Country

= = =  Research Q **uestions:**  = 1) What’s the common beat per measure in country music? 2) Where did country music first come from? 3) What’s the most common instrument? 4) Where was that instrument made? Or where did it originate? 5) Are most country songs slow are fast (what type of tempo does it have)? 6) How did country music influence other music? 7) How did other music influence country music? 8) What classifies something as country music? 9) Who are the most famous country singers? 10) Is syncopation used a lot in country?



For our process we are going to divide up the questions and then each try to find answers. When we all get answers to the questions we were assigned we will share them with the rest of our group. Our sources are going to be mostly on the internet, but some of them will be from books. We will try to get a few primary sources that are not songs, and also have secondary sourced. We will collaborate by dividing up the questions and doing research about them on our own then sharing them with the rest of our group.


 * Questions:**

Ruben Burenstein - Where did country music first come from? - What's the most common instrument in country music? - Are most country songs slow or fast?

Dan Wirt - How did country music influence other music? - How did other music influence country music?

Andora Myftaraj - What's the common beat per measure in country music? - What's the most common instrument, where was it made and where did it originate from?

Rondel Calloway - What classifies something as country music? - Is syncopation used a lot in country? Who are the most famous country singers?

= = = = = Ruben Burenstein Answers: Country music started on the British isles including ireland, but then came to the US by boat. Slaves picked it up and used it in some of their songs, they changed it a little and then it got passed on to what we know as country music.. There are many common instruments, the most being the accordion, autoharp, banjo, bass, dobro, drums, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, piano, pedal steel guitar, washboard, and zither. Country songs can be either slow or fast, the ones that are slow are usually very slow, and the ones that are fast are usually very fast. =
 * Thesis/Theses**: Country music was taken from all over the world and made into what it is today.

Rondel Calloway Answers: Country music can’t really be defined. Country is derived from folk also known as old time music, created using the fiddle. Country is a mix of a bunch of different music genres put together. Country is the term used to describe the style of the music. It is believed that immigrants from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and England, moved to the southern U.S. and developed this style of music. Some other genres of music that are associated with country music are: hillbilly boogie, blue grass, folk, gospel, and honky tonky.

Andora Myftaraj answers: The common beat per measure in country music varies in different songs but most often is around 3/4 some song examples would be "Manic depression" by Jimi Hendrix, the 3/4 represents stressed and unstressed beats in the music. Accordion: Used in conjunto, tejano, and cowboy music's. Often used in Europe North and south America. It is believed that the accordion is from Germany. Autoharp:1880 by the luthier Carl Gütter in Markneukirchen, Germany

Dan Wirt answers: Country music is very unique because it didn't really influence many types of music but instead it was influenced by other musics. It was made from other music's. One form of music that it actually did influence is honky tonk. Honky Tonk was believed to first be played around 1890. Honky Tonk was a unique was of sounding it uses kind of a swing movement into it. One type of music that influenced country as we know it now are the songs that slaves used to sing, because the earlier forms of country were passed to them, and then it emerged as what we know country as now.

SAMPLES: = = =media type="file" key="Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me [www.Keep-Tube.com].mp4" width="389" height="389" align="left"=


 * Song:** You Belong With Me
 * Musician:** Taylor Swift
 * Came out**: April 21,2009
 * Genre**: Country
 * Explanation:** This song is a country song and it relates to the questions that we had. The song contains instruments like drums, & guitar The song contains stressed and unstressed symbols and a pattern through out the whole song, it starts out slow then the beat gets faster then it slows down again.

media type="file" key="Patsy Cline - Walkin_ After Midnight [www.Keep-Tube.com].mp4" width="390" height="390"

= = media type="file" key="Family Tradition.mp3" width="286" height="23"
 * Song:** Walkin After Midnight
 * Musician:** Patsy Cline
 * Came out**:
 * Genre**: Country
 * Explanation:** This song relates to the questions that we had about country music and after hearing this song we got a few of our answers for example, this song is slow and it have stressed and unstressed words and that answered our question on if it matters if music has to be fast or slow and it can be both in country because it is very general in a way, songs have certin instruments that kind of say the mood at the time as well as the voice of the musician that is singing.


 * Song:** Family Tradition
 * Musician:** Hank Williams
 * Came out**: 2007
 * Genre**: Country
 * Explanation:** This song is a country song that we choose because it included some of the most used instruments in country music and because the stressed and unstressed words through out the song matches the type of rhythm that we were looking for in a country song and also one of the most common rhythm used in country music.

media type="file" key="Trace Adkins - Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.mp3" width="240" height="20"
 * Song:** Honky Tonk Badonkadonk
 * Musician:** Trace Adkins
 * Came out**:
 * Genre**: Country
 * Explanation:** This country song we chose because it has a good tie to what we studied. This song is a honky tonk, which derived from country music. This song has a slow guitar, and drums for most of the song. Part of the song that doesn't sound like country music sounds somewhat like techno, which we thought was interesting because it is a Honky Tonk song. This song has syncopation because it switched beats, and changes what the main part sounds like in a few parts of the song.

= = Sexton, timmothy. "A History of Honky." //Tonk Music//. N.p., 13/8/2008. Web. 12 May 2010. .

"Origins of Country Music." //Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum//. N.p., 24/7/2007. Web. 8 May 2010. .

"Instruments In Country Music." //Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum//. N.p., 19/1/2005. Web. 5 May 2010. . 