#3 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[nonowing]

Hi,

I was hesitant to pick A because the passage states that they were "among the first to use the electric bass" which means that others were also involved in its innovation (so I wasn't sure if we could establish that African Americans had innovated the electric bass). The second part makes A sound better, saying that African Americans crafted "a distinctive sound that inspired other musicians to experiment with this new musical technology." So maybe the innovation is not that they were among first to use it, but rather the way in which they used it (to create the distinctive sound?).

[Luke Haqq]

Hi nonowing!

The second quotation you provide seems to be key. The final paragraph explains that African American musicians "craft[ed] a distinctive sound that inspired other musicians to experiment with this new musical technology."

So you rightly note that these musicians might not have been the first to use the electric bass, but they were responsible for creating a "distinctive sound" with it, -and- we're told that this distinctive sound inspired other musicians. Answer choice (A) asks, "What musical innovation by African American musicians influenced other musicians?" The passage therefore provides sufficient material to answer this question--the musical innovation was the distinctive sound they created with the electric bass.