Same way they took over Africa and the Americas...use brute force and steal it. The argument is not that the West contributed nothing, the argument is against the bullshit raised by the OP that South America and Africa contributed nothing. This has already been proven untrue.
There’s a great book called ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ that tracks the assertion of western civilization.
I mean depending on how you look at it, one could argue that rock and roll... along with several other genres we all enjoy today... most definitely had their roots in Africa. We brought millions of slaves over from Africa and singing was pretty much all they had. Literacy was out of the question so their ancestral lore was passed down via song for several generations. As time went by and Christianity set in, the same basic melodies that were centuries old and originated in Africa, were soon adapted to the words and stories of the Old Testament and also the words of Jesus. The "Negro Spiritual" gave hope for a better existence in the life hereafter. They were also used covertly for what at the time would be considered subversive expression. As more time passed, Gospel Music refined the early spirituals and rapidly gained popularity not just among the slaves, but whites as well. After the Civil War, when blacks were "free"... things weren't much better, but from those same melodies, arose the The Blues. I can stop there as we all know what happened next. Elvis, and then a handful of now iconic Brits that were listening on AM radios to music out of the Mississippi Delta because everything they had in Europe sucked... picked up electric guitars, bass, and drums... and changed music forever. Soooo.... as inventions go, yeah maybe we didn't get a lot of mechanical things from Sub-Sahara Africa... but what would this world be like without music? One song has the power to unite millions, so as far as I'm concerned.... one of the greatest inventions in all of mankind's existence, or cultural additions if you will, originated in Africa. Makes sense really. The very best songs almost always find their roots in pain. Edit: 0:20
African music is rhythm based where as European music is melody based. In fact rhythm was not important at all. So at the same time you could ask, what would the world be without Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven et al. Music wasn't invented in Africa, so that's a weird stretch to make.
Hey, you'll never hear me take anything away from classical piano, and of course all cultures have had music from the beginning of time. But the music we hear today, upon which was built a multi-billion dollar industry... didn't come from Mozart. Elvis wasn't shaking his ass to Bach. And if in fact "rhythm was not important at all", why in the hell did Hitler ban Jazz? Edit: Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States.[1] It originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime.[2] Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime Edit 2: I thought I remembered reading Hitler changed his tune on Jazz. He tried to weaponize it against the Allies it was so powerful at the time. Officially, the Nazis detested jazz. The Führer thought it primitive and depraved. For Goebbels it was Entartetemusik – “degenerate music”. From 1933, radio stations were forbidden to play anything that resembled it; musicians were issued strict instructions on how to hold their instruments so as not to resemble black performers. In conquered Czechoslovakia, an order reportedly forbade “hysterical rhythmic reverses characteristic of the barbarian races” (improvisational riffs). Swing – a music rooted in African-American culture, popularised by Jewish musicians – was doubly verboten. But that reckoned without its potential as a weapon of war. In 1939, Goebbels’s propaganda ministry decided on a drastic new move – taking swing to the enemy. They would recruit their very own band from the best Germany could muster, their salaries paid by the government. Fronted by an Anglophile crooner-cum-civil servant called Karl Schwedler, led by a jazz-obsessive saxophonist called Lutz Templin, their mission was to record American-style dance music, change the lyrics, and broadcast it to the Allies. If bombing raids and u-boats failed, perhaps the Nazis’ stealth weapon could be syncopated antisemitism. They were christened Charlie and his Orchestra.
Most music you hear nowadays has both components. If you remove melodies from music, it gets boring fast. Elvis is an American phenomenon and fairly insignificant compared to classical music. Every modern genre has elements of classical music in it and I really don't think music that sells the most is the best. That would mean Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys are the best artists of an era and obviously they are not. Not sure why you fall into Godwin's Law so fast. What does Hitler have to do with anything?
I have no idea what Godwin's Law is nor do I care, although I hear the term bandied about this place quite a bit. My interest in these "school of higher learning" dogma... which in essence is some egghead's speculation at best... ranks right up there with my interest in... fat chicks. I brought up Hitler, since you said quote: "rhythm is not important". Now I would think the most tyrannical and murderous leader of the 20th Century who had his sights set on conquering the entire fucking world and damn near did.... I would think his opinion on what's important might have a little validity as he saw it as a threat to his power. That's pretty fucking important if you ask me. And dude... who are are you arguing with here? How many instruments are you proficient at? Did you study classical piano as a kid? How many bands have you ever played in? How many songs have you written? I'm gonna guess zero across the board. I'm sure you'll respond you're a virtuoso. But whatever on that. Next point. Are you saying Gospel Music has no melody? I mean... wtf? That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard. And this... "Most music you hear nowadays has both components." Well yeah. No shit. And, it may not be to your particular taste... but the songs that are regularly churning out 100M views in a very short period of time on YouTube are all pretty much Rap. And the artists are from the USA, S. America, and Africa. The ones making bank that is. And the songs that make bank... are appealing to the most amount of people, whether you like that sound or not. "If you remove melodies from music, it gets boring fast." Take the melody out of rap and know what you have left? .....Rap. Imagine that. So whatever. You have your opinion on things. I have mine. Move on.