How American Music Has Changed Over The Past 50 Years People have often wondered if music has always been around. Well, to answer that question I did some research to find out where our music originated. Our first reliable music records came from the Greeks and the Romans. Americans musical history is very short when compared to Japan, India, Africa, and China. We don't know much about our history until about 590-604 A.D. when people began to write music down, the first music that was written down was songs sung in churches. Another often asked question I decided to research is why people write music. I got a lot of different answers for this question. A few of them are: to witness their religious faith to other people; to express themselves; to have fun, they enjoy writing music! After that I researched different kinds of music. How many kinds are there in America? Thousands! There are so many the list would go on and on. Some of the more popular kinds are: rock, jazz, religious, alternative, and also classical. What is popular and what is not has changed a lot over the years, I doubt anyone in 590 A.D. ever even thought of rock music! Then I asked myself how does music effect people. I got the answer that music affects everyone differently, however certain kinds of music can change how people feel. For example heavy metal music will make you feel differently than classical music will make you feel. Music varies greatly around the world, mostly because it has a lot to do with culture. Africa's culture is very different from ours, so is their music. Americans have always liked music but it has become increasingly popular with young people over the last 50 years. Some older people look down on this, but I think music gives teens a sense of who they are, the kind of music you listen to shows who you are. Music is made with many different kinds of instruments and/or your voice. Some of those instruments are: guitars, violins, flutes, drums, and many new electrical instruments.