Avant-garde music , or experimental music , is a type of music that is meant to push the boundaries of "what music is." It started in the 1940s and 1950s after World War II . Some famous avant-garde composers were John Cage , Karlheinz Stockhausen , and Henry Cowell.

Examples of avant-garde songs [ change | change source ]

4'33" [ change | change source ]

This was a song written by John Cage that is 4 minutes and 33 seconds of complete silence. It is meant to make the audience listen to the sounds around them.

Revolution 9 [ change | change source ]

This is a song by the popular English rock band The Beatles . It appeared on their album The Beatles , also known as The White Album (released in 1968.) "Revolution 9" is over 8 minutes of random sounds, and someone repeatedly saying "number 9...number 9...number 9...number 9..." It was mostly the work of John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono .

Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me [ change | change source ]

This is a song by the American grunge band Pearl Jam . It is the last song on their third album Vitalogy , released in 1994. It is over seven minutes long. It is made up of conversations between mental patients in asylums , and psychiatrists , with distorted bass guitar and drums laid over them.

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