Help me to organize this essay following the MLA format rules: Music for me is a worldwide language that connects people from all over the world. It connects musicians and fans to have this strong bond of caring for each other. And it is fun to play it or dance to it. From folks songs or to electric pop everybody has a good time with music (except the grandma from the movie Coco). It is also kind of like a free therapist because if you feel sad you would listen to a sad song or if you are mad then you would listen to an angry song. That’s why I find it interesting that every culture has its own style of music or a type that is connected with the world. Musical Eras and history of the eras Musical ideas have already started being exchanged since some of the early civilizations. For instance, in Mesopotamia the combination of separate cultures led to the evolution of new musical instruments and scales. Furthermore, in ancient Egypt, music was a very important role in sacred and non religious life, with the effects from nearby areas like Nubia (was an ancient region next to the Nile river.). The Greeks and Romans are known for their extensive domain, and also had a remarkable place in the musical trade. Greek music theory, for instance, affected Roman music, which later widened all around the empire, influencing the musical traditions of many European and Middle Eastern cultures. When Marco Polo traveled to China in the 13th century, he opened up trade routes, so Europe and Asia can exchange materials, and during trading the Europeans and Asians had a rich cultural exchange, which made the Europeans hear new sounds and musical traditions. It’s an idea that a significant amount of instruments were created from the cross-culture influence. For example, the Oud evolved into the Lute, the tambourine came from the Riqq, and the bowed Rebec. CLASSICAL MUSIC HISTORY MEDIEVAL PERIOD (500-1400) Most of the music in this time period was centered around the Holy Christian Church with very early sacred music to serve Biblical texts. Settings of the Latin texts would have been a single line of melody, that was meant to be sung by men. As the music developed throughout the period, it rose to the beginnings of ‘polyphonic’ (many sounds/many melodies at once) music which is known as ‘plainchant’. Plainchant is often referred to as the Gregorian Chant after the Pope Gregory the first. He allowed the voices to sing the setting of the Latin text in parallel octaves (octaves in music is the difference of two notes that have the same name, but are eighth notes apart including themselves) and fifths (the gap from the first and last five consecutive notes in a tonal scale) that corresponded to the natural range of male voices. Key Composers During this time; Hildegard von Bingen, Leonin, Petrotrin, Guillaume de Machaut, and Dufay. RENAISSANCE PERIOD (1400-1600) The Renaissance Period was one the most exciting ones for Western Musical History. Polyphonic music and instrumental music became strongly established. Polyphonic music and instrumental music became strongly established. And with the growth of the Medici family in Italy, the violin came from the viol, and the world of Art had a literal rebirth. With the arrival of new instruments that came with the popularity of composers who only composed music with instruments. Pieces of music were only written for the instrumental groups were made. Choral music was still more dominant than instrumental music. New styles of secular music (music that is not made for religious purposes) reflected life at Court with complicated dances across Europe, and it had various and colorful harmony. Which is a contrast compared to the early music of the Medieval Period, this era supported the new complex versions of polyphonic music allowing composers to fully show their ideas without the Church giving restrictions. Key Composers: Ockeghem, Josquin des Prez, Thomas Tallis, Palestrina, Byrd, Gibbons, and John Dowland. BAROQUE PERIOD (1600-1730) Nearing the end of the renaissance period the ‘system’ started to break down. Rather, a move launched to the tonal system people today. Parallel to the art and architecture of the era, Baroque music was rich, fancy and magnificent. Religious and non religious music had the same value. Musical composition evolved directly from the labor of renaissance composers and embraced the Suites, Sonatas, Concertos, Concerto Grosso, Masses, Oratorios and Opera. During this time of music, the orchestra had around twenty-five people playing in it. Grand Piano music aside from organ music flourished through the claiver and labors of Bach. The ‘escape’ of polyphonic pieces started to become really popular, letting the characteristic and balanced complexities of composers' thoughts to be fully examined in new and exciting ways. Key Composers: JS Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Albinoni, Purcell, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, and Corletti. CLASSICAL PERIOD (1730-1830) The Classical Period of music arrived directly opposite from Baroque music. The complications and ruffles of Baroque music were slowly being replaced by music that was smooth, tidy and with a great focus on musical growth. Composers of that era would look back to the philosophies of the Ancient Greeks, for instance, shaping their compositions regularly. Throughout this era the Concerto and Sonata became the main musical styles as the music and instruments started to evolve. The Symphony as a musical picture is created from the ‘suite’ and orchestral music is really molded. At the end of this era the orchestra was about sixty players. As the quality of the instruments evolved, the advance of the marvel performer/composer became an attribute of the era. That, in succession, smooths the growth of ‘sonata form’ as an important music formation that lets composers to more thoroughly search and show their ideas. The Piano replaces the claiveir as the favored keyed instrument guiding the way to the load of amazing solo sonatas, concertos and more! Comic opera shape is common with Italian as the core language. For the orchestra the string quartet was created during this period. Key Composers: Mozart, Haydn, Gluck, Beethoven, and Boccherini. ROMANTIC PERIOD (1820-1900) As the Classical period slowly starts to decrease, Beethoven is one composer who nearly unaided leads into the new musical era. This span of music shows an extremely large ascent in musical logic. A lot of the old Classical styles and forms became greater. Symphonies, Sonatas, and Concertos expand to lengthier time spans with a sturdy focal point on musical growth. The Symphonic “Tone Poem” comes from the symphonic tradition. Heroism, poetry, the complications of human pain and recovery normally look over the work of Romantic composers. Opera, Oratorio, and Mass stay as the favored types, but propelled to the maximum of their musical limitations. (The ‘Ring Cycle’ by Wagner goes for twenty-four hours for the whole entire performance). On a small scale, music saw a lot of various types of different scales. “Lieder” (Songs) or Song Cycles became a very expressive musical style. For example the many works by Schubert, Schumann, and Wolf. Key Composers: Beethoven, Mahler, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner, Schubert, Mendelsohn, Berlioz, Chopin, Verdi, Liszt, Bruckner, and Puccini. 