Music 162 Midterm #1
drag
a sweeping gesture that tango musicians use to give the rhythm and the dancers a little push from time to time--add to the emotional intensity of music
Majors
a) Large record companies b) Lots of capital and power c) Tend to be more conservative
Indies
a) Small, independent labels operating in marginal markets b) Have to be more daring, searching out new talent, creating specialized niches c) Mostly the small labels popularized blues, country music, rhythm & blues, rock 'n' roll, funk, soul music, reggae, punk, rock, rap, grunge, worldbeat, and other "alternative" styles d) Some indies have grown large and powerful (e.g., Atlantic Records)
phonograph
an early sound-reproducing machine that used cylinders to record as well as reproduce sound invented by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877
Jean Ritchie
b. 1922 Folk singer and song collector who grew up in an isolated, mountainous region of Kentucky and became an inspiration for the first generation of urban folk musicians playing in the nightclubs and coffee houses of Greenwich Villages Sang and recorded Barbara Allen in 1960 Preformed Barbara Allen in the style she learned growing up in an isolated, mountainous region of Kentucky
rhythms
regular repeated patterns of sound
riff
simple repeated melodic idea or pattern that generate rhythmic momentum
Form
structure of a piece of music that can tell us how melodies, rhythm, chords and lyrics are arranged within a piece (allows us to group similar pieces together)
James A. Bland
(1854-1911) Successful black songwriter and one of the best-known and most successful composers of plantation songs. Bland wrote some seven hundred songs, including "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" (1878) and "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" (1879). -One of the best-known and most successful composers of plantation songs; the first successful black songwriter -Became popular in Europe -Ex minstrel show performer -Wrote some 700 songs -Determined to achieve the same level of economic success as his white composers
John Philip Sousa
(1854-1932) The most popular bandleader from the 1890s through World War I -Also known as "March King" -Made After the Ball even more popular
Paul Dresser
(1857-1906) One of the most popular composers of the early Tin Pan Alley period who wrote a series of sentimental and nostalgic songs, including "The Letter That Never Came" (1885) and "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" (1899).
Charles K. Harris
(1867-1930) -Music and lyrics of "After the Ball" published in 1892 which was the first mega hit pop song -Was the composer -Self taught banjo player from Wisconsin who could not literally write music' instead he dictated his songs to a professional musician
Harry Von Tilzer
(1872-1946) A successful turn-of-the-century songwriter sometimes referred to as the "Daddy of Popular Song." His big hits included "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" (1900) and "I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)" (1911). -Was a calculating composer: one of his hints for aspiring songwriters was to keep their tunes to a limited range so that even a baby could hum them
Mamie Smith
(1883-1946) Black vaudeville performer who helped pioneer the race music market in the 1920s and recorded the influential song "Crazy Blues."
Vernon Dalhart
(1883-1948) Texas-born former light-opera singer who recorded the first big country music hit. First big hillbilly hit
Gertrude "Ma" Rainey
(1886-1939) Popularly known as the "Mother of the Blues," she recorded somewhat "rougher" versions of the classic blues and developed her singing style in the rough-and-tumble black vaudeville and tent shows.
Irving Berlin
(1888-1989) Generally recognized as the most productive, varied, and creative of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters. -First success writing ragtime-influenced popular songs -Lyrics and music of "How Deep is the Ocean"
Cole Porter
(1891-1964) An influential Tin Pan Alley composer born into a wealthy family in Indiana who studied classical music at elite institutions such as Yale, Harvard, and the Scola Cantorum in Paris.
Justo "Don" Azipizu
(1892-1943) Leader of the Havana Casino Orchestra who gave American audiences their first taste of authentic Cuban music
Ralph Peer
(1892-1960) a Missouri-born talent scout for Okeh Records who first applied the promotional catchphrase "race music" and helped record the first commercially successful hillbilly record by Fiddlin' John Carson. Assistnat in Mamie Smith's first recording sessions Positively promoted African American music Okeh record company
Bessie Smith
(1894-1937) Classic blues singer known as the "Empress of the Blues" who developed her singing style in rough-and-tumble black vaudeville and tent shows and famously recorded W. C. Handy's composition "St. Louis Blues" in 1925. Majestic voice
Alberta Hunter
(1895-1984) Nightclub singer known for recording the classic blues, billed as the "Marian Anderson of the Blues."
