Popular song since 1960

The popular song since 1960 (Area of study 5, AQA)

Soul and gospel

• Paul Gladstone Reid talks about singing soul on the song Moving Away.
• Find out about the emergence of blues, R&B and soul

Folk

• Listen to folk and traditional songs from Britain, Scotland and the African continent

Jazz

• Listen to the music of some of the great figures in jazz

Rock

• Find out how rock band Johnny Panic put together a rock remix

Hip hop

• Listen to the development of hip hop and rap

Drum 'n' bass

• Drum 'n' bass MC Cleveland Watkiss talks through the steps of putting together a D'n'B track

Fusion

• Find out how remix artists fused classical, African and jazz into trip hop, rock, drum 'n' bass and experimental fusion styles in SoundJunction's Remixing section.
• Follow music as travels round the world and is fused into new sounds.

African

• Find out how the movement of slaves from African to the Americas gave rise to jazz and American pop music
• Take a listening discovery tour through traditional African music.

Caribbean

• Find out about the emergence of reggae
• Bass guitarist Andy McLean talks about how to give a reggae feel to a bass line

Latin American

• Listen to the different types of tango.

Sequencing

• Five different remix artists describe how they use sequencing techniques to put remixes together.
• Create your own sequences online using SoundJunction's composer tool

Sampling

• Find out how the sampler gave rise to house music and influenced rap.

Song structure

• Composer Tunde Jegede talks about the song structure in his song Moving Away.
• Find out more about structure and harmony in Moving Away.

Vocal improvisation

• Explore the traditional African and soul improvisation in the vocals in the song Moving Away.
• Malian singer Kasse Mady Diabate talks about his distinctive style of improvisation

Vocals and instrumental accompaniment

• Use the SoundJunction Explorer tool to explore the relationships between singers and instrumentalists in the African song Moving Away and the jazz big band song Where will it take you?

Instruments used in pop music

• Find out about the drums and vocals