Exam 1 Flashcards
Riff
A short (two to seven pitches), rhythmically interesting melodic idea. The melodic fragment is short, separated (ends on a long note or is followed by a pause), and syncopated. In the early 20th century, they were memorable (and therefore prominently positioned) and could be used as melodic building blocks. In rock era music, riffs were repeated, rather than varied , to create a larger musical unit
Melody
general term which is vaguely used to denote successions of single notes which are musically effective. Musically effective can be used to describe a memorable melody, a melody that fits nicely with the words, and a melody that is predictable and sustains interest out of context
Beat (3 meanings)
- Timekeeping- creates a regular rhythm you can tap your foot to
- Beats that are grouped into measures
- A template for rhythmic organization (the 8 beat rhythm is a rock beat)
Tempo
The speed of the beat measured in beats per minute. Can give a song its meaning, for example, punk songs are often 160-170 bpm, emphasizing its confrontational style
Measure/bar
A consistent grouping of beats. Two and four beat groupings are most common
Backbeat
A percussive accent occurring regularly on the second beat of beat pairs: 1 2 1 2 or 1 2 3 4
Syncopation
Accents that come between the beats of a regular rhythm, rather than with them.
Accent
a note, chord, or non-pitched sound that is emphasized in some way, so that it stands out. Often, accents stand out because they are louder or longer than the notes around them
Rhythm
the time dimension of musical sound: it encompasses any musical event heard as a function of time. Beat is the rhythmic point of entry into a performance and its main point of reference.
Rhythm section
heterogeneous group of instruments that includes at least one chord instrument (strummed and keyboard), one bass instrument, and one percussion instrument. They provide provide harmony, a bass voice, and percussive sounds
Performance style
One of the dimensions of sound variety in popular music. Musicians sing and play in a varied way, so each one has a distinctive style, for example, Elvis was very popular because he had a unique feel to his music
Innovation
Similar to performance style, the ability to develop a fresh, distinctive, and personal sound. Makes music popular
Texture
texture refers to the relationship among the parts—melody, bass line, and others (we consider the number of voices and instruments, the range between the highest and lowest sounds, and the areas in which sounds are concentrated). Density of sound can have an impact on mood. The melodic line is usually the most prominent part of the texture.
Harmony
refers to chords- what they are, how they are formed, how long they last, and how they succeed each other. A melody note, and especially a prominent melody note, is often part of the chord supporting it
Chord progressions
A sequence of chords. Many of the chord progressions in popular music follow well-used patterns, like the group of 3 chords I, IV, and V. The chords form a larger unit leading toward a goal chord
Form
The organization of a musical work in time. You hear clues that one section has ended and another has begun, and the clues will coalesce into a pattern so you can grasp the organization of the piece.
Verse/chorus form
The verse tells a story in several stages (this section is strophic, i.e., different words are set to the same melody), whereas the chorus, which comes at the end of each verse, repeats both words and melody to reinforce the main message of the song. In early verse/chorus songs, the chorus was often sung by a small group, usually a quartet.
Verse
different lyrics are set to the same melody
Chorus (refrain)
both words and music remain much the same every time
What was the dominant element of music in the 19th century
Melody was the dominant element throughout the nineteenth century not only because of the European influence of early nineteenth-century popular song, but also because melody was the easiest element to transmit via sheet music and songsters
What was the dominant element of music in the 20th century?
Rhythm was the dominant element throughout almost all of the twentieth century primarily because of the shift from a European to an African rhythmic conception, because the four style beats defined eras and styles more clearly than any other element, and because the progression of style beats so clearly demarcated the evolutionary path of popular music.
