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Music Genres

TM7 MG: Art Music
 
The Magnificent Seven Series: Music Genres: Art Music
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
Art Music (or Serious Music or Erudite Music), is an umbrella term. Art Music has an advanced structural and theoretical considerations and a written musical tradition. It includes: European "historical" Classical Music; non-European Classical Music (classical music styles and classical musics of several different cultures around the world); Modern and Contemporary Art/Classical Music such as Electronic Art Music, Experimental Music and Minimalist Music; some forms of Jazz and Rock such as Fusion, Experimental Jazz, Art Rock, Progressive Rock.
 
"Art Music"'s videos in chronological order. Up to 33 hours of music and videos:
 
Medieval Music (476–1400) · Renaissance Music (1400–1600) · Baroque Music (1600–1750) · Classical Period (1730–1820) · Romantic Music (1815–1910) · 20th Century Music (1900–2000) · Contemporary Music (1975–current) · Electronic Art · Galante · Groupe Des Six · Impressionist · Minimalism · Modernism · Neoclassicism · Neoromanticism · Post-Minimalism · Postmodern · Second Viennese School · Serialism
 
Josquin des Prez · Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina · Henry Purcell · Antonio Vivaldi · Johann Sebastian Bach · Georg Friederich Händel · Joseph Haydn · Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart · Ludwig van Beethoven · Niccolò Paganini · Gioachino Rossini · Franz Schubert · Gaetano Donizetti · Hector Berlioz · Felix Mendelssohn · Frédéric Chopin · Robert Schumann · Franz Liszt · Richard Wagner · Giuseppe Verdi · Bedřich Smetana · Anton Bruckner · Johann Strauss II · Georges Bizet · Modest Mussorgsky · Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · Antonín Dvořák · Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · Giacomo Puccini · Claude Debussy · Sergei Rachmaninoff · Maurice Ravel · Igor Stravinsky · Sergei Prokofiev · George Gershwin · Dmitri Shostakovich
 
 
Medieval Music (476–1400)
 
To do....
 
 
Renaissance Music (1400–1600)
 
To do....
 
 
Baroque Music (1600–1750)
 
To do....
 
 
Classical Period (1730–1820)
 
To do....
 
 
Romantic Music (1815–1910)
 
To do....
 
 
For modern and contemporary classical music, please, see: Experimental Music
 
For more info about Art Music, please, see [Please, note that the following links open in a new window (or Tab)]:
• Art Music at wikipedia.org
• Classical Music at wikipedia.org
• Medieval Music (476–1400) at wikipedia.org
• Renaissance Music (1400–1600) at wikipedia.org
• Baroque Music (1600–1750) at wikipedia.org
• Classical Period (1730–1820) at wikipedia.org
• Romantic Music (1815–1910) at wikipedia.org

TM7 MG: Dance Music
 
The Magnificent Seven Series: Music Genres: Dance Music

Ethnic and Traditional, Bourrée (1600), Minuet (1650), Bolero (1700), Waltzes (1780), Can-Can (1830), Polka (1850), Mazurka (1900), Tango (1900); Rumba (1900), Samba (1900), Conga (1900), Foxtrot (1914), Lambada (1920s), Charleston (1923), Boogie-Woogie (1940), Mambo (1940s), Jive (1940), Pachanga (1950s), Cha-Cha-Cha (1951), Rock and Roll (1955), Skank (1955), Twist (1960), Ska (1960), Reggae (1960), Bossa Nova (1960s), Soca (1963), Funk (1965), Salsa (1970s), Pogo (1976), Dance (1970s), Breakdance (1970s), House (1970s), Electronic Dance (1980s), Eurobeat (1980s), Jungle (1980s), Hip House (1980s), Techno (1980s), Eurodance (1990s), Trance (1990s)
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Dance Music is music composed or played specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement.

Dance music works often bear the name of the corresponding dance or viceversa.

The combination of dance and music is very ancient, but the earliest Western dance music that we can still play with a degree of certainty are the surviving medieval dances such as Caroles and the Estampie. The earliest of these surviving dances are almost as old as Western staff-based music notation.

In the Baroque period, the major dance styles were noble court dances like Courante, Sarabande, Minuet and Gigue. Collections of dances were often collected together as dance suites.

The Waltz arose in the Classical era, as the Minuet evolved into Scherzo.

The Romantic music period saw the rise of various other nationalistic dance forms like Barcarolle, Mazurka, and Polonaise. Also in the Romantic music era, the growth and development of ballet extended the composition of dance music to a new height. Frequently dance music was a part of Opera.

From the XX century people have danced to older versions of current genres which are now less danceable for newer music. Back when Rock and Roll was a new genre (circa 1950s), people had a hard time dancing to it as it was more upbeat than many ballad-based songs from before than that people slow-danced to. The dancehalls used live bands to orchestrate the music that the people danced to. Ironically, Rock and Roll became the ubiquitous dance genre in the 1960s and that slow-dancing rapidly became obsolete. But then, Rock and Roll evolved into a less danceable genre in following decades. New Wave from the 1980s was a major exception to its pattern in declining danceability.

The rise of Discothèques and places where DJs played recorded music have rapidly displaced live bands although a few instances of live band dances have continued on. In modern day people dance to live Punk music which is a relatively rare choice of dancing music (Pogo).

Electronic Dance Music is a style of popular music commonly played in dance music nightclubs, radio stations, shows and raves. The term Dance Music is usually used for more commercial forms of Electronic Dance Music. However, both Dance Music and Electronic Dance Music is made electronically for dancing. Styles include Eurobeat, House, Eurodance, Jungle, Hip House, Trance, Techno, and many others.

Electronic Dance Music experienced a boom after the proliferation of personal computers in the 1980s, many music genres that made use of electronic instruments developed into contemporary styles mainly thanks to the MIDI protocol, which enabled computers, synthesizers, sound cards, samplers and drum machines to control one another and achieve the full synchronization of sounds. Electronic Dance Music is typically composed using computers and synthesizers, and rarely has any physical instruments. Instead, this is replaced by digital/electronic sounds, with a 4/4 beat. Dance Music typically ranges from 120bpm, up to 200bpm, with techno, trance, and house being the most widespread. Many producers of this kind of music however, such as Darren Tate and MJ Cole, were trained in classical music before they moved into the electronic medium.

(retrivied from: Wikipedia's "Dance Music")

TM7 MG: Experimental Music
 
ToDo....Experimental Musicl...
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
· 20th Century (1900-2000) · Contemporary (1975-current) · Electronic Art · Galante · Groupe Des Six · Impressionist · Minimalism · Modernism · Neoclassicism · Neoromanticism · Post-Minimalism · Postmodern · Second Viennese School · Serialism
20th century music
Acousmatic music
Avant-garde music
Biomusic
Circuit Bending
Computer music
Contemporary music
Danger music
Downtown music
Electroacoustic music
Electronic art music
Experimental music
Free improvisation
Fluxus
NIME
Noise music
Musique concrète
Schaffel music
Sound art
Sound installation
Sound sculpture
Spectral music

TM7 MG: Hard Rock-Metal
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
ToDo....Hard Rock and Heavy Metal are subgenres of Rock Music which have their earliest roots in mid-1960s Garage Rock and Psychedelic Rock and are considerably harder than conventional Rock Music. They are typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, keyboards and drums.
Hard Rock is strongly influenced by Blues; the most frequently used scale in Hard Rock is the pentatonic, which is a typical Blues scale. Unlike traditional Rock and Roll (which takes elements of the "old" Blues), Hard Rock incorporates elements of "British Blues", a style of Blues played with more modern instruments such as electric guitars, drums, keyboards and electric bass. A notable departure from traditional Blues forms is that Hard Rock is seldom restricted to the I, IV, and V chords prevalent in twelve or sixteen bar blues, but includes other chords, typically major chords rooted on tones of the minor scale.
The term "Hard Rock" is often applied to many styles of Rock Music, their only common feature being that they deviate from Pop Rock, though this is generally incorrect. Two such examples are Punk Rock and Grunge. Punk Rock uses a faster tempo, less melody, fewer riffs (often using barre chords), more aggression and anti-establishment lyrics.
The predominant instruments in Hard Rock are the electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums. The role of the guitarist is very prevalent in Hard Rock. Most Hard Rock bands comprise two different types of guitarist, a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist. The lead guitarist plays the solos, riffs and fills. Speed-enhancing techniques such as alternate picking, sweep picking and tapping, are used by Hard Rock lead guitarists to maximize the speed of their solos and riffs. The role of the rhythm guitarist is to complement the lead guitarist and provide rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment to the other instruments in the band. The bass guitarist and drummer's role are important to the structure of hard rock music; the bassline outlines the melody of the music while the drums sustain the rhythm of the music.
Heavy Metal developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States. With roots in Blues-Rock and Psychedelic rock, the bands that created Heavy Metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. Heavy Metal lyrics and performance styles are generally associated with machismo and masculine sexuality.
 
Early Heavy Metal bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple attracted large audiences, though they were often critically reviled, a status common throughout the history of the genre. In the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its Blues influence; Motörhead introduced a Punk Rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Bands in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal such as Iron Maiden followed in a similar vein. Before the end of the decade, heavy metal had attracted a worldwide following of fans known as "metalheads" or "headbangers".
 
In the 1980s, Glam Metal became a major commercial force with groups like Mötley Crüe. Underground scenes produced an array of more extreme, aggressive styles: Thrash Metal broke into the mainstream with bands such as Metallica, while other styles like Death Metal and Black Metal remain subcultural phenomena. Since the mid-1990s, popular styles such as Nu Metal, which often incorporates elements of Funk and Hip Hop; and Metalcore, which blends Extreme Metal with Hardcore Punk, have further expanded the definition of the genre.
 
History
Beginnings (1960s)
As stated, one of the major influences of Hard Rock is Blues music, especially British Blues. British Rock bands, such as Cream, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Who and The Kinks modified Rock and Roll, adding to the standard genre harder sounds, heavier guitar riffs, bombastic drumming and louder vocals. This sound created the basis for Hard Rock. Early forms of Hard Rock can be heard in the songs "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks, "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" by The Yardbirds, "My Generation" and "I Can See for Miles" by The Who.
At the same time, Jimi Hendrix, produced a form of blues-influenced Psychedelic Rock, which combined elements of Jazz, Blues and Rock and Roll, creating a unique genre. He was one of the first guitarists to experiment with new guitar effects like phasing, feedback and distortion, along with Dave Davies of the Kinks, Pete Townshend of The Who, and Jeff Beck of the Yardbirds.
Hard rock emerged with British groups of the late-1960s, such as Led Zeppelin and The Beatles who mixed the music of early British rock bands with a more hard-edged form of blues rock and acid rock. Deep Purple helped pioneer the hard rock genre with the albums Shades of Deep Purple (1968), The Book of Taliesyn (1968), and Deep Purple (1969), but they made their big break with their fourth album, In Rock (1970). Led Zeppelin's eponymous first album, Led Zeppelin (1969), and The Who's Live at Leeds (1970), are examples of music from the beginning of the hard rock genre. The blues origins of the albums are clear, and a few songs by well-known blues artists are adapted or covered within them.
First era (1970s)
Led Zeppelin's third album, Led Zeppelin III was more Folk rock-oriented than their second, but the heavy aspects of their music remained.
Deep Purple's transformation of hard rock continued with their album, Machine Head, considered as one of the first heavy metal albums. Two songs in Machine Head had great success: "Highway Star" and "Smoke On The Water", whose main riff made it become the signature Deep Purple song. Another band, Nazareth, provided a blend of hard rock which commercialised the genre further with their best selling album, Hair of the Dog, which in turn, influenced numerous other bands.
During the 1970s, hard rock developed a variety of sub-genres. In 1972, heavy metal pioneer Alice Cooper put heavy metal into the mainstream with the top ten album School's Out. The following year, Aerosmith, Queen and Montrose released their eponymous debut albums, demonstrating the broadening directions of hard rock. In 1974, Bad Company released its debut album, Rush released their first, self entitled album and Queen released its third album, Sheer Heart Attack, with the track "Stone Cold Crazy" influencing later thrash metal artists, such as Metallica and Megadeth. Queen used layered vocals and guitars and mixed hard rock with glam rock, heavy metal, progressive rock, and even opera. KISS released their first three albums Kiss, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill, in a little over a year, achieving their commercial breakthrough with double live album Alive!. In the mid-1970s, Aerosmith released the ground-breaking Toys in the Attic and Rocks which incorporated elements of blues and hard rock and would later influence rock artists such as Metallica, Guns N' Roses and Mötley Crüe. In 1976, Boston released their highly successful debut album while Heart paved the way for women in the genre with the release of their debut.
With the death of Tommy Bolin in 1976, Deep Purple disbanded. In 1978, The Who's drummer, Keith Moon died in his sleep via an overdose. With the rise of Disco in the U.S. and Punk Rock in the UK, hard rock began to lose popularity. Disco appealed to a more diverse group of people and punk seemed to take over the rebellious role that hard rock once held. Meanwhile, Black Sabbath moved away from the darkness of their early work with albums such as Technical Ecstasy.
Van Halen, another important group in hard rock, emerged in 1978. Their music was based mostly on the guitar skills of Eddie Van Halen, the lead guitarist, who popularised a technique called tapping in guitar playing. The song "Eruption" from the album Van Halen, demonstrated Eddie Van Halen's technique and was very influential.
In 1979, the differences between the hard rock movement and the rising heavy metal movement were highlighted when the Australian hard rock band, AC/DC, released its second-biggest album, Highway to Hell. AC/DC's music was based mostly on rhythm & blues and early-1970s hard rock, with the group explicitly repudiating the "heavy metal" tag.
Second era (1980s)
In 1980, Led Zeppelin disbanded after the sudden death of drummer John Bonham. Bon Scott, the lead singer of AC/DC, also died in 1980. With these deaths, the first wave of "classic" hard rock bands ended. Some bands, such as Queen, moved away from their hard rock roots and more towards pop rock. AC/DC recorded the album Back in Black, with their new lead singer, Brian Johnson. Back in Black is the fifth highest-selling album of all time in the U.S and the second largest selling album in the world. Ozzy Osbourne released his first solo album, Blizzard of Ozz which featured American guitarist Randy Rhoads.
In 1981, the British hard rock band Def Leppard released their second album High 'N' Dry with which they categorized the sound of Hard Rock in the 1980s with the song Bringin' on The Heartbreak, the U.S. band Mötley Crüe followed suit with their release Too Fast for Love. A year later, the style grew, led by bands such as Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot.
Also in 1983, Def Leppard released the album Pyromania, which reached #2 on the American charts. With this release they established their trademark style by mixing glam rock with heavy metal. Pyromania undeniably started the pop influenced metal explosion that followed with songs such as Photograph, and Rock of Ages, which gatecrashed the American top 20, and Foolin', and Too Late for Love which were major top 40 hits. Photograph was also the most played clip on MTV that same year beating out even Michael Jackson's most successful Thriller.
That same year, Mötley Crüe released the album, Shout at the Devil, which became a huge hit. Van Halen's album 1984 became a huge success as well, hitting #2 on the Billboard album charts. In particular, the song "Jump" reached #1 on the Billboard singles chart.
The late 1980s saw the most commercially successful time period for hard rock. Numerous hard rock acts achieved hits in the mainstream charts. One of those hits was the album Slippery When Wet (1986) by Bon Jovi, which spent a total of 8 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart and became the first hard rock album to spawn three Top 10 singles, two of which reached #1. In addition, the anthem rock The Final Countdown by Swedish group Europe was released in 1986 and reached #1 on 26 countries' charts.
In 1987, the most notable successes of the decade came in the form of, Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses, and Hysteria by Def Leppard (both of which reached #1 on Billboard's album chart), both sold well over 10 million copies in America alone and more than 20 million around the world to date. Appetite produced 3 top 20 hits including the #1 Sweet Child 'o Mine, Hysteria however produced 7 hit singles (more than any Hard Rock act before or since) 5 of those singles ruled the American Top 10, 3 of which were the top 3 songs on the charts at that time. Also of note that year was Mötley Crüe's Girls, Girls, Girls and Whitesnake's self-titled album. In 1988 and 1989, the most notable successes were New Jersey by Bon Jovi, Pump by Aerosmith, and Dr. Feelgood by Mötley Crüe. New Jersey spawned five Top 10 singles, the most ever for a hard rock album. Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth achieved underground success in the U.S., and would later reach the mainstream in the 1990s. In 1988, Skid Row formed. Their first album, Skid Row, was released in 1989, reaching number 6 in the Billboard 200.
Third era (1990s-present)
The early 1990s were at first dominated by Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Van Halen. The multi-platinum releases of Metallica's "Metallica" (often referred to as "The Black Album"), Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II and Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge in 1991 showcased this popularity. But the popularity of such bands waned, as their music and attitudes became more decadent and self-indulgent. In 1991 a new form of hard rock broke into the mainstream.
Grunge combined elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal into a dirty sound that made use of heavy guitar distortion, fuzz and feedback. Although most grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and L7 had a sound that sharply contrasted mainstream hard rock, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, and Soundgarden were more strongly influenced by much 1970s and 1980s rock and metal. However, all grunge bands shunned the macho, anthemic and fashion-focused style of hard rock at that time.
In the UK, bands like Swervedriver, Catherine Wheel and Ride demonstrated that guitar heroics could be incorporated into songs that lacked the often-misogynistic content of 1970s and 1980s hard rock bands. Popularity of artists such as Metallica and Van Halen continued from the 1980s into the 1990s. Some, such as Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Living Colour, Living in Colour and White Zombie fused funk with metal styles, though most of these bands actually formed in the '80s. Faith No More/Mr. Bungle fused many genres with hard rock, ranging from rap music to soul. In the '90s, some bands such as Korn and Tool fused metal with a range of eclectic influences. The Darkness's retro glam-metal influences helped propel them to the upper realms of the charts in the early 2000s, with the likes of Wolfmother. Towards the mid 2000s with new bands started to become mainstream, Jet, Wolfmother, White Stripes, The Answer, The Glitterati, The Datsuns, Nineteenth century and punk influence Towers of London are some of the new rock bands which followed up from the Garage rock revival.
This has helped revive the glam metal scene (e.g. bands like Buckcherry, which Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction album is often credited with influencing). The 00's even saw reunions and subsequent tours from Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, and Living Colour, in addition to Van Halen and Black Sabbath and even a one off performance by Led Zeppelin renewing the interest in previous eras.
Characteristics
Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. Metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes. ''[[The New York Times]]'' critic [[Jon Pareles]] writes, "In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation, less blues, more showmanship and more brute force." The typical band lineup includes a [[drummer]], a [[bass guitar|bassist]], a [[rhythm guitar]]ist, a [[lead guitar]]ist, and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. [[Keyboard instruments]] are often used to enhance the fullness of the sound. The loud, distorted [[Hammond organ]] and occasionally the magnetic tape-based [[mellotron]] were popular with early metal bands; these instruments were displaced in the 1980s by [[electronic keyboard]] synthesizers. Today, keyboards are used in styles such as [[progressive metal]], [[power metal]], and [[symphonic metal]]. Some [[nu metal]] bands incorporate [[hip hop]] elements, which may include a [[Disc jockey|DJ]] [[scratching]] and creating various sound effects.
 
