AF-AM Music Influence to Hip-Hop.

Question 1

What are the 7 core genres/categories, as-well as their corresponding influences (if any), that were pioneered by African Americans?. Order does not matter.

Answer 1

1. R&B – (Blues <— Folk+Oral)
2. Jazz – (Ragtime <— Tin Pan Alley)
3. Spiritual/Gospel – (West African, European Gospel)
4. Salsa (West African, Afro-Caribbean)
5. Funk — (Soul)
6. Soul — (Gospel/R&B)
7. Hip-Hop — (All of the above)

Question 2

Rock Origins Pt. 1: “Rock n’ Roll”
1. What is rock n’ roll? (styles it came from, era it came, who it appealed to)

2. What typical characteristics define rock n’ roll. (tempos, themes, rhythms/harmonies. not
   asking instrumentation)
3. What are the three things rock n’ roll aren’t? (hints: style, appeal, melding)
4. What typical instrumentation is featured in rock n’ roll? (quality/characteristics included)

Answer 2

1. Rock n’ Roll is an amalgamation of previous music styles (R&B, Soul, Jazz, Country & Western, etc.) that emerged during post WWII America, specifically appealing to rebellious youth culture within the country. Simply, rock n’ roll was any music that appealed to the youth at the time (50s).
2. upbeat tempos, anti culture/societal or vulgar lyrics, (typically) blues rhythms/harmonies.
3. It is not a “new” style, or single style. It is not the first time music was specifically written to appeal to youth. It is not the first genre to meld black and white styles.
4. Percussive Instruments (Drumkits), Electric Instrumentation (Guitar/Bass/Piano/Keys), (opt.) Acoustic Guitar or Piano.

Question 3

Rock Origins Pt. 2: “Rock n’ Roll”
1. What made an artist a “rock n’ roll’ artist?

2. What was the term “rock n’ roll’ associated with? Why? (hint: sixty minutes)
3. What artist (and genre) is responsible for popularizing electric instruments as used in rock n’ roll?
4. What type of rock by these core rock n’ roll African-Americans was demonstrated? What hit songs did they have?
   Fats Domino –
   Chuck Berry –
   Little Richie –
   Big Joe Turner –

Answer 3

1. Their appeal to the youth/their records being bought in mass by youths.
2. Marginalized African American styles and sexually risqué lyrics because of The Dominoes song, “Sixty Minute Man” and the usage of the term as a innuendo.
3. Muddy Waters (R&B)
4. The four are…
   Piano Rock - Blueberry Hill.
   Guitar Rock - Johnny B. Goode.
   Piano Rock – Tutti Fruity.
   Guitar Rock – Shake, Rattle and Roll.

Question 4

R&B Origins Pt. 1: Blues
1. What are the Blues (including harmony and complexity)? When and what region did it originate (and what specific area is believed to be the heart?)

2. What tradition are the blues deeply rooted in? What kind of style is it rooted in traditionally? (i.e urban, rural, etc)
3. What culture did the blues begin to blend with? Give some examples of this thing. (Hint; 4 distinct examples)
4. What artists pioneered the blues? What years were the blues most prevalent? (Hint; post war)

Answer 4

1. The blues are (traditionally) a southern music tradition/genre that functions over a three chord harmony loop, using simple melodies/rhythms. It originated in the deep south, the core is thought to be the Mississippi Delta.
2. The blues are deeply rooted in African American folk/oral traditions. It is traditionally a rural style of music.
3. It began to blend its rural styles with aspects of national culture, such as: minstrel shows, vaudeville, poetry, and Tin Pan Alley music/performance.
4. Charlie Patton and Blind Lemon Jefferson. The Blues Craze was from 1920-1926.

Question 5

R&B Origins Pt. 2: Blues
1. What are the 7 characteristics that defined the “Blues” sound? (Hint; 3 vocal, 2 distinctive instrumental quality’s, 1 song form, 1 skill)

2. What two categories are the blues split into? What defines them as such?
3. What chord structure do the blues follow?
4. What kind of blues did these 8 core artist do. As artist, were they responsible for development/influence/popularization of the genre? (opt. name their hit songs)
   Charley Patton |
   Blind Lemon Jefferson |
   W.C Handy |
   Alberta Hunter |
   Ethel Waters |
   Ma Rainey |
   Bessie Smith |
   Robert Johnson |

Answer 5

1. Call-and-Response patterns (instrument/vocal), 12-Bar-Blues Form (I-IV-V, 3 lines of lyrics), Minimal/Rural instrument accompaniment (country blues), Complex arrangements (city blues), expressive vocal techniques, lyrical/vocal themes of struggle and emotion, solo improvisation.
2. Country Blues: Rural Instrumentation, Amateur/Untrained Musicians, Rural/Working Blacks

City Blues: Music Industry Controlled, Standardized/Organized Composition/Structure, Complex/Flashy Instrumentation, Trained Musicians, Urban/Commercial Blacks.

