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Am Pop Music > Midterm > Flashcards

Midterm Flashcards

1
Q

Nearly every aspect of popular music that is today regarded as American in character has sprung from three broad “streams.” What are the three streams?

A

African, Latin American, European

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2
Q

Define: Ballad

A

A series of verses telling a story, often about a historical event or personal tradgedy, sung to a repeating melody. This form of music is often called strophic.

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3
Q

Define: Chorus

A

Repeated melody with fixed text inserted between verses

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4
Q

“Certain features of African music form the core of African American music and, by extension, of American popular music as a whole.” The book lists at least 5 of these features. What are they?

A
  • Buzzy tones,
  • Low Pitched sounds
  • call-and-response forms
  • polyrhythms (multiple interlocking repeating rhythmic patterns)
  • repetition (and riffs)
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5
Q

What was a rhumba-based style pioneered by Cuban and Puerto Rican migrants in New York City in the 1960’s?

A

salsa

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6
Q

What is the name of the Brazillian dance style strongly rooted in African music?

A

samba

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7
Q

What is a “Cool sophisticated style of Brazillian music”, popular in the US in the 1960’s?

A

bossa nova

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8
Q

What kind of music were Americans listening to before minstrelsy?

A

English/Irish ballads

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9
Q

What year was the first minstrel show?

A

1828

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10
Q

Who were the two first big minstrel stars?

A

Thomas Dartmouth Rice

George Washington Dixon

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11
Q

The Minstrel Show started in the city of _________

A

New York City

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12
Q

What city became the center of the music industry at the end of the nineteenth century?

A

New York City

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13
Q

When was Stephen Foster writing songs?

A

1840s-1860s

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14
Q

Name three Stephen Foster songs?

A

Camptown Races
Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair
Oh! Susana

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15
Q

When did big brass bands first become popular?

A

After the Civil War

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16
Q

Who was America’s March King?

A

John Phillip Suza

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17
Q

When did ragtime first come on the scene?

A

1880s

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18
Q

When did ragtime popularity peak?

A

1900-1910

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19
Q

Define: Ragtime

A

Syncopated music typically (though not exclusively) played on the piano.

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20
Q

Who is the most famous ragtime composer?

A

Scott Joplin

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21
Q

Name two famous Tin Pan Alley composers.

A

Paul Dresser

Harry Von Tilzer

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22
Q

When was the photograph invented?

A

1877

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23
Q

Who invented the phonograph (in America)?

A

Thomas Edison

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24
Q

Define: Nickelodeons

A

Machines that would play the latest hit for a nickel

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25
Q

In what decade did nickelodeons first appear on the scene?

A

1890s

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26
Q

At the beginning of the 1900’s, the phonograph industry was dominated by what two record companies?

A

Victor Talking Machine Company

Columbia Records

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27
Q

In what decade was the first radio program?

A

1900s

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28
Q

There was a lot of migration within the united states after WWI. From where to where?

A

From the south to the north. From country to city.

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29
Q

In the 1920’s, “________, which had previously been the exclusive right of the wealthy, now appeared in middle-class homes”

A

telephones

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30
Q

In the year _______, was the first time that a song was a hit as a record before being a hit as sheet music.

A

1919

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31
Q

In the year _____ there were only three commercial radio stations in the US. Two years later, there were over 500.

A

1920

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32
Q

What year saw the first nationwide commercial radio network?

A

1926

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33
Q

What was the name of the first nationwide commercial radio network?

A

NBC

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34
Q

When was the microphone invented?

A

1925

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35
Q

What effect did the invention of microphone have on music styles?

A

Crooning (a more intimate style because you could whisper)

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36
Q

When did The Jazz Singer come out?

A

1927

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37
Q

Who starred in The Jazz Singer?

A

Al Jolson

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38
Q

What’s the significance of the movie The Jazz Singer?

A

It was the first talkie (or part talkie), and it made its star performer one of the first multi-media stars.

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39
Q

When was prohibition?

A

1919-1933

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40
Q

Name four dances (from between 1910 and 1935) that were “dance crazes”.

A

One-Step,
Bunny Hug,
Turkey Trot,
Grizzly Bear

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41
Q

Jazz first appeared in the city of ___.

A

New Orleans

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42
Q

Jazz probably emerged in the year ___

A

1900

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43
Q

The first jazz recording was made in the year _______.

