Timeline of trends in music (1900-1949)

1900s - 1910s - 1920s - 1930s - 1940s

1900s

• 1900 in music
  • Music of Argentina
    • The bandoneón begins to become popular in Argentina; it will soon become one of the principal instruments in the tango
  • Music of Colombia
    • The accordion begins to become popular throughout the country
  • Music of Cuba
    • Romantic ballads called boleros are developed
  • Music of Indonesia
    • The developing form of kroncong is popular among the poor, urban people
  • Music of Spain
    • Travelling troupes offering pop flamenco (Opera Flamenco) begin to achieve widespread popularity
  • Music of Switzerland
    • The Swiss Musicians Association is founded
  • Music of Trinidad and Tobago
    • First recorded use of the word "calypso"
  • Music of the United States
    • Joseph Kekuku invents steel guitar by sliding a piece of steel across the strings of a slacked guitar; at about the same time, Hawaiian traditional music with English lyrics (hapa haole) was invented
    • The modern incarnation of Native American powwow music and dance arise
• 1901 in music
  • Music of Puerto Rico
    • Commonly regarded as the beginning of plena music in Puerto Rico
• 1902 in music
  • Music of the Dominican Republic
    • Juan F. García, Juan Espínola and Julio Alberto Hernandez, among others, begin trying to move merengue into mainstream ballrooms in the Dominican Republic; their attempt fails but is the beginning of merengue's eventual success outside of rural areas
  • Music of India
    • Fred Gaisberg makes the first recordings of Indian music
• 1903 in music
  • Music of Sri Lanka
    • A theatrical song called "Nurthi" is the first recording out of Sri Lanka
• 1904 in music
• 1905 in music
• 1906 in music
  • Music of Lithuania
    • Skriaudžiai kankles is formed and becomes a long-running and influential band
  • Music of the United States
    • Early blues is sung and played by guitarists along the lower Mississippi River, also played by bands in New Orleans
• 1907 in music
  • Music of Mexico
    • General Porfirio Díaz legendarily orders a mariachi band to wear upper-class clothing (a charro suit) when they played for the visiting United States Secretary of State; this is the beginning of modern mariachi, as well as the traditional dress of future mariachi stars
  • Music of the United States
    • Isaac Watts publishes the first collection of New England hymns, Hymns and Spiritual Songs
• 1908 in music
  • International trends
    • Arnold Schoenberg's Book of Hanging Gardens revolutionizes classical music, replacing harmony and tonality with dissonance
  • Music of the United States
    • Tin Pan Alley continues dominating US music industry
    • Anthony Maggio publishes blues band orchestration "I Got the Blues"
• 1909 in music
  • Music of Cuba
    • Son montuno reaches Havana from its origin in the Oriente province
  • Music of Iceland
    • Bjarni Porsteinsson finishes publishing an anthology of folk songs

• 1910 in music
  • International trends
    • The tango begins to become popular in Europe
  • Music of Peru
    • The Indigenismo movement begins, bringing increased social and cultural awareness to native Peruvians
  • Music of Portugal
    • Fado is recorded for the first time
  • Music of Spain
    • The end of the golden age of flamenco
  • Music of the United States
    • The first scholarly interest in Appalachian folk music results in several field recordings
• 1911 in music
  • International trends
    • Kaji Nazrul Islam begins his domination of Bengali folk music, Nazrulgeeti, which became very popular through India and South Asia
  • Music of China
    • Western music begins to make inroads into China
• 1912 in music
  • Music of Azerbaijan
    • Alasgar Abdullayev performs the Bayati Shiraz mugham in Warsaw; this is the earliest known recording of Azerbaijani folk music
  • Music of Cuba
    • Trío Matamoros refines son and begins its popularization
  • Music of Japan
    • The future members of the Hatano Jazz Band visit the US, leading to the first fusions of jazz and Japanese music
  • Music of Trinidad and Tobago
    • Lovey's String Band travels to New York City to make the first calypso recordings
  • Music of the United States
    • W.C. Handy publishes early hit blues song, "The Memphis Blues".