Blind Lemon Jefferson
(1897-1929) The first recording star of the country blues whose music reflects a distinctive East Texas style. "That Black Snake Moan" 1926
Jimmie Rogers
(1897-1933) Early country music's biggest recording star who celebrated the allure of the open road, chronicled the lives of men who forsook the benefits of a settled existence, and influenced almost every contemporary male country music star Discovered by Ralph Peer "Blue Yodel No. 2" First inductee into country music hall of fame known for blue model and railroad image
Fletcher Henderson
(1897-1952) Was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. Fletcher is ranked along with Duke Ellington as one of the most influential arrangers and band leaders in jazz history, and helped bridge the gap between the dixieland and swing era.
Bing Crosby
(1903-1977) A popular crooner known for a silky, gentle, nuanced voice that suggests intimacy. -Performed "How deep is the ocean" in 1932
Robert Johnson
(1911-1938) Country blues musician with the greatest influence on later generations of blues and rock musicians who claimed he sold his soul to the devil at a country crossroads. "Cross Road Blues"
"Woody" Guthrie
(1912-1967) Oklahoma-born singer and songwriter who composed songs that were more overtly political, including "This Land Is Your Land," "Talking Dust Bowl Blues," and "Ludlow Massacre." Started his career as a hillbilly singer During the Great depression
Charlie Patton
(ca. 1881-1934) One of the earliest known pioneers of the Mississippi Delta blues style known for his powerful rasping voice, strong danceable rhythms, and broad range of styles. More country blues Mississippi delt pionner Would warp body around guitar and throw it in the air
Ragtime
-1880s and peaked in popularity around 1900 -fusion of marching band music and african inspired melodic and rhythmic accents called syncopation -intensified beat with lots of rhythmic momentum -Scott Joplin was a famous composer and performer of ragtime music
Vernon and Irene Castle
-1910 superstars that brought ballroom dance styles to millions of Americans -Elegant and simple arrangements -There musical director was James Reese Europe who helped popularize american jazz in Europe
Electrical recording
-1925 -Sound vibrations are converted into an electrical signal before recording. -The electrical signal is converted back into sound for playback
12-bar blues form
-A bar describes one measure which is a rhythmic unit in music -IN the blues, one bar as four beats -Four beat bars that last over 12 measures (or bars) -AAB (blues text form) -Specific chord progression
AABA Form
-A is the main melody which is repeated with new lyrics -Followed by B section (or bridge) which provides a new melody, new chord changes and new lyrics -Concludes with another repetition of A (sometimes with new lyrics but melody is the same) -This is how refrain songs from Tin Pan Alley vs. refrain form songs are structured
Ballads Genre
-Aka British ballad tradition -Brought to America by immigrants of the British Isle -Simple and memorable melodies -lyrics with romantic themes -Vocal quality is described as a high lonesome sounds
ASCAP
-American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is a licensing and copying agency set up to control the flow of profit from the sell and podcast of popular music -Insured that original performers/composers/lyricists would receive profit from the use of their music
acoustic recording
-An early process in which sound vibrations were transferred directly into the recording medium (cylinder or disc) by means of a large horn or cone -Replaced by electric recording in 1925
Appalachia
-Associated with British Ballad -Folk/hillbilly/country styles -Rural working class white Americans
European American Stream
-Ballad tradition -Tin Pan Alley -"Hillbilly" music
Sheet music
-Began circulating widely in the late eighteen hundreds -Effective way to distribute music to a larger audience before recording technology -Tin Pan Alley songs -Song pluggers: employed to help sell sheet music (would promote by singing) -Steven Foster's music was passed on by the sheet music industry
Recording Industry
-Began with the production of the phonograph -Dominated by two companies in 1990; Columbia Records and Victor Talking Machine company -Produced and sold music recordings
"Freak dances"
-Beginning of the 20th century so the rise of the intensified include of African American dance, which had begun, quite indirectly with the cakewalk dance of the nineteenth century minstrelsy -Starting around 1910, the craze for orchestrated versions of ragtime songs gave rise to a succession of fads loosely based on black styles including the Texas Tommy, turkey trot, bunny huge, grizzly bear, the Boston Dip, One step and the Fox trot
1880-1900s
-Birth of Tin Pan Alley -Vaudeville -Brass bands -John Philip Sousa ("march king") -Ragtime -Scott Joplin ("Maple Leaf Rag")
African American Stream
-Blues -Ragtime -Jazz -"Race" music
New York City