The [[electric guitar]] and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. Guitars are often played with [[distortion pedal]]s through heavily overdriven [[Valve amplifier|tube amplifiers]] to create a thick, powerful, "heavy" sound. In the early 1970s, some popular metal groups began [[multiple guitar players|cofeaturing two guitarists]]. Leading bands such as [[Judas Priest]] and [[Iron Maiden]] followed this pattern of having two or three guitarists share the roles of both lead and rhythm guitar. A central element of much heavy metal is the [[guitar solo]], a form of [[cadenza]]. As the genre developed, more intricate solos and [[riffs]] became an integral part of the style. Guitarists use [[sweep-picking]], [[tapping]], and other advanced techniques for rapid playing, and many styles of metal emphasize [[virtuoso|virtuosic]] displays.
 
The lead role of the guitar in heavy metal often collides with the traditional "frontman" or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two "contend for dominance" in a spirit of "affectionate rivalry". Heavy metal "demands the subordination of the voice" to the overall sound of the band. Reflecting metal's roots in the 1960s counterculture, an "explicit display of emotion" is required from the vocals as a sign of authenticity. Critic [[Simon Frith]] claims that the metal singer's "tone of voice" is more important than the lyrics. Metal vocals vary widely in style, from the multioctave, theatrical approach of Judas Priest's [[Rob Halford]] and Iron Maiden's [[Bruce Dickinson]], to the gruff style of [[Motörhead]]'s [[Lemmy]] and [[Metallica]]'s [[James Hetfield]], to the straight-out screaming and growling of [[At the Gates]]' [[Tomas Lindberg]], to the phlegm-clogged, possessed style of black metal singers such as [[Mayhem (band)|Mayhem]]'s [[Dead (musician)|Dead]].
 
The prominent role of the bass is also key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy". Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low [[pedal point]] as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and [[lick (music)|lick]]s along with the lead and/or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica's [[Cliff Burton]] in the early 1980s. Metal bassists frequently use [[plectrum|picks]] instead of fingerstyle plucking, to get a stronger, clearer articulation. A few use [[shred guitar]]–style techniques such as tapping and sweep picking. In some styles, such as thrash and death metal, the bass may be distorted with a [[bass effects|bass overdrive]] pedal for a heavier, thicker sound. Nu metal as well as death metal bassists often use a five- or six-string bass (or a detuned instrument) with an [[extended-range bass|extended lower range]].
 
The essence of metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision". Metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", and drummers have to develop "considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity...to play the intricate patterns" used in metal. A characteristic metal drumming technique is the [[cymbal choke]], which consists of striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand (or, in some cases, the same striking hand), producing a burst of sound. The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music. Aside from the standard toms, bass drum, snare, and hi-hat, ride, and crash cymbals used in many rock drumkits, there is often a double bass drum, additional toms, a number of additional cymbals (e.g., splash and extra crash cymbals), and other instruments such as a [[Cowbell (instrument)|cowbell]].
 
In live performance, [[loudness]]—an "onslaught of sound," in Deena Weinstein's description—is considered vital. In his book ''Metalheads'', Jeffrey Arnett refers to heavy metal concerts as "the sensory equivalent of war." Following the lead set by [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Cream (band)|Cream]] and [[The Who]], early heavy metal acts such as [[Blue Cheer]] set new benchmarks for volume. As Blue Cheer's [[Dickie Peterson|Dick Peterson]] puts it, "All we knew was we wanted more power." Reviewing a Motörhead concert in 1977, Paul Sutcliffe noted how "excessive volume in particular figured into the band’s impact." Weinstein makes the case that in the same way that [[melody]] is the main element of [[Pop music|pop]] and rhythm is the main focus of [[house (music)|house]] music, powerful sound, timbre, and volume are the key elements of metal. She argues that the loudness is designed to "sweep the listener into the sound" and to provide a "shot of youthful vitality." Heavy metal's fixation on loudness was mocked in the [[rockumentary]] spoof ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'', in which a metal guitarist claims to have modified his amplifiers to "[[Up to eleven|go to eleven]]."
 
;Musical language
;Rhythm and tempo
The beat in metal songs is emphatic, with deliberate stresses. Weinstein observes that the wide array of sonic effects available to metal drummers enables the "rhythmic pattern to take on a complexity within its elemental drive and insistency." In many heavy metal songs, the main groove is characterized by short, two-note or three-note rhythmic figures—generally made up of [[eighth note|8th]] or [[sixteenth note|16th notes]]. These rhythmic figures are usually performed with a [[staccato]] attack created by using a [[palm muting|palm-muted]] technique on the rhythm guitar. [[Image:Heavy rythmic pattern.jpg|500px|thumb| An example of a rhythmic pattern used in heavy metal.]] Brief, abrupt, and detached rhythmic cells are joined into rhythmic phrases with a distinctive, often jerky texture. These phrases are used to create rhythmic accompaniment and melodic figures called [[riff]]s, which help to establish thematic [[Hook (music)|hooks]]. Heavy metal songs also use longer rhythmic figures such as [[whole note]]- or dotted quarter note-length chords in slow-tempo [[power ballad]]s. The tempos in early heavy metal music tended to be "slow, even ponderous." By the late 1970s, however, metal bands were employing a wide variety of tempos. In the 2000s, metal tempos range from slow ballad tempos (quarter note = 60 [[beats per minute]]) to extremely fast [[blast beat]] tempos (quarter note = 350 beats per minute).
 
;Harmony
One of the signatures of the genre is the guitar [[power chord]]. In technical terms, the power chord is relatively simple: it involves just one main [[interval (music)|interval]], generally the [[perfect fifth]], though an [[octave]] may be added as a doubling of the [[root]]. Although the perfect fifth interval is the most common basis for the power chord, power chords are also based on different intervals such as the [[minor third]], [[major third]], [[perfect fourth]], [[diminished fifth]], or [[minor sixth]]. Since the power chord is based on a single interval, it enables guitarists to use a high level of distortion without unintended [[inharmonicity]] or [[intermodulation distortion]]. If a [[triad]]—a chord with a root, third, and fifth—is played on a heavily distorted guitar, intermodulation distortion may produce frequency components at the various sums and differences of the frequency components of the input signal which will be not be harmonically related to the input signal, leading to disarmonious sounds. Most power chords are also played with a consistent finger arrangement that can be slid easily up and down the [[fingerboard|fretboard]].
 
;Typical harmonic relationships
Heavy metal is usually based on [[riff]]s created with three main harmonic traits: modal scale progressions, tritone and chromatic progressions, and the use of pedal points.
 
'''Modal harmony'''
Traditional heavy metal tends to employ modal scales, in particular the [[Aeolian mode|Aeolian]] and [[Phrygian mode]]s. Harmonically speaking, this means the genre typically incorporates modal chord progressions such as the Aeolian progressions I-VI-VII, I-VII-(VI), or I-VI-IV-VII and Phrygian progressions implying the relation between I and ?II (I-?II-I, I-?II-III, or I-?II-VII for example).
 
Aeolian harmony is used in songs such as Judas Priest's "[[Breaking the Law]]", Iron Maiden's "[[Hallowed Be Thy Name]]", and [[Accept]]'s "Princess of the Dawn", each employing a I-VI-VII progression as its main riff. Phrygian harmony is used in songs such as [[Mercyful Fate]]'s "Gypsy" (main riff I-?II-I-VI-V), [[Megadeth]]'s "[[Symphony of Destruction]]" (main riff built on the ?II-I relation), and [[Sodom (band)|Sodom]]'s "Remember the Fallen" (Introduction + main riff—the riff closing implies a Phrygian [[Cadence (music)|cadence]]: I-?II-III).
 
'''Tritone and chromatism'''
Tense-sounding [[chromatic]] or [[tritone]] relationships are used in a number of metal chord progressions. The tritone, an interval spanning three whole tones—such as C and F#—was a forbidden dissonance in medieval ecclesiastical singing, which led monks to call it ''diabolus in musica''—"the devil in music." The first explicit prohibition of that interval seems to occur with the "development of [[Guido of Arezzo]]'s [[hexachord]]al system which made B flat a [[diatonic]] note, namely as the 4th degree of the hexachordal on F. From then until the end of Renaissance the tritone, nicknamed the 'diabolus in musica', was regarded as an unstable interval and rejected as a consonance" (Sadie, Stanley [1980]. During the [[Baroque music|Baroque]] and [[Classical period (music)|Classical]] eras, the interval came to be accepted, though in a specific, controlled way. It is only during the [[Romantic music|Romantic era]] and in [[20th century classical music|modern classical music]] that composers have used it freely, exploiting the evil connotations with which it is culturally associated. Because of that original symbolic association, it came to be heard in Western cultural convention as "evil". Heavy metal has made extensive use of the tritone in guitar solos and riffs, such as in the beginning of "[[Black Sabbath (song)|Black Sabbath]]".
 
'''Pedal point'''
Heavy metal songs often make extensive use of [[pedal point]] as a harmonic basis. A pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass range, during which at least one foreign (i.e., dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts. Heavy metal riffs are frequently constructed over a persistent repeating note played on the low strings of the bass or rhythmic guitar, most usually on the E, A, and D strings. In black metal, however, pedal point is seldom a component of the guitar riff itself, but is rather played in the background by the bass. In other words, a single bass note—most frequently low E or A—is persistently repeated while some different chords are successively played, including chords that do not normally incorporate that bass note, which creates a sense of tension. An example is the opening riff of Judas Priest's "[[You've Got Another Thing Comin']]". In this case, one guitar plays the pedal point in F#, while the second guitar plays the chords.
 
;Classical influence
Robert Walser argues that, alongside blues and R&B, the "assemblage of disparate musical styles known...as 'classical music'" has been a major influence on heavy metal since the genre's earliest days. He claims that metal's "most influential musicians have been guitar players who have also studied classical music. Their appropriation and adaptation of classical models sparked the development of a new kind of guitar virtuosity [and] changes in the harmonic and melodic language of heavy metal."
 
The appropriation of "classical" music by heavy metal musicians typically involves musical elements associated with the [[Baroque]], [[Classical music|Classical]], and [[Romantic music|Romantic]] eras of art music. [[Deep Purple]]/[[Rainbow (band)|Rainbow]] guitarist [[Ritchie Blackmore]] and [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]] guitarist [[Uli Jon Roth]] began experimenting with musical figurations borrowed from classical music in the early 1970s. In the 1980s, guitarists [[Randy Rhoads]] and [[Yngwie Malmsteen]] used eighteenth-century Baroque and later classical compositions as models,{{Fact|date=December 2008}} inspiring neoclassical metal players including [[Michael Angelo Batio]], [[Vinnie Moore]], and [[Tony MacAlpine]].
 
Although a number of metal musicians cite classical composers as inspiration, heavy metal cannot be regarded as the modern descendant of classical music. Classical and metal are rooted in different cultural traditions and practices—classical in the [[art music]] tradition, metal in the [[popular music]] tradition. As musicologists Nicolas Cook and Nicola Dibben note, "Analyses of popular music also sometimes reveal the influence of 'art traditions.' An example is Walser’s linkage of heavy metal music with the ideologies and even some of the performance practices of nineteenth-century Romanticism. However, it would be clearly wrong to claim that traditions such as blues, rock, heavy metal, rap or dance music derive primarily from 'art music.'" Heavy metal borrows only some aspects of classical music, such as [[motif (music)|motifs]], melodies, and scales, rather than more complex features, such as [[counterpoint]], [[polyphony]], and [[Structure#Musical composition|classical structural forms]]. Heavy metal bands, including [[Progressive metal|progressive]] and [[neoclassical metal]] bands, generally do not seek to observe the compositional and aesthetical exigencies of classical music.
 
;Lyrical themes
Common themes in heavy metal lyrics are sex, violence, and the occult. The sexual nature of many heavy metal songs, ranging from Led Zeppelin's suggestive lyrics to the more explicit references of latter-day nu metal bands, derives from the genre's roots in blues music and its frequently sexual content. Since the 1980s, with the rise of thrash metal, a substantial number of metal songs have included sociopolitical commentary. Romantic tragedy is a standard theme of gothic and doom metal, as well as of nu metal, where teenage angst is another central topic. Genres such as melodic death metal, progressive metal, and black metal often explore philosophical themes, while more extreme forms of death metal and grindcore have purely aggressive, gory, and often unintelligible content.
 
Heavy metal songs often feature outlandish, fantasy-inspired lyrics, lending them an escapist quality. Iron Maiden's songs, for instance, were frequently inspired by mythology, fiction, and poetry, such as "[[Rime of the Ancient Mariner (song)|Rime of the Ancient Mariner]]," based on the [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] [[Rime of the Ancient Mariner|poem]]. Other examples include Black Sabbath's "The Wizard," [[Megadeth]]'s "The Conjuring" and "Five Magics," and Judas Priest's "Dreamer Deceiver." Other artists base their lyrics on war, nuclear annihilation, environmental issues, politics, and society or religion. Examples include Black Sabbath's "[[War Pigs (song)|War Pigs]]," [[Ozzy Osbourne]]'s "Killer of Giants," Metallica's ''[[...And Justice for All (song)|...And Justice for All]]'', Iron Maiden's "[[2 Minutes to Midnight]]," Accept's "[[Balls to the Wall]]," and Megadeth's "[[Peace Sells]]." Death is a predominant theme in heavy metal, routinely featuring in the lyrics of such different bands as Black Sabbath, [[Slayer]], and [[W.A.S.P. (band)|W.A.S.P.]]
 
The thematic content of heavy metal has long been a target of criticism. According to Jon Pareles, "Heavy metal's main subject matter is simple and virtually universal. With grunts, moans and subliterary lyrics, it celebrates...a party without limits.... [T]he bulk of the music is stylized and formulaic." Music critics have often deemed metal lyrics juvenile and banal, and others have objected to what they see as advocacy of [[misogyny]] and the occult. During the 1980s, the [[Parents Music Resource Center]] petitioned the U.S. Congress to regulate the popular music industry due to what the group asserted were objectionable lyrics, particularly those in heavy metal songs. In 1990, Judas Priest was sued by the parents of two young men who had shot themselves five years earlier, allegedly after hearing the subliminal statement "do it" in a Priest song. While the case attracted a great deal of media attention, it was ultimately dismissed.
 
;Image and fashion
As with much popular music, visual imagery plays a large role in heavy metal. In addition to its sound and lyrics, a heavy metal band's "image" is expressed in album sleeve art, logos, stage sets, clothing, and [[music video]]s. Some heavy metal acts such as [[Alice Cooper]], [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]], and [[Gwar]] have become known as much for their outrageous performance personas and stage shows as for their music.
 