A

1917

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44
Q

Name some of the main musical influences on early Jazz. (Pick SIX.)

A 
Latin Music,
Tin Pan Alley,
The Blues,
New Orleans funeral music,
brass bands,
ragtime
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45
Q

Who billed himself as the King of Jazz?

A

Paul Whiteman

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46
Q

What was the typical Tin Pan Alley (TPA) song form?

A

Verse (intro), then AABA refrain.

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47
Q

What were TPA songs about?

A

romance,
privacy,
they were songs that helped you to escape your troubles

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48
Q

What’s the connection between TPA and Broadway musicals?

A

it was a mutually beneficial relationship: Broadway needed songs, TPA composers needed places to showcase them and popularize them

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49
Q

What year did the musical Show Boat come out?

A

1927

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50
Q

what was so special about Show Boat?

A

It was the first major Broadway musical where the plot was important and the songs were integrated into the plot.

51
Q

What was the best-selling song from 1927 to 1942?

A

My Blue Heaven

52
Q

Who sang the popular song My Blue Heaven (the most popular version)?

A

Gene Austin

53
Q

Define: Race Records

A

Music by and for African Americans.

54
Q

Define: Classic Blues

A

softer, TPA style songs with blue notes, sung by African Americans

55
Q

When was classic blues first recorded? (Decade)

A

1910s

56
Q

Name an early star of classic blues?

A

Alberta Hunter

57
Q

Who was known as “The Father of the Blues”?

A

WC Handy

58
Q

Define: Country Blues

A

a rougher, more guitar-driven, originating in the Mississippi Delta

59
Q

When was country blues first recorded? (Decade)

A

1920s

60
Q

Name an early country blues star?

A

Robert Johnson

61
Q

Define: Hillbilly music

A

white southern music with roots in gospel and English/Irish ballads; the forerunner of country music

62
Q

When was Hillbilly Music first recorded?

A

1920s

63
Q

Name two early Hillbilly stars

A

The Carter Family.

Jimmie Rodgers

64
Q

Who was Ralph Peer?

A

He coined the term “Race Records”, was the first person to record a lot of the music we now call “blues”, and also recorded the first “hillbilly music”

65
Q

When was the Great Depression?

A

1929-1939

66
Q

What factors led to a decline in the gramophone record industry during the 1930s?

A

radio.

the Great Depression.

67
Q

What factors led to the increased popularity of swing music during the 1930s?

A

end of prohibition,
increased power of radio,
the desire to forget your troubles during the Great Depression.

68
Q

Where did the term “hep cat” come from?

A

Hepikat- word for “eyes wide open” from the Wolof people of Senegal

69
Q

What is the lindy hop?

A

the dance most closely associated with Swing music

70
Q

Where did the Lindy Hop begin? (Specific building?)

A

Savoy Ballroom in NYC

71
Q

Benny Goodman grew up in ___

A

Chicago

72
Q

Benny Goodman was the son of ___ immigrants.

A

Eastern European / jewish

73
Q

Benndy Goodman’s primary instrument was:

A

the clarinet

74
Q

Early in his career, Benny Goodman bought and used song arrangements by __________

A

Fletcher Henderson

75
Q

How did Benny Goodman get his first big break?

A

On a “Let’s Dance” tour sponsored by Ritz Crackers

76
Q

What does ASCAP stand for?

A

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

77
Q

What does ASCAP do?

A

They try to collect royalties for song writers

78
Q

What is BMI?

A

Broadcast Music Incorporated - an alternative to ASCAP

79
Q

When did BMI form?

A

1940

80
Q

What is the AFM?

A

American Federation of Musicians – a union for musicians.

81
Q

In the year _______, the ASCAP had strike and no radio could play their music

A

1941

82
Q

In the year _______, the AFM called a strike against recording companies

A

1942

83
Q

AFM called a strike against recording companies, and so for over a year, the only people who could record with the major record companies were ________, who weren’t considered musicians.

A

singers

84
Q

The person who probably did the most to popularize Latin music during the Swing era was _________, also known as “The Rhumba King”.

A

Xavier Cugat

85
Q

What were the major developments and advancements in music recording and playing technologies during the postwar era?

A

Magnetic tape recording,
the “battle of the speeds”,
overdubbing

86
Q

Who is Les Paul?

A

A guitar player and inventor who did some of the first multi-track recording in the late 40’s.

87
Q

Name four “Big Singers” of the post war era.

