The Roots of It All

"If Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at the age of 22, it would have changed the history of music, and of aviation." -Tom Stoppard

History's important. In everything.

Especially music. In my opinion, it's so important to know where everything comes from. You may think your music has nothing to do with other types, but you're wrong. Every genre of music came from another genre, which came from another genre, etc.

It all started with the Renaissance.
Well, technically you could say that it started in ancient times, all the way back to the cave people and neanderthols. Archaeologists have found ancient musical instruments, like sticks being hit together. For this blog's sake, we'll stick with modern music, onwards from the Renaissance.
During Medieval times, people listened to classical music and composers. This carried on into the Renaissance, in which people listened to classical composers. This actually carried on into the 20th century, when things started to change.
First came Jazz music. Then swing music. Everybody in the 1920's was going to clubs and doing the jitterbug and the rabbit hop. Then came country and grassroots, then rhythm and blues, which led into my personal favourite genre, good old rock and roll. This is where it gets crazy. Rock and roll music led into other genres, such as disco, harder classic rock, and...hip hop. Original hip hop featured guitars and riffs placed with the beats, and then transitioned into the hip hop we know today.
Crazy, isn't it?