American roots music has its foundation in the musical cultures of five basic groups of people:

Native Americans

The original inhabitants of what is now the United States of America are known as American Indians or Native Americans.

Native Hawaiians

The music of Hawaii has strong Polynesian and European influences. Portuguese and Spanish sailors and cowboys brought instruments that are now very popular, such as the guitar and the cavaquinho. The cavaquinho became the ukulele. Read the following article for information about the popular Hawaiian guitarA Brief History of Slack Key Guitar.

African Americans

The descendants of African slaves in the United States are known as black Americans or African Americans. Most were originally based in the Southern states.

African American culture has spawned some of the richest musical genres found in the USA: Gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, soul, funk, Zydeco and hip hop. Combined with other elements, it also gave way to rock and roll.For an African perspective about Aftrican american music readThe History of African American Music

Immigrants

The numerous waves of immigrants from Europe and other parts of the world have brought the sounds of the entire globe to the USA. Early Scottish and Irish immigrant settled in Appalachia and gave way to bluegrass music. Acadians who settled in Louisiana gave way to Cajun music. Central and Eastern European immigrants who settled in the industrial North brought polkas and other popular sounds. Recent immigrants from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America have arrived with new beats and musical instruments, including Indian classical, bhangra, klezmer, highlife, world beat, etc.

Hispanics

Many states in what is now the southwest, Texas and California, were once part of Spain and Mexico. Hispanics, were the original inhabitants in these territories. Many of them were mestizos, a multiracial race created by the mixing of European settlers from Spain with Native Americans. Hispanics from the southwest and Texas developed styles known as tejano music, norteño and corridos.

Puerto Ricans, along with Cubans and Dominicans, created New York salsa by bringing together the sounds of Cuban son, Dominican merengue and Puerto Rican bomba and plena to the mainland.