers emerge, one can hear from the orchestra pit the voices of the erhu (Chinese violin) and guzheng (zither), but these are soon joined by the more recognizable resonance of cello, bass, oboe, and brass. The result strikes the ear as achingly otherworldly and yet also solidly familiar.
In fact, the specific ya yue used in the score is the same as that found in the ancient pipa music written on scrolls that were discovered by archaeologists in the actual Dunhuang caves years ago.
“I feel very deeply that music is a heavenly language, a divine language,” Lisa says. “It is able to uplift people’s hearts and minds. It is good for the soul.”
Discover the phenomenal complexity of music and reflect on the way it can positively influence your life with this sound collection of riveting quotes...
"Music, the greatest good that mortals know, And all of heaven we have below." -- Joseph Addison
"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness." --Maya Angelou
"Music is either good or bad, and it's got to be learned. You got to have balance." -- Louis Armstrong
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." -- Berthold Auerbach
"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul." --Johann Sebastian Bach
"Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life." -- Ludwig van Beethoven
"Music - The one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend." -- Ludwig van Beethoven
"Music can change the world. " -- Ludwig Van Beethoven
"Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable." -- Leonard Bernstein
"Music has to breathe and sweat. You have to play it live. " -- James Brown
"Music is well said to be the speech of angels." -- Thomas Carlyle
"All music comes from God." -- Johnny Cash
"If you learn music, you'll learn most all there is to know. " -- Edgar Cayce
"Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically. " -- Ray Charles
"Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is. " -- Miles Davis
"There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music." -- George Eliot
"You are the music while the music lasts." --T. S. Eliot
"We need magic, and bliss, and power, myth, and celebration and religion in our lives, and music is a good way to encapsulate a lot of it. " -- Jerry Garcia
"Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife." -- Kahlil Gibran
"When people hear good music, it makes them homesick for something they never had and never will have." -- Edgar Watson Howe
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." -- Victor Hugo
"The history of a people is found in its songs." -- George Jellinek
"Music is the vernacular of the human soul." -- Geoffrey Latham
"It requires wisdom to understand wisdom; the music is nothing if the audience is deaf." -- Walter J. Lippmann
"Just as certain selections of music will nourish your physical body and your emotional layer, so other musical works will bring greater health to your mind." -- Hal A. Lingerman
"Music is the harmonious voice of creation; an echo of the invisible world." -- Giuseppe Mazzini
"Music is a beautiful opiate if you don't take it too seriously." -- Henry Miller
"I started making music because I could." -- Alanis Morissette
"Music helps you find the truths you must bring into the rest of your life. " -- Alanis Morissette
"Music is spiritual. The music business is not. " -- Van Morrison
"Like everything else in nature, music is a becoming, and it becomes its full self when its sounds and laws are used by intelligent man for the production of harmony, and so made the vehicle of emotion and thought." -- Theodore Mungers
"Without music life would be a mistake." -- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
"In music the passions enjoy themselves." -- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art." -- Charlie Parker
"Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside. " -- Elvis Presley
"It's the music that kept us all intact, kept us from going crazy. " -- Lou Reed
"The music business was not safe, but it was FUN. It was like falling in love with a woman you know is bad for you, but you love every minute with her, anyway." -- Lionel Richie
"Music should never be harmless." -- Robbie Robertson
"Give me a laundry list and I'll set it to music." -- Gioacchino Antonio Rossini
"All music is important if it comes from the heart. " -- Carlos Santana
"Music is the key to the female heart." -- Johann G. Seume
"The best music... is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with. " -- Bruce Springsteen
"All I try to do is write music that feels meaningful to me, that has commitment and passion behind it." -- Bruce Springsteen
"In music one must think with the heart and feel with the brain." --George Szell
"When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest." -- Henry David Thoreau
"For heights and depths no words can reach, music is the soul's own speech." --Unknown
"Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us." --Unknown
"I believe in the power of music. To me, it isn't just a fad. This is a positive thing." -- Eddie Vedder
"Music at its essence is what gives us memories. " -- Stevie Wonder
"There's a basic rule which runs through all kinds of music, kind of an unwritten rule. I don't know what it is. But I've got it." -- Ron Wood
By Danielle Hollister Resource Box - Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine - A free newsletter for quote lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like - love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and many more. Read it online at - http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp Article Source: EzineArticles
The station building and one of the towers of Motala longwave transmitter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
You've heard all your favorite music and artists on your local radio station. You've tuned in while hoping to hear something new and exciting. Unfortunately, the radio stations usually play the same tunes over and over. This causes other musicians to get left out in the cold. You may never hear of many fabulous rock singers, R and B artists, jazz professionals and Gospel greats if you only listen to what your radio station has to offer. Here are some tips to show you how to expand your music library with great songs you've probably never heard before.
