MUSC Flashcards
What part of rock was most appealing to fans? Give some examples.
-Rebellious image of rock is appealing to fans.
ex:
- elvis dance moves
- beatles ugly hair
- challenging cultural values
- Parents hated these things, but kids loved it
What years were considered to be the “first wave” of rock?
1954-1959
What artists were central to rock movement?
(Hint: 7)
- Elvis Presley
- Beatles
- Rolling Stones
- Jimi Hendrix,
- Led Zepplin,
- The police
- U2
What was considered to be the “New wave” of rock and what happened to punks bands after it hit?
“New wave” = American punk style that was received in the spotlight after 1978
-In 1980s, some punk bands embraced commercial strategies of rock mainstream, some stayed underground as “die-hard punk”
What was considered to be the first “rock and roll” song? What year was it make?
“Rocket 88” (1951) by Jackie Brenston and His Delta cats.
What is simple verse?
Give an example of a song with simple verse.
A form that employs only verses and repeats them.
ex. Rocket 88
What is rhythm?
The way musical sounds are organized in time.
Most musical styles do not work in the constraint of small formal types. True or False?
False. Most musical styles DO work in the constraint of small formal types.
What is a beat?
A regular rhythmic pulse.
Measures contain beats, this way of organizing music is called a ________.
Measures contain beats, this way of organizing music is called a METER.
What is the difference between a simple beat and a compound beat?
Simple beat= beat is divided equally into 2 parts
compound beat= beat is divided into 3 parts
What is 12-bar blues and where is it found?
12-bar blues is a style with 12 four beat measures.
-It’s found in rhythm & blues, rock & roll, and some jazz
What is so distinctive about 12-bar blues?
- It is distinctive b/c of how measures fall into 3 groups of 4 (style of question-question-answer).
- Structures of these songs is often reused with the addition of instrumental solos or different lyrics
What is the doo-wop style?
Doo-wop is a series of chords: I-vi-IV-V
The AABA form was mostly associated with what before the birth of rock and roll?
The AABA form was mostly associated with mainstream pop before the birth of rock and roll.
What is the most common way to find AABA form? Give an example of a song with AABA form.
- Commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs
- Most common form: 32-bar pattern (4 eight bar schemes)
What is the difference between a full reprise and a partial reprise?
Full reprise: entire AABA form is repeated
Partial reprise: part of AABA form is repeated
What is contrasting verse-chorus?
Verses & choruses of a song use different music.
What are the 4 main types of song forms in rock and roll? Give a brief description of each.
- Simple verse: All verses based on the same music, no chorus.
- Simple verse-chorus: Verses and choruses based on the same music.
- Contrasting verse-chorus: Verses and choruses based on different music.
- AABA: Verses and bridge based on different music: can employ full or partial reprise.
*All forms may have bridge but AABA is more likely.
What is the rhythm section of a song meant to do?
Rhythm section is meant to establish solid foundation for singers, instrumental soloists, & other members of the group that focus on melody.
In rock music, who keeps the heart of the rhythm and what do they need to do?
Drummer is the heart of the rhythm.
-Needs to keep tempo & meter, & create the “feel” of the song.
What are different types of drums used in rock?
- Snare drum
- Bass drum
- High hat
- some have Tom-tom
*Note: should know what they look like/ how to play
How can a drumset be enhanced? Give some examples.
Drumset can be enhanced by the addition of percussion instruments.
ex. tambourine, cowbell, conga drums
What is the job of the bass player?
Bass player needs to “lock in” rhythmically with the drummer, and provide important base notes for the chord progressions
-Bass player provides a bridge between rhythm and harmonic (chord-based) music.
What kind of bass do bass players use in rock?
Early rock: acoustic upright bass
1960s+: start using electric bass guitar
What is the job of the rhythm guitar player?
Rhythm guitar player fleshes out harmonic dimensions of a song by playing full chords.
