Boxill-Clark, Cleopatra, “In Search of Harmony in Culture: An Analysis of American Rock Music and the African American Experience” Master of Arts in Humanities | Master’s Theses, 2020, 13. Web.
The paper aimed to assess the connection between culture and music, indicating the potential of art to create a culturally conscious society. The author focuses on the evolution of the African American culture and rock and roll. Rhythm and blues were expressions of blacks, and they are responsible for the emergence of rock and roll. The evolution of black music facilitated the growth and transition of genres from the community into greater diversity. The author creates a connection between culture and music, indicating that the changes experienced among African Americans influenced creativity. The consequence was the emergence of music that had a greater representation of society through diversification. I will use the source to provide foundational information for the essay. The author provides important information on the influence of the African American culture on music composition, proving that race and ethnic identity determine music creation, which supports my thesis.
Case, Anne, “Exploring Music, Imagery, and Racial-Ethnic-Cultural Identity with Youth in a Community Music Program: A Community Engagement Project.” Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses, vol. 462, 2021. Web.
The article is a community engagement project aiming to explore music and racial and cultural identity among young people. The author bases her arguments on the significance of finding and knowing one’s identity in a society when marginalized communities. Paulo Freire’s liberatory approaches are relied upon to expand the critical awareness and consciousness of the participants. The paper introduces the role of music in combating some of the challenges that individuals experience in society. Identity with a specific music genre allows one to find some comfort in everyday life. The significant factor in the essay is the ability of young people to identify with specific music.
The main argument in the article is that music can allow the exploration of self, family, culture, and heritage. Music is an expression of people, with most artists aligning to genres that are familiar to their races. Consumers also resonate with their own, whereby music by a musician from an ethnic community will have one of its biggest listeners coming from that community. Therefore, music has an interconnection with race and ethnicity, making it a critical element in finding identity among listeners. I will use the article to provide some foundational information about music and identity, giving more emphasis on the connection between groups and art.
Donaldson, Rachel. “Race, Place, and American Music.” Journal of Urban History, vol. 45, no. 4, 2019, pp. 875–880.
The article is a review essay by the author, who aims to show how American music is tied to race and place. The author’s justification for the essay is the role of social history in determining the creation and evolution of music genres by African Americans. The introduction of the essay provides an overview of the significance of music to society and its transient nature that overcomes natural and constructed boundaries. It also presents music as an identity and representation of social groups, allowing the exhibition of the uniqueness of people and their problems. Therefore, the article introduces music as a form of art that provides Americans, with an emphasis on African Americans, with an opportunity to express themselves through an assessment of music genres that prove music is tied to race.
The main argument in the essay is that while music overcomes boundaries, its creation and evolution are tied to race and place. The author achieves this through the evaluation of three books that discuss different music genres during the twentieth century and other styles not discussed in the book, showing the uniqueness that the artist draws from the different races in America. The information in this article will be important in my essay as it will provide some basic information on music in the country. It will be applied to my essay when arguing about the role that different races have played in the creation of specific music.
Ewell, Philip A. “Music Theory and the White Racial Frame.” Music Theory Online, vol. 26, no. 2, 2020.
The article tries to determine why music theory remains predominantly white despite efforts to diversify it. The author draws inspiration from the fact that music plays a critical role in society, and its assessment should reflect all communities. Music theory entails the study of music and its impacts on audiences. According to the author, music has become diversified over time as more genres are introduced, and individuals from different races compose and record music that is predominantly unfamiliar to them. However, those who practice music theory have failed to become diversified, revealing the institutional and structural issues in the assessment of music. The article will be essential in my essay by providing information on the other side of music. The analysis of music is critical to its perception and reception by audiences, and the fact that the field remains predominantly white raises concerns over the impact of institutional racism on music creation.
Killin, Anton. “The Origins of Music. Evidence, Theory, and Prospects” Music & Science, vol. 1, 2018, p. 205920431775197.
The source discusses the origins of music based on the opinion of the author. The goal of the author is to provide readers with an overview of music. The author relies on science to justify the article, indicating that the evolution of man is also responsible for the creation and transitions that music has achieved over the past few years. The article introduces an aspect of music that is rarely discussed, which is the role of man’s evolution in the transitions evidenced in various music genres. The article alludes that different modern genres of music have been subjected to several changes based on the period and the group that creates or listens to the music.
