As a music education major, it is no secret that I find music to be the utmost influential art form to affect humanity. There are so many different elements music brings to the table that can impact people in various ways. Music simultaneously imitates the real world while also lighting up the world within the interpreter. The way a single tone or chord can overwhelm a listener with a plethora of emotions is truly astonishing. Artists such as Beyoncé and Jay Z dominate the music industry as their works rack in more money than creators like Elvis Presley could have even imagined. There are so many different musical styles that relay a message in which its purpose is to move the listener. To list a few, the blues, hip-hop, and classical are just three musical genres that can make an observer feel something by simply listening.

Duke Ellington

The Editors of Encyclopedia Brittanica

May 20, 2021

Duke Ellington was one of the bravest jazz musicians as he worked tirelessly to bridge the gap between concert hall jazz music and club jazz music. Ellington is world-renowned as he brought jazz to Carnegie Hall.

Aretha Franklin

Ana Monroy Yglesias

Grammys

From Aretha Franklin To Public Enemy, Here's How Artists Have Amplified Social Justice Movements Through Music - Grammys -

July 2, 2020

American Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1962

Intolerance - Leon Bostein

Leon Bostein conducted "Intolerance" performed by the American Symphony Orchestra.

Jazz is but a single genre of music that has heavily impacted society next to those listed above. More styles include ragtime, spirituals, and gospel music. Folk music has exceptional significance as a plethora of social justice and equal rights advocacy music fall under that genre.