Where Did The Music Go?
If hundreds of singing groups and musicians submit their songs to producers each year, but only a few get chosen, then where do all these amazing musicians go? Where and how are their songs being heard? Do they just give up? In the past, many of them would likely quit playing or singing all together once they were rejected in the mainstream music industry. But nowadays, a new avenue of getting their sensational music to the public has arisen; it's called the World Wide Web!
There are now thousands of hip songs available online today that will probably never make it to the radio stations. The artists' names will probably never be mentioned in the mainstream music industry. But, that doesn't mean the songs are cheesy or that the artists have bad singing voices. It simply means they didn't get chosen to be in the top music charts. Their music might be wonderful, but was overlooked or got lost in the crowd of other musicians and bands.
A Variety of Music
This happening isn't limited to only one certain type of music or musician. Almost any type of music can fall victim to getting tossed in the "rejection" pile. This includes jazz, Latin, pop, R and B, hip-hop, reggae, rock, folk, comedy, Gospel, blues, techno, spoken word, rap, etc.
No matter what your taste in music, there are probably thousands of artists who never made it in the big-time that you would enjoy listening to their music. Your music library can grow with great music CDs from these singers so you can listen to many different songs whenever you want instead of being limited to the over-played music on the radio.
Music on the Web
There are specialty websites online that focus on publicizing music and artists that have never been heard before. You can go online to listen to unique sample music, buy CDs, and buy merchandise. These artists are great even though they never made it big. You can usually try their music before you buy it to be certain it is right for you. So, there's nothing to lose, but lots of amazing music to gain.
Music for Your Business
If you own a business where music is played often, you can also play some "unknown" music over the loudspeaker for others to hear. Your customers will be amazed at all the distinct songs they hear in your store. You'll be the talk of the town!
Whether it's rock, jazz or hip-hop you enjoy, or if it's Gospel, country, folk, or some other type of music, you can expand your music library in no time with many great tunes that never made it to the top!
Armenian folk musicians. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a list of some of the world's music genre and their definitions.
African Folk - Music held to be typical of a nation or ethnic group, known to all segments of its society, and preserved usually by oral tradition. Afro jazz - Refers to jazz music which has been heavily influenced by African music. The music took elements of marabi, swing and American jazz and synthesized this into a unique fusion. The first band to really achieve this synthesis was the South African band Jazz Maniacs. Afro-beat - Is a combination of Yoruba music, jazz, Highlife, and funk rhythms, fused with African percussion and vocal styles, popularized in Africa in the 1970s. Afro-Pop - Afropop or Afro Pop is a term sometimes used to refer to contemporary African pop music. The term does not refer to a specific style or sound, but is used as a general term to describe African popular music. Apala - Originally derived from the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It is a percussion-based style that developed in the late 1930s, when it was used to wake worshippers after fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Assiko - is a popular dance from the South of Cameroon. The band is usually based on a singer accompanied with a guitar, and a percussionnist playing the pulsating rhythm of Assiko with metal knives and forks on an empty bottle. Batuque - is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde. Bend Skin - is a kind of urban Cameroonian popular music. Kouchoum Mbada is the most well-known group associated with the genre. Benga - Is a musical genre of Kenyan popular music. It evolved between the late 1940s and late 1960s, in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. Biguine - is a style of music that originated in Martinique in the 19th century. By combining the traditional bele music with the polka, the black musicians of Martinique created the biguine, which comprises three distinct styles, the biguine de salon, the biguine de bal and the biguines de rue.