-Center of popular music -Music printing, publishing and production -Tin Pan Alley in lower Manhattan is a greater example -Jazz and latin dance styles were disseminated largely through music production and publishing industries in NYC
Call-and-Response form
-Characterized by a call (usually sounded by one performer) that is then followed by a response (usually by a larger group of performers)
1930s
-Continued influence of Tin Pan Alley -Latin dance styles (Don Aspiazu, and his havana Orchestra ("El manicure") -Music during the great depression (woody guthrie)
New Orleans
-Credited as birthplace of jazz -Conduit of popular latin styles were introduced into the US
National Radio Broadcasts
-Featured a range of popular performers and often featured on seen live musical performances
Classic Blues
-Female singers backed by a larger ensemble -Songs were often written by professional songwriter -more complex forms and arrangements than country blues -Drawn from 12 bar blues and Tin Pan alley forms and styles -Capitalized on singers sex appeal -early crossover hits meaning Americans of various ethnic backgrounds listen to classic blues despite its label as a black genre -Gertrude "MA" rainy, Bessy smith
1920s
-First commercial radio stations -Electirc microphone introduced -Crooning -Sound films (The Jazz Singer) -The jazz age (Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington) -Race records -classical blues (W.c. Handy composer of St luis blues and Bessie Smith, ma rainey (performer) -Country blues (bid lemon jefferson, robert Johnson, Charley Patton -Hillbilly records (Jimmy rodgers and blue yodel #2/Carter family, Maybelle, AP and Sara Carter (Gospel Ship)
Montuno Form
-Formal structure that features improvised singing or instrumental soloing (the pregon) opposite of fixed refrain (the coro) -Common component of AfroCuban Rumba
Freak dance
-Freaky alternative to the refined strict european american dances of the 1800s -Beginning 1900s such as dance music such as ragtime became of high demand, lovely based on African american styles rose and fell in popularity in 1900s and 1910s -Turkey trot, one-step, Boston dip, Fox trot
Country Blues
-Generally a solo male singer -itinerate (traveling) performer from the Mississippi Delta -Performer typically accompanies himself on guitar -Flexibility within the 12 bar blues form -AAB text lyrics -Robert Johnson, Blind Lennon Jefferson, charlie patton
The electric microphone
-Introduced in 1925 -Allowed for crooning
Phonograph
-Invented in 1877 -an early sound-reproducing machine that used cylinders to record as well as reproduce sound -Was soon adopted by the music recording industry
1910s
-Jazz -ODJB -Creole Jazz Band (king oliver) -Continued region of Tin Pan Alley -Irving belling -George Gershwin -Dance Halls -"Freak dances" -The castles and James Europe -ESCAP founded
1820-1840
-Minstrel show -Thomas Dartmouth Rice "Jim crow"
Tin Pan Alley
-Music publishing firms situated in lower manhattan -many founded by jewish immigrants -avoided topics such as racial unrest and hard economic times -more optimistic themes such as love/nature imagery -Popular composers: George Urhswin, Urving Berlin and Cole Porter -Popular performers: Bin crosby, jean austin, Al jolsen
Gene Austin
-One of the first crooners, singers who mastered the electric microphone -Popular performer of the last 1920a -Recordings for Victor sold 86 million copies -"My Blue Heaven"
Jazz
-Originated in New Orleans among African Americans and creole musicians that had been exposed to a wide variety of styles (such as ballroom styles, blues/ragtime, latin and dance popular music of Caribbean, Tin Pan Alley) -Jazz Dance band (Creole Jazz band led by African American king John Oliver (louis armstrong) -Spread nationwide (including to NYC where the white orchestra became the most popular jazz band of 1920s)
Brass bands
-Popular in the late 18 hundreds -Made up of brass instruments such as trumpet, trombones and tubas -Derived from the military band traditions of the civil war and before -Common community organization of churches and schools -John Susa (March King) was the most famous American Bandleader of this time period
Vaudeville
-Popular theatrical form decanted form the minstrelsy show that consisted of a serious of performances by a variety of performers (singers, acrobats, dancers, comedians) -Important medium for popularizing Tin Pan Alley songs -Singer and actor Al Jolson got his start here
Minstrelsy
-Refers to the music of the minstrel show which was a form of musical and theatrical entertainment that was among the first distinctly American genre of popular music -Featured white performers who darkened their skin with cork and would perform parodies of african american music, dance, dress and dialect -Zipcoon and Mani -Thomas Dartmouth Rice is a famous performer known for Jim Crow
Latin American Stream
-Rumba -Latin dance music
Mississippi Delta
-Rural region, working class Americans -Credited as the birthplace of popular African American styles such as the country blues
