African American music could not be explained in six pages, but the emotion behind their vocal and instrumental originalities can. African American music has more emotion and a deeply rooted ancestry than most, if not all, music in history. Their music has a rich culture and pain, sorrow or joy can be heard in their music. Music has created entertainment, jobs and history for people throughout the ages. African-American music has a unique history that sets it apart from the rest of world music. This article describes a brief history of the Americans and shows why emotion is a crucial part of their music. African music obviously began in Africa, where music was strongly rooted in the daily lives of African natives. The rich texture of their music and descriptive songs gave way to an oral tradition in a non-traditional sense. At a time when there was little or no written language, oral tradition was essential to the survival of African history. In their music, a story, or ballad, was set to describe something like a struggle between a hunter and a beast. These songs were easy for the next generation to learn and sing. Oral tradition was perhaps the only reason why Africans sang the way they did, but there were many other aspects deeply rooted in their musical culture. On the one hand, music was a way of praising their God(s). A ballad may describe a struggle between gods or their gratitude to their rain god for this year's harvest. "For what?" may escape some confusing unanswered questions, but Africans have had many centuries to change and transform their music to give it definite characteristics that are so different from the music of today. Besides African singing...... middle of paper .... ...centuries. From Africa to America, black people have given music a feel and meaning without which America would otherwise lack a key element. Today, American music cannot be considered a single style, but rather a great mixture of music. All of these culturally rooted styles of music can historically identify African American influence from one, two, or more genres in musical history. The history of African American music could not be explained better than Charlie “Bird” Parker said: “Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your own wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you that there is a limit to music. But man, there are no boundaries between art. African Americans had their own experiences, expectations, lifestyles, and perspectives that gave them powerful emotion and improvisation unlike any artists before them..