American / European music legends
The following list of players are included to provide a historical perspective of the "legends" of each of the popular styles of American and European music. The "legends" included are for the most part the composers of the music we love. Are most of the great composers great players too? Are most of the great players also great improvisors? Ah, the continual query of the impassioned learner.
With the theory roots of the American sounds from our European ancestors, the following menu simply makes this initial distinction. Choose a style and click to survey important personalities for each of the styles. As each legend included is a hyperlink, go on line and click their name to explore their stories and contributions, expanding our resources out on the world wide web. Here are the bookmarks into this page. Oh, if you have a fave not included here, let me know and I'll include it in the next edition ok?
| American styles |
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| European contributions |
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American Composers. Combining the Euro and American masters into one listing of players who musically shape the world in which we live.
| John P. Sousa | The "march" master, hear a Sousa march. |
| W.C. Handy | "father of the blues" |
| Aaron Copland |
| George Gershwin |
| Lorenz Hart |
| Cole Porter |
| Bill Strayhorn | writer / composer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. |
| Richard Rogers |
| Antonio Carlos Jobim | a Bossa Nova king, a gifted and prolific composer, guitarist and pianist, native of Brazil. |
| Charlie Patton | 1910's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Son House | 1920's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Robert Johnson | 1920's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Mississippi John Hurt | 1930's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Leadbelly | 1930's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Bessie Smith | 1920's | vocalist |
| T Bone Walker | 1950's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Muddy Waters | 1950's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Little Walter / 50's | 1950's | harmonica / vocals |
| Ray Charles / 50's | 1950's | piano/ vocalist / gospel |
| B.B. King | 1960's | guitar / vocalist |
| Buddy Guy | 1960's | guitar / vocalist |
| James Brown | 1960's | soul / vocalist / |
| Eric Clapton | 1970's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Jimi Hendrix | 1970's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Johnny Winter | 1970's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Bonnie Raitt | 1980's | slide guitar / vocalist |
| Stevie Ray Vaughn | 1980's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Debbie Davies | 1990's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Kenny Wayne Shepherd | late 1990's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
Folk and country music. Folk music theory.
| Woody Gutherie | 1930's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Bill Monroe | 1940's / bluegrass | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Johnny Cash | 1950's folk / country | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Willie Nelson | 1950's folk / country | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Hank Williams | 1950's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Pete Seeger | 1950's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Ralph Stanley | bluegrass / country | banjo / vocalist / storyteller |
| Patsy Cline | 1950's | vocalist |
| Bob Dylan | 1960's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Joan Baez | 1960's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Arlo Gutherie | 1960's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| James Taylor | 1970's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Joni Mitchell | 1970's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Neil Young / 70's | solo / bandleader / C.S.N.Y. | folk rock / guitar |
| John Denver | 1970's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Dolly Parton | 1980's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Joan Armetraden | 1980's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Annie De Franco | 1990's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Jewel | 1990's | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Garth Brooks / 90's | - | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Clint Black / 90's | - | guitar / vocalist / composer |
Jazz artists / jazz history / jazz theory
| Scott Joplin |
| Louis Armstrong | trumpet, Dixieland jazz artist emerging in the 20's, perhaps the first true "soloist" in the jazz styling. |
| King Oliver | trumpet, Dixieland jazz artist. |
| Sidney Bechet |
| Fats Waller |
| Benny Goodman |
| Duke Ellington |
| Glenn Miller |
| Count Basie | piano, known for his sparce, swinging melodic figures and feroscious big bands. |
| Art Tatum |
| Charlie Parker | saxophone, composer, a founding father of Bebop, America's most theoretically complex and difficult of the jazz styles. |
| Miles Davis | trumpet, composer, innovator and leader for 4 decades. |
| Dizzy Gillespie |
| Thelonius Monk |
| Sonny Rollins |
| Bill Evans |
| John Coltrane | saxophones, composer, father of modern American music. |
| Dexter Gordon |
| Phil Woods | saxophone, a strong, swinging bebop voice. |
| Clark Terry | trumpet, Ellington / Basie alumni for decades, georgeous, seemingly endless improvised melodic lines created with circular breathing, tireless educator and inspiration to emerging talent. |
| Wayne Shorter |
| Grover Washington Jr. |
| Chet Baker |
| Dave Brubeck |
| Paul Desmond | alto saxophone, composer of jazz classic "Take Five", signature tone and lyrical melodic master. |
| Bill Watrous | trombone, simply an incredibly beautiful person and player. |
| Keith Jarrett |
| Chick Corea |
| Jaco Pastorius |
| Michael Brecker |
| Pat Metheny |
| Billie Holiday |
| Wynton Marsalis | trumpet, master jazz improvisor and classical music interpreter, director of jazz program at Lincoln Center. |
Jazz guitar. Jazz guitar harmonic theory.