20TH CENTURY PERIOD In this last era of Classical music, everything starts to become different because nearing the end of the Romantic Period ‘tonality’ began to not have enough options for some composers. Arnold Schoenberg started a twelve-tone method for compositions (surrealism) that goes to an entirely new style of music that is based on harshness, and the extravagants of expression. The music of the Romantic eras still carries on, specifically in England with the hard work of Elgar, Finzi, and Holst. In France, the ‘impressionist’ movement came from the pieces by Debussy and Ravel surrounding the musical universe of the East. This movement has created some of the most iconic musical pieces ever made. Later, in the 1940’s, electronic music started new ways for artists or composers to make the music they enjoy, which lead to the music of today. Another music genre called Jazz has an impact on the music that came from America, like on composers or artists like Copland, Bernstein, and Ives. Key Composers: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Copland, Bernstein, Ives, Elgar, Finzi, Beri, Stockhausen, Debussy, Ravel, and Ligeti. JAZZ MUSIC Jazz music is a type of music that came from African, Latin, and European music styles. In the beginning of Jazz music, it was mainly played by African-American musicians, and they usually played it in the red light districts of New Orleans. And because of that white people thought it was bad music. They went so far that even The New York time wrote an article talking about how ‘bad’ Jazz music is. Later in 1917, the military closed the red light district because they were scared their soldiers were going to go in there and get distracted. By that time, this style of music caught the eye of a young man called; Louis Armstrong, who lived in the neighborhood. Later, he became an uproar in New Orleans being one of the leading Jazz musicians there, adding scatting to Jazz. One of the most significant parts of Jazz is the idea of improvising after making a mistake and adding a new part to the song as if it was already a part of it. Jazz music’s evolution throughout each decade was a different style than the other. In the 1930’s even though there was segregation there still was mixed race Jazz bands. This made Jazz music come out of the shadows and into the life of a big stage. This era has big bands, scatting, and singing melodies. Bebop Jazz started in the mid 1940’s, and it was far from the swing and big band era, instead it had faster tempos and harder chord changes. This is the era where improvisation really started to evolve and be a base to future Jazz eras. The era also mainly focused on complex techniques and meaningful melodies, and did not think too hard about vocals. This new style of Jazz was created by the younger people and was like the pop culture of their time. People focused more on smaller groups that began to use rhythm in new ways. Big band music needed a consistent rate quarter note feel to make the bigger group and sound of the horn area. In Bebop, the rhythm section started to play more choppy and off-beat rhythms, and more passionate and conjoint in their background parts. After WWII, a brand new style of Jazz started that had a more relaxed feeling and tempo to it, and more set positioning and even started to include some pieces of Classical music. The part of the improviser had begun to advance and include more musical texture and hue (not Huey my bestest friendest) that worked to the more chill feeling of Cool Jazz. This was different from the Bebop period because it was more focused on improvising and being different. Some people say that the craziness of the war was shown in Bebop Jazz, and the growth of Cool Jazz was from craving for a more peaceful and chill sound. The Hard Bop period of Jazz had some returns to the quick tempos and the nature of Bebop, combined with a heavy influence of gospel and blend of African and Latin rhythms. Occasionally referred to the name Soul Jazz or Funky Jazz, a strong link to the Blues can be listened to in the minor key and pieces. Many of the sounds and ideas that were created during this period can be heard in today’s modern Jazz. Another type of Jazz named Modal Jazz also came into the picture during this time. An amazing person of this period is John Coltrane, he made a name for himself by becoming a composer. He had played during the Hard Bop and Cool Jazz period. He was a thoughtful and melodic player, and also complex with his music. His album A Love Supreme has spiritual ideas combined with soulful lyrics, and spirited and skilled playing, combining pieces of Bebop, Modal Jazz, and Soul Jazz. The Modal type of Jazz is known for having less harder chord changes, allowing the player to try different things and creating distinct sounds and character. Modal Jazz and parts of this type are still present in today’s style of Jazz music. Another thing that happened during this time was the rise of Latin Jazz and Brazilian Jazz. It became well known with the artists Dizzy Gillespie and Sergio Mendes combining pieces of Jazz and one or the other African/Cuban rhythms or Brazilian Beats. For example: The Bossa Nova and the Samba. Also with other kinds of music, Jazz started to be popular in other places in the world, and would combine it with their own cultures, and that would make it the Jazz music of their place. Another thing is that musicians from other nations would spend time in America and would learn and do Jazz in the American groups. The Avant Garde/fusion Jazz period was in the mid 1960’s through the 1970’s, and it had electric instruments and revolted the music norms, which made it became popular quickly. Musicians like Sun Ra, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock started to make music that was made to go past the boundaries of Jazz. In original Jazz, pieces of Classical music and using arrhythmic ideas were used to spread out the horizon of what was considered normal. Miles Davis put in alike parts and also would put a Rack themed rhythm area with his album B*****s Brew. by this point using the electric guitar, bass, electric organ, and piano was more of a thing like with bands like Return Forever and Headhunters. The 1980’s Jazz to today’s present day Jazz still grows to this day and reflects the musical trend of the moment. Jazz keeps on taking ideas from other kinds of music from classical to electronic music. The traditions of past periods of Jazz can still be heard in their traditional self or in modern day pop culture forms too. Idols of Jazz like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter who lived in many of the period have continued to stretch themselves and teach other people how to do that too. Having to gain a deep pool of history of each period helps Jazz to keep on being itself no matter what period the future will bring.