The first music ever created by man was rhythmic drumming by hitting wooden sticks together, and this persists in some polynesian styles such as in the Cook Islands or Rarotonga, and in Africa. Next the drum itself was perfected. Animal skins were drawn tightly across a wooden structure cut from a tree log.

Modern music still contains all of these primitive beginnings and that's possibly why it appeals across the globe, transcending boundaries of nation, race and language. Rhythm is absolutely universal in appeal, as is vocal harmony and instrumental melody. 

Next, music developed into classical forms, such as Indian sitar music with drums, and the Chinese violin. Performers grouped into duos, trios, quartets, and finally massed together into an orchestra. Such classical music required very high levels of discipline from the players of musical instruments.

Folk music had persisted, too, unique to each sub cultural grouping. Folk music and dance went together. It was this form that became popular music. People's music took hold with the industrial revolution then with the spread of mass communications and finally, electronics. Amplification took the world by storm after the second world war, in the 1950s and the folk spanish guitar turned into the grinding, aggressive, yet harmonic electric guitar. Many antics appeared on stage such as the Jimi Hendrix fire act and playing the guitar with his teeth, while others such as Pete Townshend would smash an electric guitar at the final climax of his band's performance.

Computer synthesis of music became large and the disco era erupted, then techno electronic music. Any sound could be simulated by digital sampling and mixing. Piano and organ music was synthesized and copied almost exactly by computer technicians. Keyboards emerged... 

Traditional jazz and blues had flowed right through the twentieth century and their attractive improvisations continue today unabated with high popularity in the jazz and blues communities of musos. Fusion of these with rock music appeared in the late 60s and throughout the 1970s with bands like Steely Dan and Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Hip hop is a street dancing phenomenon of the United States, especially originating in California and Louisiana and Rap music is distinctly African American like the Motown rhythmic music from bands such as The Jackson Five. Rap, though, has its roots in angry attitude expression from gangs of young people in Los Angeles. It became an art form and millions of dollars were generated by rap exponents, chanting obscenities with impunity. Some complain of the negativity being expressed by such an art form that does not appeal universally.

Soul music with harmony has been a strong influence on modern pop music for a very long time and its origin is in the choirs of christian church music.

MP3 files exist in their billions on The Internet in ALL of the genres spoken of above. There are peer to peer software systems available for download of these mp3 music files but the person downloading mp3s is legally responsible to make sure that copyright laws are not being breached in each single instance of upload or download, i.e. copying of an MP3 music file.

Thank you for visiting my series of hub pages on entertainment related topics.

Geoff Dodd, Perth 6172