In the 1930s, jazz was perhaps the defining music of its era. What do you think has been the defining music of your era? How has that music shaped and enriched your life?

Song says, "Jazz was the sun around which this paradise revolved." (p2). In the 1930s, jazz was very popular around the world, perhaps the defining music of its era. What do you think has been the defining music of your era? How has that music shaped and enriched your life?

In the late 60's and early 70's, folk music was the defining music. Starting with Pete Seeger, the Weavers, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and others like them, college students expressed their desire for an end to war. Peaceful marches and antiwar protests asked that we "Give Peace a Chance". Freedom and self expression,liberal views, bra burning and conditions leading to womens lib were propelled forward by the music of the times. "Folkies" were jailed for encouraging and helping with voter registration in the South. Folk music was the music of the peace movement while jazz was the "go to" music during the troubled times of World War II.

The defining music for me is R&B and the Motown sound. It was the music of the times that I and friends bonded over and relaxed to as we began our participation in the Civil Rights Movement of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

But I will say that I am surprised at the influence of Hip Hop music not only in the US but how it influence has really spread worldwide.

The defining music for me was the music of the 40s when I was a teenager, or adolescent as we were called then..it was a time of romance, war and sometimes great sorrow..the songs are still able to bring me back to that era..bittersweet, but in the haze of the past, something to remember.

My era (the 50s) was defined by Rock N Roll, especially Elvis, and anything on American Bandstand!

As a singer-songwriter, I feel that the beat culture of the 1960's created the defining music of my era. The songwriting talents of Bob Dylan and the Beatles, Jim Morrison and the Doors, and many others, changed music with the introduction of more introspective lyrics and complex arrangements, both acoustic and electronic. The roots which started in Folk music, were then taken to a new and different place by the Beat generation.

It has enriched my life by getting me involved with song lyrics, eventually writing and making music myself, and thinking more about the meanings behind songs.

My generation may have branched and explored the roots and inspirations of our music preferences since the early MTV era, but Def Leppard, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and then Nirvana and grunge defined the roots of my generation.

I must be living in the past, but Jazz is, to me, the defining music of the 20th century and America. It has traveled from the start of the century, reshaping along the way, and is still the American sound into the 21st century.

I was a disco girl, hanging out in clubs, dancing on speakers, the whole shebang! I grew up with the 60's-70's folk and rock, then taught Aerobics to the boy-bands, Madonna, Billy Idol etc. Now I listen to what my teens like, sing along with them in the car! I love it all!

I would say hip hop/rap music, I was curious if this music genre was a fad or here to stay. Its controversial and outrageous lyrics and performers stirred the pot. Obviously it wasn't a fad. I personally don't listen to this genre, I am a lover of jazz contributing to my enjoyment of this novel.

Coming of age in the late 60s and early 70s, like francinee above, folk was definitely the defining music for me. It was the backdrop for the anti-Viet Nam war movement, at its hight during my college years. The other defining music of my era is that of the Civil Rights movement; I'm thinking specifically of "We Shall Overcome," "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and some of the gospel music of the African-American churches that were sung by the Freedom Marchers.