History of Music

The blues is a cry of pain, a shout of freedom and a howling against the world. It's a simple music that holds complex emotions; a structure built...

Classical music is actually a catch-all term covering centuries of music. Although it's often thought of as orchestral, it can also encompass smaller...

Folk music is, as the name implies, the music of the people. For hundreds of years people have made songs of stories and great ballads. Sometimes...

Hip-hop, once called rap music because of the talking or rapping that's such an integral part of the music, has gone from local to global in less...

Jazz is a uniquely America form, and more specifically an African-American form. It grew out of the brothels and bars of New Orleans, the music of...

Opera is a hybrid form, a mix of music and theatre, where the performers have to be both actors and singers. Over the centuries it's developed into a...

Pop is short for popular, and it's remained the defining term for the ever-changing music favoured by the public. Although not specifically applied...

Reggae is the Jamaican music that evolved from ska and rock steady, developing into a huge musical force. Over the years it's developed and changed,...

Born in the late 1940s, rock 'n' roll has gone on to become the world's most pervasive music form, developing at a rapid pace and making stars of...