    • After Bird of Paradise becomes a Broadway hit, the popularization of Hawaiian music begins; slack-key guitar's influence on country music also starts
• 1913 in music
  • Classical music
    • A near-riot occurs at the premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in Paris
  • Music of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    • Izvorna Bosanska muzika ensembles begin to become popular
  • Music of Bulgaria
    • Trumpeter Abe Elenkrig & His Hebrew Bulgarian Orchestra make some of the first known recordings of klezmer, a form of Yiddish folk music
• 1914 in music
  • Music of Haiti
    • United States soldiers occupying Haiti bring with them swing and big band music
  • Music of Japan
    • "Kachusha no uta" composed by Nakayama Shimpei is the first big kayokyoku (pop music) hit in Japan
  • Music of Trinidad and Tobago
    • Lionel Belasco makes his first recordings, the first from Trinidad
• 1915 in music
  • Music of Latvia
    • Krišjānis Barons finishes publishing Latvju Dainas, a collection of traditional dainas
  • Music of the United States
    • New Orleans-style bands start enjoying popularity in Chicago; Tom Brown starts billing his group as a Jass Band
• 1916 in music
  • Music of the Dominican Republic
    • The American occupation of the Dominican Republic begins. This leads to a pop form called pambiche, invented for American soldiers that couldn't dance to the harder forms, and is also responsible for nationalist elements being added to the lyrics, foreshadowing the rise of Rafael Trujillo
  • Music of Finland
    • A. O. Väisänen records jouhikko music played by Feodor Pratsu, inspiring a new generation of modern players
  • Music of the United States
    • Folklorist Cecil Sharp begins a series of influential recordings of rural folk musicians, most importantly The Ritchies
• 1917 in music
  • Music of Russia
    • The Bolsheviks come to power and persecute Gypsy musicians, who had long dominated Russian popular music, for having entertained the bourgeoisie; most Gypsies choose to leave
  • Music of the United States
    • The beginning of recorded jazz by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band
    • Abe Schwartz and Harry Kandel help launch an American klezmer scene among Eastern European Jewish immigrant families
• 1918 in music
• 1919 in music
  • Music of Canada
    • The first scholarly interest in Quebecois folk music; commercial recording soon begins
  • Music of Mexico
    • Cornets are added to mariachi groups
  • Music of the United States
    • Chicago establishes itself as the capital of jazz
    • Stride piano style develops in New York City

• 1920 in music
  • International trends
    • Highlife music develops in western Africa, especially coastal Ghana
    • Performers like Carlos Gardel begin to popularize the tango in France, Spain and Latin America
    • Xavier Cugat popularizes several forms of Afro-Cuban dances in the United States and Europe
  • Music of Algeria
    • Rai music begins to become popular in the Algerian port city Oran
  • Music of Argentina
    • The tango moved into respectable venues like theaters and cabarets and entered its first Golden Age with artists like Carlos Gardél
  • Music of France
    • Martinican biguine begins to become popular in France
  • Music of the Sudan
    • Haqibah develops in Omdurman
  • Music of the United States
    • Popularity of Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues" alerts music industry to the profitablity of making records by and for African Americans
    • Hawaiian musicians like Bennie Nawahi begin incorporating jazz influences into traditional Hawaiian music
• 1921 in music
  • Classical music
    • Arnold Schoenberg with his pupils Anton Webern, and Alban Berg pioneer the twelve-tone technique intended on establishing a unifying principle for nontonal music
  • Music of Colombia
    • Musica de la interior begins to dominate Colombian popular music
  • Music of Germany
    • Bavarian folk singers reach the height of their popularity in Munich and other German cities
  • Music of the United States
    • Thomas A. Dorsey's "If I Don't Get There" is the start of the popularization of gospel music, performed outside of a church setting
• 1922 in music
  • Music of Cuba
    • Radio broadcasting begins, helping to popularize son montuno and other forms of Cuban music
  • Music of the Philippines
    • Kundiman, Westernized forms of traditional songs, are developed
  • Music of the United States
    • Country music develops with artists like Eck Robertson creating the sound from rural folk, jug bands and blues
