Worksheet (Week 10) SVIP

Today everyone talks about fusion music. Fusion music refers to a mixture of different genres of music from various places in the world. For example, the Colombian, P Echavarria, mixes rock and traditional Colombian music, and the Ex-Centric Sound System from the USA mixes hip-hop, funk, West African, and Caribbean music.

Music fusion isn't new. In fact, rock music is a result of fusing various different genres of music. Rock music developed in the 1950s from rock ‘n' roll, but it has its roots in many other kinds of music. One influence of rock music is rhythm and blues (R & B), an African-American music genre of the 1940s with its roots in blues and jazz. These types of music began in the early 20th century in the African-American communities in the south of the USA. They are a mixture of African and European music traditions.

Another kind of music that influenced rock music is country music, which also developed in the south of the USA, but among the white communities. Rock stars like Elvis Presley started as country singers. Country music has roots in American folk music, which originated from the English and Irish immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries.

This just shows that no music is original. It is all a result of the fusion of existing genres.