Transient acoustic and elastic wave propagation in inhomogeneous media are studied by using the Fourier method. It is known that the fourier method has advantages in memory requirements and computing speed over conventional methods such as FDM and FEM, because the Fourier method needs less grid points for achieving the same accuracy. To verify the proposed numerical scheme, several examples having analytic solutions are considered, where two different semi-infinite media are in contact along a plane boundary. The comparisons of numerical results by the Fourier method and analytic solutions show good agreements. In addition, the fourier method is applied to a layered half-plane, in which an elastic semi-infinite medium is covered by an elastic layer of finite thickness. It is showed how to derive the analytic solutions by using the Cagniard-de Hoop method. The numerical solutions are in excellent agreements with analytic results.