• 1923 in music
  • Music of Denmark
    • Saxophonist Valdemar Eiberg forms the first Danish jazz band
  • Music of Greece
    • Ethnic Greeks from Asia Minor move en masse to Greece; this is the root of rembétika music
  • Music of the United States
    • Surge in recordings by African American jazz and blues artists, including first records by Louis Armstrong, Ida Cox, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Johnny Dodds, Bessie Smith, and many others
• 1924 in music
  • Music of Lithuania
    • The first Dainu Sventes, popular song festivals, are held to keep folk traditions alive
  • Music of Portugal
    • Antonio Menano's guitarradas are popular in Coimbra and abroad
  • Music of the United States
    • Louis Armstrong joins the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, arguably the beginning of big band and swing music
    • Vernon Dalhart's "The Prisoner's Song" is the first commercially successful country single
• 1925 in music
  • International trends
    • Major record companies start recording with electric microphones, allowing records of greater audio fidelity
  • Music of Mexico
    • The Golden Age of Corridos begins
  • Music of the United States
    • Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and Lightnin' Hopkins help invent the Texas blues
    • Gospel music begins to enter the mainstream led by jubilee quartets (such as the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet), jackleg preachers (such as Blind Willie Johnson and Washington Phillips) and singing preachers (such as Reverend J. M. Gates
• 1926 in music
  • Music of the Solomon Islands
    • Bamboo bands, who play by hitting bamboo tubes with coconut husks, become popular
  • Music of the United States
    • The tango is popularized by Rudolph Valentino films like The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
• 1927 in music
  • Music of Cuba
    • Son montuno sextets are largely replaced with septets
  • Music of Italy
    • Dionigi Burranca, the most influential launedda player of the 20th century, begins his career
  • Music of the United States
    • Big band and swing music begin to break into the fringes of the mainstream
    • Gus Cannon, Noah Lewis and Will Shade represent the commercial peak of jug band-styled folk music
    • Hillbilly music's two biggest performers, The Carters and Jimmie Rodgers, are recorded for the first time during a recording session led by Ralph Peer
    • The first massively popular musical comedy, Show Boat (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II) is performed for the first time
• 1928 in music
  • International trends
    • Django Reinhardt emerges in the world of jazz; he will go on to begin a strong jazz tradition among European Gypsies
    • Rita Montaner's "El Manicero" becames a hit in Paris, breaking Cuban music into Europe for the first time
  • Music of Germany
    • Marlene Deitrich and Margo Lion's "Wenn die beste Freundin" marks the biggest period of cabaret's popularity, and is also an important and early song to death with lesbianism
  • Music of the United States
    • Recordings by banjoist Dock Boggs are among the early pivotal recordings of folk music
    • Joseph and Cleoma Falcon record the first Cajun song, "Allons à Lafayette"
• 1929 in music
  • Music of Italy
    • Genoese trallalero music is popular
  • Music of the United States
    • Blues musicians like Memphis Minnie and Furry Lewis emerge with the Memphis blues
    • Musicians like Cow Cow Davenport, Roosevelt Sykes, and Clarence "Pine Top" Smith use the piano in the blues, coining the term boogie woogie to describe this sound
    • The first recordings of Texan conjunto music begin

• 1930 in music
  • Music of the Bahamas
    • A sponge disease decimates the sponge fishing industry in the Bahamas, beginning the decline of ant'ems, a type of work song
  • Music of Cuba
    • The rumba's popularity begins to spread in Cuba and abroad, while Arsenio Rodriguez develops the conjunto band, using the septeto as a basis and Don Aspiazu's Havana Orchestra brings "El Manicero" to the US, where it becomes a major hit; these changes signal the roots of salsa
  • Music of the Dominican Republic
    • Dominican Rafael Trujillo uses several merengue bands for his presidential campaign, which brings the sound to new areas and inspires merengue radio stations to begin broadcasting
  • Music of Indonesia
    • The developing film industry incorporates kroncong, helping to popularize it
  • Music of Mexico
    • The Golden Age of Corridos ends, while the accordion begins to become standard due to its use by Narciso Martínez and Santiago Jimenez