What has been the dominant element of music since the 1990s?
the search for distinctive sounds and sound combinations has come to the forefront: it has been the primary area of innovation. This was due in part to the extraordinary expansion of sound resources of all kinds and the relative ease with which they could be accessed and used. In addition, the evolution of rhythm had stopped by this point
Sources of instrumental sounds in popular music (5)
- Instruments inherited from popular music’s antecedents and contributing styles
- New ways of playing these inherited instruments
- Creation of new instruments specifically for use in popular music
- Use of electronic technology for sound modification
- Use of “found” instruments (clapping, cowbell, etc)
Different instruments shape genres of music
Scale
Combinations of whole and/or half steps
Pitch
the relative highness or lowness of a musical sound, determined by the frequency with which it vibrates
Meter
A rhythmic measure of a certain number of beats; the aural aspects of music in which a certain number of beats are grouped together
Dynamics
levels of changes in intensity
Duration
the length in time of a musical event
Call and response
A rapid exchange, usually of riffs, between two different timbres: solo voice and guitar; solo voice and choir; or saxophones and trumpets. A feature of African music
Features of African music (5)
- An unvarying beat or other regular rhythm
- Several layers of rhythmic activity, which often create syncopations and other forms of rhythmic conflict
- Percussion instruments and percussive playing techniques
- Riff-like melodic ideas
- Layered textures
Highbrow
Urban and cultivated entertainment in the nineteenth century
Lowbrow
Rural and vernacular entertainment in the nineteenth century
Characteristics of rural white music in the south (early 20th century) (5)
- Down-home, good-humored attitude
- Story told in everyday language
- Melody set to a danceable beat
- Rough, untrained singing voice
- Verse/chorus form
These characteristics would be the basis of the minstrel show
Characteristics of upper and middle class European music (4)
- Chords and chord progressions
- Melody-and-accompaniment texture, with the flowing melody on top, bass on the bottom, and chords in between
- Hierarchical form, in which phrases coalesce into larger formal units
- The piano
Parlor song
A song to be sung at home in the parlor, like Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer,” popular through most of the nineteenth century. Used classical instruments (voice and piano) but were modest in their expressive range and musical requirements. They told sentimental stories
Stephen Foster
The most important songwriter in nineteenth century American popular music. Wrote minstrel songs like “Oh, Susanna”. Also wrote parlor songs. His work marked the beginning of the American popular mainstream
Minstrel show
A form of stage entertainment distinguished by cruel parodies of African Americans. Minstrelsy was popular from the early 1840s to the end of the nineteenth century. No plot, but used stock routines and consistent characters, included songs and dances
Blackface
Used during the minstrel show, white and later black performers used burnt cork to darken their complexion
Tambo and bones
Two of the 3 minstrels. Nicknames for the endmen in a minstrel show, so called because one usually played a tambourine and the other a pair of bones.
Interlocutor
The straight man in a minstrel show. The interlocutor would sit in the middle of the semicircle and ask questions of the endmen, who would give comic replies.
Cakewalk
A dance fad of the 1890s; also the music to accompany the dance of the minstrel show
Dan Emmett
blackface entertainer in the 1830s and one of the founding members of the Virginia Minstrels, also wrote many songs for the minstrel show. Wrote “De Boatman’s Dance” and others. Features included lyrics that describe a series of “scenes” in down-home language. Both feature voice and fiddle, an upbeat tempo with a clear beat, alternation of singing and playing the melody, and a form that alternates verse and chorus
Minstrel show introduced which 2 elements that would become part of popular music
use of a recurrent chorus, and dance rhythms. Also created a new genre by synthesizing middle-class urban song and folk music.
When did the popular music industry originate?
1890s- the minstrel show showed that money could be made in music
Tin Pan Alley
A nickname for a section of West 28th Street in New York City, where many music publishers had their offices. Also, the styles of the songs created in the first half of the century for these publishers: a Tin Pan Alley song refers to songs by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and their contemporaries.
song plugger
A publishing-house pianist who could play a new song for a professional singer or a prospective customer on tin pan alley
After the ball
Charles Harris’ 1892 song that became the first big tin pan alley hit. After this, very few songs were published away from tin pan alley
Waltz songs
A type of song popular around 1900 in which a flowing melody is supported by a simple, waltz-time accompaniment.