| Paul Asbell | guitar, composer, jazz and blues monster, creating exciting, swinging jazz lines and scorching blues solos. |
| George Benson | soulfull jazz and pop artist, consummate entertainer and swinging bebop / blues based guitarist. |
| Charlie Christian | first of the amplified guitarists to emerge in the late 30's, thus an influential single line soloist, an early creator of Bebop at Minton's. |
| Pat Metheny | composer, modern jazz master and pioneer of Latin / jazz grooves. |
| Wes Montgomery | known for his distinctive, fingerstyle octave doublings of the melody, hardest swinging guitar player ever. |
| Joe Pass |
| Emily Remler | hard driving, bop and post bop wizard. |
| John Stowell | modern bebop stylist, wide intervalic lines, blistering arpeggios and an unfailing modern sense of swing and rhythmic foward motion. |
| Stevie Wonder / 60's | Motown / drums / piano |
| Dianna Ross / 60's | Supremes | motown |
| Paul Simon / 60's | Simon / Garfunkel | folk / rock |
| Brian Wilson / 60's | Beach Boys | guitar / vocalist |
| Paul McCartney |
| Elton John | leader | piano / vocalist |
| Joni Mitchell / 70's | folk / pop / guitar |
| Marvin Gaye / 70's | various | rock / soul / vocalist |
| Earth Wind and Fire / 70's | rock / soul / funk |
| Moody Blues / 70's | epic rock |
| Michael Jackson |
| Kiss / 80's | glam rock |
| Madonna / 90's |
| Pink Floyd / 80's | space rock |
| Barry Gibb / 80's | Bee Gees | disco |
| Donald Fagen / 80's | Steely Dan | pop rock / guitar |
| Bill Halley / 50's | the Comets | vocalist |
| Buddy Holly / 50's | leader | rock and roll / guitar |
| Chuck Berry / 50's | leader | rock and roll / guitar |
| Jerry Lee Lewis / 50's | leader | piano / vocalist |
| Fats Domino / 50's | leader | guitar / vocalist / harmonica |
| Elvis Presley / 50's | leader | rock / ballads / singer |
| Jerry Garcia / 70's | Grateful Dead | folk / rock / guitar |
| Jimi Hendrix / 70's | various | blues rock / guitar |
| Duane Allman | Allman Brothers Band | blues / southern rock / guitar |
| Eric Clapton / 70's | various | blues rock / guitar |
| Rolling Stones / 60's | originally blues based | rockers with a little bit of country |
| Led Zepplin / 60's | originally blues based | hard rock / guitar |
| Jim Morrison / 70's | Doors | rock / vocalist |
| Moody Blues / 70's | - | epic rock |
| Steve Howe / 70's | Yes | modern rock / guitar |
| Patsy Cline / 50's | - | vocalist |
| Bob Dylan / 60's | solo / bandleader | guitar / vocalist / composer |
| Neil Young / 70's | solo / bandleader / C.S.N.Y. | folk rock / guitar |
| Garth Brooks / 90's | - | guitar / vocalist |
| Clint Black / 90's | - | guitar / vocalist |
| Motley Crue / 90's | - | punk rock |
| Van Halen / 90's | Eddie Van Halen | hard rock / guitar |
| Metalica | Dave Mustaine | heavy metal |
| Patti Smith / 80's | - | punk rock |
| Lou Reed / 80's | various | punk rock |
| B 52's / 80's | - | punk rock |
| Greenday / 90's | - | punk rock |
European classical masters. Early theorists. Classical theory.
Antiquity to 1600.
| Glarianus |
| Werkmeister, Andreas | cycle of 3rds 1698, transition between modal and major / minor tonality. |
| Zarlino | music theorist of the 16th century. |
| Kepler, Johannes |
| Robertsbridge Manuscript | early English music using 3rd's. |
Medieval and renaissance masters. Antiquity to 1600.
| Adam de la Halle | Le Gieus de Robin et Marion |
| Albinoni | adagio |
| Byrd | Mass |
| Depres | Missae |
| Dowland | first book of Ayers |
| Dufay | Motets |
| Gabrieli | A. Ricercari / the glory of Gabrielli |
| Gesualdo | Madrigals |
| Gibbons | In nomine |
| Gregorian chant | till the 16th century |
| Guillaume de Machaut | La Messe Nostre Dame |
| Lassus | Madrigals |
| Monteverdi | Madrigals / Orpheo |
| Ockeghem | Motets |
| Palestrina, Giovanni | Missa Papae Marcelli |
| Perotinus Magister | Viderunt omnes |
| Praetorius | Terpsichore |
| Tallis | Lamentations of Jeremiah |
| Weelkes | Tudor church music |
Baroque era. 1600 to 1750.
