America's Music

America's Music Synopsis

Completely rewritten, the updated third edition of American Music broadens the scope of the classic text. Gilbert Chase devotes greater attention to modern forms like jazz, folk, and popular music, while expanding existing scholarship. Chase's musical tour begins with the various religious movements that dominated our musical expression for over two centuries. From there, he explores the rapid changes and artistic flowerings of the twentieth century-a series of musical revolutions that saw the development of "serious" instrumental music and an influential avant-garde alongside the birth of ragtime, jazz, and a far-reaching constellation of popular forms.

Written by the leading expert of his era, American Music is a long-standing classroom perennial and an indispensable guide to anyone interested in the United States and its musical heritage.