Musical comedies
had plots, but served more as a scaffolding for a string of songs. Used interpolation- the insertion of a song into a musical comedy for which it was not written. Interpolation was common in the early years of musical comedy, when producers would insert a song into a show simply because it was a hit.
George M. Cohan
Became popular around 1900, wrote musicals and patriotic songs- had a great march, a vigorous melody, a hint of syncopation, and clever lyrics- they were some of the first truly American sounding songs
Concert band
A band (woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments) that performs in a concertlike setting (seated on-stage, in front of an audience) rather than while marching. Popular in the late nineteenth century and were the primary source of musical entertainment
John Philip Sousa
Most popular bandleader and band composer of his era (1890-1920). Lead a popular concert band (John Philip Sousa’s New Marine Band), which was known for its precision and the excellence of its soloists
Marches
Music composed in regularly accented, usually duple meter that is appropriate to accompany marching; a composition in the style of march music, included in a typical Sousa band concert (stars and stripes forever was a famous march)
Irving Berlin
started in Tin Pan Alley, self taught - 20th-century American writer of popular songs (words and music). His songs include “God Bless America,” “White Christmas,” and “There’s no Business like Show Business.”, “Putting on the Ritz”
lyricist
a professional who specializes in writing the words of a song
composer
A person who writes music
George Gershwin
A Jazz Age composer who was the son of Russian immigrants and, like many others during his time, mixed symphony and jazz together to create an entirely new style that represented how America was a mixture of peoples.
military band
a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions.
written/oral tradition
either written or just spoken to one another
Bert Williams
one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He is credited as being the first Black man to have the leading role in a film: Darktown Jubilee in 1914
ascap
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization that protects its members’ musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music
Ragtime
A popular style at the turn of the twentieth century that mixed European forms, harmony, and textures with African-inspired syncopation. Ragtime began as a piano music, but soon the term was applied to any music—song and dance as well as piano music—that had some syncopation. Ragtime was the first black music that looked on paper the way it sounded in performance, so any competent pianist could play it, and it was a way for African Americans to learn more about their own culture and preserve their heritage
Piano rag
A march like, syncopated composition for the piano. Joplin’s “Maple leaf rag” was the first commercially successful piano rag
Scott Joplin
Joplin’s piano rags were the most enduring music of the ragtime era. He also wrote a ballet and 2 operas
What is the legacy of ragtime? (4)
- A body of music of enduring value and appeal
- A number of firsts in the history of African-American music
- The catalyst for the revolution that produced the modern era in popular music
- Made popular music more relaxed
Animal dances
A popular dance which emerged in the early 1900s which was adapted or borrowed from a black folk dance. Dances were popular at this time, but this was considered very socially unacceptable. In the 1920s and 1930s, the foxtrot became popular
James Reese Europe
Composed the “Castle House Rag” which showed the evolution of the genre away from the classic piano style. This rags used a faster tempo, less syncopation and more ragged melodies, and a chance to improvise. He also helped to popularize the foxtrot
Bessie Smith
Recorded classic blues. Used 12 bar blues with call and response between the singer and the instrumentalist. Recorded “empty bed blues” in 1928. Used “real” music with honesty and emotion
Classic blues
The popular blues style of the 1920s, which typically featured a woman singing the blues (e.g., Bessie Smith) accompanied by one or more jazz musicians.
Blues
A style used to convey real emotions. Features included the twelve-bar form, call-and-response between voice and instrument, and phrases that start high and end low
Jazz
A group of popular related styles primarily for listening. Jazz is usually distinguished from the other popular music of an era by greater rhythmic freedom (more syncopation and/or less-insistent beat keeping), extensive improvisation, and more adventurous harmony. There are two families of jazz styles: those based on a four-beat rhythm and those based on a rock or 16-beat rhythm. Jazz was exuberant and fast paced
What was the birthplace of jazz?
