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64-544: George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. In later years, he also worked with acts such as Talking Heads , Bill Laswell , and Jack Bruce . He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Worrell

128-772: A broader and wider range of music styles. In addition, social identity also plays a large role in music preference. Personality is a key contributor for music selection. Those who consider themselves to be "rebels" will tend to choose heavier music styles like heavy metal or hard rock , while those who consider themselves to be more "relaxed" or "laid back" will tend to choose lighter music styles like jazz or classical music. According to one model, there are five main factors that exist that underlie music preferences that are genre-free, and reflect emotional/affective responses. These five factors are: Studies have shown that while women prefer more treble oriented music, men prefer to listen to bass-heavy music. A preference for bass-heavy music

192-404: A commodity and (4) in capitalist societies, subject to the laws of 'free' enterprise_ it should ideally sell as much as possible. The distinction between classical and popular music has sometimes been blurred in marginal areas such as minimalist music and light classics. Background music for films/movies often draws on both traditions. In this respect, music is like fiction, which likewise draws

256-584: A distinction between literary fiction and popular fiction that is not always precise. Country music, also known as country and western (or simply country) and hillbilly music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s. Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments , digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. Contemporary electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from experimental art music to popular forms such as electronic dance music (EDM). Funk

320-576: A shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style , although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Music can be divided into genres in numerous ways, sometimes broadly and with polarity, such as for popular music , as opposed to art music or folk music ; or, as another example, religious music and secular music . The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some genres may overlap. As genres evolve, sometimes new music

384-490: A subcategory within major genres or their subgenres. The genealogy of musical genres expresses, often in the form of a written chart. New genres of music can arise through the development of new styles of music; in addition to simply creating a new categorization. Although it is conceivable to create a musical style with no relation to existing genres, new styles usually appear under the influence of pre-existing genres. Musicologists have sometimes classified music according to

448-432: A trichotomous distinction such as Philip Tagg's "axiomatic triangle consisting of 'folk', 'art' and 'popular' musics". He explains that each of these three is distinguishable from the others according to certain criteria. Automatic methods of musical similarity detection, based on data mining and co-occurrence analysis, have been developed to classify music titles for electronic music distribution. Glenn McDonald,

512-419: A whole hand. Almost every keyboard until the fifteenth century had seven naturals to each octave. The clavicymbalum , clavichord , and the harpsichord appeared during the fourteenth century—the clavichord probably being earlier. The harpsichord and clavichord were both common until the widespread adoption of the piano in the eighteenth century, after which their popularity decreased. The first template for

576-524: A world reference since the east–west tensions during the Early Modern Period . Traditional folk music usually refers to songs composed in the twentieth century, which tend to be written as universal truths and big issues of the time they were composed. Artists including Bob Dylan ; Peter, Paul and Mary ; James Taylor ; and Leonard Cohen , transformed folk music to what it is known today. Newer composers such as Ed Sheeran (pop folk) and

640-414: Is a documentary film about Worrell's life, music and impact. At AllMovie , critic Mark Deming wrote that the film "profiles his life and career while also examining how even a genius has to find a way to make a living". Keyboard instrument Today, the term keyboard often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers and arrangers as well as work-stations. These keyboards typically work by translating

704-455: Is a subordinate within a genre. In music terms, it is a subcategory of a musical genre that adopts its basic characteristics, but also has its own set of characteristics that clearly distinguish and set it apart within the genre. A subgenre is also often being referred to as a style of the genre. The proliferation of popular music in the 20th century has led to over 1,200 definable subgenres of music. A musical composition may be situated in

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768-600: Is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll " in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. Heavy metal evolved from hard rock , psychedelic rock , and blues rock in late 1960s and 1970s with notable acts such as Black Sabbath , Judas Priest and Motörhead . The popularity of heavy metal soared in

832-439: Is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms popular music and pop music are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many disparate styles. The aggressiveness of the musical and performative style, based on structural simplicity and the vigorous rhythms of rock'n'roll style, reinforced

896-605: Is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic , danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). Hip Hop music, also referred to as hip-hop or rap music , is a genre of music that was started in the United States, specifically the South Bronx in the New York City by African-American youth from

960-511: Is deciding what treatment he wants. I will delete any more messages that do not respect his decision(s). Judie Worrell issued a statement on Facebook on June 16 to friends and family that "I was just told that Bernie is now headed 'Home'." She encouraged people close to Worrell to "visit him to say your goodbyes" and added that he is too ill to speak on the phone or text. Bernie Worrell died at his home in Everson, Washington , on June 24, 2016, at