The main argument in the article is that music traditions and activities have evolved gradually over the years to facilitate modern music. The source indicates that the origin of man was in Africa based on existing research, and music evolved from the location to the rest of the world. The evidence, theory, and speculations made by the author are subject to arguments, but the source manages to provide crucial information regarding music. While the article does not focus on the origin of music in America, it helps to provide crucial information regarding music. I will use the article to support my arguments on the correlation between race and specific music genres in my essay.
Sonnett, John. “Musical Relationships: Intersections of Race, Gender, Genre, and Listening Situation.” Cultural Sociology, vol. 15, no. 1, 2020, pp. 44–68.
The article examines the relationship music has with various elements, including race, genre, gender, and listening situations. The justification for the work is that consumers and producers have patterns in their relationships. The trends that emerge from interactions between consumers and producers influence the production of music. In America, interactions between race, gender, genre, and listening situations have long been key determinants in the creation of music. The article introduces the demand and supply concept in markets, whereby producers provide what is demanded. In music, specific genres are demanded by groups of listeners, which determines the direction music creation will take. Musical relationships also determine crossovers, leading to integrations based on social segregation.
The primary argument in the article is that musical relationships are shaped by situational meanings and artist comparisons within genres, creating social distance. The author illustrates this through the assessment of race, gender, gender, and situations as factors that influence the relationships between music creators and their consumers. The relationships are crucial in music creation since specific genres are more common in some groups than others. The source will be used in my essay to establish the relationships that American people have with music. It will be essential in providing important patterns in relationships between music and the other variables.
Venrooij, Alex, et al. “Race and Genre Ambiguity in the Critical Reception of Popular Music.” Sociological Inquiry, vol. 92, no. 2, 2021, pp. 568–596.
The article assesses the role of race and genre in the reception of music in modern society. The author bases the paper on critical race theory, stating that music from minority communities is more likely to be devalued by critics, leading to the creation of genre categories and identities. The article introduces racism as a factor influencing the valuation of music and the reason for the creation of music genres that resonate with specific groups. The article creates a connection between music and race through the determination that multiracial listeners have a higher probability of having ambiguous identities. The information provided in the article is important in understanding music trends in society. The influence of institutional racism is exhibited in the article as the author shows trends in the valuation of music from artists. I will use the source to provide support to my arguments on the correlation between music development and race. It will be essential to show that despite the devaluation of music from specific groups, creation and evolution continues due to demand from listeners.
Works Cited
Allen, Tennille Nicole, and Antonia Randolph. “Listening for the Interior in Hip-Hop and R&B Music.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, vol. 6, no. 1, 2019, pp. 46–60.
Bagley, Mark J.O., et al. “The Evolution of Niche: Variety in Knowledge Networks in the Global Music Industry.” Industry and Innovation, vol. 29, no. 3, 2021, pp. 425–462.
Boxill-Clark, Cleopatra, “In Search of Harmony in Culture: An Analysis of American Rock Music and the African American Experience” Master of Arts in Humanities | Master’s Theses, 2020, 13. Web.
Case, Anne, “Exploring Music, Imagery, and Racial-Ethnic-Cultural Identity with Youth in a Community Music Program: A Community Engagement Project.” Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses, vol. 462, 2021. Web.
Donaldson, Rachel. “Race, Place, and American Music.” Journal of Urban History, vol. 45, no. 4, 2019, pp. 875–880.
Ewell, Philip A. “Music Theory and the White Racial Frame.” Music Theory Online, vol. 26, no. 2, 2020.
Killin, Anton. “The Origins of Music. Evidence, Theory, and Prospects” Music & Science, vol. 1, 2018, p. 205920431775197.
Library of Congress. “The Painful Birth of Blues and Jazz.” Library of Congress Blogs, 2017, Web.
Sonnett, John. “Musical Relationships: Intersections of Race, Gender, Genre, and Listening Situation.” Cultural Sociology, vol. 15, no. 1, 2020, pp. 44–68.
Venrooij, Alex, et al. “Race and Genre Ambiguity in the Critical Reception of Popular Music.” Sociological Inquiry, vol. 92, no. 2, 2021, pp. 568–596.