By: Anna Hance

Australian Music

Indigenous MusicIndigenous Australian music refers to the

music of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

The best known traditional indigenous instrument is the

didgeridoo.

Folk Music-Bush music were songs sung by

the convicts sent to Australia from Britain.

Early songs were about the harsh ways of life, the people and events.

Later songs were about experiences of war, droughts, flooding rain, Aboriginality, and the railways.

Folk Rock-Unique because it has origins from

both the indigenous music traditions as well as folk music( including Sea Shanties)

It kind of brings together different ethnicities and instruments.

Country-There are 2 kinds of country music.The first are related to folk traditions of

Ireland, Scotland, England, and many other diverse nations. It’s lyrics focusing strictly on Australian subjects.

The second is more American related.Started in the 1930sAustralian artists have become

considerably successful in the US like Olivia Newton-John and Keith Urban.

Children’s MusicIn 2008 The Wiggles were named

Business Review Weekly’s top earning Australian entertainers for the fourth year in a row having earned AU$47 mil. in 2007.

“The world’s biggest pre-school band.”

By 2002 they had become ABC’s most successful pre-school television program.

Rock and PopAustralia has produced a wide variety of

rock and pop music.Artists like The Bee Gees, AC/DC, or Nick

Cave.Pub rock was immensely popular in the

1980sIn the mid-50s, American rock and roll

spread across the world.1956- Bill Haley & His Comets released

“Rock Around the Clock.” The biggest-selling Australian sngle ever.

R&B and Soul MusicHad a significant impact on Australian popular music, but American recordings weren’t played on the radio because they were “too noisy and too black.”

Hip HopHip hop began in the early 1980s,

primarily influenced by other works overseas.

A distinctive local style had come by the 1990s

Hip hop has been influenced by urban African-American styles, reggae and rap.

The dance moves also helped make it popular.

Bibliographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_musi

chttp://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/arti

cles/music/pop/