Reggae Music

As you journey through the islands of Jamaica you may here the loud, off beat, sounds of horns, drums, guitars, keyboards and other instruments you would have never thought to be so prominent in such a peaceful environment. The accents of the second and forth bar almost sound wrong but, keep you interested until you hear the rhythm guitar holding a stylish cord and accenting its own set of beats. Reggae music is arguably the national music of Jamaica with roots and ties associated to the island which continue to live and thrive in today's modern day society from Asia to America.

With its "get up and dance" rhythm to songs that may even cause a few tears to be shed reggae music has burst on the scene in the past fifty years and has yet to slow down especially among people in many other areas of the world. Also, with its assorted use of instruments it can delight any person's fix for naturally played music and the distinct accent of the people of Jamaica also add a different vocal sound not known to many other people around the world. In this paper I will compare two different sources explaining reggae music, its origins, people, and instruments associated with it.

Both sources had their focuses one emphasizing more on the origins and how reggae music has thrived through time while the other has a more broad view of reggae music as a whole analyzing different aspects of why it's so popular in different areas of the world. The websites are strong educational pieces that clearly point out key facts and parts into the creation of reggae.

The Grove Music Online resource was the first source I analyzed this source was very descriptive on its facts about how reggae music was influenced by different artists and cultures. The first sentence on the website states "The origins of reggae are found in Mento, Jamaica's Cuban-inflected calypso music that dates from the late 19th century" (Davis Ori.1). The website continues to go through the years exploring how reggae has changed throughout time. It gives out a distinct definition of reggae music and points out how different groups and types of people influenced the different styles of reggae today. He provides us with information from the origins to 1968-1975 and finally 1975 onward (Davis 1). The years are clearly separated and you can see a distinct difference on how reggae music has evolved through the years of its development.

The educational purpose of the site is clearly identified by the implementation of the Webster's Dictionary definition of the word at the top of the article also the wide variety of authors for the article signify the legitimacy and accuracy of the information provided in the article. The article provides detail into why and how the style of reggae music has been affected because people have influenced other people to create their own styles of the popular music and spread it throughout their environment.

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