Is there such a thing as "Jewish" music?

[HilaryFave]

Or is everything you hear classified as “Jewish music” just taken from non-Jewish styles?

[AlexL]

There is definitely a ton of “Jewish music” out there that is taken from non-Jewish styles. You can usually tell just by hearing it if it’s coming from a Jewish place or not.

I heard a Rabbi give a lecture about music. He was saying how it is a very, very spiritual thing. The Levis in the Temple used it etc… I try to stick to my Jewish music

[charlesneuman]

Good question. I think the most original Jewish music may be Torah cantillation. I don’t know where that ultimately comes from. I assume the fact that there are different styles suggests there was influence from different cultures.
I know very little about the big cantors who recorded records of sections of their services. That’s not so interesting to me. I think people in my father’s generation would actually go out and buy a record of a popular cantor. Do we have that tradition today? In any event, chazzanut is certainly Jewish. I assume it was influenced by operatic traditions, but again, I don’t know.
As for pop music, there’s the world of Israeli music. Early Israeli pop music sounded like bad American rock sung in Hebrew (but still great to listen to!). Eventually there was a Mizrachi influence that continues today. I highly recommend the radio show The Israel Hour. You can listen live online, or via podcast. Visit them online
israelhour.com
or
www.facebook.com/israelhour
I’ve learned a lot about Israeli music by listening over the years.

[Michal]

I think everything has the potential to be elevated spiritually or brought down to being sinful.

There are many Jewish psalms that use the melody’s of Simon and Garfunkel or The Beach Boys, or whatever popular genre. That type of thing can be really appealing to someone who comes from the world of entertainment and also interested in learning more about their Jewish heritage.

I personally think that music has been mixed up over the centuries and who knows what melody’s are the ones from back in the day. All I know is that listening to music can be a spiritual experience.

It seems to me that the melody can be all good when you are using music for pure spiritual purposes, in line with the laws of the Torah.