New Orleans. The city was a mix of cultures and was hospitable to blacks until the Jim Crow laws changed the social hierarchy. Black and creole musicians began working together and jazz gained new characteristics
New Orleans jazz
Style of jazz performance based on the early bands that performed in and around New Orleans; revived in the late 1940s, it is based on collective improvisation and quick tempos. The front-line instruments usually include cornet or trumpet, clarinet, and trombone, with a rhythm section usually including banjo, tuba, and sometimes piano.
What are the 2 parts of the New Orleans jazz band?
- Front line
2. Rhythm section
Front line
One of the parts of a New Orleans jazz band. Usually play melody within a well defined range. The trumpet carries the melody, the clarinet takes the highest part and the countermelody, the trombone carries the lowest melodic part in the form of commentary on the melody and clarinet part
Collective improvisation
An improvisational context in which more than one performer is improvising a melody-like line. Collective improvisation is standard practice in New Orleans jazz. This requires teamwork
Joe “King” Oliver
One of the major figures of early jazz, a bandleader and cornet player. Originally from New Orleans but moved to Chicago for a better career
Louis Armstrong
One of the most influential jazz musicians of his era (late 1920s), made swing and improvisation standard in jazz. Moved to New York. He was the first great soloist in jazz
Which 2 qualities distinguish jazz from other popular genres?
swing, its distinctive rhythmic conception, and improvisation, its spontaneous dimension
Swing
rhythmic play over a four-beat rhythm. An indication that jazz had embraced a new rhythmic conception
Improvisation
The act of creating music spontaneously rather than performing a previously learned song the same way every time. Improvisation is one of the key elements in jazz. It gives musicians the opportunity to express inspirations and react to situations
Chicago (jazz)
A hotspot in jazz. Musicians found multiple employment opportunities in ballrooms and speakeasies
12 bar progression
The most widely used form for one chorus of a blues song. It is defined principally by its chord progression, which features I, IV, and V in a consistent pattern over 12 bars. The 12-bar blues form is used in both vocal and instrumental songs.
What years were considered the modern era
between 1914 (the start of World War I) and 1929 (the start of the Great Depression) marked the modern era in popular music
Prohibition
Banned alcohol, so speakeasies were created. This created work for popular musicians, and New Orleans jazz spread throughout the country as a result of speakeasies
Flapper
the “new woman” of the 1920’s- had short hair and wore loose fitting dresses
Radio broadcasting
Began in 1920. Instead of watching people play music/reading sheet music, people were able to learn music by ear. This was revolutionary
Microphones
A device that converts sound waves into an electric signal. The microphone has been in use in popular music since the 1920. Prior to this, low quality conical horns were used (could only pick up louder singers)
Amplifiers
A piece of equipment that can increase the strength of an electric signal, used with a microphone
Electric recording
A recording procedure developed in the 1920s that converts sound into an electric signal before recording and then converts the electric signal back into sound for playback. With its far superior sound quality, it immediately made acoustic recording obsolete.
Talking films
The first talking film premiered in 1927. Popular music was soon incorporated into film
Modern era technological advances (5)
- Radio
- Network radio
- Amplification in live performance
- Decent recording quality
- Talking pictures
These all occurred during the 1920s
Foxtrot rhythm
bass alternating with chord on backbeat. Foxtrot became the dominant social dance of the 1920’s and 1930’s. for the first time, social dancing to a clearly black beat became acceptable to a significant portion of the population. It caught on with all levels of society, and although it may not have been condones in all quarters, dancing to syncopated music was no longer a criminal offense.
Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman and his orchestra were a modern dance orchestra. These orchestras provided syncopated dance music. These new dance orchestras brought a fresh sound to popular music. Two important reasons were the use of a complete rhythm section and the prominent role of the saxophone. The saxophone was an enduring new sound in the 1920s
AABA form
Began to be used after 1925. Consisted of 4 sections, A is the first section of the chorus and any repetition of it, B is a new section. This form was used well into the rock era. 32 bars long. 4 sections of 8 bars each. Includes a bridge
Crooning
A relaxed, intimate style of singing. Popular in the 1930s- 1940s
Bing Crosby
Crooner, was a jazz and blues singer, used the microphone very well. Crosby’s singing was modern because it was personal and personable. Popular in the 1930s and 1940s
Billie Holiday
Artist with an incredible ability for song interpretation, brought feeling into singing popular songs, showed how one could use a popular song as a window to a singer’s heart and soul.
African American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed “Lady Day”. Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style was strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists. She sung “Strange Fruit”, a protest song against lynchings.
Show boat
would bridge the gap between grand opera and these lighter musical entertainments by weaving elements of both into a new genre. Show Boat was a collaboration between songwriter Jerome Kern (first songwriter to integrate music and drama) and lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein. Dealt with serious issues like interracial marriage
Fred Astaire
sings Irving Berlins Cheek to Cheek in movie Top Hat, sings and dances in film. When Fred sang cheek to cheek, it made the foxtrot seem more elegant and socially acceptable, and allowed Americans to briefly escape from the great depression
Rural (delta) blues
Delta = Mississippi delta blues guitar, harmonica instruments; urban larger audience not local, regional
Urban blues
The Urban Blues is a form of blues music that developed in the big cities in the U.S.. The one city that dominated this development is Chicago. It is based on the rough and direct Delta Blues which came in contact with urban life. Besides, Urban Blues is the first blues style that reached a mass audience. One of the most popular musicians of those days is a man called Muddy Waters. He helped to transform a style and technique which guided blues music into a new dimension.
Robert Johnson
A country blues man who supposedly sold his soul to the Devil for his musical abilities. Not a commercial success in his lifetime, but rediscovered in the 1960s by rock musicians after his death, and would become one of the most well-respected early blues musicians of the 20th century; , Crossroad Blues
The jazz age
name referring to the 1920s; a time of cultural change; generally refers to the arts such as writing, music, artwork, and architecture
Book musical
A musical with a particularly well-developed story and characters, such as Fiddler on the Roof.
Colloquial lyrics
A colloquial style is one in which there is broken syntax and casual enunciation
The swing era
1935-1945. Swing had bubbled outside the mainstream since the early 1930s, mainly in the music of urban black dance orchestras, most notably those of Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson. However, in the wake of Goodman’s triumphant appearance in Los Angeles, swing became a truly popular music.
Big band swing
Swing music performed by a large band during the swing era. Musicians swing by creating rhythmic play over a 4 beat rhythm. These bands contained a full rhythm section (guitar, string bass, piano, and drums), a 4-5 member saxophone section, a 3-4 member trumpet section, a 3-4 member trombone section. Call and response riffs were exchanged in support of a solo
Rhythm section transformation (1930-1940)
Acoustic guitar replaced banjo; string bass replaced tuba; and the drum set gained the hi-hat cymbal. The changes reflected the shift in underlying rhythm from the two-beat of the foxtrot to the four-beat rhythm of swing. Instead of tuba and banjo alternating on the beat and backbeat, both string bass and guitar marked each beat
What is the novel element in swing rhythm
the persistent timekeeping by a full rhythm section—guitar, bass, and drums—supporting the extensive syncopation in the riffs and call-and-response exchanges between sections
Two beat rhythm
A rhythmic template in which bass notes alternate with the backbeat
Fletcher Henderson
responsible for shaping the sound of big band swing. Piano/Band Leader/Composer/Arranger; band established the modern instrumentation of a swing band and set the early standards for arranging music
Hot/sweet
Two camps formed during the swing era. There were those who liked sweet (the foxtrot song, now grown more melodious, less syncopated, and slower) and those that liked swing
Benny Goodman
“king of swing”, known for his small group jazz recordings in the swing era
Count Basie Orchestra
the “swingingest” of the swing bands: No band generated greater rhythmic excitement and energy.