1024-508: Is distinct in both sound and appearance from the instruments known to earlier pianists, including Mozart , Haydn , and Beethoven . Beginning in the twentieth century, early electromechanical instruments, such as the Ondes Martenot , began to appear as well. Later in the 20th century, electronic keyboards appeared. Music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to

1088-540: Is generally defined similarly by many authors and musicologists, while the related term style has different interpretations and definitions. Some, like Peter van der Merwe , treat the terms genre and style as the same, saying that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language". Others, such as Allan F. Moore, state that genre and style are two separate terms, and that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can also differentiate between genres. A subgenre

1152-725: Is lumped into existing categories or else a proliferation of derivative subgenres , fusion genres and "micro genres" starts to accrue. Douglass M. Green distinguishes between genre and form in his book Form in Tonal Music . He lists madrigal , motet , canzona , ricercar , and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. To further clarify the meaning of genre , Green writes about " Beethoven's Op. 61 " and "Mendelssohn's Op. 64 ". He explains that both are identical in genre and are violin concertos that have different forms. However, Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, and

1216-403: Is orally passed from one generation to another. Usually, the artist is unknown, and there are several versions of the same song. The genre is transmitted by singing, listening and dancing to popular songs. This type of communication allows culture to transmit the styles (pitches and cadences) as well as the context it was developed. Culturally transmitting folk songs maintain rich evidence about

1280-477: Is pivoted around sound recording technologies (for example jazz , pop, rock, rap and so on). These last two branches are created by means of the above-mentioned audiotactile matrix in which the formative medium is the Audiotactile Principle. Art music primarily includes classical traditions, including both contemporary and historical classical music forms. Art music exists in many parts of

1344-490: Is so particularly in the case of western classical music. Art music may include certain forms of jazz , though some feel that jazz is primarily a form of popular music. The 1960s saw a wave of avant-garde experimentation in free jazz, represented by artists such as Ornette Coleman , Sun Ra , Albert Ayler , Archie Shepp and Don Cherry . Additionally, avant-garde rock artists such as Frank Zappa , Captain Beefheart , and

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1408-767: The Late Show with David Letterman launched in August 1993, playing lead synthesizer. Worrell departed in November when the orchestra added a horn section. In 1994, Worrell appeared on the Red Hot Organization 's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool . The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in the African-American community, was heralded as "Album of

1472-622: The ARP Pro Soloist as well. Worrell played synthesizer and digital keyboard on P funk songs throughout the 1970s, most notably " Mothership Connection (Star Child) " and " Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) " from Mothership Connection (1975) and " Aqua Boogie " from Motor Booty Affair (1978). When Parliament-Funkadelic took a hiatus from touring in the early 1980s, Worrell

1536-568: The Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317, are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form." In 1982, Franco Fabbri proposed a definition of the musical genre that is now considered to be normative: "musical genre is a set of musical events (real or possible) whose course is governed by a definite set of socially accepted rules", where a musical event can be defined as "any type of activity performed around any type of event involving sound". A music genre or subgenre may be defined by

1600-687: The Black Rock Coalition and featuring musicians with whom Worrell has worked over his career, occurred on April 4 and 5, 2016. On May 9, Worrell's wife Judie posted an update on his condition on his Facebook page: As of Friday, Bernie can barely speak. Tumor has grown and Recurrent laryngeal nerve is pressing on vocal cord, paralyzing it. Treatment starts Tuesday to (hopefully) shrink tumor before it gets to other vocal cord and/or shuts down breathing. VERY difficult time for him. I am updating y'all because many asked BUT do not consider this an invitation to bombard us with treatment ideas. Bernie

1664-673: The Juilliard School and received a degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1967. As a college student, Worrell played with a group called Chubby & The Turnpikes; this ensemble eventually evolved into Tavares . After meeting George Clinton , leader of a Plainfield-based doo wop group called The Parliaments , Worrell moved with Clinton, The Parliaments and their backing band, The Funkadelics, to Detroit, Michigan ; thereafter, both groups became collectively known as Parliament-Funkadelic . During

1728-476: The musical techniques , the cultural context, and the content and spirit of the themes. Geographical origin is sometimes used to identify a music genre, though a single geographical category will often include a wide variety of subgenres. Timothy Laurie argues that, since the early 1980s, "genre has graduated from being a subset of popular music studies to being an almost ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects". The term genre