Down-the-back long hair, according to Weinstein, is the "most crucial distinguishing feature of metal fashion." Originally adopted from the hippie subculture, by the 1980s and 1990s heavy metal hair "symbolised the hate, angst and disenchantment of a generation that seemingly never felt at home," according to journalist Nader Rahman. Long hair gave members of the metal community "the power they needed to rebel against nothing in general."
 
The classic uniform of heavy metal fans consists of "blue jeans, black T-shirts, boots and black leather or jeans jackets.... T-shirts are generally emblazoned with the logos or other visual representations of favorite metal bands." Metal fans also "appropriated elements from the S&M community (chains, metal studs, skulls, leather and crosses)." In the 1980s, a range of sources, from punk and [[goth]] music to horror films, influenced metal fashion. Many metal performers of the 1970s and 1980s used radically shaped and brightly colored instruments to enhance their stage appearance. Fashion and personal style was especially important for glam metal bands of the era. Performers typically wore long, dyed, hairspray-teased hair (hence the nickname, "hair metal"); makeup such as lipstick and eyeliner; gaudy clothing, including leopard-skin-printed shirts or vests and tight denim, leather, or spandex pants; and accessories such as headbands and jewelry. Pioneered by the heavy metal act [[X Japan]] in the late 1980s, bands in the Japanese movement known as [[visual kei]]—which includes many nonmetal groups—emphasize elaborate costumes, hair, and makeup.
 
;Physical gestures
Many metal musicians when performing live engage in [[headbanging]], which involves rhythmically beating time with the head, often emphasized by long hair. The [[corna]], or devil horns, hand gesture, also widespread, was popularized by vocalist [[Ronnie James Dio]] while with Black Sabbath and [[Dio]]. [[Gene Simmons]] of [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] claims to have been the first to make the gesture in concert.
 
Attendees of metal concerts do not dance in the usual sense; Deena Weinstein has argued that this is due to the music's largely male audience and "extreme heterosexualist ideology." She identifies two primary body movements that substitute for dancing: headbanging and an arm thrust that is both a sign of appreciation and a rhythmic gesture. The performance of [[air guitar]] is popular among metal fans both at concerts and listening to records at home. Other concert audience activities include [[stage diving]], [[crowd surfing]], pushing and shoving in a chaotic mélée called [[moshing]], and displaying the corna hand symbol.
 
;Fan subculture
Deena Weinstein argues that heavy metal has outlasted many other rock genres largely due to the emergence of an intense, exclusionary, strongly masculine subculture. While the metal fanbase is largely young, white, male, and blue-collar, the group is "tolerant of those outside its core demographic base who follow its codes of dress, appearance, and behavior." Identification with the subculture is strengthened not only by the shared experience of concert-going and shared elements of fashion, but also by contributing to metal magazines and, more recently, websites.
 
The metal scene has been characterized as a "subculture of alienation", with its own code of authenticity. This code puts several demands on performers: they must appear both completely devoted to their music and loyal to the subculture that supports it; they must appear disinterested in mainstream appeal and radio hits; and they must never "sell out". For the fans themselves, the code promotes "opposition to established authority, and separateness from the rest of society." Scholars of metal have noted the tendency of fans to classify and reject some performers (and some other fans) as "[[poseur (music)|poseur]]s" "who pretended to be part of the subculture, but who were deemed to lack authenticity and sincerity."
 
;Etymology
The origin of the term ''heavy metal'' in a musical context is uncertain. The phrase has been used for centuries in chemistry and metallurgy. An early use of the term in modern popular culture was by [[counterculture|countercultural]] writer [[William S. Burroughs]]. His 1962 novel ''[[The Soft Machine]]'' includes a character known as "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid." Burroughs's next novel, ''[[Nova Express]]'' (1964), develops the theme, using ''heavy metal'' as a metaphor for addictive drugs: "With their diseases and orgasm drugs and their sexless parasite life forms—Heavy Metal People of Uranus wrapped in cool blue mist of vaporized bank notes—And The Insect People of Minraud with metal music."
 
Metal historian [[Ian Christe]] describes what the components of the term mean in "hippiespeak": "heavy" is roughly synonymous with "potent" or "profound," and "metal" designates a certain type of mood, grinding and weighted as with metal. The word "heavy" in this sense was a basic element of [[beatnik]] and later countercultural [[slang]], and references to "heavy music"—typically slower, more amplified variations of standard pop fare—were already common by the mid-1960s. [[Iron Butterfly]]'s debut album, released in early 1968, was titled ''[[Heavy (album)|Heavy]]''. The first recorded use of ''heavy metal'' is a reference to a motorcycle in the [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]] song "[[Born to Be Wild]]," also released that year: "I like smoke and lightning/Heavy metal thunder/Racin' with the wind/And the feelin' that I'm under." A late, and disputed, claim about the source of the term was made by [[Chas Chandler|"Chas" Chandler]], former manager of the [[Jimi Hendrix Experience]]. In a 1995 interview on the [[PBS]] program ''Rock and Roll'', he asserted that heavy metal "was a term originated in a ''New York Times'' article reviewing a [[Jimi Hendrix]] performance," in which the author likened the event to "listening to heavy metal falling from the sky." A source for Chandler's claim has never been found.
 
The first documented uses of the phrase to describe a type of rock music are from reviews by critic [[Mike Saunders]]. In the November 12, 1970, issue of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', he commented on an album put out the previous year by the British band [[Humble Pie]]: "''[[As Safe As Yesterday Is|Safe As Yesterday Is]],'' their first American release, proved that Humble Pie could be boring in lots of different ways. Here they were a noisy, unmelodic, heavy metal-leaden shit-rock band with the loud and noisy parts beyond doubt. There were a couple of nice songs...and one monumental pile of refuse." He described the band's latest, [[Humble Pie (album)|self-titled release]] as "more of the same 27th-rate heavy metal crap." In a review of [[Sir Lord Baltimore]]'s ''[[Kingdom Come (Sir Lord Baltimore album)|Kingdom Come]]'' in the May 1971 ''[[Creem]]'', Saunders wrote, "Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book." ''Creem'' critic [[Lester Bangs]] is credited with popularizing the term via his early 1970s essays on bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Through the decade, ''heavy metal'' was used by certain critics as a virtually automatic putdown. In 1979, lead ''New York Times'' popular music critic [[John Rockwell]] described what he called "heavy-metal rock" as "brutally aggressive music played mostly for minds clouded by drugs," and, in a different article, as "a crude exaggeration of rock basics that appeals to white teenagers."
 
The terms "heavy metal" and "hard rock" have often been used interchangeably, particularly in discussing bands of the 1970s, a period when the terms were largely synonymous. For example, the 1983 ''Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' includes this passage: "known for its aggressive blues-based hard-rock style, [[Aerosmith]] was the top American heavy-metal band of the mid-Seventies." Few would now characterize Aerosmith's classic sound, with its clear links to traditional [[rock and roll]], as "heavy metal."
 
;History
;Antecedents: mid-1960s
American [[blues music]] was a major influence on the early British rockers. Bands like [[The Rolling Stones]] and [[The Yardbirds]] developed [[blues-rock]] by recording covers of many classic blues songs, often speeding up the [[tempo]]s. As they experimented with the music, the UK blues-based bands—and the U.S. acts they influenced in turn—developed what would become the hallmarks of heavy metal: At the core was a loud, distorted guitar style, built around power chords. [[The Kinks]] played a major role in popularizing this sound with their 1964 hit "[[You Really Got Me]]." A significant contributor to the emerging guitar sound was the [[feedback]] facilitated by the new generation of amplifiers. In addition to The Kinks' [[Dave Davies]], other guitarists such as [[The Who]]'s [[Pete Townshend]] and the Tridents' [[Jeff Beck]] were experimenting with feedback. Where the blues-rock drumming style started out largely as simple shuffle beats on small kits, drummers began using a more muscular, complex, and amplified approach to match and be heard against the increasingly loud guitar. Vocalists similarly modified their technique and increased their reliance on amplification, often becoming more stylized and dramatic. In terms of sheer volume, especially in live performance, The Who's "bigger-louder-wall-of-[[Marshall Amplification#Marshall Stack|Marshall]]s" approach was seminal. Simultaneous advances in amplification and recording technology made it possible to successfully capture the power of this heavier approach on record.
 
The combination of blues-rock with psychedelic rock formed much of the original basis for heavy metal. One of the most influential bands in forging the merger of genres was the power trio [[Cream (band)|Cream]], who derived a massive, heavy sound from [[unison]] riffing between guitarist [[Eric Clapton]] and bassist [[Jack Bruce]], as well as [[Ginger Baker]]'s double bass drumming. Their first two LPs, ''[[Fresh Cream]]'' (1966) and ''[[Disraeli Gears]]'' (1967), are regarded as essential prototypes for the future style. The Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album, ''[[Are You Experienced (album)|Are You Experienced]]'' (1967), was also highly influential. Hendrix's virtuosic technique would be emulated by many metal guitarists and the album's most successful single, "[[Purple Haze]]," is identified by some as the first heavy metal hit.
 
;Origins: late 1960s and early 1970s
In 1968, the sound that would become known as heavy metal began to coalesce. That January, the San Francisco band [[Blue Cheer]] released a cover of [[Eddie Cochran]]'s classic "[[Summertime Blues]]," from their debut album ''[[Vincebus Eruptum]]'', that many consider the first true heavy metal recording. The same month, [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]] released its [[Steppenwolf (album)|self-titled debut album]], including "[[Born to Be Wild]]," with its "heavy metal" lyric. In July, another two epochal records came out: The Yardbirds' "Think About It"—B-side of the band's last single—with a performance by guitarist [[Jimmy Page]] anticipating the metal sound he would soon make famous; and [[Iron Butterfly]]'s ''[[In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (album)|In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida]]'', with its 17-minute-long [[In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (song)|title track]], a prime candidate for first-ever heavy metal album. In August, [[The Beatles]]' single version of "[[Revolution (song)|Revolution]]," with its redlined guitar and drum sound, set new standards for distortion in a top-selling context. The [[Jeff Beck Group]], whose leader had preceded Page as The Yardbirds' guitarist, released its debut record that same month: ''[[Truth (album)|Truth]]'' featured some of the "most molten, barbed, downright funny noises of all time," breaking ground for generations of metal ax-slingers. In October, Page's new band, [[Led Zeppelin]], made its live debut. In November, [[Love Sculpture]], with guitarist [[Dave Edmunds]], put out ''Blues Helping'', featuring a pounding, aggressive version of [[Khachaturian]]'s "[[Sabre Dance]]." The Beatles' so-called ''[[The Beatles (album)|White Album]]'', which also came out that month, included "[[Helter Skelter (song)|Helter Skelter]]," then one of the heaviest-sounding songs ever released by a major band. [[The Pretty Things]]' [[rock opera]] ''[[S.F. Sorrow]]'', released in December, featured "proto heavy metal" songs such as "Old Man Going."
 
In January 1969, Led Zeppelin's [[Led Zeppelin (album)|self-titled debut album]] was released and reached number 10 on the ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' album chart. In July, Zeppelin and a power trio with a Cream-inspired, but cruder sound, [[Grand Funk Railroad]], played the [[Atlanta International Pop Festival (1969)|Atlanta Pop Festival]]. That same month, another Cream-rooted trio led by [[Leslie West]] released ''Mountain'', an album filled with heavy blues-rock guitar and roaring vocals. In August, the group—now itself dubbed [[Mountain (band)|Mountain]]—played an hour-long set at the [[Woodstock Festival]]. Grand Funk's debut album, ''[[On Time]]'', also came out that month. In the fall, ''[[Led Zeppelin II]]'' went to number 1 and the album's single "[[Whole Lotta Love]]" hit number 4 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart. The metal revolution was under way.
 
Led Zeppelin defined central aspects of the emerging genre, with Page's highly distorted guitar style and singer [[Robert Plant]]'s dramatic, wailing vocals. Other bands, with a more consistently heavy, "purely" metal sound, would prove equally important in codifying the genre. The 1970 releases by [[Black Sabbath]] (''[[Black Sabbath (album)|Black Sabbath]]'' and ''[[Paranoid (album)|Paranoid]]'') and [[Deep Purple]] (''[[In Rock (Deep Purple album)|In Rock]]'') were crucial in this regard. Black Sabbath had developed a particularly heavy sound in part due to an industrial accident guitarist [[Tony Iommi]] suffered before cofounding the band. Unable to play normally, Iommi had to tune his guitar down for easier fretting and rely on power chords with their relatively simple fingering. Deep Purple had fluctuated between styles in its early years, but by 1969 vocalist [[Ian Gillan]] and guitarist [[Ritchie Blackmore]] had led the band toward the developing heavy metal style. In 1970, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple scored major UK chart hits with "[[Paranoid (song)|Paranoid]]" and "[[Black Night]]," respectively. That same year, three other British bands released debut albums in a heavy metal mode: [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]] with ''[[Very 'eavy... Very 'umble]]'', [[UFO (band)|UFO]] with ''[[Unidentified Flying Object (album)|UFO 1]]'', and [[Black Widow (band)|Black Widow]] with ''Sacrifice''. [[Wishbone Ash]], though not commonly identified as metal, introduced a dual-lead/rhythm-guitar style that many metal bands of the following generation would adopt. [[Budgie (band)|Budgie]] brought the new metal sound into a power trio context. The occult lyrics and imagery employed by Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, and Black Widow would prove particularly influential; Led Zeppelin also began foregrounding such elements with its [[Led Zeppelin IV|fourth album]], released in 1971.
 
On the other side of the Atlantic, the trend-setting group was Grand Funk Railroad, "the most commercially successful American heavy-metal band from 1970 until they disbanded in 1976, [they] established the Seventies success formula: continuous touring." Other bands identified with metal emerged in the U.S., such as [[Dust (band)|Dust]] (first LP in 1971), [[Blue Öyster Cult]] ([[Blue Öyster Cult (album)|1972]]), and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] ([[Kiss (album)|1974]]). In Germany, the [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]] debuted with ''[[Lonesome Crow]]'' in 1972. Blackmore, who had emerged as a virtuoso soloist with Deep Purple's ''[[Machine Head (album)|Machine Head]]'' (1972), quit the group in 1975 to form [[Rainbow (band)|Rainbow]]. These bands also built audiences via constant touring and increasingly elaborate stage shows. As described above, there are arguments about whether these and other early bands truly qualify as "heavy metal" or simply as "hard rock." Those closer to the music's blues roots or placing greater emphasis on melody are now commonly ascribed the latter label. [[AC/DC]], which debuted with ''[[High Voltage (Australian album)|High Voltage]]'' in 1975, is a prime example. The 1983 ''Rolling Stone'' encyclopedia entry begins, "Australian heavy-metal band AC/DC..." Rock historian Clinton Walker writes, "Calling AC/DC a heavy metal band in the seventies was as inaccurate as it is today.... [They] were a rock'n'roll band that just happened to be heavy enough for metal." The issue is not only one of shifting definitions, but also a persistent distinction between musical style and audience identification: Ian Christe describes how the band "became the stepping-stone that led huge numbers of hard rock fans into heavy metal [[perdition]]."
 
In certain cases, there is little debate. After Black Sabbath, the next major example is Britain's [[Judas Priest]], which debuted with ''[[Rocka Rolla]]'' in 1974. In Christe's description, Black Sabbath's

audience was...left to scavenge for sounds with similar impact. By the mid-1970s, heavy metal aesthetic could be spotted, like a mythical beast, in the moody bass and complex dual guitars of [[Thin Lizzy]], in the stagecraft of [[Alice Cooper]], in the sizzling guitar and showy vocals of [[Queen (band)|Queen]], and in the thundering medieval questions of Rainbow.... Judas Priest arrived to unify and amplify these diverse highlights from hard rock's sonic palette. For the first time, heavy metal became a true genre unto itself.

TM7 MG: Jamaican Music
 
The Magnificent Seven Series; Music Genres: Jamaican Music
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
"Jamaican Music"'s videos in chronological order. Up to 33 hours of music and videos.... R&B, Jazz, Blues, Mento, Calypso, Ska, Rocksteady, Sound Systems, Reggae, Toasting, Roots Reggae, Dub, Dub Poetry, Lovers Rock, Dancehall, Ragga, Drum and Bass, Trip Hop.
 
Jamaica is an island of the Greater Antilles, 11,100 km², 234 kilometres in length and 80 kilometres in width, situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about 145 kilometres south of Cuba, and 190 kilometres west of the island of Hispaniola. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs". Formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago, it later became the British Crown colony of Jamaica, and it remains a Commonwealth realm.
 
The Arawak and Taino indigenous people, originating from South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, probably landing in Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay, there were over 200 villages ruled by chiefs or caciques, with the south coast of Jamaica being the most populated, especially around what is now known as Old Harbour. He claimed Jamaica for Spain. St. Ann's Bay was the "Saint Gloria" of Columbus who first sighted Jamaica at this point. One mile west of St. Ann's Bay is the site of the first Spanish settlement on the island, Sevilla, which was abandoned in 1554 because of numerous pirate raids, and the capital was moved to Spanish Town, now located in the parish of St. Catherine, and it was then called "Villa de la Vega". In 1965, the Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English. During its first 200 years of British rule, Jamaica became one of the world's leading sugar-exporting, slave-dependent nations. In 1807, after the abolition of the slave trade, but not of the slavery itself, the slave drivers imported Indian and Chinese workers as indentured servants to supplement the labour pool. Descendants of indentured servants of Asian and Chinese origin continue to reside in Jamaica today. The nation formally abolished slavery in 1834, with full emancipation from chattel slavery declared in 1838. In 1872, Kingston became the island's capital. Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom and in 1958, it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation among the British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federation in 1962.
 