3. The 12-Bar Blues format (I-IV-V).
4. The artist are…
   Country - Development - Tom Rushen Blues
   Country - Development - Black Snake Moan
   City - Popularization - St. Louis Blues
   City - Influence - Texas Moaner Blues
   City - Influence - Am I Blue?
   City - Influence - “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
   City - Influence - St. Louis Blues
   Country - Influence - Crossroad Blues

Question 6

What specific blues artist/song is known for eerily foreshadowing the future sound of blues based rock?

Answer 6

Robert Johnson and his song Crossroad Blues.

Question 7

R&B Foundation Pt. 1:
1. What was early “R&B” originally called? What was it used to characterize?

2. What are some general highlights of early R&B? (Hint; tradition, experience/shaping, blend)
3. What was the first commercially successful category of R&B? What were their characteristics? (hint: party, humor, wild)
4. In total, how many categories of early R&B were there? What were they classified as?

Answer 7

1. Early R&B was originally called “Race Records”. It was used to generally refer to and market black records.
2. It still held loose clusters of southern folk styles/traditions, was now being shaped by the experiences of black war veterans who migrated to urban cities, and it often crossed over and covered pop/country songs.
3. Jump Bands. They were brass and rhythmic ensembles that formed as a result of big band downsizing during the war.

Their characteristics were hard swinging- boogie-woogie party music with humorous lyrics and wild stage performances.

4. There were 4 categories of early R&B.
   - Jump Band
   - Crooner
   - (Chicago) Electric
   - Vocal Harmony/Acapella/”Doo-Wop”

Question 8

R&B Foundation Pt. 2:
1. List the attributes of the “cool” end of the R&B spectrum. (rural or urban style, approach, etc.)

2. List the attributes of the “static shock” end of the R&B spectrum. (rural or urban style, approach, etc.)
3. List the attributes of the “harmonizing’ end of the R&B spectrum. (rural or urban style, approach, etc.)
4. Organize these artist into the 4 R&B genres of the 30s-40s, aswell as whether they defined or influenced these genres. (opt. list their hit songs)

Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell
Nat King Cole Trio
Cecil Gant
Tympany Five
Muddy Waters
Howlin’ Wolf
Charles Brown
The Dominos

Answer 8

1. Crooner R&B blended urban (classic) blues with jazz & pop singing. It had a smooth, laid back approach to singing/instrumentation.
2. Electric R&B came out of Chicago and was the result of the migration of deep south blacks into the city. Like the Delta-blues reborn as rougher, gritter style characterized by electric amplification/distortion. Therefore, it blended city/country blues with electric qualities.
3. The vocal harmony (doo-wop) category followed a similar basis as jazz-harmony groups, just with a harder edged sound connected to black gospel and youth. They blended city blues with elements of jazz & gospel.
4. Jump Blues:
   Tympany Five | Defined - “Caldonia” or “G.I Jive”

Crooners:
Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell | Defined
Nat King Cole Trio | Influence - “Mona Lisa”
Cecil Gant | Influence - “I Wonder”
Charles Brown | Influence - “Drifting Blues”

Electric Blues:
Muddy Waters | Defined - “Mannish Boy”
Howlin’ Wolf | Influence - “Smokestack Lightning”

Doo-Wop:
The Dominos | Defined: “Sixty Minute Man”

Question 9

Jazz Roots:
1. Where/Why did jazz originate? Where was it commercialized? What cultures did it blend?

2. What defined the core impetus for jazz? (as in what was the defining spirit. hint: 2 culture/stream interactions, north and south)
3. What music did jazz emerge from? (Hint: 2 european, 1 latin, 4 african)
4. What “district” in the city of origin did jazz thrive at?