Bikutsi - is a musical genre from Cameroon. It developed from the traditional styles of the Beti, or Ewondo, people, who live around the city of Yaounde. Bongo Flava - it has a mix of rap, hip hop, and R&B for starters but these labels don't do it justice. It's rap, hip hop and R&B Tanzanian style: a big melting pot of tastes, history, culture and identity. Cadence - is a particular series of intervals or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. Calypso - is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of African slaves, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song. Chaabi - is a popular music of Morocco, very similar to the Algerian Rai. Chimurenga - is a Zimbabwean popular music genre coined by and popularised by Thomas Mapfumo. Chimurenga is a Shona language word for struggle. Chouval Bwa - features percussion, bamboo flute, accordion, and wax-paper/comb-type kazoo. The music originated among rural Martinicans. Christian Rap - is a form of rap which uses Christian themes to express the songwriter's faith. Coladeira - is a form of music in Cape Verde. Its element ascends to funacola which is a mixture of funanáa and coladera. Famous coladera musicians includes Antoninho Travadinha. Contemporary Christian - is a genre of popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith. Country - is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in traditional folk music, Celtic music, blues, gospel music, hokum, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s.
Traditional Chinese music played by aging Naxi musicians. Photo taken in Lijiang, Yunnan province, China.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Dance Hall - is a type of Jamaican popular music which developed in the late 1970s, with exponents such as Yellowman and Shabba Ranks. It is also known as bashment. The style is characterized by a deejay singing and toasting (or rapping) over raw and danceable music riddims. Disco - is a genre of dance-oriented pop music that was popularized in dance clubs in the mid-1970s. Folk - in the most basic sense of the term, is music by and for the common people. Freestyle - is a form of electronic music that is heavily influenced by Latin American culture. Fuji - is a popular Nigerian musical genre. It arose from the improvisation Ajisari/were music tradition, which is a kind of Muslim music performed to wake believers before dawn during the Ramadan fasting season. Funana - is a mixed Portuguese and African music and dance from Santiago, Cape Verde. It is said that the lower part of the body movement is African, and the upper part Portuguese. Funk - is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Gangsta rap - is a subgenre of hip-hop music which developed during the late 1980s. 'Gangsta' is a variation on the spelling of 'gangster'. After the popularity of Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip-hop. Genge - is a genre of hip hop music that had its beginnings in Nairobi, Kenya. The name was coined and popularized by Kenyan rapper Nonini who started off at Calif Records. It is a style that incorporates hip hop, dancehall and traditional African music styles. It is commonly sung in Sheng(slung),Swahili or local dialects. Gnawa - is a mixture of African, Berber, and Arabic religious songs and rhythms. It combines music and acrobatic dancing. The music is both a prayer and a celebration of life. Gospel - is a musical genre characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a religious nature, particularly Christian. Highlife - is a musical genre that originated in Ghana and spread to Sierra Leone and Nigeria in the 1920s and other West African countries. Hip-Hop - is a style of popular music, typically consisting of a rhythmic, rhyming vocal style called rapping (also known as emceeing) over backing beats and scratching performed on a turntable by a DJ. House - is a style of electronic dance music that was developed by dance club DJs in Chicago in the early to mid-1980s. House music is strongly influenced by elements of the late 1970s soul- and funk-infused dance music style of disco. Indie - is a term used to describe genres, scenes, subcultures, styles and other cultural attributes in music, characterized by their independence from major commercial record labels and their autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording and publishing. Instrumental - An instrumental is, in contrast to a song, a musical composition or recording without lyrics or any other sort of vocal music; all of the music is produced by musical instruments. Isicathamiya - is an a cappella singing style that originated from the South African Zulus. Jazz - is an original American musical art form which originated around the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States out of a confluence of African and European music traditions. Jit - is a style of popular Zimbabwean dance music. It features a swift rhythm played on drums and accompanied by a guitar. Juju - is a style of Nigerian popular music, derived from traditional Yoruba percussion. It evolved in the 1920s in urban clubs across the countries. The first jùjú recordings were by Tunde King and Ojoge Daniel from the 1920s.
