Cowboy song
| Western music | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Western United States |
| Typical instruments | |
| Derivative forms | Western swing |
Western music is a form of country music composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Directly related musically to old English, Scottish, and Irish folk ballads, Western music celebrates the life of the cowboy on the open ranges and prairies of Western North America. The Mexican folk music of the American Southwest also influenced the development of this genre. Western music shares similar roots with Appalachian music (also called hillbilly music), which developed in Appalachia separately from, but parallel to, the western music genre. The music industry of the mid-20th century grouped the two genres together under the banner of country and western music, later amalgamated into the modern name, country music.
Western was directly influenced by the folk music traditions of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and many cowboy songs, sung around campfires in the nineteenth century, like "Streets of Laredo", can be traced back to European folk songs.
Reflecting the realities of the open range and ranch houses where the music originated, the early cowboy bands were string bands supplemented occasionally with the harmonica. The harmonica, invented in the early 19th century in central Europe, arrived in North America shortly before the American Civil War, as the United States was just beginning to expand westward; its small size and portability made it a favorite among the American public and the westward pioneers.
Otto Gray, an early cowboy band leader, stated authentic Western music had only three rhythms, all coming from the gaits of the cow pony–walk, trot, and lope. Gray also noted the uniqueness of this spontaneous American song product, and the freedom of expression of the singers.
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