  • Music of Norway
    • Composers like David Monrad Johansen, Geirr Tveitt, Bjarne Brustad, Eivind Groven, Klaus Egge, Ludvig Irgens Jensen, Harald Sæverud begin to develop a nationalist form of Norwegian classical music
  • Music of the United States
    • Led by musicians like Sol Hoopii, Hawaiian steel guitar folk music's popularity in the United States becomes widespread, influencing country music, the country blues and other genres
• 1931 in music
  • Music of India
    • The success of India's first talkie, Alam Ara, marks the beginning of filmi music
  • Music of Mexico
    • As rural Mexicans begin moving into the cities, trumpets are added to traditional mariachi bands, and the music develops a more pronounced nationalist bent; Silvestre Vargas soon becomes the most popular mariachi performer
• 1932 in music
  • Music of Greece
    • Márkos Vamvakáris begins his career playing a style of Greek folk music called rembetika
  • Music of Thailand
    • Western music, especially jazz, is extremely popular
  • Music of the United States
    • Folklorists John and Alan Lomax begin their series of influential folk music recordings for the Library of Congress; most importantly, they record Woody Guthrie
• 1933 in music
  • Music of Mexico
    • The campaign of Lázaro Cárdenas helps move mariachi into the mainstream; he will be the first to officially subsidize the music
• 1934 in music
  • Music of Haiti
    • American troops leave Haiti, and groups like Les Jazz des Jeunes begin their rise to fame incorporated Western, African, native and American music
  • Music of Trinidad and Tobago
    • Atilla the Hun and Roaring Lion sign to major record labels in New York City; they will become the first stars of calypso music
• 1935 in music
  • Music of the United States
    • The unprecedented success of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller and Count Basie marks the mainstream commercial emergence of swing, jazz and big band music
• 1936 in music
  • Music of Trinidad and Tobago
    • An orchestra of frying pans, oil drums and dustbin lids recalls earlier styles of makeshift percussion music and eventually evolved into steel pan music
  • Music of the United States
    • Artists like Robert Johnson, Charley Patton and Son House innovate what comes to be known as Delta blues
    • Close harmony brother duets are popular; the include the Delmore Brothers and Blue Sky Boys
• 1937 in music
  • Music of the United States
    • The Golden Gate Quartet reaches the peak of their popularity; they are the first major gospel group
• 1938 in music
  • Music of Cuba
    • Desi Arnaz popularizes the conga throughout Cuba, the US and elsewhere
  • Music of the United States
    • Boogie woogie breaks into the mainstream with the success of Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, and Pete Johnson
    • Bill Monroe forms the Blue Grass Boys, creating a fusion of Appalachian folk music with blues, polka and other genres from around the world
• 1939 in music
  • Music of Colombia
    • Cumbia begins to move from rural areas to the urban middle-class, displacing musica de la interior as the most popular form of music in Colombia
  • Music of Cuba
    • Mambo music begins to develop in Cuba
  • Music of Portugal
    • Amália Rodrigues' career begins; she becomes the most influential Portuguese musician of the 20th century
  • Music of the United States
    • Dixieland jazz becomes a mainstream commercial force with the success of Lu Watters & the Yerba Buena Jazz Band
  • Music of Puerto Rico
    • Plena becomes popular among the island's jibaro artists; this movement is spearheaded by Rafael Hernandez (El Canario)

• 1940 in music
  • International trends
    • Allied servicemen help bring American and European popular music to Asian countries when they are statuibed in Hawaii and the Philippines; this especially includes popularizing the guitar and ukulele in Papua New Guinea
  • Music of Argentina
    • Cuarteto becomes popular
  • Music of Denmark
    • During the German occupation of Denmark, jazz musicians like violinist Svend Asmussen and the pianist Kjeld Bonfils inaguarate a golden age of Danish jazz as an underground phenomenon
  • Music of Peru
    • The Indigenismo movement, which helped to popularize native music, ends
  • Music of the United States
    • Musicians like Bukka White help invent the Chicago blues
    • The Almanac Singers (including the pioneering singer Pete Seeger) form, marking the beginning the of the popularization of folk music