Kizomba - is one of the most popular genres of dance and music from Angola. Sung generally in Portuguese, it is a genre of music with a romantic flow mixed with African rhythm. Kwaito - is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa in the early 1990s. It is based on house music beats, but typically at a slower tempo and containing melodic and percussive African samples which are looped, deep basslines and often vocals, generally male, shouted or chanted rather than sung or rapped. Kwela - is a happy, often pennywhistle based, street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s. Lingala - Soukous (also known as Soukous or Congo, and previously as African rumba) is a musical genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s Makossa - is a type of music which is most popular in urban areas in Cameroon. It is similar to soukous, except it includes strong bass rhythm and a prominent horn section. It originated from a type of Duala dance called kossa, with significant influences from jazz, ambasse bey, Latin music, highlife and rumba. Malouf - a kind of music imported to Tunisia from Andalusia after the Spanish conquest in the 15th century. Mapouka - also known under the name of Macouka, is a traditional dance from the south-east of the Ivory Coast in the area of Dabou, sometimes carried out during religious ceremonies. Maringa - is a West African musical genre. It evolved among the Kru people of Sierra Leone and Liberia, who used Portuguese guitars brought by sailors, combining local melodies and rhythms with Trinidadian calypso. Marrabenta - is a form of Mozambican dance music. It was developed in Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, formerly Laurenco Marques. Mazurka - is a Polish folk dance in triple meter with a lively tempo, containing a heavy accent on the third or second beat. It is always found to have either a triplet, trill, dotted eighth note pair, or ordinary eighth note pair before two quarter notes. Mbalax - is the national popular dance music of Senegal. It is a fusion of popular dance musics from the West such as jazz, soul, Latin, and rock blended with sabar, the traditional drumming and dance music of Senegal. Mbaqanga - is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style was originated in the early 1960s. Mbube - is a form of South African vocal music, made famous by the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The word mbube means "lion" in Zulu Merengue - is a type of lively, joyful music and dance that comes from the Dominican Republic Morna - is a genre of Cape Verdean music, related to Portuguese fado, Brazilian modinha, Argentinian tango, and Angolan lament. Museve - is a popular Zimbabwe music genre. Artists include Simon Chimbetu and Alick Macheso Oldies - term commonly used to describe a radio format that usually concentrates on Top 40 music from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Oldies are typically from R&B, pop and rock music genres. Pop - is an ample and imprecise category of modern music not defined by artistic considerations but by its potential audience or prospective market. Quadrille - is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music. R&B - is a popular music genre combining jazz, gospel, and blues influences, first performed by African American artists. Rai - is a form of folk music, originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s and has been primarily evolved by women in the culture. Ragga - is a sub-genre of dancehall music or reggae, in which the instrumentation primarily consists of electronic music; sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music as well. Rap - is the rhythmic singing delivery of rhymes and wordplay, one of the elements of hip hop music and culture. Rara - is a form of festival music used for street processions, typically during Easter Week. Reggae - is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. A particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady. Reggae is based on a rhythm style characterized by regular chops on the off-beat, known as the skank. Reggaeton - is a form of urban music which became popular with Latin American youth during the early 1990s. Originating in Panama, Reggaeton blends Jamaican music influences of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as bomba, plena, merengue, and bachata as well as that of hip hop and Electronica. Rock - is a form of popular music with a prominent vocal melody accompanied by guitar, drums, and bass. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, synthesizers. Rumba - is a family of music rhythms and dance styles that originated in Africa and were introduced to Cuba and the New World by African slaves. Salegy - is a popular type of Afropop styles exported from Madagascar. This Sub-Saharan African folk music dance originated with the Malagasy language of Madagascar, Southern Africa. Salsa - is a diverse and predominantly Spanish Caribbean genre that is popular across Latin America and among Latinos abroad. Samba - is one of the most popular forms of music in Brazil. It is widely viewed as Brazil's national musical style.
