Lecture 3: The turn of the 20th century

Question 1

The minstrel show

Answer 1

• first american entertainment
• beginnings in british comic opera

Question 2

the early minstrel show

Answer 2

• racism was not the goal
• way for white youths in urban areas to identify with black friends
• way to make fun of upper class

Question 3

Jim Crow

Answer 3

• thomas dartmouth “daddy” rice’s character
• white born actor to a poor family
• wrote the first American song that was an international hit
• irish folk son g
• cakewalk dance

Question 4

Cakewalk dance

Answer 4

a dance created by slaves, made fun of upper class

Question 5

the late minstrel show(1840s-1880s)

Answer 5

• primary goal is racism
• minstrel shows buy into racist fears of backlash
• jim crow becomes a symbol
• stereotypes emerge

Question 6

Minstrel show music

Answer 6

• popular as sheet music
• accompanies by stereotypically black instruments
• established a travelling performance tradition
• ancestor of vaudeville

Question 7

rise of the modern music industry

Answer 7

• sheet music business expands
• better education and musical knowledge
• laws protect businesses, not composters (no royalties for composers)
• pianos become ubiquitous among the middle class

Question 8

Stephen foster

Answer 8

• popular american songwriter in late 1800s
• first person to make money composing

Question 9

first person to make money composing

Answer 9

stephen foster

Question 10

what kinds of songs did stephen foster compose

Answer 10

• genteel (well mannered) tradition
• ballads, folk songs, opera, minstrel songs

Question 11

example of song stephen foster composed

Answer 11

jeanie with the light brown hair

Question 12

jeanie with the light brown hair form

Answer 12

AABA
- shows a balance of repetition and variation

Question 13

when was the birth of tin pan alley

Answer 13

• set of publishing offices in lower manhattan
• building that was a cluster of small rooms, each with a piano, people played different things all the time so it was called tin pan alley

Question 14

tin pan alley songs

Answer 14

• characteristic forms, themes, performance styles
• AABA, ABAC

Question 15

promotion of tin pan alley songs

Answer 15

• song pluggers: promote new music, play songs in department stores, bars, saloons
• vaudeville: variety show, different from minstrel, goal was to get songs in these shows

Question 16

ragtime

Answer 16

• contemporary with European music traditions promoted by tin pan alley
• ragtime emerged from increased interest in black artists
• took inspiration from many sources

Question 17

what makes ragtime rag?

Answer 17

left hand vs right hand

Question 18

Right hand

Answer 18

plays syncopated melodies in a “ragged” fashion (hence the name “ragtime”).

Question 18

left hand

Answer 18

a steady, almost march-like succession of alternating bass notes and chords in a steady “oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah” fashion

Question 19

When did ragtime become popular

Answer 19

• turn of the 20th century
• influences by tin pan alley, but it never incorporated full out rag
• embraced by youth

Question 20

best known composer of ragtime

Answer 20

Scott Joplin

Question 21

What popular song did scott joplin compose?

Answer 21

Maple leaf rag

Question 22

technological advancements

Answer 22

the phonograph
- edison - 1877
- berliner (flat disc) - 1887 (durable, cheaper)
- nickelodeons (evolved into the jukebox) - 1890

Question 23

how did technological advancements change america

Answer 23

• symbol of upward mobility
• schizophonia - separating of sound from its original source