Answer 9

1. Jazz originated in New Orleans as a result of celebrations like “Mardi Gras” and hybrid music culture. It was commercialized in NYC however. Specifically, jazz blended African American, White, and Creole cultures, aswell as colonial French culture.
2. The core impetus for jazz was the interaction between black and Creole musicians. Blacks lived “uptown” and embodied spiritual and blues music, while the Creole lived ‘Downtown” with formal European music.
3. It emerged from ragtime, marching band-mardi grass (rhythms), french+italian opera, cuban habanera, tin pan alley, sacred (spiritual), and secular (blues) music.
4. The tenderloin district dancehalls.

Question 10

Jazz Roots Pt 2.:
1. What instrumentation is associated with jazz? What features are associated with it? (as in instrumental qualities, rhythm, vocal/instrument eccentricities)

2. What jazz musician established the core features of early jazz?
3. What is swing. What did it represent at its time of birth? (hint: 5 things)
4. Of the following artist, list if they defined or influenced jazz, swing, vocal/scat, or harmony groups. Optionally list a hit song of theirs.

Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Count Baisie
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The Boswell Sisters

Answer 10

1. Instruments include drum sets, brass (cornet/trumpet, trombone, clarinet, saxophone, etc.), string bass, piano, sometimes guitar. Its features include rhythmic drive, swing, scat singing, and highlights on solo instrumentation.
2. Louis Armstrong
3. Swing was a style of jazz developed by black dance bands which utilizes a rocking rhythmic momentum (syncopated rhythms with the “and” delayed slightly) . It represented freedom, partying, vitality, enjoyment, and the cultural/social shifts of the “New Deal era”.
4. Jazz Define | “West End Blues”

Swing Define | “Caravan” / “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo”

Swing Define | “One O’ clock Jump”

Vocal Define | “God Bless the Child”

Vocal Influence | “Too Darn Hot”

Jazz Popularize | “Second Line”

Harmony Group Define | Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody

Question 11

Motown & Disco Pt. 1
1. Who created Motown? Where is its namesake from? What is it the most successful of?

2. What audience did Motown aim its music at? How was it designed?
3. What was special about Motowns sound? What sounds did it avoid? What sounds did it retain?
4. What ethnic group held strict control over all of Motowns finances and business? What did this mean in reality?

Answer 11

1. Berry Gordy Jr. It’s namesake comes from “Motor City/Town”, commonly used to refer to Detroit. It is the most successful story of African American business in the US.
2. It was directed to all of America’s audiences, encompassing pop music. It was designed to cut across divisions of race, region, and class as a sound of young America.
3. It cultivated a commercial sound that didn’t sound “sold out”. It avoided evocations fo earlier R&B, doo-wop, and 50s rock n’ roll. It retained generalized blues and gospel.
4. African Americans. Which really meant Berry Gordy himself.

Question 12

Motown & Disco Pt. 2

1. What four key example groups did Motown produce? What Solo acts?
2. What was Motowns in house band? Who were the three players?
3. What was disco, what inspired it? Who did it highlight?
4. What were it’s techniques, and what genres did it pioneer?

Answer 12

1. Any acceptable group: Supremes, Four Tops, Temptations, Marvelettes, Contours, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Isley Brothers

Any acceptable solo: Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Mary Well, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson

2. The Funk Brothers. James Jamerson on bass, Benny Benjamin on drums, Earl Van dyke on keyboards.
3. Disco was a genre of music focused on social dancing and DJ music. It was inspired by Motown, soul, and funk. It highlighted the producers behind hit tracks.
4. It’s techniques were turntabe techniques, such as using 12 inch long vinyl disc to extend sounds– and blending records. It pioneered hip-hop, house, and techno music.

Question 13

West African Pt 1.
1. The music of West Africa ranges from …
impromptu..
social and…
solo performances…
singer accompaniment…
large ensembles of….

2. ## The traditions of West Africa conglomerate into four genres of song, and one style of accompaniment.-
   -
   -
   -

Answer 13

1. • impromptu performance of song using hand clapping/percussion accompaniments.
   • social and ritualistic dance
   • solo performances retelling historical epics
   • singer accompaniment on stringed instruments
   • large ensembles of trumpets or flutes associated with political leaders (kings/chiefs)
2. • Work Songs
   • Lullabies
   • Game Songs
   • Story Songs
   • Instrumental Dance accompaniment.

