高中英语人教版备课资料包：必修3 Unit 2参考文章 country music .doc

COUNTRY MUSIC 　　COUNTRY MUSIC is a type of music derived primarily from the traditional folk idioms of the white rural Southeastern United States, where it has been a part of the American musical heritage since the early 19th century. Written and performed mostly by the local singers and instrumentalists, country music, with such various names as bluegrass, rural blues, and delta white soul, was long a stepchild on the national cultural scent. However, in the late 1960 s it began to take its place with folk and rock as a major American popular musical type, and such stars as Merle Haggard, Eddy Arnold, Charley Pride, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Kitty Wells, and Roger Miller became famous both in the United States and abroad. The more comprehensive term “Country and Western” reflects, notably after World War II , the influence on the original country material of music of the American West － a blend resulting, in part at least, from the increased mobility of Americans after the war. 　　Style and Content: Instruments used in the country and western music include the electric guitar, steel guitar, banjo, drums, and fiddle. The music itself covers a wide scope, ranging from the unamplified, tawny string sound of bluegrass ( the term for traditional country music ) to the amplified big-beat rhythms of works influenced by rock and other kinds of popular music. The former style was perfected by such artists as Bill Monroe and the team of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. The latter, widely known as the Western Swing, was popularized by such performers as Buck Owens and Rose Maddox. Despite its wide range of styles and instrumentation, country music has certain common features that give it its own special character. Tuneful, lyrical, and often sentimental, it has an earthy, bouncy vitality that reveals its rural origins. The verses, straightforward and realistic, follow the normal speech patterns and deal with the concerns of everyday life － the dilemmas and jo