Though a small nation, Jamaica is rich in culture, and has a strong global presence. The musical genres Mento, Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Dub, and, more recently, Dancehall and Ragga all originated in the island's vibrant, popular urban recording industry.
 
The Rastafari movement was founded in Jamaica. This Back to Africa movement believes that Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was God incarnate, the returned black messiah, come to take the lost Twelve Tribes of Israel back to live with him in Holy Mount Zion in a world of perfect peace, love and harmony. Bob Marley, a convert to the faith, spread the message of Rastafari to the world. There are now estimated to be more than a million Rastafarians throughout the world.
 
Errol Flynn lived with his third wife Patrice Wymore in Port Antonio in the 1950s. He was responsible for developing tourism to this area, popularising raft trips down rivers on bamboo rafts.
 
Ian Fleming, who lived in Jamaica, repeatedly used the island as a setting in the James Bond novels, including Live and Let Die, Doctor No, For Your Eyes Only, The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy. In addition, James Bond uses a Jamaica-based cover in Casino Royale. So far, the only Bond film to have been set in Jamaica is Doctor No. However, filming for the fictional island of San Monique in Live and Let Die took place in Jamaica.
 
The American film Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise, is one of the most popular films to depict Jamaica. A look at delinquent youth in Jamaica is presented in the 1970s musical crime film The Harder They Come, starring Jimmy Cliff as a frustrated (and psychopathic) reggae musician who descends into a murderous crime spree. Another popular Jamaican-based film is the 1993 comedy Cool Runnings which is loosely based on the true story of Jamaica's first bobsled team trying to make it in the Winter Olympics.
 
The island is famous for its Jamaican jerk spice which forms a popular part of Jamaican cuisine. Also the island is home to the world renowned Red Stripe Beer and Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.
 
 
The Music of Jamaica
Kumina - Niyabinghi - Mento - Ska - Rocksteady - Reggae - Sound systems - Lovers Rock - Dub - Dancehall - Dub Poetry - Toasting - Raggamuffin - Roots Reggae
 
R&B, Jazz, Blues, Mento, Calypso, Ska, Rocksteady
 
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s following on the development of Ska and Rocksteady. Reggae is based on a rhythmic style characterized by regular beats on the off-beat, known as the skank. Reggae is normally slower than Ska, and usually has accents on the third beat in each bar. Reggae song lyrics deal with many subjects, including religion, love, sexuality, relationships, poverty, injustice and other social and political issues.
 
Roots Reggae, Dub, Dub Poetry, Toasting, Lovers Rock, Dancehall, Ragga, Dancehall, Drum and Bass, Trip Hop
 
Internationally known reggae musician Bob Marley was born in Jamaica and is very respected there. Many other internationally known artists were born in Jamaica including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Big Youth, Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Desmond Dekker, Beres Hammond, Beenie Man, Shaggy, Tami Chynn, Tessanne Chin, Grace Jones, Shabba Ranks, Supercat, Buju Banton, Sean Paul, I Wayne, Bounty Killer and many others. Famous band artist groups that came from Jamaica include Black Uhuru, Third World Band, Inner Circle, Chalice Reggae Band, Culture, Fab Five, Morgan Heritage and Hype Revolution. The genre jungle emerged from London's Jamaican diaspora. The birth of hip-hop in New York also owed much to the city's Jamaican community.
 
 
Folk
In 1907, when Walter Jekyll's Jamaican Song and Story was first published. The contents of this book include four parts entitled Anancy Stories, Digging Sings, Ring Tunes, and Dancing Tunes. Each part has an introduction, songs, stories, and melodies.
Part 1: Anancy stories, includes 51 items, such as the story and melody "Leah and Tiger" (item 36, pp. 108-109). The heading refers to a legendary figure, Anancy, or Anansi, the Ashanti word for spider. Anancy stories and certain musical characteristics originated in West Africa.
Part 2: Digging sings, includes 37 items, such as "The one shirt I have" (item 58, p. 164). The heading refers to the digging of holes for the planting of yams. "Nothing more joyous can be imagined," writes Jekyll, "than a good 'digging-sing' from twenty throats, with the pickers—so they call their pickaxes—falling in regular beat." Digging sings included songs sung during many kinds of labor. A feature of several digging sings is the bobbin. Jekyll explains, "One man starts or 'raises' the tune and the others come in with the 'bobbin,' the short refrain..." In the song Miss Nancy Ray, for example, the bobbin is "Oh hurrah boys!" Bobbins resemble and perhaps stemmed from a common manner of singing of work songs in Africa.
Part 3: Ring tunes, includes 28 items, such as "Ring a diamond" (item 92, p. 194). These tunes were sung by boys and girls holding hands to form a ring.
Part 4: Dancing tunes, includes 80 items, such as "Fan me, soldierman" (item 125, p. 223) and "Carry me Ackee go Linstead market" (item 121, pp. 219-220).
 
During the 1970's, Oxford University Press published six collections of Jamaican folks songs arranged and annotated by Dr. Olive Lewin. Her book, Rock It Come Over: the Folk Music of Jamaica, describes Jekyll's 1907 book as "very well researched," but she gives examples of occasional errors. She concludes that "although Jekyll's interest extended beyond music to Jamaican folklore, it was by his considerable knowledge as a musician that he made the most valuable contribution to this all too neglected field of scholarship."
 
In her book Fourty Folk Songs of Jamaica, Lewin classifies the songs into eleven groups: Bruckins, Jankunnu, Kumina, Maroon, Mento, Nagos, Rasta (Rastafarian), Revival, (Set-Up; Gerreh), Tambo, and Worksongs. Of these, Mento is by far the most common. However, much of Mento is of relatively recent origin and should be classified as popular music rather than folk. Linkages from folk music to Mento are described in Daniel T. Neely's dissertation, "Mento, Jamaica's Original Music: Development, Tourism and the Nationalist Frame" (New York University, 2007).
 
Among the best known Jamaican folk songs are Day-O (Banana Boat Song), Jamaica Farewell (Iron Bar), and Linstead Market. The first two of these were popularized by Harry Belafonte. The third has come a long way since its appearance among Jekyll's 108 Jamaican folk songs. Not only has Linstead Market been arranged for solo voice and piano and for performance by choirs, but also, it was arranged for congregational singing in 1975 and now appears in at least five hymnals.
 
 
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican Folk Music that predates and has greatly influenced Ska and Reggae music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sat on while played. The rhumba box carries the bass part of the music.
Mento is often confused with Calypso, a musical form from Trinidad and Tobago. Although the two share many similarities, they are separate and distinct musical forms. In part, the differences stem from the differing colonial histories of the two West Indian Islands, as Jamaican Music lacks the Spanish influences found in other Caribbean musical styles.  
Mento draws on musical traditions brought over by African slaves. The influence of European music is also strong, as slaves who could play musical instruments were often required to play music for their masters. They subsequently incorporated some elements of these traditions into their own folk music. The lyrics of mento songs often deal with aspects of everyday life in a light-hearted and humorous way. Many comment on poverty, poor housing and other social issues. Thinly-veiled sexual references and innuendo are also common themes. Although the treatment of such subjects in mento is comparatively innocent, their appearance has sometimes been seen as a precursor of the slackness found in modern dancehall.  
The golden age of mento was the 1950s, as records pressed by Stanley Motta, Ivan Chin, Ken Khouri and others brought the music to a new audience. In the 1960s it was overshadowed by ska and reggae, but it is still played in Jamaica, especially in areas frequented by tourists. It was repopularized by the Jolly Boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the release of four recordings on First Warning Records/Rykodisc and a tour that included the United States.  
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to Rocksteady and Reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean Mento and Calypso with American Jazz and Rhythm and Blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the offbeat.  
In the early 1960s, Ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods. Later it became popular with many skinheads. Music historians typically divide the history of Ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s, the English 2 Tone Ska Revival of the late 1970s and the Third Wave Ska Movement, which started in the 1980s.  
After World War II, Jamaicans purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues music from Southern United States cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino and Louis Jordan. The stationing of American military forces during and after the war meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts of American music and there was a constant influx of records from the US. To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed Sound Systems. As jump Blues and more traditional R&B began to ebb in popularity in the early 1960s, Jamaican artists began recording their own version of the genres. The style was of bars made up of four triplets, similar to that of "My baby just cares for me" by Nina Simone, but was characterized by a guitar chop on the off beat - known as an upstroke or skank - with horns taking the lead and often following the off beat skank and piano emphasizing the bass line and, again, playing the skank. Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the 3rd beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The snare would play side stick and accent the 3rd beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The upstroke sound can also be found in other Caribbean forms of music, such as Mento and Calypso.  
One theory about the origin of ska is that Prince Buster created it during the inaugural recording session for his new record label Wild Bells. The session was financed by Duke Reid, who was supposed to get half of the songs to release. However, he only received one, which was by trombonist Rico Rodriguez. Among the pieces recorded were "They Got to Go", "Oh Carolina" and "Shake a Leg". According to reggae historian Steve Barrow, during the sessions, Prince Buster told guitarist Jah Jerry to "change gear, man, change gear". The guitar began emphasizing the second and fourth beats in the bar, giving rise to the new sound. The drums were taken from traditional Jamaican drumming and marching styles. To create the ska beat, Prince Buster essentially flipped the R&B shuffle beat, stressing the offbeats with the help of the guitar.  
The first ska recordings were created at facilities such as Studio One and WIRL Records in Kingston, Jamaica with producers such as Dodd, Reid, Prince Buster, and Edward Seaga. The ska sound coincided with the celebratory feelings surrounding Jamaica's independence from the UK in 1962; an event commemorated by songs such as Derrick Morgan's "Forward March" and The Skatalites' "Freedom Sound". Because the newly-independent Jamaica didn't ratify the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works until 1994 copyright was not an issue, which created a large number of cover songs and reinterpretations. Jamaican musicians such as The Skatalites often recorded instrumental ska versions of popular American and British music, such as Beatles songs, Motown and Atlantic soul hits, movie theme songs, or surf rock instrumentals. Bob Marley's band The Wailers covered the Beatles' "And I Love Her", and radically reinterpreted Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone".  
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires performed ska with Prince Buster, Eric "Monty" Morris, and Jimmy Cliff at the 1964 New York World's Fair. As music changed in the United States, so did ska. In 1965 and 1966, when American soul became slower and smoother, ska changed its sound accordingly and evolved into Rocksteady.  
2 Tone The 2 Tone genre, which began in the late 1970s in the 30 square miles (78 km2) around Birmingham and Coventry in England, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's more aggressive guitar chords and lyrics. Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation and a harder edge. The genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a record label founded by Jerry Dammers of The Specials. Although 2 Tone bands were respectful to the original Jamaican ska artists, The Specials failed to credit musicians such as Prince Buster, as the composer of music on their 1979 debut vinyl release. However, in many cases, the reworking of classic ska songs turned the originals into hits again in the United Kingdom. The 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in the UK. Riots in British cities were a feature during the summer that The Specials song "Ghost Town" was a hit, although this work was in a slower, Reggae beat. Most of the 2 Tone bands had multiracial lineups, such as The Beat (known as English Beat in North America) and The Selecter.[1] Although only on the 2 Tone label for one single, Madness were one of the most effective bands at bringing the 2 Tone genre into the mainstream.  
Third wave ska Ska punk In the 1980s, bands influenced by the 2 Tone ska revival started forming in the United States and other countries.[12] The style was characterized by brass instruments, a heavily-accented offbeat, and sometimes a faster tempo.[12] The first well-known American ska revival band was The Toasters, who played in a 2 Tone-influenced style and paved the way for the third wave ska movement. Other notable early third wave ska bands included The Donkey Show, The Uptones, Fishbone, Operation Ivy, Let's Go Bowling and Bim Skala Bim.  
Most early third wave bands emerged from Southern California but by the early 1990s, ska revival bands were forming throughout the United States and many other countries. Tazy Phyllipz and Albino Brown of the Ska Parade radio show popularized the label "third wave ska." Ska Parade helped promote many Southern California bands such as Sublime, No Doubt, and Let's Go Bowling.[13]  
In 1993 The ska-core band Mighty Mighty Bosstones signed with Mercury Records and appeared in the film Clueless, with their first mainstream hit "Where'd You Go?" Bands such as No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and Goldfinger brought ska mainstream attention. During this time, many ska songs became hits on mainstream radio, including Spiderwebs, Sell Out, and The Impression That I Get.  
Many third wave ska bands played ska punk and its subgenre, ska-core. Ska punk took 2 Tone and increased the punk rock elements, while ska-core blended ska with hardcore punk. However, some third wave ska bands — such as The Allstonians, Hepcat and The Slackers — continued to play in a more traditional 1960s-influenced style. Many of the popular accoutrements of the 2 Tone and mod movements were also popular with the third wave of ska. The checkerboard pattern of the 2 Tone record label became a popular stylistic element on third wave ska clothing, album covers, and posters. By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave ska bands waned as other music genres gained momentum.[citation needed]  
Record labels In 1981, The Toasters' frontman Robert "Bucket" Hingley created Moon Ska Records, which became the biggest American ska record label. It featured many bands that became staples in third wave ska.[citation needed] Moon Ska Records officially folded in 2000, but Moon Ska Europe continued operating in the 2000s, and later relaunched as Moon Ska World. In 2003, Hingley launched a new ska record label, Megalith Records. In 1996, Mike Park of the band Skankin' Pickle officially founded Asian Man Records, which was the biggest West coast United States third wave ska label.[citation needed] In 1997, Brett Gurewitz and Tim Armstrong founded Hellcat Records, which mostly featured punk rock bands, but also featured several ska and ska punk acts. In Montreal, Canada, The Planet Smashers' lead signer and guitarist Matt Collyer founded Stomp Records in 1994. Fueled by Ramen was started by Less Than Jake and features many lesser known ska bands.  
 
Rocksteady is a music genre that was most popular in Jamaica, starting around 1966, and its reggae successor was established around 1968.  
The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rock Steady". A successor to Jamaican ska, and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Kingstonians, The Maytals and The Paragons. Dances performed to rocksteady were less energetic than the earlier ska dance moves. Rocksteady differs from ska musically as the tempo is slower and more relaxed. The bass is heavier and more prominent in the mix and in addition, the bass lines abandon the earlier "walking" style of the ska period in favor of more broken, syncopated figures. The ska-style back beat and the emphasis on the offbeat carried over into rocksteady.  
Rocksteady arose at a time when young people from the Jamaican countryside were flooding into the urban ghettos of Kingston — in neighborhoods such as Riverton City, Greenwich Town and Trenchtown. Though much of the country was optimistic in the immediate post-independence climate, these poverty-stricken youths did not share this sentiment. Many of them became delinquents who exuded a certain coolness and style. These unruly youths became known as rude boys.  
The rude boy phenomenon had existed in the ska period, but was expressed more obviously during the rocksteady era in songs such as "Rude Boy Gone A Jail" by The Clarendonians; '"No Good Rudie" by Justin Hinds & the Dominoes; and "Don't Be A Rude Boy" by The Rulers. Though Alton Ellis is sometimes said to be the father of rocksteady for his hit "Girl I've Got a Date", other candidates for the first rocksteady single include "Take It Easy" by Hopeton Lewis, "Tougher Than Tough" by Derrick Morgan and "Hold Them" by Roy Shirley. In a Jamaican radio interview, pianist Gladstone Anderson said that bandleader Lynn Taitt was the man who slowed down the ska beat in 1964 during a "Take It Easy" recording session to create Rocksteady. The record producer Duke Reid released Alton Ellis' "Girl I've Got a Date" on his Treasure Isle label, as well as recordings by The Techniques, The Silvertones, The Jamaicans and The Paragons. Reid's work with these groups helped establish the vocal sound of rocksteady. Notable solo artists include Delroy Wilson, Bob Andy, Ken Boothe and Phyllis Dillon (known as the "Queen of Rocksteady").  
Rocksteady lyrics mainly dealt with love and the rude boy culture, but most of the songs are simply music for dancing. Rocksteady singers regularly covered American soul recordings. For example, the song "You Don't Care" by The Techniques is a cover of "You'll Want Me Back" by The Impressions. "Ilya Kuryakin" by Ike Bennet and The Crystalites is lifted from "Theme from A Summer Place". Musicians who were crucial in creating the music included guitarist Lynn Taitt, keyboard player Jackie Mittoo, drummer Winston Grennan, bassist Jackie Jackson and saxophonist Tommy McCook. As a musical style, rocksteady was shortlived, and existed only for about two years. For this reason original recordings in this genre are often harder to find than those from the ska and reggae era. In contrast to rocksteady, the Jamaican ska trend lasted several years, and classic reggae lasted for over a decade.  
 