James Reese Eruope
-Society Orchestra -Hell Fighters band (military) -Accompanied Vernon and Irene Castle
Strophic form
-Songs that employ the same music for each poetic unit in the lyrics -Common form for British ballads
Commercial radio
-Start in the 1920s -Became a vehicle for the mass dissemination of popular music -Cheaper investment than photograph
1850-1870
-Stephen Foster -Jeanie with the Light brown hair -invention of phonograph
Rumba
-Style of music and dance form Cuba that originated among afro cubans -whiten formed became popular in 1930s as a dance music -Clave pattern that provides the rhythmic foundation of a song
Publishing houses
-Such as those in New York's Tin Pan Alley -Where music was popularized through the composition, performance, production, marketing and mass dissemination of songs
Film with sound
-The Jazz Singing (featured Al Jolson) -Aspects of minstrelsy
Scott Joplin
-The best known composer of ragtime music was an African American composer and pianist named Scott Joplin, born in Texas in 1868 -While in Chicago he widened his knowledge of ragtime style and started a brass band -First successful piece was "Maple Leaf Rag" (1989) -Typical of classic ragtime AABBACCDD
Verse-Refrain form
-The introductory material is presented as the verse, followed by a series of refrains with AABA form -Common among songs presented among Tin Pan Alley
George and Ira Gershwin
-The most widely known of American composers who sought and achieved success in the world of concert music as well as popular music. Did the most to bridge the gap between art and popular music -Lyricist and collaborator with his brother, George Gershwin, who helped create some of the most memorable American popular songs. -"I Got Rhythm" illustrates the impact of African American musical styles on Tin Pan Alley composition -George had an intense interest in jazz -Swanne establishedGershwin as a newly marketable composer
stoptime
-The use of musical tricks in which the band stops abruptly for a few beats and one instrument plays a brief solo -Common in the piece "Tiger Rag"
Tin Pan Alley Verse and Refrain Form
-Verse -Refrain (AABA)
"Race" music (country blues and classic blues)
-music of african americans -introduced in early 1920s -changed to R&B later
"Hillbilly" music (early country music)
-rural white americans -Appalachian region -Developed of folk and ballads of British isles -began in 1920s (country/western music now -Jimmy Rodgers known for yodeling -Carter family trio of musicians from foothills of Vrignia known for adaption of old songs from anglo american folk tradition
Pleasure Gardens
1. A forerunner of today's theme parks 2. The most important source of public entertainment in England between 1650 and 1850 3. One of the main venues for the dissemination of printed songs by professional composers
Ballad
1. A type of song in which a series of verses telling a story are sung to a repeating melody 2. Often about a historical event or personal tragedy 3. Strophic musical form 4. Originally, these ballads were passed down through an oral tradition, but they were eventually written down and circulated on large sheets of paper called broadsides.
mariachi
A Mexican style of music played by ensembles of violins, guitars and two or more trumpets
hook
A catchy or otherwise memorable musical phrase or pattern
old-time music
A category of music comprising string band music, ballad songs, sacred songs, church hymns, and a variety of functionally specialized music genres such as lullabies and work songs
call-and-response
A characteristic feature of much African American music, in which musical forces alternate with one another, usually in quick succession; these forces may be a solo singer with a cross or backing group, sung lines with guitar or band passages, an instrumental solo with a larger instrumental group, or other groupings.
microphone
A device invented in 1925 that facilitated electric recording, which replaced the older system of acoustic recording.
radio
A device that received electromagnetic waves that began to create a unified national popular culture in the 1920s.
up-tempo
A fast tempo. Tempo means time. The rate at which a musical composition proceeds, regulated by the speed of the beat or pulse to which it is performed
12 bar blues form
A formal concept important in the history of American popular music and a particular arrangement of four-beat bars associated with characteristic chord changes.
gospel music
A large body of sacred song with texts that reflect aspects of the personal religious experience of Protestant evangelical groups
DJs (disc jockeys)
A or persons who play records publicly or use prerecorded music and samples to make techno, rap, and other forms of music
bridge
A passage consisting of new, contrasting material that serves as a link between repeated sections of melodic material. Sometimes called a release (B section in AABA refrain) A musical section presenting new material including a new melody, chord changes, and lyrics.
