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Invention of the Phonograph
This is a device that is used to make recordings and reproduce sounds. The vibration of sounds is taken into the horn and then forms groove with a needle on foil, to make a new recording. Thomas Edison of Menlo Park, New Jersey, first invented the phonograph. The phonograph was a great development that helped start of the music industry with the ability to playback sound. -
The Birth of the Blues
The blues is a American form of music from the Southern middle states. At first the blues started from works songs, shouts and field hollers. They were originally sung by slaves in the plantations in the South. Songs were sung to pass the time of doing jobs and duties outdoors. The mood of the Blues had a sadder tone to the songs being sung, since the slaves were doing works for other people. -
Start of Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a place in New York City and is also used to refer to the start of making sheet music and popular songs in the late 1800s. It is used to describe the music publishing industry. Some of the famous composers were Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein and Cole Porter. -
The Development of Country Blues
This is the earliest form of the blues, and is usually performed by solo male singer with a guitar. The singers used the AAB lyric form and played their guitar in a call and response fashion. One of the more famous blues singer was W.C. Handy who was a bandleader and helped the spread of Blues singers. Handy sang "Memphis Blues" and was known as "The Father of the Blues". -
The Development of Jazz Music
This genre is of individual expression whose man characteristics are improvisation and swing rhythm. It involved in the New Orleans Area One of the first true innovators is Louis Armstrong. Armstrong was very dramatic in his performances and the leader of several jazz bands. Another center of jazz in New York was led by Duke Ellington to gain popularity of big jazz bands. Armstrong also sang "It's a Wonderful World". -
Record Sales Start
In the 1920s record sales were very strong, and gaining around $100 million a year. There was a drop in sales in the Great Depression. Then the popularity of the Swing Era help bring the sales of record sales in the 1940s above $200 million. Then later in the century, teenagers helped record sales increase with the popularity of rock and roll and country music. -
The Development of the Classic Blues Music
The Class Blues gained major popularity in the 1920s . The genre was an early form of the blues sung by female vocalists with a small group backing the singer. One of the Classic Blues singers, Mamie Smith sold over one million copies of her song "Crazy Blues", the genre became popular. Some of the other major artists of this genre was Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters. The Depression Era stopped the genre from becoming popular again. -
The Recordings of Country Blues singers
In the mid 1920s, Country Blues became a popular genre again with more of their singers began to sell records and songs. Some of the major Country Blues singers are Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly with his song "Pick A Bale of Cotton", Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Son House and Robert Johnson. -
Start of the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is the longest continuously running radio program in the United States. It has influenced many artists and the style of country music. Careers were made of the this program, with performances every day and every week. The Opry became the most influential radio show of its kind. Many people moved from their hometowns to Nashville to continue their music careers and Nashville became the Capital of Country Music. -
Ralph Peer Starts Country Music Search
Ralph Peer is from Victor Records went on a talent search throughout the Appalachian Region where Hillbilly music was most prominent. He set up a recording studio in a warehouse in Bristol, Tennessee. Peer offered $50 per song to anyone who would audition. Peer received much talent. The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers became famous from Peer's discovery. -
The Development of Western Swing Music
Western Swing is a music genre closely related to country music. It has a type of jazz swing rhythm and uses instruments associated with jazz bands. One of the more famous stars of this genre was Bob Wills, who was from Texas and played the fiddle. He made the band the Texas Playboys and one his biggest hits was "New San Antonio Rose". -
The Development of Gospel Music
Gospel music is highly emotional evangelical vocal music that is very religious and contains a type of melisma. The Father of Gospel Music was Thomas A. Dorsey who help make religious music mainstream. Songs like "It's Tight Like That" and Mahalia Jackson's "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" became popular. Church choirs also became very popular when the gospel music hit the public scene. -
The Development of Bluegrass Music
Bluegrass is a style of music that incorporates the use of a banjo, fast paced music and improvised solos. The genre was invented by Bill Monroe and he made the band the Blue Grass Boys, which included banjo wizard Earl Scruggs and vocalist Lester Flatt. Scruggs reinvented the use of banjo playing with amazing fast picking style. -
The Development of Cowboy Music
Hollywood and new movies of this time began to popularize cowboy songs in Western genre movies. Some of the main artists Gene Autry and Roy Rogers (he sang "Don't Fence Me In") became popular. Most of the artist were dressed in cliche clothing with cowboy hays and hillbilly images. The music made a commercial pop type of sound. This type of music became popularizing the ideas of cowboys. -
The Development of Bebop Music
Bebop was a style of jazz that emerged from Harlem in the 1940s that had signified a small group sound like modern jazz. Many important instrument players became star musicians. Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis became popular Bebop musicians. Bebop often had no set rhythm, and people could not dance to it. -
The Development of Rhythm and Blues Music
The R&B Music comes from the originally blues music, but it becomes dance-able and is sung to a huge public audience. Many R&B bands feature many different instruments. Many famous artists included Lionel Hampton, Wynonie Harris, Joe Turner, Little Walter Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin' Wolf. The R&B music had boogie woogie bass lines and tenor sax solos that brought a new type of music to public crowd. -
The Development of Urban Blues Music
The Urban Blues genre or Chicago Blues firs appeared in the Chicago area. This genre was an electrified version of the Country Blues. One of the most famous Urban Blues singers was Muddy Waters or McKinley Morganfield. He recorded at Artisocrat Records and helped the genre soar. Some of his most popular songs are "Rolling Stone", "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", and "Got my Mojo Workin'". -
The Development of Doo- Wop Music
Doo- Wop music combines acappela music groups with falsetto voices and scat singing in many bands. In the 1950s teenage groups performed on the streets and were discovered that way. Some of the more famous bands were the Ravens, The Orioles, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. -
The Start of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley became a music icon on the television, radio and concerts. Born in rural Mississippi, Presley became a huge start when his career took off in the 1950s. Presley won a talent show in Memphis and received a record deal from Sun Studio and became making songs. In 1955, Elvis began increasing the number of his fans with his hit "Heartbreak Hotel" He starred in many movies and radio shows. -
The Development of Honky- Tonk Music
Honky- Tonk Music mostly developed in the bar scene and roadhouses. A type of country music that uses a rock and roll rhythm. This genre uses the electric guitar, and stell guitars. Most of the songs often dealt with love, drinking, cheating listened to in crowded areas. Many famous artists like Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams made this genre popular.