-This guitar can be acoustic or electric
In the 1950s, the acoustic rhythm guitar could replace the drum and provide the rhythmic propulsion that drives a song forward. True or False?
True.
What is the role of the singer?
Singer focuses on melodic dimensions of the music
-Singer role: create melodic interest and deliver lyrics convincingly.
How can the singer give a nice contrast to the highly structured grid of the rhythm section?
The singer can sometimes be free with the rhythmic placement of melody notes which can give a nice contrast to the highly structured grid of the rhythm section.
Backup vocals are usually coordinated with ______ to avoid conflict between parts.
Backup vocals are usually coordinated with RHYTHM SECTION to avoid conflict between parts.
What is the role of the instrumental solo?
- to create contrast in arrangements just past midpoint of a song.
- takes place of the singer by becoming the central focus.
What are the roles of horns and strings in a song?
Horns and strings are added as finishing touches to a song.
Horns–> adds “punch”
-ex. trumpet, trombone, saxophone
strings –> give “lift”
- usually at the end of a song, and are more elegant
What is “sonic signature”?
A feature that distinguishes a recording in terms of where, when, and by who they were recorded.
What are the two principles of recording?
- Audio snapshot
- try to sound as much as live performance as possible
- often used in jazz and folk music - Exploiting studio tools
- using tools and techniques that would be difficult to recreate in a live performance.
What is the main attraction of reverb and echo?
Try to get the right sound of a recording by using a mix of hard and soft surfaces to reflect/ absorb certain sounds.
-Reverb and echo often mask imperfections
What is reverb?
- Artificial creation of a room sound via an electronic device.
- used in almost all rock songs
*Often use “dry recording” then run it through the reverb device.
What is echo?
-When sound bounches off a surface back to our ears to create two sonic images of the same event (we hear the original then the reflection)
- can be created artificially
- often used on voices in rock?
What was the first studio that had their own echo chamber?
Gold Star Studio.
How is equalization used?
Equalization is used by placing subtle higher notes on top of an instrument to form the tone or timbre of the instrument.
How does equalization result in a more refined sound?
It helps highlight certain instruments & keeps instruments in a certain range to prevent covering each other up, by balancing frequencies.
What is monographic sound? Who was a successful producer in mono?
- When there is only 1 speaker for playback, no stereo imaging.
- Successful producer in mono = Phil Spector
What is stereo sound? How does it affect sounds?
- Aural illusion that we construct as a result of how we hear.
- This technique separates sounds so we can hear them in more detail.
*1960s –> stereo is most common form for albums on FM.
Mid 1970s –> complex stereo mixes were more common.
What is a mixing board used for?
-Used for recording sound and playing recording back.
Before the 1960s, popular music was only recorded using a single track. How did that change later on with better technology?
Engineers started to experiment with multi-track tapes.
Once all the tracks are recorded the engineer is ready to “mix down”. What does this mean?
“Mixing down” means they will adjust the EQ, stereo placement, and relative volume of each track to produce the final version of the song.
What kind of shows played a lot of real-time performances of rock concerts? To whom where they oriented?
Variety shows; important: Ed Sullivan Show (The Toast of the Town)
- Often marketed to adults
- 1950s–> was popular as teen-oriented dance programs
- 1970s –> disco oriented
Many rock performances have been featured in motion pictures from the beginning. How were rock fans often characterized in these movies?
-Often characterized as “hoodlums”.
What/ who pushed rock and roll into Hollywood?
- Elvis signed with RCA and filmed many musical performaces, which pushed rock and roll into Hollywood.
- Most movies were 1960s “Beach party films” with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.
- 1978: “KISS meets the phantom of the park” –> featured KISS and had really bad acting
- 1979: “Rock & roll high school” –> featured The Ramones
Music videos started in the 1960s and were more popular in America than in Europe. True or False?
False. They were more popular in Europe than in America.
Why did the Beatles originally start making music videos and what were they called at the time?