1792-602: The "Parliafunkadelicment Thang" production company, and many of his most notable performances were recorded with Bootsy's Rubber Band , Parlet , The Brides of Funkenstein and The Horny Horns . Worrell recorded a 1978 solo album, All the Woo in the World , with the musical backing of P-Funk's members. While funk musicians traditionally utilized electric keyboards, such as the Hammond organ and Fender Rhodes electric piano , Worrell

1856-411: The 1970s the same group of musicians separately recorded under the names Parliament and Funkadelic , (among several others), but toured as P-Funk. Worrell played grand piano , Wurlitzer electric piano , Hohner Clavinet , Hammond B3 organ , ARP String Ensemble and Moog synthesizer , co-wrote, and wrote horn and rhythm arrangements on hit recordings for both groups and other associated bands under

1920-454: The 1980s with bands such as Iron Maiden , Metallica and Guns 'n' Roses . It has a rougher style and heavier sound than other forms of rock music, with notable subgenres such as thrash metal , hair metal and death metal . Soul music became a musical genre that came to include a wide variety of R&B-based music styles from the pop R&B acts at Motown Records in Detroit, such as

1984-432: The African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Latin music is a genre of music that originated in the United States due to the growing influence of Latino Americans in the music industry. It is a term used by the music industry to describe music in a catch-all category for various music styles from Ibero-America . Pop

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2048-481: The Lumineers (American folk) are examples of contemporary folk music, which has been recorded and adapted to the new way of listening to music (online)—unlike the traditional way of orally transmitting music. Each country in the world, in some cases each region, district and community, has its own folk music style. The sub-divisions of folk genre are developed by each place, cultural identity and history. Because

2112-592: The Residents released art music albums. Popular music is any musical style accessible to the general public and disseminated by the mass media. Musicologist and popular music specialist Philip Tagg defined the notion in the light of sociocultural and economical aspects: Popular music, unlike art music, is (1) conceived for mass distribution to large and often socioculturally heterogeneous groups of listeners, (2) stored and distributed in non-written form, (3) only possible in an industrial monetary economy where it becomes

2176-678: The Seattle-based Khu.éex' project fusing traditional Tlingit music with funk, jazz, and experimental music. The project includes Preston Singletary , Skerik , Stanton Moore , Captain Raab and Randall Dunn among others. In 2015, Worrell appeared in the movie Ricki and the Flash as the keyboard player in Meryl Streep 's band. The movie reunited Worrell with director Jonathan Demme, who had directed Stop Making Sense . Worrell

2240-751: The Temptations , Gladys Knight & the Pips , Marvin Gaye and Four Tops , to " deep soul " singers such as Percy Sledge and James Carr . The polka is originally a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. Religious music (also referred as sacred music) is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. Gospel , spiritual, and Christian music are examples of religious music. Traditional and folk music are very similar categories. Although

2304-506: The US Album Rock Tracks chart hit " Rev It Up ", which reached number seven and appeared in the movie Something Wild . He worked with Jerry Harrison on his other releases also. From the late 1980s through the 2010s, Worrell recorded extensively with Bill Laswell , including Sly and Robbie 's Laswell-produced Rhythm Killers and the 1985 Fela Kuti album Army Arrangement . Worrell performed with Gov't Mule . Through

2368-641: The Year" by Time magazine. Worrell joined the rock group Black Jack Johnson , with Mos Def , Will Calhoun , Doug Wimbish and Dr. Know . He appears with the band on Mos Def's 2004 release The New Danger . Worrell joined forces with bass legend Les Claypool , guitarist Buckethead and drummer Bryan Mantia to form the group Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains . In 2009, he joined longtime Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight , bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer J.T. Lewis to form

2432-484: The age of 72. His wife issued a statement that "Bernie transitioned Home to The Great Spirit. Rest in peace, my love—you definitely made the world a better place. Till we meet again, vaya con Dios." Following his death, guitarist Buckethead created a 21.5 minute long tribute song: 'Space Viking'. Buckethead published it on his 'Pike' series, as part of Pike 245. The song was captioned: "To Bernie Worrell, The Greatest Music Maker Of All". Stranger: Bernie Worrell on Earth

2496-414: The appearance of special guests at live performances, including Bootsy Collins, Tina Weymouth , Chris Frantz , Jimmy Destri , Mike Watt , Rah Digga and Gary Lucas . In 2012 and 2013, Worrell played a series of concerts with guitarist Steve Kimock , bassist Andy Hess , and vocalist-percussionist Camille Armstrong. Kimock's son John Morgan Kimock played drums for the group in 2013. Worrell worked on

