Exam 1 Flashcards
3 categories of popular music
- popular
- classical
- folk
American pop music grew out of 3 distinct musical traditions
- art music of Central Europe (classical music)
- Folk music of the British isles
- West African music
American pop music is important in at least 3 ways
- culturally
- commercial sales
- artistical expression
most musical sounds have 4 properties
1) timber
2) intensity
3) pitch
4) Duration
definite pitch
any instrument you can sing back
-ex: piano
elements of popular music
1) instrumentation
2) preforming style
3) dynamics
4) rhythm
5) melody
6) Harmony
7) texture
8) form
inflection
the note to note dynamic shading of singer or instrumentalist
chord
group of pitches heard at the same time
arpeggio
notes of a chord in a series/ breaking apart chords
instruments of pop music fall into 5 groups
1) rhythm
2) winds
3) strings
4) percussion
5) electronic instruments
tempo
defines speed of the beat
measure
beats grouped into longer rhythmic units
two features have defined the sound of rhythm in American pop music
1) rhythm section
2) backbeat
riff
short melodic idea
form of music
- AABA
- Verse/ Chorus
sources of popular music
1) Central European heritage
2) Settlers from England, Ireland, Scotland
3) African slaves
melisma
series of pitches sung on the same syllable
source of pop music from Central European heritage
Central European music in America regins from Italian opera to German lieder
source of pop music from England, Scotland and Scotland
settles brought a rich folk tradition with them like fiddle, folk, banjo
source of pop music from African slaves
almost exclusively visual
pentatonic scale
5 note scale
call and response
the regular alternating of 2 contrasting sounds
what 2 traditions have been the crucial factors in the creation of pop music
1) European traditions
2) African music traditions
songs of the 1850’s had 2 distinct qualities
- very popular
- sound home grown
3 important improvements in piano design
1) Babcock developed single piece iron from for an upright piano
2) Chickering applied cast iron frame to a grand piano
3) Steinway combined iron from with over strung bass strings
what instrument did most people learn to play
piano
most people learned songs from
sheet music which was the primary means of distributing popular songs well into 20th century
Stephen foster
most important song written in 19th century popular music
parlor songs and example
- are intended primarily of home use
- “gene with he light brown hair”
strophic form
when same melody serves several stanzas of text
minstrel show
-marked beginning of American pop music
-first show took place in Boston in 1843
-city slicker and country bumpkin stereotypes
-
the Minstrel show grew into what 3 parts
1) featured pop song (“debotmans Dance”)
2) olio(variety portion)
3) the walk around-finale
The positive contributions to the minstrel show
- entertainment for the masses
- made use of everyday speech/music
- developed our of synthesis of classical and folk music
- energetic, often danceable music
how a minstrel show was preformed at home
‘oh Suzanna’ on piano
Plantation song
- Stephen fosters most significant creation
- drew on both parlor and minstrel song styles
- 1st imported instance in America of a new pop style being created by mixing 2 existing pop styles
- “old folks at home”
when was the birth of popular music and the popular music industry
pop music born: two decades before the civil war
pop music industry born: three decades after civil war
the song “grandfathers clock” anticipates the emphasis on what
the chorus
tinpan alley
- group of music publishers in New York that sold only popular songs
- NYC became home to both popular stage entertainment and popular music publishing
“after the ball”
- first tinpan alley hit
- it was written by Charles Harris
- a waltz (three beats a measure in a waltz)
what was the most popular dance rhythm around 1900
waltz
after the civil war African Americans had many new opportunities. Including:
1) jubilee Choir
2) minstrel show
delineator
authentic portrayal of plantation life
James bland
- first African American songwriter to achieve commercial success
- ex: “golden wedding”
gussy davis
first African American songwriter in achieve success on tinpan alley
5 types of star entertainment
1) minstrel show
2) Vaudeville
3) American musical comedy
4) European operetta
5) Revue
vaudeville
- variety show
- most popular form live entertainment around the turn of the century
- major preforming outlet for popular song
American musical comedy
- “the black crook” in 1866 marked beginning go American musical comedy
- plot was normally about ‘here and now’ situations
European operetta
plots were ling ago and far away
Revue
- began to replace minstrel show
- Ziegfeld follows made fun of upper class
interpolate
to insert a song without regard for the plot
2 American music comedy people
Harrigain and Hart
2 European operetta people
Gilbert and Sullivan
George M. Cohan and 3 characteristics about him
- “Yankee Doodle boy”
1) emphasis on the chorus
2) patriotic quotations
3) march rhythms
professional concert band
- was the most popular instrumental ensemble in late 19th century America
- almost every city in town had a municipal band
Gilmore Concert band
- before 1890
- raised level of musicianship in US
Sousa Concert band
- after 1890
- by john Phillip Sousa who was the most prominent band leader/ composer of his era
- nicknamed the “march king”
standard concert band instrumentation
- brass
- woodwind
- percussion
John Phillip Sousa wrote what song
“stars and stripes forever”
