The Evolution of Music Genres: An Historical Guide (Series)
This article is part of my ongoing series, The Evolution of Music Genres, exploring how musical genres developed through history. This is Part 1. Here we will explore why humans create music genres in the first place and how early forms of musical categorization shaped modern listening.
How did the concept of the musical genre first develop and why? The idea of pigeonholing music might rub against the most ardent music fan. However, for the rest of us, the idea of compartmentalization is comforting and almost required within our society. Humans need to sort ideas such as music into categories because there is so much of it. There are so many music genres today, it is almost impossible to keep up. There are genres that appear and then disappear so quickly that they hardly make any impact, if at all. Then there are genres that have substance. These are the genres that have stuck around and have made an impact. Why do certain music genres stay with us? Genres do not live in a vacuum. They are shaped by history.
When we look at music genres we are looking at a snapshot of history. Genres are affected by what was going on at a certain period of time. Music genres are no exception. Political, social, economic and cultural factors have played a part in the development of the music genre. Here we will attempt to touch on factors such as technology, social and political change, economic changes, and cultural identity. Nostalgia, revival and historical memory have also played a huge part in the development of some genres and the continuation of others.
Society as a whole functions under the concept of culture. Within a culture, regardless of the basis, groups share the same ideas, beliefs, values and customs. These concepts are learned, meaning they are passed down socially rather than biologically. Musical genres have grown from cultures. A good definition of a musical genre can be summed as “a set of musical events (real or possible) whose course is governed by a definite set of socially accepted rules”(1). The genre concept is a learned concept, which promotes the idea of tribalism. Music cultures are probably the most obsessive groups to ever exist. There was a point within the 20th century that if someone was a fan of a particular genre, there was an unwritten rule that liking any other type of music was forbidden. Anyone who broke this rule was essentially ostracized from that group. This may feel weird or exclusive today as the idea of liking more than one genre is widely accepted. Genres were used to identify a group of people and that identification included exclusion.
As a culture grows and matures, it begins to develop its own identity. The values, beliefs, behaviors and ideas that a particular culture has is transferred into ideas such as music. The music and subsequent genre is born from the culture itself is an extension of language, fashion, traditions, and community. As mentioned earlier, there was an unwritten rule that liking music outside of a certain genre was forbidden. This allowed a genre within a community to grow, gain strength and survive against the mainstream. This also developed into a us vs them mentality that was very prevalent in early genres. People who liked country did not like rock and roll and people who liked pop did not like blues. For some, like the New York punk scene of the 1970s, it was a rebellion against the insipid shallow music that dominated the airwaves. For others, like the Rap and Hip Hop movements of the 1980s, it meant survival against the squalor, brutality and racism in 1980s New York City. Culture and genre were one and the same for some because it was the music within that gave them their identity.
From a cultural standpoint, the group that has always had the most influence and impact on music has been generational groups. Each generation has searched for its own voice and has used music as an effective vehicle for that search. Determined not to be like their parents, each new generation finds its footing through its own beliefs and social rules and with it a new form of rebellion. It is during the rebellious stage that we see the impact the new generation has on music. Music genres are born from this rebellion. The irony is that as time goes by, the new generation morphs into the previous generation. Rebellion turns into responsibility and thus feeds the fire for the next generation.
Perhaps as a generation ages, part of the responsibility it feels is to try to keep the rebellion alive, to keep them in a state of age regression, where they are twenty-something forever. This could be why genres, particularly the widespread ones such as classic rock (2) remain dominant in our society. This is also why the songs you will hear on the radio are so repetitive and yet so comforting. Baby boomers are the loudest and most dedicated supporters of what they see as the greatest post-modern music ever made. This group has made it its mission to keep the rebellion alive, even if the rebellion has become diluted. But Baby boomers are not alone in this category. Generation X, once a loud, rebellious group that has become legendary for its diy attitude and apathy has now grown into a state where they are closer to their parents then they are comfortable with. Given the state of music today, where it is more popular to create a beat with a machine than an instrument, Gen Xers have begun to raise their fists, call today's music crap and wonder what has got into these kids today. This attitude has morphed into one that mirrors their parents in more ways than they care to admit. But, like Baby boomers, that attitude has also carried the music of Generation X well into the twenty first century with no end in sight(3).
As time passes, within any generation lies a certain historical memory that allows genres to live well beyond their actual lifespan. When a genre is in its infancy, no one at that particular time will appreciate what is going on. That is the problem with history. No one truly understands or realizes what is happening until it's long over. History is the study of change over time and music history is no different. Genres are often criticized, marginalized and even hated. However, as time passes, these marginalized and hated genres often turn into something that is now celebrated. This happens more often than you think. A genre that was once seen as something horrible is now seen as innovative, politically important or culturally significant as time passes. This brings me to the why. Why does this happen? As history has shown time and again, a cultural shift will bring change. Punk was once seen as noisy garbage. Electronic music was seen as non-music. Rap was seen as both. Now, thanks to cultural shifts and a historical memory, Punk is now seen for its political importance, Electronic music for its innovation and Hip Hop for its racial and social awareness. Historical memory, with its collective memory and selective interpretation of the past, has now canonized these genres into a history that is revered instead of reviled.
