Canadian music genres

Félix Leclerc, pictured here in 1957, was a notable French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968.

Canadian music genres identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music made by Canadians.[1] The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences that have shaped the country. First Nations people, the French, the British, the Americans and many others nationalities have all made unique contributions to the musical genres of Canada.[2][3] During the swing boom of the late 1930s and early 1940s, Canada produced such notable bandleaders as Ellis McLintock, Bert Niosi, Jimmy Davidson, and Mart Kenney. In the 1940s, Bert Niosi and Oscar Peterson became widely known. Canada has also produced a number of respected classical music ensembles, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Canadian rock describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, with the most notable Canadian rock band being Rush, who currently place fifth behind The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, KISS and Aerosmith for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums by a rock band.[4] The Canadian hip hop scene was first established in the 1980s. Some of the most well known Canadian rappers and hip-hop artists include Drake and Maestro Fresh-Wes.

Canadian country music used a more distinctly pronounced vocal style than American music, and stuck with more traditional ballads and narratives while American country began to use more songs about bars and lovers' quarrels. In the 1970s, chansonniers grew steadily less popular with the encroachment of popular rock bands and other artists. Some performers did emerge, however, including Jacques Michel, Claude Dubois, and Robert Charlebois. Saskatchewan-native Joni Mitchell is one of the most influential folk and popular music singer songwriters of the 20th century.[5] Chansonniers were French Canadian singer-songwriters from the 1950s and 1960s. They sang simple, poetic songs with a social conscience. The first chansonniers were La Bolduc, Raymond Lévesque and Félix Leclerc.

Gaining speed in the west of Canada, the electronic music scene grew rapidly within most major centres. Canadian artists have also had a significant impact on industrial music worldwide, and Canada is considered by many to be one of the birthplaces of modern industrial music, with bands such as Skinny Puppy. Going back to the late 1960s, Canada has produced metal bands that have and continue to influence metal bands to this day.[citation needed] Some of Canada's most successful metal bands opted to change their style from the early 1980s roots metal sound to the growing glam metal style that became mainstream in the late 1980s. [citation needed] Canada's death metal scene has produced artists most of whom are based out of Quebec. Bands from across Canada contribute to the punk rock and hardcore scenes. D.O.A. of Vancouver founded Canadian hardcore punk rock along with their American counterparts in the early 1980s.

  1. ^ Encyclopedia of Canadian rock, pop and folk music by Rick Jackson, (Kingston, ON): Quarry Press, (1994) (ISBN 1-55082-107-5)
  2. ^ Heart of Gold: 30 years of Canadian pop music by Martin Melhuish, Toronto ON: CBC Enterprises, (1983) (ISBN 0-88794-112-5)
  3. ^ Oh What a Feeling: a vital history of Canadian music by Martin Melhuish, (Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1996) (ISBN 1-55082-164-4)
  4. ^ DRUM! Magazine Awards Big Drum Thump Archived February 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Accessed July 2, 2008
  5. ^ The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs by Edith Fowke. Markham, ON: Penguin, 1986. (ISBN 0-14-070842-1)

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