Music comes in many forms. Since the beginning of time, there have been many ways music has been shown. The Sumerian Hymn to Creation was from before 800 B.C.; this was the earliest song known today. (Koopman, John. "Antiquity to 1590".) Music is a way of expressing feelings and is made for celebrations, entertainment, and dancing. Music is a great way to connect with others. Leading up to the 1920s, the most popular kinds of music were classical, opera, and ragtime; classical music is symphonic, usually with a full orchestra, opera is a form of theater where a song tells a story through lyrics, and ragtime has a syncopated or ragged rhythm. There are many forms of music aside from these three, but those genres of music helped pave the way for how music is in the 1920s and up to today.
In the 1920s, there were many popular kinds of music. For example, there was Jazz, blues, swing, dance band, classical, big band, country, and many more. Almost all of these genres originated from the work of African Americans influenced by their culture and heritage. (Tennant, Amie. "Radio and Music in the 1920s United States.") Music in this time period helped many people celebrate their culture and connected
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Developed by African Americans, Jazz combined elements of European and West African musical traditions with African American forms of ragtime compositions, minstrel numbers, and blues songs. (Batchelor, Bob. "The Jazz Age: Music.") Jazz music featured many instruments like the saxophone, drums, pianos, trumpets, clarinets, violins, etc. Jazz helped influence dance, fashion, and culture in the 1920s. Some famous jazz songs from the 20s were "West End Blues" by Louis Armstrong, "Crazy Blues" by Mamie Smith, "Rhapsody In Blue" by George Gershwin, and "Lets Misbehave" by Irving Aaronson. Jazz was played in "honky-tonk” clubs because black musicians were not allowed to play in "normal" clubs, which white Americans mainly