Here we are going to explore decade by decade, examining the cultural, social, economic, and political landscape of each decade and their impact on music genres. Beginning with the 1950s until today, we will use these topics as a roadmap, touching on familiar territory and exploring around with the hope of discovering some hidden idea along the way.
Precursor
Music was initially divided into periods rather than genres. Periods of music are based on a time period and style instead of genre which relies on form and function. People who study music, or musicologists, focus on a specific time period when categorizing music. For example, one of the earliest periods of music was the Medieval Period (6th -15th centuries). This was followed by the Renaissance Period (15th-16th centuries), the Baroque Period (1600-1750), the Classical Period (roughly 1750-1820), the Romantic Period (19th century) and the Modernist Period (early 20th century). To say that without one period of music, the next would not have existed would be an understatement. The technology and innovations of its predecessor beginning with the medieval period and the development of Western notation helped usher in new forms of music with each period.
We begin to see music genres as we recognize them by the 20th century. Music was expanding because musicians were challenging what was common and began to explore new forms and aesthetics in music. Technology and cultural factors would help move the distinction from period to genre in the early 20th century. Jazz and blues developed out of work songs, and hymns, and field hollers of slavery in the Southern United States. Country music also developed from folk music and popular songs brought over with European immigration(4). The widespread use of radios in the home in the 1920s would be vital in the popularization of these genres. For the first time, people were able to enjoy these musical genres within the comfort of their homes. Oddly enough, radio would also help create a cultural wall, a division where a particular type of music was played and marketed to a specific audience.For instance, R&B(5) was played and sold in northern urban centers while Country music(6) remained popular in Southern rural areas. The music industry in the 1920s developed early versions of future genres R&B and country music dubbed race and hillbilly music respectively. Record companies began to market these and other genres separately. Radio stations began playing a certain type of music in one area while purposely avoiding another type of music altogether. This segregation of music reinforced and solidified the concept of the music genre.
Cultural factors occurring around this time would also have a profound effect on music and the concepts of genre. Although these changes did have a ripple effect globally, America was at the center of the largest shifts. Probably the largest change occurred with a literal cultural shift. The Second Great Migration, beginning in 1940 and lasting until 1970, saw the migration of more than five million African Americans from the Southern United States to the Northwest, Midwest, and Western United States. During the Second World War and afterward leading up to the mid 1950s, roughly 28 percent of the southern black population left the region(7). All were looking for better jobs, higher wages, decent housing and greater social equality. Most did not get this. Even in the larger urban cities, the mass influx of African Americans caused a backlash that led to overcrowded housing, poverty and continued racism they longed to escape from when they left the south(8). Aside from any meager personal belongings they had with them, one of the most important aspects they carried to their new homes was their culture. One of the main components of a new genre is new music. And while absolutely no-one was trying to introduce a new music genre into society, the introduction of rhythm and blues into a mostly white society inadvertently started a move toward rock and roll.
Before we get into genres, we should address the difference between a music genre and a music style. Although these terms have been seen as interchangeable, they are quite different. A genre is used to describe a subject that is based on shared characteristics. In the case of music, the shared elements can be rhythm, harmony or instrumentation. A music style is found within a genre. This refers to a choice of a particular instrument ,a vocal inflection or the way a particular artist performs. Style is sometimes referred to as a subgenre but they are not the same. A subgenre is a sub-category of a genre, sharing the same characteristics of the genre but usually adds or takes away something that sets it apart.
The idea of a music genre may seem foreign to some today. After all, music should include everyone and people should be able to like what they want without the fear of social retribution or ostracization occurring. Music should be inclusive. The issue with this inclusiveness is that it also strips away any sort of uniqueness within music. This blending of music genres to the point where you cannot tell the difference anymore is like adding so many ingredients to a soup, you have completely lost the individual flavours. Music is slowly turning into that soup, where nothing stands out anymore and it sounds exactly the same and any uniqueness and individuality is gone. Music is not exciting anymore and it certainly is not rebellious or dangerous. It is just there. Okay, I will get off my soapbox and stop shaking my fist at the clouds. Let us explore the concept of the music genre and how it has evolved over the last 70 years.
1-Fabbri, Franco. "A theory of musical genres: two applications." Popular music: critical concepts in media and cultural studies 3 (2004): 7-35.
2-Classic rock is not a true genre in the way that blues, country and punk is. It was coined by radio executives in the mid-1980s to separate older music from any new music being played on the radio. The irony is that classic rock has become a catch-all area where any music over 25 years old becomes classic rock. So the new music that was originally separate from the older music has now become part of the gang. This is why one will hear the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, AC DC, and Nirvana all in the same playlist on any classic rock radio station.
3-It can be noted that while Generation X has created some of the most noteworthy genres such as punk, new wave, electronic, grunge and pop-punk, a great deal of this music has also been unfortunately grouped into the classic rock umbrella, where ironically it lives on through corporate mentality. A true example of rebellion becoming mainstream.
5-The term race music was rebranded Rhythm and Blues or R&B in 1947 by Billboard editor Jerry Wexler after a number of record companies that issued popular Black music stated the term was demeaning.
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