Publisher's Synopsis
The author examines the origins of popular music, tracing its roots in the musical traditions of earlier times. He looks at the Arab world of the Middle Ages, Europe and Britain and pays particular attention to Africa, covering speech, song and instrumental sounds, end-orientation and end-repetition, and note position versus note length.;This is followed by a history of North American music with reference to both white and black influences, and to vocal music such as worksongs, sea shanties, spirituals, dance songs, ballads and blues.;The theoretical foundation of popular styles is covered and there is a history of the development of the blues in Africa, North America and Britain. The author concludes with an examination of parlour music and ragtime.;Throughout the work, reference is made to particular musical examples which are shown in the text.