A

Frank Sinatra,
Nat “King” Cole,
Perry Como,
Bing Crosby

88
Q

The first example of modern pop-hysteria took place in the year ____

A

1944 (Frank Sinatra)

89
Q

The first example of modern pop-hysteria was called ______________.

A

The Columbus Day Riot of 1944

90
Q

The musician that people were going nuts over in the Columbus Day Riots of 1944 was _______

A

Frank Sinatra

91
Q

Urban Folk came to be popular during these years:

A

early 1950s

92
Q

The Mambo Craze took place during these years:

A

1949-1955

93
Q

In approximately the year _________, the record industry changed the name of “Race Records” to “Rhythm & Blues”

A

1949

94
Q

The first radio station devoted to exclusively playing music for a black audience started in the year ______.

A

1949

95
Q

The first radio station devoted to exclusively playing music for a black audience featured a popular DJ named…

A

BB King

96
Q

Who was the leading figure of the jump band style?

A

Louis Jordan

97
Q

Name one successful blues crooner in the post-war (WWII) era

A

Charles Brown

98
Q

Chicago Electric Blues is derived most directly from the __________ style of music.

A

Country Blues

99
Q

One of the most famous musicians of the Chicago Electric Blues genre is _____________.

A

Muddy Waters

100
Q

What were the styles of postwar R&B? (select 4)

A

Chicago Electric Blues, jump blues, blues crooner, Doo-Wop (vocal harmony groups)

101
Q

Who was the leading artist in the post-war “vocal harmony groups” style?

A

The Dominos

102
Q

Two famous women R&B singers in the early 50’s

A

Big Mama Thornton,

Ruth Brown

103
Q

The pioneer of bluegrass music was___

A

Bill Monroe

104
Q

Bluegrass music emerged in these years:

A

late 1930s & early 1940s

105
Q

According to the textbook, “_____________ was the most significant single figure to emerge in country music during the immediate post-WWII period.” Sadly, he died young.

A

Hank Williams

106
Q

When was the Cold War in full swing?

A

mid 1950s

107
Q

Who was probably the first person to coin the term “rock ‘n’ roll”?

A

Alan Freed

108
Q

Alan Freed worked as a DJ at a radio station in the city of _________.

A

Cleveland

109
Q

Alan Freed was eventually prosecuted for _________,

A

Accepting payola

110
Q

‘payola’ refers to the practice of:

A

taking bribes to get certain records played more frequently

111
Q

The supreme court decision that ended racial segregation in public schools (Brown v. Board of Education) happened in the year _________.

A

1954

112
Q

What is a baby boomer?

A

A person born during or just after WWII

113
Q

At first, the term “rock ‘n’ roll” just meant

A

music that appealed to teens

114
Q

Which of the following people was a rock-n-roll star who was a teenager?

A

Frankie Lymon

115
Q

In the 50’s there were a lot of musicians doing covers. What is a ‘cover’?

A

Playing or recording a version of a song that has already been recorded. Often “cleaned up” imitation of R&B songs during the 50s.

116
Q

A black singer named Paula Watson recorded a song for the Supreme record label. Then Decca Records got a white singer named Evelyn Knight to record a nearly identical version of the song. Supreme sued Decca for copyright infringement. The song was _____________.

A

A Little Birdie Told me

117
Q

The year that Supreme Records sued Decca Records for copyright infringement was around ______.

A

1948/49

118
Q

The owner of Sun records said something like, “If I could only find a white man with the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I’d be a millionaire.” His name was ___________. When did he find who he was looking for? Who did he find?

A

Sam Phillips.
1954.
Elvis Presley.

119
Q

The first rock ‘n’ roll record to be a Number One pop hit was __________ by ____________.

A

Rock around the clock by Bill Haley & the Comets

120
Q

The first rock ‘n’ roll record to be a Number One pop hit was a hit in the year:

A

1955

121
Q

Name three rock ‘n’ roll stars on the R&B side of rock ‘n’ roll.

A

Chuck Berry,
Little Richard
Fats Domino

122
Q

Name four rock ‘n’ roll stars on the Country side of rock ‘n’ roll.

A

Elvis Presley,
Bill Haley & the Comets,
Buddy Holly
Jerry Lee Lewis

123
Q

Elvis Presley’s biggest hit was a song called ____________

A

Don’t Be Cruel

Am Pop Music (2 decks)

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