Transformation into reggae Several factors contributed to the evolution of rocksteady into reggae in the late 1960s. The emigration to Canada of key musical arrangers Jackie Mittoo and Lynn Taitt — and the upgrading of Jamaican studio technology — had a marked effect on the sound and style of the recordings. Musically, bass patterns became more complex and increasingly dominated the arrangements and the piano gave way to the electric organ in the mix. Other developments included horns fading farther into the background; a scratchier, more percussive rhythm guitar; the addition of African-style hand drumming, and a more precise and intricate drumming style. The use of a vocal-free or lead instrument-free dub or B-side "version" became popular in Jamaica.  
By the late 1960s, as the Rastafari movement gained in popularity, many reggae songs became focused less on romance and more on black consciousness, politics and protest. The release of the film The Harder They Come and the rise of Jamaican superstar Bob Marley brought reggae music to an international level that rocksteady had never been able to reach. Although rocksteady was a short-lived phase of Jamaican popular music, it was hugely influential to the reggae, dub and dancehall styles that followed. Many bass lines originally created for rocksteady songs continue to be used in contemporary Jamaican music.  
The 1967 edition of the Dictionary of Jamaican English lists reggae as "a recently estab. sp. for rege", as in rege-rege, a word that can mean either "rags, ragged clothing" or "a quarrel, a row".  
The word reggae as a musical term first appeared in print with the 1968 rocksteady hit "Do the Reggay" by The Maytals, but it was already being used in Kingston, Jamaica as the name of a slower dance and style of rocksteady. As Reggae artist Derrick Morgan stated:  
We didn't like the name rock steady, so I tried a different version of "Fat Man". It changed the beat again, it used the organ to creep. Bunny Lee, the producer, liked that. He created the sound with the organ and the rhythm guitar. It sounded like ‘reggae, reggae' and that name just took off. Bunny Lee started using the world [sic] and soon all the musicians were saying ‘reggae, reggae, reggae.  
Reggae historian Steve Barrow credits Clancy Eccles with altering the Jamaican patois word streggae ("loose woman") into reggae. However, Toots Hibbert said:  
There's a word we used to use in Jamaica called 'streggae'. If a girl is walking and the guys look at her and say 'Man, she's streggae' it means she don't dress well, she look raggedy. The girls would say that about the men too. This one morning me and my two friends were playing and I said, 'OK man, let's do the reggay.' It was just something that came out of my mouth. So we just start singing 'Do the reggay, do the reggay' and created a beat. People tell me later that we had given the sound it's [sic] name. Before that people had called it blue-beat and all kind of other things. Now it's in the Guinness World of Records.  
Bob Marley is said to have claimed that the word reggae came from a Spanish term for "the king's music". The liner notes of To the King, a compilation of Christian gospel reggae, suggest that the word reggae was derived from the Latin regis meaning "to the king."  
Precursors Although strongly influenced by both traditional African and Caribbean music, as well as by American rhythm and blues, reggae owes its direct origins to the progressive development of ska and rocksteady in 1960s Jamaica.  
Ska music first arose in the studios of Jamaica over the years 1959 and 1961, itself a development of the earlier mento genre. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line, accentuated guitar or piano rhythms on the offbeat, and sometimes jazz-like horn riffs. Aside from its massive popularity amidst the Jamaican rude boy fashion, it had gained a large following among mods in Britain by 1964. According to Barrow, rude boys began deliberately playing their ska records at half speed, preferring to dance slower as part of their tough image.  
By the mid-1960s, many musicians had begun playing the tempo of ska slower, while emphasizing the walking bass and offbeats. The slower sound was named rocksteady, after a single by Alton Ellis. This phase of Jamaican music lasted only until 1968, when musicians began to slow the tempo of the music again, and added yet more effects. This led to the creation of reggae.  
Origins and development The shift from rocksteady to reggae was illustrated by the organ shuffle pioneered by Bunny Lee, and featured in the transitional singles "Say What You're Saying" (1967) by Clancy Eccles, and "People Funny Boy" (1968) by Lee "Scratch" Perry. The Pioneers' 1967 track "Long Shot Bus' Me Bet" has been identified as the earliest recorded example of the new rhythm sound that would soon become known as reggae.  
Early 1968 was when the first bona fide reggae records came into being: "Nanny Goat" by Larry Marshall and "No More Heartaches" by The Beltones. Music historian Piero Scaruffi credits American artist Johnny Nash's 1968 hit "Hold Me Tight" with first putting reggae on the American listener charts. Reggae was also starting to surface in Rock Music when the Beatles would appropriate a reggae rhythm for 1968 "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".  
The Wailers, a band that was started by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer in 1963, are generally agreed to be the most easily recognised group worldwide that made the transition through all three stages — from ska hits like "Simmer Down", through slower rocksteady; and they are also among the significant pioneers who can be called the roots of reggae — along with Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker, Jackie Mittoo and several others.  
Some of the many notable Jamaican producers who were highly influential in the development of ska into rocksteady and reggae in the 1960s include Coxsone Dodd, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Leslie Kong, Duke Reid, Joe Gibbs and King Tubby. Another early producer was Chris Blackwell, who founded Island Records in Jamaica in 1960, then relocated to England in 1962, where he continued to promote Jamaican music. He formed a partnership with Trojan Records, founded by Lee Gopthal in 1968. Trojan released recordings by reggae artists in the UK until 1974, when Saga bought the label.  
1970s and 1980s The 1972 film The Harder They Come, starring Jimmy Cliff, generated considerable interest and popularity for reggae music in the United States, and Eric Clapton's 1974 cover of the Bob Marley song "I Shot the Sheriff" helped bring reggae into the mainstream. By the mid 1970s, reggae was getting radio play in the UK on John Peel's radio show, and John continued to play more reggae throughout his career. What is called the first "Golden Age of Reggae" corresponds roughly to the heyday of roots reggae.  
In the second half of the 1970s, the UK punk rock scene was starting to form, and some punk DJs played reggae songs during their sets. Some punk bands, such as The Clash, The Slits, The Police, and The Ruts, incorporated reggae influences into their music. At the same time, reggae began to enjoy a revival in the UK that continued into the 1980s, exemplified by groups like Steel Pulse, Aswad, UB40, and Musical Youth. Other artists who enjoyed international appeal in the early 1980s include Third World, Black Uhuru and Sugar Minott.  
The Grammy Awards introduced the Best Reggae Album category in 1985, which was won that year by Black Uhuru's Anthem LP.  
Musical characteristics Reggae is either played in 4/4 time or swing time, because the symmetrical rhythmic pattern does not lend itself to other time signatures such as 3/4 time. Harmonically, the music is often very simple, and sometimes a whole song will have no more than one or two chords. These simple repetitious chord structures add to reggae's sometimes hypnotic effects.  
Drums and other percussion A standard drum kit is generally used, but the snare drum is often tuned very high to give it a timbale-type sound. Some reggae drummers use an additional timbale or high-tuned snare to get this sound. Cross-stick technique on the snare drum is commonly used, and tom-tom drums are often incorporated into the drumbeat itself.  
Reggae drumbeats fall into three main categories: One drop, Rockers and Steppers. With the One drop, the emphasis is entirely on the third beat of the bar (usually on the snare, or as a rim shot combined with bass drum). Beat one is completely empty, which is extremely unusual in popular music. There is some controversy about whether reggae should be counted so that this beat falls on the 3, or whether it should be counted half as fast so that it falls on the 2 and 4. This article follows the convention of placing the beat on the 3. [Note, reggae drummers including Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace count out loud on the intro to many recordings such that the dominate pattern emphasizes the two and four. The conventional listener will hear it on the 3, but Wallace calls the beat the "two-four combination."]. Many credit Carlton Barrett of The Wailers as the creator of this style, although it may actually have been invented by Winston Grennan. Hugh Malcolm and Joe Isaacs were also active Kingston studio drummers at the time. An example played by Barrett can be heard in the Bob Marley and the Wailers song "One Drop". Barrett often used an unusual triplet cross-rhythm on the hi-hat, which can be heard on many recordings by Bob Marley and the Wailers, such as "Running Away" on the Kaya album.  
An emphasis on beat three is in all reggae drumbeats, but with the Rockers (pronounced like "raucous") beat, the emphasis is also on beat one (usually on bass drum). This beat was pioneered by the prolific innovative duo of Sly and Robbie — Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare — who later also helped create the "Rub-a-Dub" sound that greatly influenced Dancehall. The prototypical example of the style is found in Dunbar's drumming on "Right Time" by the Mighty Diamonds. The Rockers beat is not always straightforward, and various syncopations are often included. An example of this is the Black Uhuru song "Sponji Reggae."  
In Steppers, the bass drum plays four solid beats to the bar, giving the beat an insistent drive. An example is "Exodus" by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Another common name for the Steppers beat is the "four on the floor." Burning Spear's "Red, Gold, and Green" with Leroy Wallace on drums is one of the earliest examples and dates from 1975.  
The Steppers beat was also adopted (at a much higher tempo) by some of the 2 Tone ska revival bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Examples include "Stand Down Margaret" by The Beat and "Too Much Too Young" by The Specials.  
An unusual characteristic of reggae drumming is that the drum fills often do not end with a climactic cymbal. A wide range of other percussion instrumentation is used in reggae. Bongos are often used to play free, improvised patterns, with heavy use of African-style cross-rhythms. Cowbells, claves and shakers tend to have more defined roles and a set pattern.  
Bass The bass guitar often plays a very dominant role in reggae, and the drum and bass is often called the riddim. Several reggae singers have released different songs recorded over the same riddim. The central role of the bass can be particularly heard in dub music — which gives an even bigger role to the drum and bass line, reducing the vocals and other instruments to peripheral roles. The bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The bass line is often a simple two-bar riff that is centred around its thickest and heaviest note.  
Guitars The rhythm guitar in reggae usually plays the chords on beats two and four, a musical figure known as skank or the 'bang'. It has a very dampened, short and scratchy chop sound, almost like a percussion instrument. Sometimes a double chop is used when the guitar still plays the off beats, but also plays the following 8th beats on the up-stroke. An example is the intro to "Stir It Up" by The Wailers.  
Keyboards From the late 1960s through to the early 1980s, a piano was generally used in reggae to double the rhythm guitar's skank, playing the chords in a staccato style to add body, and playing occasional extra beats, runs and riffs. The piano part was widely taken over by synthesizers during the 1980s, although synthesizers have been used in a peripheral role since the 1970s to play incidental melodies and countermelodies. Larger bands may include either an additional keyboardist, to cover or replace horn and melody lines, or the main keyboardist filling these roles on two or more keyboards. The latter has become increasingly popular as keyboard technology improves.  
The reggae-organ shuffle is unique to reggae. Typically, a Hammond organ-style sound is used to play chords with a choppy feel. This is known as the bubble. There are specific drawbar settings used on a Hammond console to get the correct sound. This may be the most difficult reggae keyboard rhythm. The 8th beats are played with a space-left-right-left-space-left-right-left pattern.  
Horns Horn sections are frequently used in reggae, often playing introductions and counter-melodies. Instruments included in a typical reggae horn section include saxophone, trumpet and/or trombone. In more recent times, real horns are sometimes replaced in reggae by synthesizers or recorded samples. The horn section is often arranged around the first horn, playing a simple melody or counter melody. The first horn is usually accompanied by the second horn playing the same melodic phrase in unision, one octave higher. The third horn usually plays the melody an octave and a fifth higher than the first horn. The horns are generally played fairly softly, usually resulting in a soothing sound. However, sometimes punchier, louder phrases are played for a more up-tempo and aggressive sound.  
Vocals The vocals in reggae are less of a defining characteristic of the genre than the instrumentation and rhythm. Almost any song can be performed in a reggae style. Vocal harmony parts are often used, either throughout the melody (as with bands such as the Mighty Diamonds), or as a counterpoint to the main vocal line (as with the backing group I-Threes). The British reggae band Steel Pulse used particularly complex backing vocals. An unusual aspect of reggae singing is that many singers use tremolo (volume oscillation) rather than vibrato (pitch oscillation). Notable exponents of this technique include Dennis Brown and Horace Andy. The toasting vocal style is unique to reggae, originating when DJs improvised along to dub tracks, and it is generally considered to be a precursor to rap. It differs from rap mainly in that it is generally melodic, while rap is generally more a spoken form without melodic content.  
Lyrical themes See also: Rastafari movement#Reggae Reggae is noted for its tradition of social criticism, although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love, sex and socializing. Many early reggae bands also covered Motown or Atlantic soul and funk numbers. Some reggae lyrics attempt to raise the political consciousness of the audience, such as by criticizing materialism, or by informing the listener about controversial subjects such as Apartheid. Many reggae songs promote the use of cannabis (also known as herb or ganja), considered a sacrament in the Rastafari movement. There are many artists who utilize religious themes in their music — whether it be discussing a religious topic, or simply giving praise to the Rastafari God Jah. Other common socio-political topics in reggae songs include black nationalism, anti-racism, anti-colonialism, anti-capitalism, criticism of political systems and "Babylon", and promotion of caring for needs of the younger generation.  
 
In the context of Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music. The sound system scene is generally regarded as an important part of Jamaican cultural history and as being responsible for the rise of several modern Jamaican musical genres.[1]  
The sound system concept first became popular in the 1950s, in the ghettos of Kingston. DJs would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, and huge speakers and set up street parties. In the beginning, the DJs played American rhythm and blues music, but as time progressed and more local music was created, the sound migrated to a local flavor.[1] The sound systems were big business, and represented one of the few sure ways to make money in the unstable economy of the area. The promoter (the DJ) would make his profit by charging a minimal admission, and selling food and alcohol. It was not uncommon for thousands of people to be in attendance. By the mid 1950s, sound systems had eclipsed live musicians in any combination for the purpose of staging parties. By the second half of the decade, custom-built systems began to appear from the workshops of specialists such as Headley Jones, who constructed wardrobe-sized speaker cabinets known as "House[s] of Joy". It was also around this time that Jamaica's first superstar DJ and MC, Count Machuki (b. Winston Cooper) rose to prominence. As time progressed, sound systems became louder--capable of playing bass frequencies of 30,000 watts or more, with similar wattage attainable at the mid-range and high frequencies--and far more complex than their predecessors, record players with a single extension speaker.3 Competition between these sound systems was fierce, and eventually two DJs emerged as the stars of the scene: Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd, and Duke Reid.  
The popularity of a sound system was mainly contingent on one thing: having new music. In order to circumvent the release cycle of the American record labels, the two sound system superstars turned to record production. Initially, they produced only singles for their own sound systems, known as "Exclusives" or Dubplates - a limited run of one copy per song.[2] What began as an attempt to copy the American R&B sound using local musicians evolved into a uniquely Jamaican musical genre: ska. This shift was due partly to the fact that as American-style R&B was embraced by a largely white, teenage audience and evolved into rock and roll, sound system owners could no longer depend on a steady stream of the singles they preferred: fast-shuffle boogies and ballads. In response to this shift in supply, Jamaican producers introduced to their work some of the original elements of the Jamaican sound: rhythm guitars strumming the offbeat and snare-drum emphasis on the third beat, for example. 5 As this new musical form became more popular, both Dodd and Reid began to move more seriously into music production. Coxsone Dodd's production studio became the famous Studio One, while Duke Reid founded Treasure Isle.  
As sound systems continued to gain in popularity through the 1960s and 1970s, they became politicized in many instances. Many sound systems, and their owners, were labeled as supporters of a particular political party (such as the PNP or the JLP), but most of the sound systems tried to maintain political neutrality. Nevertheless, as a cultural and economic phenomenon, the sound system was affected by the vast socio-political changes taking place in Jamaica at this time.6  
 
Lovers rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid 1970s.[1]  
History The roots of Lovers Rock lie in the early days of reggae, with Jamaican singers such as Ken Boothe, Johnny Nash, and John Holt enjoying international hits with reggae versions of well-known love songs.[2]  
A style suited to the London reggae scene, Lovers rock represented an apolitical counterpoint to the conscious Rastafarian sound dominant in Jamaica at the time.[1] It combined the smooth soul sounds of Chicago and Philadelphia soul with reggae basslines and rhythms.[3][4] Rooted in the Sound systems of South London, the style had particular appeal amongst women and produced many female stars including Carroll Thompson, and Louisa Marks, who aged 14 was the first British artist to have a lovers rock hit with her version of Bobby Parker's "Caught You in a Lie" in 1975, which was followed by Ginger Williams' "Tenderness". The husband and wife production team of Dennis and Eve Harris then had a big hit with T.T. Ross's "Last Date", and Dennis Harris then set up a new label, Lovers Rock, along with John Kpiaye and Dennis Bovell, which gave the new genre a name.[4]  
South London trio Brown Sugar (including a young Caron Wheeler, later of Soul II Soul) pioneered a subgenre, 'conscious lovers', with songs such as "I'm In Love With a Dreadlocks" and "Black Pride". Others who released records in this subgenre included the Battersea songstress Winsome.[4] Lovers Rock became a staple of London's sound systems such as Chicken Hi-Fi, Success Sound, and Soferno B.[2] Neil "Mad Professor" Fraser would be a key Lovers Rock producer, working with Deborahe Glasgow, while Bovell would produce one of the genre's biggest hits, Janet Kay's "Silly Games", which reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1979.[1][2][3] Although noted for the preponderance and youth of its female exponents, the new style produced its fair share of male stars as well, notably Trevor Walters and Winston Reedy.  
Subsequently, numerous well-established Jamaican acts came to try their hand at the new sound. Most successful among these were Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott, and later Freddie McGregor.[2][3] Brown's "Money In My Pocket" (#14 in 1979) and Minott's "Good Thing Going" (#4 in 1981) were both big hits in the UK Singles Chart.[2]  
The popularity of Lovers Rock has continued, and in the 1980s the Fashion label was hugely successful with UK audiences, and the Revue label had a major hit in 1986 with Boris Gardiner's "I Wanna Wake Up With You".[2] In the 1990s the likes of Mike Anthony, Peter Hunnigale, and Donna Marie enjoyed huge success with the genre, and several British stars have performed at Reggae Sunsplash.[  
 
Dub is a form of music, evolved from reggae that involves revisions of existing songs[1]. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequencies or 'riddim', adding extensive echo and reverb effects, panoramic LR delay, and dubbing occasional snippets of lyrics from the original version.  
It is widely accepted that Jamaican musicians Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, and Lee "Scratch" Perry pioneered the style in the 1960s and early 1970s[citation needed]. Ruddock and Perry each called upon the mixing desk as an instrument, with the deejay or "selector" playing the role of the artist or performer. These early 'dub' examples can be looked upon as the prelude to many dance and pop music genres.  
Today, the word 'dub' is used widely to describe the re-formatting of music of various genres into typically instrumental, rhythm-centric adaptations.  
 