    • Béla Bartók moves to the United States from Hungary and begins composing many of his most famous works, which fuse Hungarian folk music and classical music
• 1941 in music
  • International trends
    • Arsenio Rodriguez begins his reign as the most popular and influential Latin singer
    • Jazz music and Afro-Cuban rhythms are united to form Latin jazz, or Cubop
  • Music of the United States
    • Les Paul builds the first solid-body electric guitar
• 1942 in music
  • Music of the United States
    • Bing Crosby releases "White Christmas", one of the most successful recordings in history
    • A recording strike begins
• 1943 in music
  • Music of Greece
    • Vassilis Tsitsanis writes "Synefiazmeni Kyriaki", which becomes an anthem for Greeks, who are under occupation; the song becomes a major event in the softening of rembétika music
• 1944 in music
  • Music of India
    • Filmi qawwali, a secular form of Sufi qawwali, is invented by the film Zeenat
  • Music of the United States
    • The 1942 recording strike ends
    • This is the first year chart positions can be reliably calculated
    • Al Dexter's chart success marks the mainstream acceptance of honky tonk country music
• 1945 in music
  • Music of Indonesia
    • The struggle for independence begins; the popular kroncong music becomes associated with the sovereignity movement
  • Music of Korea
    • Ppontchak pop music has become very popular
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes revitalizes British opera
  • Music of the United States
    • Bebop emerges with the success of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
    • The jump blues, a fusion of jazz, early rock and roll and the blues, becomes popular, especially Louis Jordan
• 1946 in music
  • Music of Finland
    • Purppuripelimannit from Kaustinen become the most influential group of an innovative period in pellimanni dance music
  • Music of Puerto Rico
    • Artists like Cesar Concepción, Mon Rivera, Rafael Cortijo and Daniel Santos popularize plena internationally
  • Music of the United States
    • The emergence of Hank Williams and his blues country style.
    • Artists like B.B. King, T-Bone Walker and Howlin' Wolf plug in, resulting in the electric blues
    • Mahalia Jackson's "Move on Up a Little Higher" is the first million-selling gospel recording
• 1947 in music
  • Music of the Bahamas
    • In the Bahamas, the annual junkanoo parades return after a five year ban (since the Burma Road Riots)
  • Music of Ireland
    • The first pub session takes place at London's Camden Town in a bar called The Devonshire Arms
  • Music of Trinidad and Tobago
    • The use of steel drums in Carnival music competitions becomes commonplace
    • Lord Kitchener and Killer form the renegade Young Brigade calypso tent at Carnival, launching a new wave of Young Brigade calypsonians
  • Music of the United States
    • Dizzy Gillespie joins forces with several Cuban musicians in New York City; Gillespie's Carnegie Hall performance gives "latin jazz" instant critical acclaim
    • Gabby Pahinui begins recording; this is the beginning of slack-key guitar's peak of popularity
• 1948 in music
  • International trends
    • 331/3 RPM LPs introduced
    • State-supported orchestras playing traditional instruments in folk styles are formed in the Soviet Union and its satellite states like Bulgaria and Yugoslavia (KUDs)
  • Music of the United States
    • Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs form the Foggy Mountain Boys and begin the peak of popularity for bluegrass
    • Iry LeJeune's "La valse du pont d'amour" sparks a renewal of traditional Cajun music
    • Gospel music begins a golden age, and enjoys its peak of mainstream popularity
    • Popular female duos help invent música norteña, the first popular Mexican-American genre
• 1949 in music
  • Music of Albania
    • Large bands of çifteli and sharki become popular
  • Music of Argentina
    • The end of the Golden Age of tango
  • Music of Cuba
    • Enrique Jorrín's "La Engañadora" is the beginning of chachachá
  • Music of Japan
    • Japan's first superstar and hearthrob, Misora Hibari, begins her singing career
  • Music of Taiwan
    • Chinese Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-Shek, come to Taiwan and begin promoting mainland language and culture, including musical forms, over traditional ones
  • Music of the United States
    • Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats releases "Rocket 88", one of the first rock and roll recordings
    • Musicians like Professor Longhair popularize New Orleans-style rhythm & blues