Music in America is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world. It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present. America's music is a perennial work in progress. Music in America looks at both the roots of American musical identity and its many manifestations, seeking to answer the complex question: "What does American music sound like?" Focusing on three themes--identity, diversity, and unity--it explores where America's music comes from, who makes it, and for what purpose. Rather than chronologically tracing America's musical history, author Adelaida Reyes considers how musical culture is shaped by space and time, by geography and history, by social, economic, and political factors, and by people who use music to express themselves within a community. Introducing the diversity that dominates the contemporary American musical landscape, Reyes draws on a dazzling range of musical styles--from ethnic and popular music idioms to contemporary art music--to highlight the ways in which sounds from various cultural origins come to share a national identity. Packaged with a 65-minute CD containing examples of the music discussed in the book, Music in America features guided listening and hands-on activities that allow readers to become active participants in the music.

Foreword Preface CD Track List 1. A Unifying Vision Three Themes A Voyage of Discovery The Perspective The Historical Context 2. Diversity and American Musical Life Diversity and American Ideology Sources of Diversity Immigration: Forced Migration; Voluntary Migration Diversity from Within: Diversity through Aggregation; Diversity through Divergence from Common Roots; Diversity in Motion: Redrawing Boundaries Diversity and the American Musical Scene 3. Identity and American Music A Story of Two Songs Identity: From the Ground Up The Human Dimension Markers of Identity Context Identity on the National Level Summing Up The Seeds of Complexity: The Genesis of American Musical Boundaries A Backward Glance 4. E pluribus unum Oneness: The Historical Dimension The Language of Oneness Aaron Copeland and A Lincoln Portrait "My Hometown" by Bruce Springsteen The Paradox of Musical Oneness: Its Changing Face, the Unchanging Mission Multiculturalism and Oneness Race, Oneness, and Jazz Dizzy Gillespie The Dynamics of Oneness 5. American Musical Culture A View through Technology Technology and Contemporary Frontier Pushing At the Frontier of Musical Sound Genre and Other Boundaries Who Is a Musician? The Production and Dissemination of Music Music as Property and as Commodity Beyond Technology: The Larger Picture A Shift in Perspective We, the People Endnote References Resources Index

Adelaida ReyesProfessor of Music/Ethnomusicology, New Jersey City University (Emerita)