| J. S. Bach | well tempered clavier |
| C.P.E. Bach | concerto for orchestra |
| Boyce | Symphonies |
| Buxtehude | organ music |
| Corelli | concerti grossi, op. 6 |
| Couperin | concerts royaux |
| Frescobaldi | harpsichord music |
| Gabrieli | proccessionals and ceremonial music |
| Gesualdo | madrigals |
| G. F. Handel | Messiah / Watermusic |
| Lully | ballet music |
| Pachelbel | canon in D |
| Pergolesi | concertos |
| Purcell | anthems / Dido and Aeneas |
| Rameau, Jean | keyboard works, chord inversions, |
| D. Scarlatti | sonatas for harpsichord |
| Swelinck | toccata in A minor |
| Telemann | suites |
| Vivaldi | four seasons |
Classical era. 1750 to 1820.
| L. Von Beethoven | Symphonies 5, 9 / quartets 8, 14 / piano concertos 4, 5 / Fedelio / Missa Solemnis / sonata 21, 23 |
| Cimarosa | Concerto for Oboe |
| Dittersdorf | Sinfonia concertante |
| Gluck | Orpheo ed Euridice |
| F. J. Hadyn | The Creation, quartet opus 76 # 3 / Symphonies 94, 101 |
| W. A. Mozart | Piano concerto # 20, 23 / Cossi Fan Tutte / quartet # 17 / Requiem / Symphont # 38, 41 |
| Rossini | Barber of Seville / William Tell Overture |
| Stamitz | Quartet for Woodwinds |
| Weber | Der Freischutz |
Romanticism. 1820 to 1920.
| Berlioz | Symphonie Fantastique |
| Bizet | L'Arlesienne: suites 1 & 2 |
| Borodin | In The Steppes Of central Asia |
| Brahms | Academic Festival Overture / Symphony # 1 |
| Chopin | Concerto for Piano # 2, solo piano works |
| DeBussy | Clare de Lune |
| Dvorak | Symphony # 9 |
| Elgar | Pomp and Circumstance Marches 1 & 4 |
| Faure | Sonata # 1 |
| Franck | Symphonic variations |
| Glinka | Russlan and Ludmilla / overture |
| Indy | Symphony on a French Mountain Aire |
| Liszt | Hungarian Rhapsodies |
| MacDowell | Concerto # 2 for Piano |
| Mendelssohn | Midsummer Night's Dream / Incidental Music |
| Mussorgsky | Pictures at an Exhibition |
| Paganini | Caprice, op. 1 # 17 |
| Rachmaninoff | Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini |
| Ravel | Bolero |
| Respighi | Pines of Rome |
| Saint-Saens | Symphony # 3, "Organ" |
| Schubert | Quintet in A, "Trout" |
| Schumann | Symphony # 3 |
| Verdi | Trovatore |
| Wagner | Tristan und Isolde |
Twentieth Century Music. 1920 to present.
| Barber | Concerto for Violin |
| Bartok | Miraculous mandarin |
| Berg | Wozzeck |
| Bernstein | West Side Story |
| Bloch | Schelomo |
| Boulez | Piano sonatas |
| Britten | Ceremony of Carols |
| Colgrass | Three Brothers |
| Copland | Appalachian Spring |
| Gershwin | Rhapsody in Blue |
| Grofe | Grand Canyon Suite |
| Hanson | Symphony No. 2 |
| Hindemith | Symphonic Metamorphosis of themes by Weber |
| Honegger | Pacific 231 |
| Ives | Three Places in New England |
| Kodaly | Hary Janos, suite |
| Lutoslawski | Concerto for Orchestra |
| Ornstein | Quintet, piano and strings |
| Prokofiev | Classical Symphony |
| Rochberg | String quartet No. 2 |
| Rosenberg | Symphony No. 2 |
| Schuman | New England Triptych |
| Shostakovich | Symphony No. 14 |
| Skriabin | Piano music |
| Sibelius | Finlandia |
| Strauss | Till Eulenspiegel |
| Stravinsky | Firebird Suite |
| Vaughn Williams | Fantasia on Greensleeves |
| Walton | Facade |
| Weber | Der Freischutz |
| Webern | Symphony Op. 21, String Quartet Op. 28 |
| Wolpe | Quartet for trumpet, saxophone |
Did I leave any out? Want to suggest an American or European legend who you think needs to be on this list? What's your idea?
"We are stronger together than we are alone."