Duke Ellington
Leader of the most distinctive big band of the swing era. The quality that most distinguishes Ellington’s music from that of all other bands was sound color. He uniquely blended the 3 timbres (trumpets, trombones, saxophones) in a very skilled way. What made Ellington’s musicians special was their individuality. Most of the horn players had a special sound
Arranger
a professional who adapts a song for specific singers and other musical elements ex. Fletcher Henderson
Brass instruments (4)
trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba
Reed instruments (3)
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Saxophone
Chick Webb
1st great swing drummer; led his own orchestra in the early 1930s; Dwarfed hunchback, played with custom-made drums
Country blues
A family of African American folk blues styles that flourished in the rural South. Country blues differs from commercial blues mainly in its accompanying instrument—usually acoustic guitar—and its tendency toward less regular forms.
The environment in which they created their music helped produce a style with strong connections to African culture. In the first half of the twentieth century, Jim Crow laws enforcing rigid segregation throughout the South had particular power because so few African Americans had any economic, legal, or political leverage.
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Old fashioned blues artist. Its “purity” lies in its freedom from commercial influences. We hear no pop, no jazz, no horns in country blues—just a man and his guitar. No chord progression- only one chord is strummed. There is no steady pulse underneath his vocal line. As a result, the predictable regularity of conventional blues form is not present.
Boogie-woogie
A blues piano style characterized by repetitive bass figures, usually in a shuffle rhythm. Originated in the rural south. It was popular in the 30s and 40s
Hokum
An upbeat blues style that emerged between the first and second world wars.
The Hokum brothers
Pianist Georgia Tom and guitarist Tampa Red, “it’s tight like that” was an example of hokum blues. “It’s Tight Like That” is also an early example of a verse/chorus blues form. The harmonic form of the song is a twelve-bar blues, but lyrics replace the conventional rhymed couplet with a verse/chorus scheme.
Gospel
A family of religious music styles: there is white and black gospel music. Black gospel music has had the more profound influence on popular music by far. Created around 1930 by Thomas Dorsey and others, gospel has influenced popular singing, especially rhythm and blues, since the early 1950s.
Black gospel music
Black gospel blends white Protestant hymnody, the black spiritual, and more fervent religious music with the blues. It was the tinge of the blues that distinguished gospel from the spiritual and other forms of African-American sacred music. Gospel is strictly upbeat music, not emotional/realistic music like blues.
Gospel groups/solos
There were two distinct performing traditions in early gospel music: male quartets and female solo singers. A male quartet can present complete harmonies in low and middle registers, which eliminates the need for accompanying instruments. However, a female group would not have a voice in the lower ranges, so that a performance would virtually demand some kind of instrumental accompaniment.
Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet
Male gospel quartet in the 1930s-1940s, recorded “Golden Gate Gospel Train”. The song shows how resourceful such groups could be in depicting images in sound. The group replicates the sound of the train whistle and bell, as well as the chug of the engine. More important, the singers back up the lead vocalist with an accompaniment that supplies more rhythm than harmony. Both the static harmony and the percussive vocal sounds anticipate rock-era music, especially funk and rap.
Female gospel soloists
Their accompaniment often included both piano and Hammond organ, both popular instruments in black churches; backup vocalists were optional.
The best gospel solo singers of the era sang with rich, resonant voices. They occasionally colored their singing with blues-like inflection and, more distinctively, expressive melismas (a group of pitches sung on a single syllable). During the thirties and forties, it was a sound distinct from every other kind of singing related to popular music
Mahalia Jackson
Female gospel soloist, her 1947 recording of “Move On Up a Little Higher” showcases her rich, blues-inflected voice. She adapted the feeling and style of her idol, Bessie Smith, to gospel singing.
