Popular Music Styles Flashcards
What is Blues?
The blues is a style of music created by African Americans at the end of the 19th Century. It developed out of folk music, spiritual songs and work songs.
What is significant about Blues?
Blues in simple time with four beats in the bar and mostly follows a 12 bar blues chord structure. 8 and 16 bar blues can also sometimes be found. Blues verses have a three line structure - AAB - where the first line is repeated. Originally this allowed time for the singer to make up the last line.
How is Blues Performed?
The blues would have been originally performed by a solo singer accompanied by guitar or banjo. The lyrics of a blues song would be full of emotion and would tell the story of life and longing for better days.
What is Ragtime?
Ragtime developed as a popular musical style at the end of the 19th Century. It has its origins in the saloon bars and dance halls of African-American communities.
How is Ragtime Played?
It was originally played on solo piano. The left hand played a very steady rhythm - a vamp style accompaniment which is on the beat. The right hand played a syncopated melody - originally known as a ‘ragged’ rhythm.
When did Jazz emerge?
Jazz emerged as a new style of music in the early twentieth century in the African American communities of New Orleans. Jazz has its origins in blues and ragtime.
What is significant about Jazz?
Jazz features lots of improvisation, which requires musicians to:
-creatively explore and -experiment with sound
express themselves
-listening carefully to themselves and the people they make music with
-respond to the improvisation of people they are playing with
-syncopation is a common feature in the rhythm. This is where emphasis is put on rhythms that are off the beat.
What are some differnet styles of jazz?
-trad, New Orleans or Dixieland jazz - style originating from music played in New Orleans in the early 20th Century
-bebop - style from the 1940s featuring fast tempo, complex harmonies and lots of improvisation
-cool jazz - a more laid back style from the late 1940s
-Latin jazz - jazz featuring rhythms from Latin American music
-jazz fusion - style from the late 1960s that mixes jazz with blues, funk, rock and other styles
What are instruments in Jazz?
-trumpet or cornet
-trombone
-clarinet
-banjo
-double bass or tuba
-drum kit
What are Blues Notes?
Notes used in jazz music may be flattened by a semitone. These are normally the third, fifth or seventh notes of the scale.
Musicians playing jazz sometimes use pentatonic scales and blues scales to play improvisations.
(C, E flat, F, G flat, G, Bflat)
When did swing originate?
In 1930s and 1940s America, some jazz bands grew into much larger groups of musicians. These became known as ‘swing bands’ or ‘big bands’.
What Instruments are in Swing?
-two alto saxophones, two tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone (sometimes clarinets)
-three or four trumpets
-three or four trombones (including bass trombone)
-rhythm section – piano, double bass, guitar, drums
What is gospel music?
Gospel music is performed by choirs made up of
soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices. Often the music is a cappella. Sometimes choirs will clap to provide a rhythmic accompaniment to their singing. They are often religious.
What is significant about gospel music?
The solo singer, or lead vocalist, may improvise around the melody while the rest of the choir sing backing vocals in
harmony in a homophonic style. A common structure used in gospel music is question and answer, or call and response, sections.
When did Rock ‘n’ roll originate?
Rock ‘n’ roll is a style of popular music that emerged from America in the 1950s. It has its roots in various African-American styles of music, such as blues, jazz and gospel, and in country music. It was played by both African American and white musicians.