Character  
Dub music is characterized as a "version" or "double" [2] of an existing song, often instrumental, using B-sides of 45 RPM records and typically emphasizing the drums and bass for a sound popular in local sound systems. The instrumental tracks are typically drenched in sound processing effects such as echo, reverberation, part vocal and extra percussion, with most of the lead instruments and vocals dropping in and out of the mix. Another hallmark of the dub sound is the massive low-pitched bass guitar. The music sometimes features processed sound effects and other noises, such as birds singing, thunder and lightning, water flowing, and producers shouting instructions at the musicians. It can be further augmented by live DJs. The many-layered sounds with varying echoes and volumes are often said to create soundscapes, or sound sculptures, drawing attention to the shape and depth of the space between sounds as well as to the sounds themselves. There is usually a distinctly organic feel to the music, even though the effects are electronically created.[2] [3]  
Often these tracks are used for "toasters" rapping heavily-rhymed and alliterative lyrics. These are called "DJ Versions". As opposed to hip hop terminology, in reggae music, the person with the microphone is called the "DJ" or "deejay", elsewhere referred to as the "MC". (Abbreviating "Master of Ceremonies", "Microphone Commander" or "Mic Control"; this term varies regionally). Additionally in reggae, the person choosing the music and operating the turntables is the "selector" (elsewhere called the DJ).  
A major reason for producing multiple versions was economic: a record producer could use a recording he owned to produce numerous versions from a single studio session. A version was also an opportunity for a producer or remix engineer to experiment and vent their more creative side. The version was typically the B-side of a single, with the A-side dedicated to making a popular hit, and B-side for experimenting and providing something for DJs to talk over. In the 1970s, LP albums of dub tracks were produced, often simply the dub version of an existing vocal LP, but sometimes a selection of dubbed up instrumental tracks for which no vocals existed.[4]  
History Dub music evolved from early instrumental reggae music and "versions" that incorporated fairly primitive reverb and echo sound effects.  
In 1968, Kingston, Jamaica sound system operator Ruddy Redwood went to Duke Reid's Treasure Isle studio to cut a one-off dub plate. Engineer Byron Smith left the vocal track out by accident, but Redwood kept the result and played it at his next dance with his deejay Wassy toasting over the rhythm. [5]  
Errol Thompson engineered the first strictly instrumental reggae album entitled The Undertaker by Derrick Harriott and the Crystalites released in 1970. This innovative album credits "Sound Effects" to Derrick Harriott.  
Whilst some have tried to attribute the "invention" of dub music to just one person, by 1973, instrumental reggae "versions" from various studios had evolved into "dub" as a sub genre of reggae. Through the simultaneous efforts of several independent Jamaican innovators, these competitive engineers and producers worked hard to leapfrog each other with each subsequent dub release with no single person being able to claim all the credit for the origination of "dub" as a genre.  
In 1973, at least two producers, Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Aquarius studio engineer/producer team of Herman Chin Loy and Errol Thompson simultaneously recognized that there was an active market for this new "dub" sound and consequently they started to release the first strictly 100% dub albums. Lee Perry released Blackboard Jungle Dub in the Spring of 1973. It is considered a landmark recording of this genre.  
In 1974, Keith Hudson released his classic Pick a Dub, widely considered to have been the first deliberately thematic dub album, with tracks specifically mixed in the dub style for the purpose of appearing together on an LP; and King Tubby released his two debut albums King Tubby Meets the Upsetter at the Grass Roots of Dub and Surrounded by the Dreads at the National Arena.  
 
Recent history Dub has continued to progress from that point to this, its popularity waxing and waning with changes in musical fashion. Almost all reggae singles still carry an instrumental version on the B-side and these are still used by the sound systems as a blank canvas for live singers and DJs.  
In the 1980s, Britain became a new center for dub production with Mad Professor and Jah Shaka being the most famous, while Scientist became the heavyweight champion of Jamaican dub. It was also the time when dub made its influence known in the work of harder edged, experimental producers such as Adrian Sherwood and the roster of artists on his On-U Sound label. Many of the bands characterized as post-punk were heavily influenced by dub. More well-known bands such as The Police, The Clash and UB40 helped popularise Dub with UB40's Present Arms In Dub album being the first ever dub album to hit the UK top 40.  
In the 1990s and beyond, dub has been influenced by and in turn influenced techno, jungle, dubstep, drum and bass, house music, trip hop, ambient music, and hip hop, with many electronic dub or dubtronica tracks, as well as Ambient dub, produced by nontraditional musicians from these other genres. Musicians such as Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, Leftfield, Ott, Massive Attack, Bauhaus, The Clash, The Beastie Boys, Killing Joke, PiL, the Disco Biscuits, The Orb, Rhythm & Sound, Pole, Deadbeat, Underworld, De Facto, Sublime, Thievery Corporation, Gorillaz, Kruder & Dorfmeister, DJ Spooky, High Tone and others demonstrate clear dub influences in their respective genres, and their innovations have in turn influenced the mainstream of the dub genre. In the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia and America independent record producers are making dub. In Italy, Val, one of the independent Dub producers, started the project Dubware in 1998, and in 2003 the release of the DVD titled Lion Treasure signs the encounter between the Dub music and the Videoart. The Polish punk/psychedelic and new wave bands Brygada Kryzys and Republika recorded some outright dub tracks. Yugoslav New Wave outfit Elektri?ni Orgazam also experimented with dub music on their album Liš?e Prekriva Lisabon. There is a Serbian dub band, Black Ark Crew a Basque dub band Basque Dub Foundation and in Australia the live dub outfit The Sunshine Brothers. In 1987, rock band Soundgarden released a dub version of the Ohio Players' song "Fopp" alongside a more traditional rock cover of the song. DJs appeared towards the end of the 1990s who specialised in playing music by these musicians, such as the UK's Unity Dub.  
Dub has also been adopted by the punk rock camp, with bands such as Rancid and NOFX writing original songs in a Dub style. Often bands thought to be Ska-Punk play very dub influenced songs, the first such popular was Sublime, with both dub originals and remixes. They went on to influence more recent American bands such as Rx Bandits and The Long Beach Dub Allstars. In addition, dub also carried over to some types of pop including the band No Doubt, also heavily influenced by Sublime. No Doubt's most recent album, Rock Steady [1], features an assembly of popular dub sounds like reverb and echoing. As noted by the band themselves, No Doubt is heavily influenced by Jamaican musical aesthetics and production techniques, even recording their Rock Steady [2] album in Kingston, Jamaica and producing well-known B-sides featuring dub influences on their titled "Everything In Time B-Sides" album. Some controversy still exists on whether pop-ska bands like No Doubt can regard themselves as a part of dub lineage. Other bands closely followed in the footsteps of No Doubt, fusing pop-ska and dub influence, such as Save Ferris and Vincent.  
There also some British punk bands creating dub music, Capdown released their Civil Disobedients album with track Dub #1, while The King Blues take very heavy influences from dub, mixing the genre with original punk ethics and attitudes.  
Traditional dub has, however, survived (see Iration Steppas and Aba Shanti-I, for example) and some of the originators like Lee Perry and Mad Professor continue to produce new material. One modern dub producer who has received critical acclaim is Ryan Moore, for his Twilight Circus project. In the United States, a recent wave of new bands have adopted dub as their musical focus, including Dub Is A Weapon, best known for backing up Lee Perry during his most recent tours of the US.  
Recently, a band based in San Francisco, originally formed in Colorado, called Heavyweight Dub Champion, has been headlining festivals throughout the States and getting recognition in Europe. Denver's Westword Magazine awarded their debut album, Survival Guide For The End Of Time, "Best Local Recording" for Colorado in 2003 and describes their style as "a shamanistic wall of hip hop dubtronica."[6]. The band is a concept band and has pushed the envelope of the genre, although, according to the LA Weekly, "Their genius is the great virtue of 70's dub: never overdoing it."[7]  
The latest evolution of dub is a subgenre of electronic music called dubstep. Dubstep's early roots are in the more experimental releases of UK garage producers, seeking to incorporate elements of dub reggae into the South London-based 2-step subgenre. Dubstep rhythms are usually syncopated, and often shuffled or incorporating triplets. The tempo is nearly always in the range of 138-142bpm. Dubstep rhythms typically do not follow the four-to-the-floor pattern common to many other styles of electronic dance music, but instead tend to skip beats and repeat sets of two bars rather than single bars. Rewinds (also known as "reloads") are another technique used by dubstep DJs. If a song seems to be especially popular, the DJ will 'spin back' the record by hand without lifting the stylus, and play the track in question again. Rewinds are also an important live element in many of dubstep's precursors; the technique originates in dub reggae soundsystems, and is also used at UK garage and Jungle nights.  
Impact on remixing 'Dub' has become a term for almost any musical piece that "Utilizes the remixing of prerecorded sound as a mode of artistic expression." Taking the separate entities of a musical track and remixing them into a completely new selection has become a popular process, and can be found in a variety of genres ranging anywhere from hip-hop remixes and mash-ups to metal. Many listeners do not sense the Jamaican roots, and are unaware that this technique started with Jamaican rocksteady and reggae. "Dubbing" became popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s by "The great sound system engineers of Jamaica." The mixing engineers acknowledged their importance in recordings by treating the mixing board as an instrument, and the "Resulting dub craze that occurred in Jamaica in the mid 1970s further established the mixing engineer as an artist." John Bush states that:  
"For the first time in recorded music, the 'sound' of a recording become connected not only with the musicians and the producer, but with the mixing engineer as well." The amplitude of success that these "versions" and "dubs" received allowed for a completely new style of musical composition that would be shared amongst a wide selection of musical genres.  
Dancehall is a type of Jamaican popular music which developed in the late 1970s, initially as a more sparse and less political and religious variant of reggae than the roots style that had dominated much of the 1970s.[1]  
In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall (or "ragga") becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms with little connection to earlier reggae rhythms. Modern dancehall is also known as bashment.  
Dancehall owes its moniker to the spaces in which popular Jamaican and bajan recordings were aired by local sound systems and readily consumed by its "set-to-party" patronage; commonly referred to as "dance halls". Social and political changes in late-1970s Jamaica were reflected in the shift away from the more internationally-oriented roots reggae towards a style geared more towards local consumption, and in tune with the music that Jamaicans had experienced for some time when sound systems performed live.[2] Michael Manley's socialist PNP government had been replaced with Edward Seaga's right wing JLP.[1] Themes of social injustice, repatriation, and Rastafari were overtaken by lyrics about dancing, violence, and explicit sexuality.[1][2] Musically, older rhythms from the late 1960s were recycled, with Sugar Minott credited as the originator of this trend when he voiced new lyrics over old Studio One rhythms between sessions at the studio, where he was working as a session musician.[2] Around the same time, producer Don Mais was reworking old rhythms at Channel One Studios, using the Roots Radics band.[2] The Roots Radics would go on to work with Henry "Junjo" Lawes on some of the key early dancehall recordings, including those that established Barrington Levy, Frankie Paul, and Junior Reid as major reggae stars.[2] Other singers to emerge in the early dancehall era as major stars included Don Carlos, Al Campbell, and Triston Palmer, while more established names such as Gregory Isaacs and Bunny Wailer successfully adapted.[1]  
Sound systems soon capitalized on the new sound, with the likes of Killimanjaro, Black Scorpio, Gemini Disco, Virgo Hi-Fi, Volcano Hi-Power, and Aces International also introducing a new wave of deejays.[1] The older toasters were overtaken by new stars such as Captain Sinbad, Ranking Joe, Clint Eastwood, Lone Ranger, Josey Wales, Charlie Chaplin, General Echo, and Yellowman, a change reflected by the 1981 Junjo Lawes produced album A Whole New Generation of DJs, although many went back to U-Roy for inspiration.[1][2] Deejay records became, for the first time, more important than records featuring singers, with deejay's often voicing over new rhythms before singers.[1] A further reflection of the live experience was the trend towards "sound clash" albums, featuring rival deejays and/or sound systems going head to head in competition for the appreciation of a live audience, with underground sound clash cassettes often documenting the violence that would come with such rivalries.[2]  
Two of the biggest deejay stars of the early dancehall era, Yellowman and Eek-a-Mouse, chose humour rather than violence, with both becoming huge stars, and Yellowman the first Jamaican deejay ever to be signed to a major American label, and for a time enjoying a level of popularity in Jamaica to rival Bob Marley's peak.[1][2] The early 1980s also saw the emergence of female deejays, with Lady Saw, Sister Nancy, and Shelly Thunder bringing a new dimension to the dancehalls.[2]  
Dancehall also brought a new generation of producers to the fore. Junjo Lawes, Linval Thompson, Gussie Clarke, and Jah Thomas took over from the producers who had dominated in the 1970s.[2]  
Digital dancehall and ragga King Jammy's 1985 hit, "(Under Me) Sleng Teng" by Wayne Smith, with an entirely-digital rhythm hook took the dancehall reggae world by storm. Many credit this song as being the first "digital rhythm" in reggae, utilizing a rhythm from a Casio MT-40 keyboard, leading to the modern digital dancehall, or ragga, era.[3][4] However this is not entirely correct since there are earlier examples of digital productions; Horace Ferguson's single "Sensi Addict" (Ujama) produced by Prince Jazzbo in 1984 is one.[citation needed] The "Sleng Teng" rhythm was used in over 200 subsequent recordings.[2]  
This deejay-led, largely synthesized chanting with musical accompaniment departed from traditional conceptions of Jamaican popular musical entertainment. Dub poet Mutabaruka maintained, "if 1970s reggae was red, green and gold, then in the next decade it was gold chains". It was far removed from its gentle roots and culture, and there was furious debate among purists as to whether it should be considered some sort of extension of reggae music.  
This shift in style again saw the emergence of a new generation of artists, such as Buccaneer, Capleton and Shabba Ranks, who became the biggest ragga star in the world.[2] A new set of producers also came to prominence: Philip "Fatis" Burrell, Dave "Rude Boy" Kelly, George Phang, Hugh "Redman" James, Donovan Germain, and Bobby Digital.[2] Wycliffe "Steely" Johnson and Cleveland "Clevie" Brown, aka Steely & Clevie, rose to challenge Sly & Robbie's position as Jamaica's leading rhythm section.[2] The deejays became more and more slack and focussed on violence, with Bounty Killer, Cobra, Ninjaman, and Buju Banton becoming major figures in the genre.  
To compliment the harsher deejay sound, a "sweet sing" vocal style evolved out of roots reggae and R&B, marked by its falsetto and almost feminine intonation, with proponents like Pinchers, Cocoa Tea, Sanchez, Admiral Tibet, Frankie Paul, Half Pint, Conroy Smith, Courtney Melody, Carl Meeks, and Barrington Levy.  
In the early 90s, songs like Dawn Penn's "No, No, No", Shabba Ranks's "Mr. Loverman", Patra's "Worker Man" and Chaka Demus and Pliers' "Murder She Wrote" became some of the first dancehall megahits in the U.S. and abroad. Various other varieties of dancehall achieved crossover success outside of Jamaica during the mid-to-late 1990s. Tanya Stephens gave a unique female voice to the genre during the 1990s.  
The years 1990-1994 saw the entry of artists like Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Lady Saw, Shaggy, Diana King, Spragga Benz, Capleton, Beenie Man and a major shift in the sound of dancehall, brought on by the introduction of a new generation of producers and for better or for worse, the end of Steely & Clevie's stranglehold on riddim production.  
The early 2000s saw the success of newer charting acts such as Elephant Man and Sean Paul.  
Currently, Sean Paul has achieved mainstream success within the United States and has produced several Top 10 Billboard hits, including "We Be Burnin'", "Get Busy", "Temperature" and the 2006 single "Give It Up To Me".  
VP Records dominates the dancehall music market with Sean Paul, Elephant Man, and Buju Banton.[5] VP often has partnered with major record labels like Atlantic and Island in an attempt to further expand their distribution potential particularly in the U.S. market.  
Conscious ragga In 1992, the international backlash to Banton's violently homophobic "Boom Bye-Bye", and the reality of Kingston's violence that saw the deaths of deejays Pan Head and Dirtsman saw another shift, this time back towards Rastafari and cultural themes, with several of the hardcore slack ragga artists finding religion, and the "conscious ragga" scene becoming an increasingly popular movement.[2] A new generation of singers and deejays emerged that harked back to the roots reggae era, notably Garnet Silk, Rocker T, Tony Rebel, Sanchez, Luciano, Anthony B and Sizzla. Some popular deejays, most prominently Buju Banton and Capleton, began to sight Rastafari and turn their lyrics and music in a more concious, rootsy direction.[2]  
The culture of dancehall This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)  
Kingsley Stewart outlines ten of the major cultural imperatives (or principles) that constitute the dancehall worldview. They are: 1.) it involves the dynamic interweaving of God and Haile Sellassie, 2.) it acts as a form of stress release or psycho-physiological relief, 3.) it acts as a medium for economic advancement, 4.) the quickest way to an object is the preferred way (i.e., the speed imperative), 5.) the end is more important than the means, 6.) it strives to make the unseen visible, 7.) Objects and events that are external to the body are more important than internal processes; what is seen is more important than what is thought (i.e., the pre-eminence of the external), 8.) the importance of the external self; the self is consciously publicly constructed and validated, 9.) the ideal self is shifting, fluid, adaptive, and malleable, and 10.) it involves the socioexistential imperative to transcend the normal (i.e., there is an emphasis on not being normal). [6].  
Such a drastic change in the popular music of the region generated an equally radical transformation in fashion trends, specifically those of its female faction. In lieu of traditional, modest "rootsy" styles, as dictated by Rastafari-inspired gender roles; women began donning flashy, revealing – sometimes x-rated outfits. This transformation is said to coincide with the influx of slack lyrics within dancehall, which objectified women as apparatuses of pleasure. These women would team up with others to form "modeling posses", or "dancehall model" groups, and informally compete with their rivals.  
This newfound materialism and conspicuity was not, however, exclusive to women or manner of dress. Appearance at dance halls was exceedingly important to acceptance by peers and encompassed everything from clothing and jewelry, to the types of vehicles driven, to the sizes of each respective gang or "crew", and was equally important to both sexes.  
One major theme behind dancehall is that of space. Sonjah Stanley-Niaah in her article "Mapping Black Atlantic Performance Geographies" says "Dancehall occupies multiple spatial dimensions (urban, street, police, marginal, gendered, performance, liminal, memorializing, communal), which are revealed through the nature and type of events and venues, and their use and function. Most notable is the way in which dancehall occupies a liminal space between what is celebrated and at the same time denigrated in Jamaica and how it moves from private community to public and commercial enterprise."[7][8]. "Dancehall is ultimately a celebration of the disenfranchised selves in postcolonial Jamaica that occupy and creatively sustain that space. Structured by the urban, a space that is limited, limiting, and marginal yet central to communal, even national, identity, dancehall's identity is as contradictory and competitive as it is sacred. Some of Jamaica's significant memories of itself are inscribed in the dancehall space, and therefore dancehall can be seen as a site of collective memory that functions as ritualized memorializing, a memory bank of the old, new, and dynamic bodily movements, spaces, performers, and performance aesthetics of the New World and Jamaica in particular" [9].  
These same notions of dancehall as a cultural "space" are echoed in (or perhaps influenced by) Norman Stolzoff's Wake the Town and Tell the People. He notes that dancehall is not merely a sphere of passive consumerism, but rather is an alternative sphere of active cultural production that acts as a means through which black lower-class youth articulate and project a distinct identity in local, national, and global contexts. Through dancehall, ghetto youth attempt to to deal with the endemic problems of poverty, racism, and violence, and in this sense the dancehall acts as a communication center, a relay station, a site where black lower-class culture attains its deepest expression [10]. Thus, dancehall in Jamaica is yet another example of the way that the music and dance cultures of the African Diaspora have challenged the passive consumerism of mass cultural forms, such as recorded music, by creating a sphere of active cultural production that potentially may transform the prevailing hegemony of society [11].  
Contradictions in dancehall ideals Conversely, despite Dancheall's ability to challenge social inequality, it must be said that Dancehall ideology itself, is a hybridization of American aesthetics and hardships of Kingston, Jamaica. It is ironic that what author Stewart Kingsley regards as the "[Jamaican cultural model or worldview]"[12] has been so distinctly influenced by that which it was arguably created to oppose, namely Babylon or the Western influence. This paradoxical paradigm is further teased out when one scrutinizes the relationship between Jamaican-ness and dancehall. Key figures in dancehall often, whether by choice or by necessity, frequently identify Jamaican nationalism with a Babylonian aesthetic. This is seen, in the more obvious sense, in the use of gun talk by conscious artists like Buju and Capleton or the sporting of bling-bling by “Gangsta Ras” artists like Movado and Munga. The term Gangsta Ras which seeks to reconcile more thuggish imagery with Rastafarian roots and ideology is a contradiction in itself. The creation of such a term is an example (albeit the most extreme example) of how, in dancehall, " the misuse of Rastafari culture has diluted and marginalised the central tenets and creed of the Rastafari philosophy and way of life".[13]  
What Kingsley regards as the “Socioexistential imperative to transcend the normal” plays itself out , with artists like Elephant Man and Bounty Killer, for example, doing anything to stand out whther it consist of putting on a synthetic cartoonish voice or donning pink highlights while constantly re-asserting one's hypermasculine attributes. On a broader scale it is this need to stand out, to be individually successful and accomplished that is the basis for Capitalism, an obvious western system of belief. The need for one to be “different” and to be a superstar, as opposed to merely being a talented, is a relatively new phenomenon which can be said to have started with western celebrities and rock stars. Another point of discension of Dancehall from Reggae and from, more generally speaking, its non-western roots in Jamaica is on the focus on materialism. Guys in the dancehall are expected to dress in ridiculously expensive casual wear, indicative of European urban styling. The dancehall "Divas" are all scantily clad in pieces of cloth that can hardly be called garments or spandex outfits that extenuate more than cover one’s nakedness. In Dancheall video director Jay Will's dance-umentary "It's All About Dancing"[14] prominent artist Beenie Man is noted as making an explicit connection between materialism, specifically fashion, to recognition in dancehall's "liminal space". To paraphrase, Beenie states that One could be the illest DJ or the smoothest dancer but if one comes in clothing that, ironically enough reflects the economic realities of the majority of the partygoer, they will be promptly ignored.  
Homophobia in dancehall music Main article: Stop Murder Music Modern dancehall music has come under criticism from Jamaican and international organizations and Jamaican journalists, like Ian Boyne,[15] for Anti Gay lyrics.  
In some rare cases, dancehall artists whose music features anti-gay lyrics have had their concerts canceled. Various singers have had international travel restrictions placed on them, and have been investigated by international law enforcement agencies such as Scotland Yard on the grounds that the lyrics incite the audience to assault homosexuals. In 2003, the British LGBT rights group OutRage! called for the arrest of Elephant Man for allegedly inciting the killing of gay men in his song lyrics. He was not arrested. [16] Many of the affected singers believe that such legal or commercial sanctions are essentially an attack against freedom of speech.[17] Some artists eventually agreed not to use offensive lyrics during their concerts in Europe and the US.  
Dancehall dances This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)  
The popularity of dancehall has spawned dance moves that help to make parties and stage performances more energetic. Many dance moves seen in hip-hop videos are actually variations of dancehall dances. Examples of such dances are: "Like Glue", "The Myspace", "The Bogle", "Heel-Toe", "Blazay-Blazay", "Pon the River, Pon the Bank", "Scooby Doo", "Spongebob", "Signal the plane", "Hot Fuk", "Tek Weh Yuhself", "Whine Up" (mix of pop, dance, R&B, hip-hop and dancehall), "Boosie Bounce", "Drive By", "Shovel It", "To Di World", "Dutty Wine", "Nuh Linga", "Beyonce Wine", "Gully Creepa", "Nuh Linga", Winter Bounce" "Summer Bounce" "Santa Bounce" amongst many others.  
 