From the 1950s until her death in 1972, Jackson was the Queen of Gospel- She exerted considerable influence on important rhythm-and-blues artists of the 1950s and 1960s
8 to the bar
8 notes to the (usually) 4 beat bar, or measure, or twice as fast as the beat (or two notes to each beat), boogie woogie
Good time blues
There are blues songs that are fun—even funny at times—and upbeat in mood and tempo.
How did country music originate?
The folk music of white southerners became country music when commercial radio came on the air and commercial records of this music arrived in stores.
Ralph Peer
The key figure in making country music a business and the most influential man in country music during its first three decades. He played an instrumental role in finding it, disseminating it, and making money for those who created it. Peer also played a key role in establishing BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated), a music licensing organization sponsored by the radio industry. Music licensing was the mechanism by which those who created the music received payment from those who made money from it. Peer represented the progressive direction in country music. He helped transform a folk music into a powerful segment of the music business
The Carter family
one of the most influential groups in the history of country music, their best known song was their 1928 recording of a song they called “Wildwood Flower” which found its way into oral tradition. Professional career lasted from 1927 until 1943.
Jimmie Rodgers
Influenced much of country music, “Blue Yodel No. 11,” one of thirteen blue yodels that Rodgers recorded, is a blues in its lyrics, melodic style, harmony, form, and style.
Gene Autry
The first singing cowboy on screen (Tumbling Tumbleweeds, 1935). The film is generally considered to be the first musical western (or horse opera) because the plot depends on the singing ability of Autry’s character. The success of the film created a demand for singing cowboys. This was country music to many Americans
Bob Wills
Country music’s first maverick. When he formed the Texas Playboys (the band that would create his legacy) during the mid-1930s, he blended the country string-band sound with pop, blues, and jazz and country music’s newest “traditional” instrument, the steel guitar, into a new style called western swing. In Wills’s version of western swing, the blues and jazz influence was most often evident in the heavier beat, the fuller instrumentation, and the styles of many of the soloists.
Western swing
A swing style of country music which emerged in the Southwest in the 1930s. The electric steel guitar is a signature instrument of this genre
How did country music retain its identity?
country music retained and reshaped its identity through a two-part strategy: preserving its core features and “countrifying” the influences that it assimilated
Folk music
Music made by a group of people (e.g., Cajuns, Navahos, or whites from rural Appalachia), mostly without formal musical training, primarily for their own amusement or for the amusement of others in the group. Within the group, folk music is transmitted orally. Within the popular tradition, folk music has also referred to folksongs sung by commercial musicians (e.g., the Kingston Trio) or music with elements of folk style (e.g., the folk rock of the late 1960s). Became commercial in the 1940s
Woody Guthrie
Guthrie had a more deadpan voice- we listen to his music for the words. He wrote and delivered his songs in a folk style, sometimes fitting old melodies with new words, but the songs were new. In so doing, he helped make folk a commercial music—even if much of the time his songs had an anticommercial message. Commented on social issues
Where did country music relocate to? (folk)
Greenwich Village
The almanac singers
a folk-singing group that included Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Millard Lampell, and Lee Hays. The Almanac Singers were the spiritual forebears of the protest singers of the early 1960s. Politically, they leaned well to the left and advocated isolationism, a path that was rendered moot after Pearl Harbor. They became the weavers after Woody Guthrie left
Honky tonk
Country music appropriate for a noisy, working-class bar or club. Late 1940s/early 1950s. a full rhythm section, including drums, plus the “newly traditional” country instrument, the steel guitar.
Hank Williams
Country singer, “lovesick blues” was his first big hit. A great song interpreter.