Question 14

West African Pt 2.
Explain what these are and their influence into modern AF-AM music.
1. Polyrhythms
2. Call-and-Response
3. Kora Music (hint, melodies and improv)
4. West African Communal Singing
5. Ewe and Akan Drum Ensembles: (hint: offbeats)
6. Yoruba Religious Music: (hint: percussion and vocal)
7. Improv. West African vocal techniques.
8. Balafon and Djembe Drumming Traditions: (hint: style)

Answer 14

1. Polyrhythms are complex rhythmic patterns. They influenced jazz and blues.
2. Call and Response is common in West African music. It shaped spirituals and gospel music.
3. Kora music uses a 21-string harp-lute used for griot oral story-telling. It resembles melodic structures and improvisation styles in Af-Am music.
4. Used during labor, inspired work songs in America.
5. Intricate rhythms that developed syncopation in African American music.
6. Uses Bata drumming and chants, which influenced spirituals and gospel music.
7. Improvisational vocal techniques in west Africa influenced field hollers & shouts, thus developing the blues.
8. These drum traditions echo the early percussive styles of African-American music.

Question 15

Spirituals:
1. What is the Great Awakening?

2. With the adaption of Christianity, how did African Americans begin to adapt Christian gospel into their own style? (hint: 4 incorporations):
3. In what spaces would African Americans gather to organzie their own worship?
4. How were black preachers viewed in their communities? Why? How did they preach their message musically?

Answer 15

1. The Great Awakening is when slaves converted to evangelical Christianity, seeing that Christians were all equal in the eyes of god, and thus “Jubliee Day” would be promised.
2. They incorproated call and response, improvisation, clapping and dancing, and “spiritual possession”.
3. Hush Quarters.
4. They were viewed as leaders of their communities due to a absence in political power. They would spread their messages through their style of semi-improvised, musically intoned sermonizing that shaped African American religious practice and performance into future popular music of their culture.

Question 16

Soul Pt. 1:
1. Who is the synthesis of Soul? What did they do in order to create Soul?

2. What five artist did this synthesis influence?
3. What four techniques did this artist employ to distinguish the sound of Soul?
4. What music did this artist take and convert into his own sound?

Answer 16

1. Ray Charles. He blended styles of blues and gospel into one, creating a spiritual secular genre of music.
2. James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, Sly Stone.
3. He employed rough edged vocal timbre, syncopation, selective vocal improvisations (shakes, moans), and jazz style fills in his piano phases to evoke call and response.
4. Country music.

Question 17

Funk
1. What was funk a response to?

2. What does the word “funk” derive from + its meaning? What genre/region was it already widely used in? What does funk in itself represent?
3. What instrumentation does funk consist of. Who did it target? What two things did funk lead to? (ethnic values + genre of music)
4. List these artist as influences and pioneers.
   James Brown
   Sly and the Family Stone
   Kool and The Gang
   Ohio Players
   Wild Cherry
   George Clinton (Parliament Funkadelic)

Answer 17

1. The call to dance.
2. The Central African KiKongo term “lu-fuki”, which connotates body odors associated with exertion. It was used in New Orleans jazz. The genre of funk represents “profane down-to-earthiness”.
3. A rhyhtm section and horn section. It targeted Urban black soul and pop audiences. It represented the reassertion of African American music values, and a pavement for commercial disco music.

4.
Influence
Influence
Pioneer
Pioneer
Influence
Pioneer

Question 18

Latin (Salsa) Pt. 1
1. What is the Son? What is the Danzon?

2. What is the clave? (instrument and rhythm) What does it derive from?
3. What genres of Latin music derived by African tradition were developed by Cubans?
4. What genres of Latin music derived from Carribean music?

Answer 18

1. The Son is a late nineteenth-century rural song tradition performed by groups called cunjutos (bands). The Danzon is a mildly Africanized style of ballroom dance music performed by formal ensembles called orquestas (orchestras)
2. The clave is a rhythmic pattern that is the “heartbeat” of Cuban music, deriving from West African music. It is typically played using two wooden dowels called claves themselves.
3. Mambo, Latin Jazz, and Salsa Music.
4. Beguine, Calypso, and Corrido.

Question 19

Latin (Salsa) Pt. 2
1. What Brazillian music genres were developed from African derived tradition?

2. What Afro-Cuban song is the origin of salsa music?
3. What era did Salsa music begin to rise? What scene did it arise, and what styles did it mix?
4. Who are the two influential figures of the early salsa scene?

Answer 19

1. The Samba and Carnaval.
2. “Nague” (Buddy/Brother)
3. 1970s in the NYC club scene. Mixed the experimental blend of Latin ballroom dance music, Afro-Cuban rumba drumming, and modern jazz.
4. Eddie Plamieri and Willie Colon.