Dub Poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin[1], which evolved into dub music consisting of spoken word over reggae rhythms in Jamaica in the 1970s[citation needed]. Unlike Dee Jaying (also known as Toasting or Poe Chatting) which also features the use of the spoken word, the Dub Poet's performance is normally prepared, rather than the extemporised chat of the Dancehall Dee Jay, and in many cases the Dub Poet will appear on stage with a band performing music specifically written to accompany their poems, rather than simply perform over the top of dub plates, or riddims, in the Dancehall fashion.  
Dub poetry is mostly of an overtly political and social nature, with none of the braggadocio often associated with the dancehall. The odd love-song or elegy appears, but dub poetry is predominantly concerned with politics and social justice, commonly voiced through a commentary on current events (thus sharing these elements with Dancehall and "Conscious" or "Roots" reggae music).  
Linton Kwesi Johnson (LKJ)'s album Dread Beat an' Blood first appeared in 1978 then Oku Onuora's Reflection In Red in 1979 followed by Benjamin Zephaniah's Rasta, and many others in the early 1980s onwards. Although the genre was most popular in the 1980s and 1990s, many dub poets are still active today; dubstep musician Kode9 works almost exclusively with MC The Spaceape, who MCs in a dread poet style over most tracks on the Memories of the future album.  
Toronto Canada has the second highest concentration of Dub Poets preceded by Jamaica and followed by England[citation needed]. Poets such as Lillian Allen, Afua Cooper, and Ahdri Zhina Mandiela are among the founding mothers of the Canadian Dub Poetry legacy.  
LKJ still runs LKJ records in the UK, a label which publishes both his own books and music, and also that of other musicians and poets.  
Zephaniah continues to publish in the UK. He has written novels as well as poetry. He was put forward for the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1989 and UK Poet Laureate in 1999, and was also offered an OBE in 2003, which he declined.  
Many of the Dub Poets have published their work as volumes of written poetry as well as albums of poetry with music.  
 
Toasting, Chatting, or Deejaying is the act of talking or chanting over a rhythm or beat. The lyrics can be either improvised or pre-written. Toasting has been used in various African traditions, such as griots chanting over a drum beat, Jamaican music forms, such as dancehall, reggae, ska, dub, and lovers rock. Toasting's mix of talking and chanting may have influenced the development of rapping in US hip hop music. The combination of singing and toasting is known as singjaying.  
Traditional African American toasting This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)  
Toasting has been part of African American urban tradition since Reconstruction as part of a verbal art tradition, dating back to the griots of Africa. African American stories usually lauds the exploits of the clever and not entirely law-abiding trickster hero (not always human) who uses his wits to defeat his opponents[citation needed].  
Toasters continue the oral tradition by recounting the legends and myths of the community in venues ranging from street corner gatherings, bars, and community centers, to libraries and college campuses. As with oral traditions in general, and with other African American art forms as the blues, toasting uses a mixture of repetition and improvisation[citation needed].  
There are many versions of the best-known toasts, often conflicting in detail. Historically, the toast is very male- oriented, and many toasts contain profane or sexual language, although more family-oriented versions also exist[citation needed].  
Well known toasts include "Shine and the Titanic", "Dolemite", "Stack O Lee", "Jo Jo Gun," and "Signifyin' Monkey."  
Jamaican toasting In the late 1960s and early 1970s a strain of Jamaican music called deejay toasting was developed. Deejays working for producers would play the latest hits on traveling sound systems at parties and add their "toasts" or vocals to the music. These "toasts" consisted of boastful commentaries, chants, half-sung rhymes, rhythmic chants, squeals, screams, and rhymed storytelling. [1]  
Osbourne Ruddock (aka King Tubby) was a Jamaican sound recording engineer who created vocal-less rhythm backing tracks that were used by DJs doing "toasting" by creating one-off vinyl discs (also known as dub plates) of songs without the vocals and adding echo and sound effects[citation needed].  
Late 1960s toasting deejays included U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone, the latter known for mixing gangster talk with humor in his toasting. In the early 1970s, toasting deejays included I-Roy (his nickname is an homage to U-Roy) and Dillinger, the latter known for his humorous toasting style. In the late 1970s, Trinity became a popular toasting deejay.  
The 1980s saw the first deejay Toasting duo, Michigan & Smiley, and the development of toasting outside of Jamaica. In England, Pato Banton explored his Caribbean roots humorous and political toasting [1] and Ranking Roger of the "Second Wave" or Two-Tone ska revival band The Beat from the 1980s did Jamaican toasting over music that blended ska, pop, and some punk influences.  
The rhythmic rhyming of vocals in Jamaican deejay toasting influenced the development of rapping in African-American hip-hop, [2] and the development of the Dancehall style. [1] (e.g., hip-hop pioneer and Jamaican ex-patriate DJ Kool Herc and Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest). Jamaican deejay toasting also influenced various types of dance music, such as jungle music, and UK garage. Dancehall artists that have achieved pop hits with toasting-influenced vocals include Shabba Ranks, Shaggy and Sean Paul. Another up and coming Jamaican Toasting star is Damian Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley.  
 
Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as 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.  
Wayne Smith's "Under Me Sleng Teng" was produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a Casio MT-40 synthesizer, and is generally recognized as the seminal ragga song. "Sleng Teng" boosted Jammy's popularity immensely, and other producers quickly released their own versions of the riddim, accompanied by dozens of different vocalists.  
Ragga is often used as a synonym for dancehall reggae, but more typically, it is used for dancehall with a deejay chatting rather than singing on top of the riddim. The term ragga is not used in Jamaica according to some sources. In Europe and the US, however, it is more popular than dancehall.  
Origins of ragga The birth of ragga in Jamaica occurred contemporaneously with the ascension of electronic dance music in the Western world at large. Electronic music proliferated rapidly throughout the 1990s, and ragga was no exception: it revolutionized reggae music. One of the essential reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical instruments.  
Ragga evolved first in Jamaica, and later in Europe, North America, and Africa, eventually spreading to Japan, India, and the rest of the world. Ragga heavily influenced early jungle music, and also spawned the syncretistic bhangragga style when fused with bhangra. Jungle music is heavily influenced by ragga motives and artists, with many ragga vocalists appearing on its tracks, not surprising as early jungle had definite roots in the basslines and vocals of ragga. In the 90s, Ragga and breakcore music started to clash in the underground scene creating a style known as Raggacore.  
Ragga continues to flourish and evolve, constituting the bulk of contemporary reggae music production.  
Ragga and hip hop music In the late 1980s, influential Jamaican rapper Daddy Freddy's pioneering efforts in fusing ragga with hip hop music earned him international acclaim while helping to publicize and popularize ragga. In 1987, Daddy Freddy and Asher D's "Ragamuffin Hip-Hop" became the first multinational single to feature the word ragga in its title. In 1992, Canadian hip hop group Rascalz released their debut album under the name "Ragga Muffin Rascals". As ragga matured, an increasing number of dancehall artists began to appropriate stylistic elements of hip hop music, while ragga music, in turn, influenced more and more hip hop artists.  
Some ragga artists believe that the assimilation of hip hop sensibilities is crucial to the international marketability of dancehall music. Indeed, appeals to the contemporary rhythm and blues and hip hop music audiences in the English-speaking world contributed substantially to the multinational commercial success of such dancehall artists as Beenie Man, Shaggy, Snow, and Vybz Kartel.  
Etymology The term raggamuffin is an intentional misspelling of ragamuffin, a word that entered the Jamaican Creole lexicon after the British Empire colonized Jamaica in the 17th century. Despite the British colonialists' pejorative application of the term, Jamaican youth appropriated it as an ingroup designation. The term raggamuffin music describes the music of Jamaica's "ghetto youths".  
 