Gid Tanner
American old time fiddler and one of the earliest stars of what would come to be known as country music. His string band, the Skillet Lickers, was one of the most innovative and influential string bands of the 1920s and 1930s
Bluegrass
fiddle banjo guitar mandolin and string bass are instruments for the style of music
Bill Monroe
Father of bluegrass
Earl Scruggs
famous three finger style banjo player, played with Bill Monroe - father of bluegrass
Topical songs
song that comments on political and social events
Clave rhythm
the characteristic rhythm of afro-Cuban music. it can be represented as //XxxXxxXx//xxXxXxxx//. The x’s indicate an eight beat rhythm; X’s are accented notes. To create a reverse clave rhythm, switch the two measures.
Tango
Latin dance that became a craze in the U.S., came from the habanera traveling south to Argentina and then becoming the rhythmic basis of this dance.
Carmen Miranda
fruit basket headdress and platform shoes;
latin american singing and dancing sensation, part of the us trying to develop a positive image of latin america, source of pride for brazilians, also used by the united fruit co.
Perez Prado
One of the kings of mambo, more Commercial style for white audiences rather than Afro-cuban
Mambo
third of the 20th century Latin dance fads, after the tango and rumba, but the first to develop on American soil
Tito Puente
“king of the mambo”, 1923-2000, more Afro-Cuban than commercial
Percussion
Movements that include tapping, beating, or slapping
Tin Pan Alley’s assimilation
Cole Porter contributed- he loved Cugat’s sound of Latin music, and he began to write Latin songs too. Porter’s songs had nothing to do with Latin culture, but he loved the rhythm.
LP
Long playing records - 33 rpm. an indication of how fast the record is meant to spin on the turntable
45/33 rpm
45 = 7 inch, single songs, 3 min. 33 = LP
Bebop
a radical new jazz style that seemed to appear out of nowhere and conveyed a new message: liberation
Charlie Parker
‘Bird’–one of the most famous founders of the Bebop style. “salt peanuts”
Dizzy Gillespie
Bebop jazz artist that played the trumpet, piano, and trombone
Jazz as art
Jazz was not regarded as art because it was not like classical music and it was heard in speakeasies…. BUT Bop was art music from the start – It was so novel and complex & so technically demanding that when it first became known only a few musicians- jazz, popular, or classical- were proficient enough to perform it capably.
Most consciously art oriented developments in modern jazz were jazz/classical syntheses.
Miles Davis
1940s&50s; black jazz musician invented bebop, rejecting white expectations for black music; challenged traditions, spontaneous, FREE; inspired challenging of authority and encouraged people to stand up for civil rights, 1949-“Birth of Cool”, influencial as Armstrong’s Hot Five. The band was a nonet. Included a French Horn and a Tuba. (Trumpeter)
Gil Evans
Miles Davis’ arranger. wrote for TV in 50’s, composer of modern classical music, helped create “cool jazz,” considered “Third Stream”. Piano, arranger, composer, association with jazz is cool and 3rd stream jazz with Miles.
Nat “King” Cole
he most popular and important black pop artist of the postwar era;
, Most successful black musician during the postwar era. Made first recording in 1936, in the Solid Swingers. One of the first African Americans to cross over to white audiences. “Nature Boy.”`
Cool jazz
Was created because of the complexity and exclusive nature of Bebop. Larger bands were formed that included more sensuous instruments (West Coast) - MILES DAVIS
MJQ
chose their performance etiquette to be with an almost somber, sobering demeanor, wearing suits and ties, and having well put together programs; vibraphone, piano, bass and drums. Played with elegance and dignity; became a jazz institution. Brought elements of classical music to jazz.,
Oklahoma composer and lyricist
Rodgers & hammerstein
South pacific
James Michener wrote, based on two stories, racism getting in the way of love,
Opened in 1949. Created by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Based on two stories in James Micherner’s Tales of the South Pacific. Set amid the life and death tensions of World War 2. Military nurse, Nellie Forbush, falls in love with French planer Emile de Becque; and L.T cable gives his heart to a Polynesian girl.
