RIK：Have you decided what music you'd like us to play at the party?

RIK：Of course we can. Our job is playing all kinds of music.

MARY：Well, I think at the beginning we'd rather have some fairly quiet and peaceful music. I'd prefer them not to play too loudly at the beginning. Otherwise we won't be able to hear ourselves talk.

RIK：Maybe some folk songs to start with?

MARY：Yes. And then after supper some jazz or pop so that people can dance. How many musicians are you bringing?

RIK：I've decided to bring seven. The people performing all play different instruments and three of them sing too.

MARY：What's your favourite kind of music?

RIK：I like folk music. I write my own songs and I play the guitar as well.

There are two important kinds of music in the world----one is written down and the other is not. Many people earn their living by writing music. They write songs for pop stars and music for films and TV plays. They usually write exact instructions how the music is to be played.

Folk music has been passed down from one generation to another. At first it was never written down. People learnt the songs from their families, relatives, neighbours and friends in the same village. These songs were about country life, the seasons, animals and plants, and about love and sadness in people's lives.

Early performers of music were popular and respected. They used to learn hundreds of songs by heart. On festivals they used to act and sing in praise of heroes who lived long ago. This was at a time when there was no radio, TV or cinema. Many of the country people could neither read nor write. In this way stories were passed on from one person to another. This continues in some countries even today.

In some parts of the world nowadays, you often see musicians performing in the streets to passers-by. They put a cap on the ground in front of them, so that people who like the music can drop coins into it.

In Africa most music is folk music. It plays an important part in people's lives, especially for work, and at festivals and weddings, when people dance all night long.

Indian music is not written down. There is a basic pattern of notes which the musician follows. But a lot of modern music is also written. India produces more films than any other country in the world. It produces musicals too, that is, films with music, and millions of records are sold every year.

In the Caribbean the slaves who were brought from Africa developed their own kind of music. West Indians make musical instruments out of large oil cans. They hit different parts of the drum with hammers to produce different notes. This type of music has become very famous in Britain and is very good music to dance to.

Jazz was born in the USA around 1890. It came from work songs sung by black people and had its roots in Africa. Jazz started developing in the 1920s in the southern states. Soon it was played by white musicians, too, and reached other parts of the USA.