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that concerns itself with the life of the ghetto sufferer, [1] and the rural poor. Lyrical themes include poverty, social issues, resistance to government oppression, repatriation, and Rastafari.  
The heyday of roots reggae is usually considered the latter half of the 1970s – with singers such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Max Romeo, Horace Andy and Lincoln Thompson, and groups like Black Uhuru, Steel Pulse, and Culture – teaming up with producers such as Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Bunny Lee, Joseph Hoo Kim and Coxsone Dodd. The experimental pioneering of such producers within often-restricted technological parameters gave birth to dub, and is seen by some music historians as one of the earliest (albeit analogue) contributions to modern dance music production techniques.  
Roots reggae, having its origins in the Jamaican landscape, also became very popular in Europe in the 1970s, specially among left-wing white youths in Western Europe. [2] When Jamaicans turned to dancehall, a lot of black, white and mixed roots reggae bands were formed in Europe. Later on roots reggae also made its way into the United States with the mass migration of Jamaicans to New York. This took place with the reforms made to American immigration laws in the early 1960's. Along with localized traditions and food, reggae music was inevitably brought as well, contributing to the New York City soundscape.
 
Jamaica is playing an important role in the development of contemporary popular music. Reggae, jointly with Ska, has influenced the whole Punk Rock movement in the late 1970s, and the American Rap/Hip–Hop music, since the early 1980s as they both share their roots as rhythmic, African styles of music. Some rappers, such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Heavy D, are of Jamaican descent.
 
 
For more info about Jamaica and Jamaican Music, please, see [Please, note that the following links open in a new window (or Tab)]:
• http://jis.gov.jm/ Official website of the Jamaica Information Service
• http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Caribbean/Jamaica/ at the Open Directory Project
• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Atlas_of_Jamaica
• http://wikitravel.org/en/Jamaica
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggae

TM7 MG: Jazz
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
Jazz is a musical art form originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions, and characterized by the use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and the swung note. The word "jazz" began as a West Coast slang term of uncertain derivation and was first used to refer to music in Chicago in about 1915.
 
Jazz is hard to define because it spans a variety of subgenres from its early 20th century inception and Ragtime Waltzes, New Orleans Dixieland dating from the early 1910s, big band-style swing from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s, a variety of Latin jazz fusions such as Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, jazz-rock fusion from the 1970s and late 1980s developments such as acid jazz, which blended jazz influences into funk and hip-hop.

Prohibition in the United States (from 1920 to 1933) banned the sale of alcoholic  
drinks, resulting in illicit speakeasies becoming lively venues of the "Jazz Age", an era when popular music included current dance songs, novelty songs, and show tunes. Jazz started to get a reputation as being immoral and many members of the older generations saw it as threatening the old values in culture and promoting the new decadent values of the Roaring 20s. From 1919 Kid Ory's Original Creole Jazz Band of musicians from New Orleans played in San Francisco and Los Angeles where in 1922 they became the first black jazz band of New Orleans origin to make recordings. However, the main centre developing the new "Hot Jazz" was Chicago, where King Oliver joined Bill Johnson. That year also saw the first recording by Bessie Smith, the most famous of the 1920s blues singers.
Bix Beiderbecke formed The Wolverines in 1924. Also in 1924 Louis Armstrong joined the Fletcher Henderson dance band as featured soloist for a year, then formed his virtuosic Hot Five band, also popularising scat singing. Jelly Roll Morton recorded with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in an early mixed-race collaboration, then in 1926 formed his Red Hot Peppers. There was a larger market for jazzy dance music played by white orchestras, such as Jean Goldkette's orchestra and Paul Whiteman's orchestra. In 1924 Whiteman commissioned George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", which was premièred by Whiteman's Orchestra. Other influential large ensembles included Fletcher Henderson's band, Duke Ellington's band (which opened an influential residency at the Cotton Club in 1927) in New York, and Earl Hines's Band in Chicago (who opened in The Grand Terrace Cafe there in 1928). All significantly influenced the development of big band-style swing jazz.
 
 
Swing
 
The 1930s belonged to popular Swing Big Bands, in which some virtuoso soloists became as famous as the band leaders. Key figures in developing the "big" jazz band included bandleaders and arrangers Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, Glenn Miller, and Artie Shaw.
 
Swing was also dance music and it was broadcast on the radio 'live' coast-to-coast nightly across America for many years. Although it was a collective sound, swing also offered individual musicians a chance to 'solo' and improvise melodic, thematic solos which could at times be very complex and 'important' music. Included among the critically acclaimed leaders who specialized in live radio broadcasts of swing music as well as "Sweet Band" compositions during this era was Shep Fields
 
Over time, social strictures regarding racial segregation began to relax, and white bandleaders began to recruit black musicians. In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman hired pianist Teddy Wilson, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, and guitarist Charlie Christian to join small groups. An early 1940s style known as "jumping the blues" or jump blues used small combos, up-tempo music, and blues chord progressions. Jump blues drew on boogie-woogie from the 1930s. Kansas City Jazz in the 1930s marked the transition from big bands to the bebop influence of the 1940s.
 
Outside of the United States the beginnings of a distinct European style of jazz emerged in France with the Quintette du Hot Club de France which began in 1934. Belgian guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt popularized gypsy jazz, a mix of 1930s American swing, French dance hall "musette" and Eastern European folk with a languid, seductive feel. The main instruments are steel stringed guitar, violin, and double bass. Solos pass from one player to another as the guitar and bass play the role of the rhythm section. Some music researchers hold that it was Philadelphia's Eddie Lang (guitar) and Joe Venuti (violin) who pioneered the gypsy jazz form, which was brought to France after they had been heard live or on Okeh Records in the late 1920s.
 
 
1940s and 1950s
 
Dixieland revival
 
In the late 1930s there was a revival of "Dixieland" music, harkening back to the original contrapuntal New Orleans style. This was driven in large part by record company reissues of early jazz classics by the Oliver, Morton, and Armstrong bands of the 1930s. There were two populations of musicians involved in the revival. One group consisted of players who had begun their careers playing in the traditional style, and were either returning to it, or continuing what they had been playing all along, such as Bob Crosby's Bobcats, Max Kaminsky, Eddie Condon, and Wild Bill Davison. Most of this group were originally Midwesterners, although there were a small number of New Orleans musicians involved as well. The second population of revivalists consisted of young musicians such as the Lu Watters band. By the late 1940s, Louis Armstrong's Allstars band became a leading ensemble. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Dixieland was one of the most commercially popular jazz styles in the US, Europe, and Japan, although critics paid little attention to it.
 
 
Bebop
 
In the early 1940s bebop performers helped to shift jazz from danceable popular music towards a more challenging "musician's music." Differing greatly from swing, early bebop divorced itself from dance music, establishing itself more as an art form but lessening its potential popular and commercial value. Since bebop was meant to be listened to, not danced to, it used faster tempos. Beboppers introduced new forms of chromaticism and dissonance into jazz; the dissonant tritone (or "flatted fifth") interval became the "most important interval of bebop" and players engaged in a more abstracted form of chord-based improvisation which used "passing" chords, substitute chords, and altered chords. The style of drumming shifted as well to a more elusive and explosive style, in which the ride cymbal was used to keep time, while the snare and bass drum were used for unpredictable, explosive accents.
 
These divergences from the jazz mainstream of the time initially met with a divided, sometimes hostile response among fans and fellow musicians, especially established swing players, who bristled at the new harmonic sounds. To hostile critics, bebop seemed to be filled with "racing, nervous phrases" Despite the initial friction, by the 1950s bebop had become an accepted part of the jazz vocabulary. The most influential bebop musicians included saxophonist Charlie Parker, pianists Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown, tenor sax player Lester Young, and drummer Max Roach.
 
 
Cool jazz
 
By the end of the 1940s, the nervous energy and tension of bebop was replaced with a tendency towards calm and smoothness, with the sounds of cool jazz, which favoured long, linear melodic lines. It emerged in New York City, as a result of the mixture of the styles of predominantly white jazz musicians and black Bebop musicians, and it dominated jazz in the first half of the 1950s. Cool jazz recordings by Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Gil Evans, Stan Getz and the Modern Jazz Quartet usually have a "lighter" sound which avoided the aggressive tempos and harmonic abstraction of bebop. An important recording was trumpeter Miles Davis's "Birth of the Cool" (tracks originally recorded in 1949 and 1950 and collected as an LP in 1957). Players such as pianist Bill Evans began searching for new ways to structure their improvisations by exploring modal music. The theoretical underpinnings of cool jazz were set out by the blind Chicago pianist Lennie Tristano. Cool jazz later became strongly identified with the West Coast jazz scene. Its influence stretches into such later developments as Bossa nova, modal jazz (especially in the form of Davis's Kind of Blue 1959), and even free jazz.
 
 
Hard bop
 
Hard bop is an extension of Bebop (or "Bop") music that incorporates influences from Rhythm and Blues, Gospel Music, and Blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing. Hard bop was developed in the mid-1950s, partly in response to the vogue for cool jazz in the early 1950s. The hard bop style coalesced in 1953 and 1954, paralleling the rise of rhythm and blues. Miles Davis' performance of "Walkin'" the title track of his album of the same year, at the very first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, announced the style to the jazz world. The quintet Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, fronted by Art Blakey and featuring pianist Horace Silver and trumpeter Clifford Brown, were leaders in the hard bop movement along with Davis.
 
 
Free jazz
 
Free jazz and the related form of avant-garde jazz broke through into an open space of "free tonality" in which meter, beat, and formal symmetry all disappeared, and a range of World music from India, Africa, and Arabia were melded into an intense, even religiously ecstatic or orgiastic style of playing. While rooted in Bebop, Free Jazz tunes gave players much more latitude; the loose harmony and tempo was deemed controversial when this approach was first developed. The bassist Charles Mingus is also frequently associated with the avant-garde in jazz, although his compositions draw from a myriad of styles and genres. The first major stirrings came in the 1950s, with the early work of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. In the 1960s, performers included John Coltrane ("A Love Supreme"), Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, and others. Free jazz quickly found a foothold in Europe – in part because musicians such as Ayler, Taylor, Steve Lacy and Eric Dolphy spent extended periods in Europe. Keith Jarrett has been prominent in defending free jazz from criticism by traditionalists in the 1990s and 2000s.
 
 
1960s and 1970s
 
Latin jazz
 
Latin jazz combines rhythms from African and Latin American countries, often played on instruments such as conga, timbale, güiro, and claves with jazz and classical harmonies played on typical jazz instruments (piano, double bass, etc.). There are two main varieties: Afro-Cuban jazz was played in the US directly after the bebop period, while Brazilian jazz became more popular in the 1960s. Afro-Cuban jazz began as a movement in the mid-1950s as bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Taylor started Afro-Cuban bands influenced by such Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians as Xavier Cugat, Tito Puente, and Arturo Sandoval. Brazilian jazz such as bossa nova is derived from samba, with influences from jazz and other 20th century classical and popular music styles. Bossa is generally moderately paced, with melodies sung in Portuguese or English. The style was pioneered by Brazilians João Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim. The related term jazz-samba describes an adaptation of bossa nova compositions to the jazz idiom by American performers such as Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd.
 
 
Soul jazz
 
Soul jazz was a development of hard bop which incorporated strong influences from blues, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups, often the organ trio which partnered a Hammond organ player with a drummer and a tenor saxophonist. Unlike hard bop, soul jazz generally emphasized repetitive grooves and melodic hooks, and improvisations were often less complex than in other jazz styles. Horace Silver had a large influence on the soul jazz style, with his songs that used funky and often gospel-based piano vamps. Important soul jazz organists included Jimmy McGriff and Jimmy Smith and Johnny Hammond Smith, and influential tenor saxophone players included Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Stanley Turrentine.
 
 
Jazz fusion
 
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the hybrid form of jazz-rock fusion was developed by combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments, and the highly amplified stage sound of rock musicians such as Jimi Hendrix. Miles Davis made the breakthrough into fusion in 1970s with his album Bitches Brew, and by 1971, two influential fusion groups formed: Weather Report, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Soft Machine and AreA International POPular Group. Although jazz purists protested the blend of jazz and rock, some of jazz's significant innovators crossed over from the contemporary hard bop scene into fusion. Jazz fusion music often uses mixed meters, odd time signatures, syncopation, and complex chords and harmonies. In addition to using the electric instruments of rock, such as the electric guitar, electric bass, electric piano, and synthesizer keyboards, fusion also used the powerful amplification, "fuzz" pedals, wah-wah pedals, and other effects used by 1970s-era rock bands. Notable performers of jazz fusion included Miles Davis, keyboardists Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, vibraphonist Gary Burton, drummers Billy Cobham and Tony Williams, guitarists Larry Coryell and John McLaughlin, Frank Zappa, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and bassists Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke.
 
There was a resurgence of interest in jazz and other forms of African American cultural expression during the Black Arts Movement and Black nationalist period of the early 1970s. Musicians such as Pharoah Sanders, Hubert Laws and Wayne Shorter began using African instruments such as kalimbas, cowbells, beaded gourds and other instruments not traditional to jazz. Musicians began improvising jazz tunes on unusual instruments, such as the jazz harp (Alice Coltrane), electrically-amplified and wah-wah pedaled jazz violin (Jean-Luc Ponty), and even bagpipes (Rufus Harley). Jazz continued to expand and change, influenced by other types of music, such as world music, avant garde classical music, and rock and pop music. Guitarist John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra played a mix of rock and jazz infused with East Indian influences. The ECM record label began in the 1970s with artists including Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, the Pat Metheny Group, Jan Garbarek, Ralph Towner, and Eberhard Weber, establishing a new chamber music aesthetic, featuring mainly acoustic instruments, and incorporating elements of world music and folk music.
 
 
1980s–2000s
 
In the 1980s, the jazz community shrank dramatically and split. A mainly older audience retained an interest in traditional and "straight-ahead" jazz styles. Wynton Marsalis strove to create music within what he believed was the tradition, creating extensions of small and large forms initially pioneered by such artists as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In 1987, the US House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill proposed by Democratic Representative John Conyers, Jr. to define jazz as a unique form of American music stating, among other things, "...that jazz is hereby designated as a rare and valuable national American treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is preserved, understood and promulgated".
 
 
Pop fusion and other subgenres
 
In the early 1980s, a lighter commercial form of jazz fusion called pop fusion or "smooth jazz" became successful and garnered significant radio airplay. Smooth jazz saxophonists include Grover Washington, Jr., Kenny G and Najee. Smooth jazz received frequent airplay with more straight-ahead jazz in quiet storm time slots at radio stations in urban markets across the U.S., helping to establish or bolster the careers of vocalists including Al Jarreau, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, and Sade.
 
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several subgenres fused jazz with popular music, such as Acid jazz, nu jazz, and jazz rap. Acid jazz and nu jazz combined elements of jazz and modern forms of electronic dance music. While nu jazz is influenced by jazz harmony and melodies, there are usually no improvisational aspects. Jazz rap fused jazz and hip-hop. Gang Starr recorded "Words I Manifest," "Jazz Music," and "Jazz Thing", sampling Charlie Parker and Ramsey Lewis, and collaborating with Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard. Beginning in 1993, rapper Guru's Jazzmatazz series used jazz musicians during the studio recording.
 
 
'Straight-ahead' and Experimental performers
 
In the 2000s, straight-ahead jazz continues to appeal to a core of listeners. Well-established jazz musicians whose careers span decades, such as Dave Brubeck, Wynton Marsalis, Sonny Rollins, and Wayne Shorter continue to perform and record. In the 1990s and 2000s, a number of young musicians emerged: among their number might be included US pianists Brad Mehldau (born 1970) and Jason Moran (born 1975), guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel (born 1970), vibraphonist Stefon Harris, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Vijay Iyer, Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, and Terence Blanchard. The more experimental and improvisational end of the spectrum include Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft and US bassist Christian McBride. Toward the more dance or pop music end of the spectrum are St Germain who incorporates some live jazz playing with house beats and Jamie Cullum who plays a particular mix of Jazz Standards with own more pop-oriented compositions.

TM7 MG: New Wave-Gothic Rock
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
 

TM7 MG: Progressive Rock
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
 

TM7 MG: Psychedelic Rock
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
 

TM7 MG: Punk Rock
 
This section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
 
The Magnificent Seven Series: Music Genres: Punk Rock
 
"Punk Rock"'s videos in chronological order. Up to 33 hours of music and videos....
 
Punk Rock (often referred to simply as Punk) is an anti-establishment Rock music genre and movement that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as Protopunk music, Punk Rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s Rock. They created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-government lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY (Do It Yourself) ethic, with many bands self-producing their recordings and distributing them through informal channels.
 
By late 1976, bands such as the Ramones, in New York City, and the Sex Pistols and The Clash, in London, were recognized as the vanguard of a new musical movement. The following year saw Punk Rock spreading around the world. Punk quickly, though briefly, became a major cultural phenomenon in the United Kingdom. For the most part, Punk took root in local scenes that tended to reject association with the mainstream. An associated Punk subculture emerged, expressing youthful rebellion and characterized by distinctive clothing styles and a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies.
 
By the beginning of the 1980s, even faster, more aggressive styles such as hardcore and Oi! had become the predominant mode of Punk Rock. Musicians identifying with or inspired by Punk also pursued a broad range of other variations, giving rise to Postpunk and the Alternative Rock movement. By the turn of the century, new Pop Punk bands such as Green Day were bringing the genre widespread popularity decades after its inception.
 
 
For more info about Punk Rock please see [Please, note that the following links open in a new window (or Tab)]:
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_rock

TM7 MG: World Music