2560-585: The band SociaLybrium. Their album For You/For Us/For All was released on Livewired Music in January 2010. Worrell appeared in the 2004 documentary film Moog with synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog and several other Moog synthesizer musicians. In 2011, he toured with Bootsy Collins , another major figure from Parliament-Funkadelic. From 2011 through 2015, Worrell performed with his group, the Bernie Worrell Orchestra . The band became known for

2624-575: The beginning of the 21st century, he became a visible member of the jam band scene, performing in many large summer music festivals , sometimes billed as Bernie Worrell and the Woo Warriors . He appeared on several Jack Bruce albums, including A Question of Time , Cities of the Heart , Monkjack and More Jack than God . Worrell was a founding member of the CBS Orchestra when

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2688-537: The challenging and provocative character, within the universe of modern music. Reggae music, originating from the late 1960s Jamaica , is a genre of music that was originally used by Jamaicans to define themselves with their lifestyle and social aspects. The meaning behind reggae songs tend to be about love, faith or a higher power, and freedom. Reggae music is important to Jamaican culture as it has been used as inspiration for many third world liberation movements. Bob Marley , an artist primarily known for reggae music,

2752-421: The employee of The Echo Nest , music intelligence and data platform, owned by Spotify , has created a categorical perception spectrum of genres and subgenres based on "an algorithmically generated, readability-adjusted scatter-plot of the musical genre-space, based on data tracked and analyzed for 5,315 genre-shaped distinctions by Spotify" called Every Noise at Once . Alternatively, music can be assessed on

2816-401: The end of 1900s, Vincenzo Caporaletti has proposed a more comprehensive distinction of music genres based on the "formative medium" with which a music is created, that is the creative interface (cognitive milieu) employed by the artist. Following this framework, formative media may belong to two different matrixes: visual or audiotactile with regards to the role played in the creative process by

2880-410: The inner cities during the 1970s. It can be broadly defined as a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping , a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. Hip hop music derives from the hip hop culture itself, including four key elements: emceeing ( MCing )/ rapping , Disc jockeying (DJing) with turntablism , breakdancing and graffiti art . Jazz is a music genre that originated in

2944-402: The intersection of two or more genres, sharing characteristics of each parent genre, and therefore belong to each of them at the same time. Such subgenres are known as fusion genres . Examples of fusion genres include jazz fusion , which is a fusion of jazz and rock music, and country rock which is a fusion of country music and rock music. A microgenre is a niche genre, as well as

3008-451: The modern piano was introduced in 1698 in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori as the gravicèmbalo con piano e forte ("harpsichord with soft and loud"), also shortened to pianoforte , as it allowed the pianist to control the dynamics by adjusting the force with which each key was struck. In its current form, the piano is a product of further developments made since the late nineteenth century and

3072-482: The music is developed in different places, many of the instruments are characteristic to location and population—but some are used everywhere: button or piano accordion , different types of flutes or trumpets, banjo , and ukulele . Both French and Scottish folk music use related instruments such as the fiddle , the harp and variations of bagpipes . Since music has become more easily accessible ( Spotify , iTunes , YouTube, etc.), more people have begun listening to

3136-463: The performer plays the instrument, and not on how the sound is produced. Categories of keyboard instruments include the following families (of which this is only a partial list): The earliest known keyboard instrument was the Ancient Greek hydraulis , a type of pipe organ invented in the third century BC. The keys were likely balanced and could be played with a light touch, as is clear from

3200-478: The period of history when they were created and the social class in which they developed. Some examples of the Folk Genre can be seen in the folk music of England and Turkish folk music . English folk music has developed since the medieval period and has been transmitted from that time until today. Similarly, Turkish folk music relates to all the civilizations that once passed thorough Turkey, thereby being

3264-531: The physical act of pressing keys into electrical signals that produce sound. Under the fingers of a sensitive performer, the keyboard may also be used to control dynamics , phrasing , shading, articulation , and other elements of expression—depending on the design and inherent capabilities of the instrument. Modern keyboards, especially digital ones, can simulate a wide range of sounds beyond traditional piano tones, thanks to advanced sound synthesis techniques and digital sampling technology. Another important use of

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3328-442: The reference in a Latin poem by Claudian (late 4th century), who says magna levi detrudens murmura tactu . . . intonet, that is "let him thunder forth as he presses out mighty roarings with a light touch" ( Paneg. Manlio Theodoro, 320–22). From its invention until the fourteenth century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument. Often, the organ did not feature a keyboard at all, but rather buttons or large levers operated by