Music videos, originally called “promo videos” were used to promote their music when they stopped doing tours.
What were the events during 1920s-1940s that shaped and took a toll on American culture?
- WWI
- Market crash 1929 (“Black Tuesday”)
- WWII
When WWI ended, America felt fear and relief, what did this lead to?
This lead to recklessness–> music of the 20s was dominant and rebellious.
What is a flapper?
-Young, single woman who would sing and dance alongside male counterparts (1920s)
How did Franklin Roosevelt (1932) create jobs and contribute to the arts?
- Created jobs by improving nation’s roads, bridges, tunnels, forests, & national parks.
- Created Works Progress Administration which contributed to the arts
How did Elvis build himself up as the central figure in rock and roll (1955)?
Elvis had incident on Milton Berle’s show where he was grinding his hips during a performance. There was a lot of controversy when he later appeared on Ed Sullivan’s Sunday Show.
-This controversy built Elvis up.
Rock and Roll erupted in 1955 and 56 without a gradual build-up. True or False?
True.
When was the golden age of motion pictures?
1930s & 40s.
Hollywood created a wide variety of films played across America.
What caused the start of the national entertainment culture?
- The golden age of motion pictures
2. National radio
What was radio originally built for and how was it changed for the music world?
- Originally used for military communication across ships (end of 1800s)
- Early radios allowed people to enjoy music that would otherwise be unavailable to them for the first time ever.
What blurred regional boundaries in pop culture?
- The radio.
- Important: some styles became national, others kept regional identities because network programming decided what they played (usually music for middle class white people).
What were the two ways of getting radio into every home of America? Give some brief points about each.
- Broadcast radio via high-power transmitter
- reached listeners hundreds of miles away
- government only licenced a few stations
- ^created “X-stations” –> transmitters in Mexico near the boarder to the states so that transmissions could still reach most of America - Link local & regional stations to form a network.
- NBC used telephone lines to link up 69 stations for coast-to-coast broadcast in 1928
What was the advantage of linking local and regional stations to form a network?
- Programming ran off of central location
- It could be possible to run live programming from affiliate stations; this allowed a range of programming to chose from
Why was it unethical to play records on air before 1945?
It was thought that if you played a record, you were trying to fool people into believing it was a live performance.
Network programming offered listeners a variety of entertainment to listen to, not just music. True or False?
True.
What were some popular programs on the radio throughout the 1930s and 40s?
“The Guiding Light”, “The Lone Ranger”, “Superman” kept audiences entertained.
“Amos ‘n’ Andy” (premiered in 1929) was the greatest success of the era.
-Had racial stereotypes that would not be acceptable today.
What was the biggest advantage of the radio for artists?
It allowed songs to get popular very quickly.
In the 1940s, audience moved from radio –> television. Who was David Sarnoff and how did he have a role in this transition?
David Sarnoff was a key player in the development of radio; he led Radio Corporation of America (RCA).
In the 1940s, he redirected his sources to television.
When did recording stapes start being used and what kind of tapes were they?
Recording tapes started being used in 1940s.
-Mostly magnetic-tapes (cassettes & reel-to-reel formats)
*This technology was first used in WWII by German soldiers for military communications.
Most radio programs preceding 1945 are lost forever unless they’re preserved on 16-inch discs. True or False?
True.
What was the main way to sell music in the early 20th century? Who was the main business selling this music?
- Sheet music was the primary way to sell music.
- “Tin Pan Alley” was the sheet music business in a concentrated area of NYC.
Give a brief description of Tin Pan Alley songs.
Tin Pan Alley songs follow a standard, very flexible, formal pattern. (Sectional verse-chorus format)
- sectional chorus (AABA form) is recognized by listeners
- The sectional verse is introduction that sets scene for the song
What were the basic unit of trade for rock vs. Tin Pan Alley?
Rock = recorded performances
Tin Pan Alley = actual song (sheet music)
- if the song was played by multiple artists, songwriter and publisher got a lot of money
