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Essay about Music throughout Society

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Music throughout Society

We've been talking a lot about social rituals. Well, just what exactly is a social ritual? Social rituals are, basically, traditions or customs that a society has followed for many years. For example, in America, most people follow the custom of dating. In Israel, they tend to follow the tradition of arranged marriages. Yet, in some countries, they use courtship. Even though all three of these approaches to finding a mate are different, they all are very similar because they are all Social Mating Rituals. Now, of course, mating isn't the only social ritual. The way our culture responds to and views death is a social ritual in and of itself. So is the way we do warfare. The way we eat and the way we clothe …show more content…

Many artists knew this to be true and took advantage of it. Music rapidly began to influence every aspect of American lives. It was heard in their homes, cars, offices, theaters, movies, elevators and countless other places. Music made it's way everywhere. The songs that were sung defined what every American loved and worked for. It gave people hope and joy, as well as bringing out every other emotion possible. Music was around during the bad times as well as the good. When people were down there were songs they could relate to, and when they were happy there were songs they could sing and dance to (Ennis, 1992).
In the 1920's the first pop music began with the big bands. They were a popular choice for many listeners, but new forms of it were already starting to branch. Swing and Jazz soon became very popular styles of music. They mainly consisted of several trumpets, saxophones, and even stringed instruments. A deeper bass, piano and percussion then supported them. Jazz got it's influence from African-American folk music, such as ragtime, fife and drum bands, string bands and spirituals. Because of the newness of Jazz music, it exploded though out the United States quickly. Jazz had a huge impact on the people of the early 1900's. It lessened racism to some degree, and started opening people's minds to other forms of dancing, which was considered an indecent act among many societies. African-American people gained a little more acceptance through Jazz music

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