Village musicians in Hyderabad singing and playing a drum and string instrument. The latter is decorated with swastika and aum signs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sega - is an evolved combination of traditional Music of Seychelles,Mauritian and Réunionnais music with European dance music like polka and quadrilles. Seggae - is a music genre invented in the mid 1980s by the Mauritian Rasta singer, Joseph Reginald Topize who was sometimes known as Kaya, after a song title by Bob Marley. Seggae is a fusion of sega from the island country, Mauritius, and reggae. Semba - is a traditional type of music from the Southern-African country of Angola. Semba is the predecessor to a variety of music styles originated from Africa, of which three of the most famous are Samba (from Brazil), Kizomba (Angolan style of music derived directly from Zouk music) and Kuduro (or Kuduru, energetic, fast-paced Angolan Techno music, so to speak). Shona Music - is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, hosho and drumming. Very often, this music will be accompanied by dancing, and participation by the audience. Ska - is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was a precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Slow Jam - is typically a song with an R&B-influenced melody. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or just downtempo songs. The term is most commonly reserved for soft-sounding songs with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. Soca - is a form of dance music that originated in Trinidad from calypso. It combines the melodic lilting sound of calypso with insistent (usually electronic in recent music) percussion. Soukous - is a musical genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa. Soul - is a music genre that combines rhythm and blues and gospel music, originating in the United States. Taarab - is a music genre popular in Tanzania. It is influenced by music from the cultures with a historical presence in East Africa, including music from East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Taarab rose to prominence in 1928 with the rise of the genre's first star, Siti binti Saad. Tango - is a style of music that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay. It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, doublebass, and two bandoneons. Waka - is a popular Islamic-oriented Yoruba musical genre. It was pioneered and made popular by Alhaja Batile Alake from Ijebu, who took the genre into the mainstream Nigerian music by playing it at concerts and parties; also, she was the first waka singer to record an album. Wassoulou - is a genre of West African popular music, named after the region of Wassoulou. It is performed mostly by women, using lyrics that address women's issues regarding childbearing, fertility and polygamy. Ziglibithy - is a style of Ivorian popular music that developed in the 1970s. It was the first major genre of music from the Ivory Coast. The first major pioneer of the style was Ernesto Djedje. Zouglou - is a dance oriented style of music from the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) that first evolved in the 1990s. It started with students (les parents du Campus) from the University of Abidjan. Zouk - is a style of rhythmic music originating from the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. It has its roots in kompa music from Haiti, cadence music from Dominica, as popularised by Grammacks and Exile One.
Discover the phenomenal complexity of music and reflect on the way it can positively influence your life with this sound collection of riveting quotes...
