Jazz is one of the most popular genres of music across the world. Although jazz doesn’t enjoy a great deal of mainstream success today, it has done in the past. That said, jazz samples are still widely used in pop, dance, and rock music, in particular, and the influence of the genre can clearly be heard elsewhere, too.

Origins of Jazz

Jazz emerged from New Orleans in...

Country music is one of the most popular and instantly recognisable genres in the world.

Early country music originated from the southern United States in the 1920s, when ‘hillbilly’ music would become popular across the southern states, with the main centre for country being in Atlanta, Georgia. This decade saw many country recordings, which would continue into the 1930s,...

While the history of folk music can be traced back almost 1,000 years, the emergence of the genre as a modern type of popular music did not happen until the end of the 19th century. This is because, before the era of recording, music sung by groups of people at work or at home would be classed as folk, although other genres would emerge from various cultures, such as how jazz did from slav...

Rock music is perhaps the most iconic genre of all; ask anyone about legends of music and they will point to groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones from the early days of rock, to bands like Coldplay and Muse that are generally accepted as the global leaders today.

Talking about the history of rock music is difficult, as there are at least 30 sub-genres to look at that were bo...

Rock and roll is one of the most famous music genres of all. While many people dismiss rock and roll as ‘old school’ and irrelevant, the very fact that we are still talking about it today tells you all you need to know about how it has endured through the years.

Rock and roll was actually the perfect embodiment of ‘flash in the pan,’ although it gave rise to so...

Although gospel music, by which we mean traditional church music, can be traced back over 2,000 years, the Afro-American inspired gospel music that we recognise today can find its roots in the 17th century.

Origins of Gospel

Gospel music was originally founded to promote group participation during times of worship. As it involved oral interaction, it was seen as ideal...