3392-626: The standard forms of music notation that evolved in Europe, beginning well before the Renaissance and reaching its maturity in the Romantic period. The identity of a "work" or "piece" of art music is usually defined by the notated version rather than by a particular performance and is primarily associated with the composer rather than the performer (though composers may leave performers with some opportunity for interpretation or improvisation). This

3456-586: The three dimensions of "arousal", "valence", and "depth". Arousal reflects physiological processes such as stimulation and relaxation (intense, forceful, abrasive, thrilling vs. gentle, calming, mellow), valence reflects emotion and mood processes (fun, happy, lively, enthusiastic, joyful vs. depressing, sad), and depth reflects cognitive processes (intelligent, sophisticated, inspiring, complex, poetic, deep, emotional, thoughtful vs. party music, danceable). These help explain why many people like similar songs from different traditionally segregated genres. Starting from

3520-451: The traditional music is a very broad category and can include several genres, it is widely accepted that traditional music encompasses folk music. According to the ICTM (International Council for Traditional Music), traditional music are songs and tunes that have been performed over a long period of time (usually several generations) . The folk music genre is classified as the music that

3584-457: The visual rationality or the bodily sensitivity and embodied cognition. The theory developed by Caporaletti, named Audiotactile Music Theory, categorises music in three different branches: 1) written music, like the so-called classical music, that is created using the visual matrix; 2) oral music (like folk music or ethnic music before the advent of sound recording technologies); 3) Audiotactile music, which are process of production and transmission

3648-447: The word keyboard is in historical musicology, where it means an instrument whose identity cannot be firmly established. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord , the clavichord , and the early piano competed, and the same piece might be played on more than one. Hence, in a phrase such as "Mozart excelled as a keyboard player", the word keyboard is typically all-inclusive. The term keyboard classifies instruments based on how

3712-462: The world. It emphasizes formal styles that invite technical and detailed deconstruction and criticism, and demand focused attention from the listener. In Western practice, art music is considered primarily a written musical tradition, preserved in some form of music notation rather than being transmitted orally, by rote, or in recordings, as popular and traditional music usually are. Historically, most western art music has been written down using

3776-528: Was a judge for the 12th, 13th, and 14th annual Independent Music Awards. During May 2016, the New England Conservatory of Music gave Worrell, who studied at the school until 1967, an honorary Doctor of Music degree. In January 2016, Worrell was diagnosed with a "mild form" of prostate cancer, stage-four liver cancer and stage-four lung cancer . He relocated from New Jersey, his long-time home, to Bellingham, Washington . A tribute and benefit concert to raise funds for Worrell's cancer treatment, produced by

3840-561: Was described by journalist Jon Pareles as "the kind of sideman who is as influential as some bandleaders," with his use of synthesizers particularly impactful on funk and hip hop . Worrell was born in Long Branch, New Jersey , and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey , where his family moved when he was eight. A musical prodigy , he began formal piano lessons by age three and wrote a concerto at age eight. He went on to study at

3904-588: Was honored by Zimbabwe's 1980 Independence celebration due to his music giving inspirations to freedom fighters. The music genre of reggae is known to incorporate stylistic techniques from rhythm and blues , jazz , African, Caribbean, and other genres as well but what makes reggae unique are the vocals and lyrics. The vocals tend to be sung in Jamaican Patois , Jamaican English , and Iyaric dialects. The lyrics of reggae music usually tend to raise political awareness and on cultural perspectives. Rock music

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3968-616: Was later invited to perform with Talking Heads as part of their 2002 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1983, Worrell provided keyboard parts for Mtume 's hit song " Juicy Fruit ". Worrell co-produced Fred Schneider 's 1984 solo album Fred Schneider and the Shake Society and played keyboards and synthesizers on some of the album's tracks. In 1987 he appeared on the critically acclaimed solo release Casual Gods by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads . The LP contained

4032-550: Was recruited, along with other musicians from differing musical genres such as guitarist Adrian Belew , to perform and record with Talking Heads . Worrell's experience and feel for different arrangements enhanced the overall sound of the band. Though he never officially joined Talking Heads, he was a de facto member of the group for most of the '80s: appearing on one of their studio albums, several solo albums, two tours and performing in their 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense . Talking Heads officially disbanded in 1991. Worrell

4096-657: Was the second recipient of the Moog synthesizer created by Bob Moog . Mainly responsible for creating Parliament's futuristic sound, Worrell's use of the Minimoog bass on the Parliament song " Flash Light ", on 1977's Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome , heavily influenced the sound of R&B music and served as a bridge between American R&B and the insurgence of new wave , new age and techno . He used

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