"Music, the greatest good that mortals know, And all of heaven we have below." -- Joseph Addison
"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness." --Maya Angelou
"Music is either good or bad, and it's got to be learned. You got to have balance." -- Louis Armstrong
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." -- Berthold Auerbach
"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul." --Johann Sebastian Bach
"Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life." -- Ludwig van Beethoven
"Music - The one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend." -- Ludwig van Beethoven
"Music can change the world. " -- Ludwig Van Beethoven
"Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable." -- Leonard Bernstein
"Music has to breathe and sweat. You have to play it live. " -- James Brown
"Music is well said to be the speech of angels." -- Thomas Carlyle
"All music comes from God." -- Johnny Cash
"If you learn music, you'll learn most all there is to know. " -- Edgar Cayce
"Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically. " -- Ray Charles
"Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is. " -- Miles Davis
"There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music." -- George Eliot
"You are the music while the music lasts." --T. S. Eliot
"We need magic, and bliss, and power, myth, and celebration and religion in our lives, and music is a good way to encapsulate a lot of it. " -- Jerry Garcia
"Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife." -- Kahlil Gibran
"When people hear good music, it makes them homesick for something they never had and never will have." -- Edgar Watson Howe
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." -- Victor Hugo
"The history of a people is found in its songs." -- George Jellinek
"Music is the vernacular of the human soul." -- Geoffrey Latham
"It requires wisdom to understand wisdom; the music is nothing if the audience is deaf." -- Walter J. Lippmann
"Just as certain selections of music will nourish your physical body and your emotional layer, so other musical works will bring greater health to your mind." -- Hal A. Lingerman
"Music is the harmonious voice of creation; an echo of the invisible world." -- Giuseppe Mazzini
"Music is a beautiful opiate, if you don't take it too seriously." -- Henry Miller
"I started making music because I could." -- Alanis Morissette
"Music helps you find the truths you must bring into the rest of your life. " -- Alanis Morissette
"Music is spiritual. The music business is not. " -- Van Morrison
"Like everything else in nature, music is a becoming, and it becomes its full self, when its sounds and laws are used by intelligent man for the production of harmony, and so made the vehicle of emotion and thought." -- Theodore Mungers
"Without music life would be a mistake." -- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
"In music the passions enjoy themselves." -- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art." -- Charlie Parker
"Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside. " -- Elvis Presley
"It's the music that kept us all intact, kept us from going crazy. " -- Lou Reed
"The music business was not safe, but it was FUN. It was like falling in love with a woman you know is bad for you, but you love every minute with her, anyway." -- Lionel Richie
"Music should never be harmless." -- Robbie Robertson
"Give me a laundry list and I'll set it to music." -- Gioacchino Antonio Rossini
"All music is important if it comes from the heart. " -- Carlos Santana
"Music is the key to the female heart." -- Johann G. Seume
"The best music... is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with. " -- Bruce Springsteen
"All I try to do is write music that feels meaningful to me, that has commitment and passion behind it." -- Bruce Springsteen
"In music one must think with the heart and feel with the brain." --George Szell
"When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest." -- Henry David Thoreau
"For heights and depths no words can reach, music is the soul's own speech." --Unknown
"Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us." --Unknown
"I believe in the power of music. To me, it isn't just a fad. This is a positive thing." -- Eddie Vedder
"Music at its essence is what gives us memories. " -- Stevie Wonder
"There's a basic rule which runs through all kinds of music, kind of an unwritten rule. I don't know what it is. But I've got it." -- Ron Wood
You might be thinking as to how music can be used effectively for stress management. There are few basic principles that you should understand so as to tailor your favorite music for the purpose of stress management.
You should use your favorite category of music and in case you don’t like Mozart or classical music then don’t use it. Good and quality music can be found in most genre of music
You should choose music that has pleasant associations for you or music that brings you cheerful memories.
If you want to try new music, then go for instrumental music tends that are more stress relieving than the music having lyrics because this doesn’t requires you t o think.
You should choose music that is slow and has regular pulse or beat. This is because researchers discovered that music with the tempo of healthy resting heartbeat will synchronize your own breathing and heart beat to it thereby slowing down your racing body rhythms.
Racing thoughts can often lead to anxious and stressed out feelings and for this you should use rhythms of slow music so as to slow down your body and thoughts.
Music is even used for surgery whereby surgeons listen to their favorite music while operating the people. This is because they know the power of music and the profound effect it has on their ability to focus and concentrate on their work. Surgeons listen to Mozart, Wagner, and Handel or sometimes, rock, jazz or pop and claim that they have more energy while music is being played.
Patient is not provided with music because it is the patient who is sleeping and is not able to hear music. But the fact is that music has tremendous benefits for the patient such as he needs fewer anesthesias, less anxiety before, less pain after, faster recovery, less time in the hospital and many more. Patient can hear music with the help of lightweight headphones.
