Free Culture Essay Samples

[…] The most expressive features of Chinese traditional music are melody and tone quality, the proper articulation and inflection of each musical tone. Most Chinese music is based on the five-tone, or penta-tonic, scale, and on the seven-tone, or heptatonic scale. All traditional Chinese music is more melodic rather than harmonic and it varies from region to region in China (“The Music of China and Taiwan”). The vocal styles differences depend on the differences in language. The main language in China is Mandarin and it is spoken by the majority of people. The rest and the smallest minority of the population speaks one of over 60 different languages. Thus, each language group has its own song style and musical theater. In turn, Chinese traditional musical instruments are classified according to the construction materials such as metal, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, clay, skin, and wood (“History of Chinese Music”). But the stone and wood instruments are already obsolete. […]

[…] One of the first jazz women who made records was trumpeter Dolly Jones, later known as Dolly Hutchinson. Valaida Snow, known as "the Queen of the Trumpet" was also one of the earliest female trumpeters and her playing was even compared to the playing of Louis Armstrong.
In the 1920s and '30s the number of women jazz pianists increased. Among the most famous pianists were Sweet Emma Barrett, Billie Pierce, Jeanette Kimball, and Lovie Austin (Howze).
The legendary and most influential of that era Mary Lou Williams made her brilliant contribution of pianist in jazz. Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington performed her compositions but she never found popularity on their level. Mary Lou Williams remains overshadowed by many popular men musicians whom she tutored to play piano. This talented woman had a strong influence as a musician, composer, and arranger on many of the first bebop giants, such as Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk (Hale). […]

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