producer
A person engaged either by a recording artist or, more often, a record company, who directs and assists the recording process
arranger
A person who adapts (or arranges) the melody and chords of a song to exploit the capabilities and instrumental resources of a particular musical ensemble
lyricist
A person who supplies a poetic text (lyrics) to a piece of vocal music; not necessarily the composer
R&B (rhythm & blues)
A popular musical genre of African American origin emerging in the 1940s
standards
A popular song of the 1910s to the 1940s act has been recorded many times to the point where it has reached iconic status Songs that have remained in active circulation for more than scan decades. Examples: "My Blue Heaven", "April Showers", and "How Deep is the Ocean" (Tin Pan Alley ballads)
chorus
A repeating section within a song consisting of a fixed melody and lyric that is repeated exactly each time that it occurs, typically following one or more verses
bar/measure
A rhythmic unit of music, consisting of one accented beat follow by one or more unaccented beats.
riff
A simple, repeating melodic idea or pattern that generates rhythmic momentum; typically played by the horns or the piano in a jazz ensemble or by an electric guitar in a rock 'n' roll context
strophic form
A song form that employs the same music for each poetic unit in the lyrics
formal analysis
A system of musical interpretation informed by the Western academic tradition and usually applied to written music
son pregon
A vocal improvisation modeled on the calls of street vendors in Havana and a variant of the Cuban son.
Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice
A white actor born into a poor family in New York's Seventh Ward who demonstrated the potential popularity (and profitability) of minstrelsy with the song "Jim Crow" (1829), which became the first international American song hit -Rice sang this song in blackface while imitating a dance called the "cakewalk" and Africanized version of the European quadrille (kind of like square dancing)
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
A white group from New Orleans that is known for the first recording to bear the designation "jass"(NY 1917). Quickly landed a recording contract with Victor Records. The ODJB's biggest hit was their 1918 recording of Tiger Rag.
crooners/crooning
An intimate, gentle style of singing facilitated by the introduction of the microphone and modern recording techniques. Bing Crosby was among the first crooners
"Soldier's Joy"
An old-time fiddle tune originating in Europe and influential in the United States
Vernon and Irene Castle
Arguably the biggest media superstars of the years around World War I. They attracted millions of of middle-class Americans into ballroom classes; expanding the stylistic range of the popular dance. They democratized ballroom dance
Al Jolson
Billed himself as "The World's Greatest Entertainer." He was the most popular performer of his generation, and his career overlapped the era of vaudeville stage performance and the rise of new media in the 1920s -Jewish immigrant -"April Showers" -Made his reputation as a stage entertainer in the period before electronic amplification was possible -Almost wanted to distance himself from the crooning sale being cultivated by the younger generation
Louis Armstrong
Brilliant cornetist and singer affectionately known as "Satchelmouth" or "Satchmo" who built a six-decade musical career that challenged the distinction that is sometimes drawn between the artistic and commercial sides of jazz music. -Profoundly influenced the development of mainstream popular singing during the 1920s and 1930s -Played second cornet with King Joe Oliver
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington
Composer and pianist widely regarded as one of the most important American musicians of the twentieth century Performed East St. Louis Toodle OO
King Joe Oliver
Cornetist and mentor to Louis Armstrong who lead King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band and made some of the first recording by black musicians from New Orleans. Dipper mouth blues
Conjunto
Cuban groups that played the son, a late nineteenth-century rural song tradition that migrated to the city.
sharecroppers
Exploited farmers working on land they do not own who were required to buy farming supplies, food, and clothing on credit from a local merchant or plantation store and sell crops back to the merchant to retire debt
Critical Listening
Form -->Strophic, call and response, AAB test, 12 bar blues Instrumentation --?Voice, guitar, banjo, piano, wind instruments, latin percussion -->Large or small ensemble Lyrics -->Themes -->Language Technology -->Electric microphone
sheet music
From the nineteenth century until the 1920s, what was the principal means of disseminating popular songs to a mass audience
James Reese Europe
Gained a reputation as an accomplished pianist and conductor, playing ragtime piano in cabarets and acting as musical director. Between 1913 and 1918 this young african american musician composed music for all the Castles' new dance steps and provided musicians for their live engagements. -Castle House Rag -Europe's company--popularly known as "Hell Fighters"
tune families
Group of melodies interrelated by melodic correspondence, particularly in general melodic contour, important intervals, and prominent accented tones.
arrangment
In music, an arrangement is a musical reconceptualization of a previously composed work. It may differ from the original work by means of reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or development of the formal structure.
dynamics
In music, dynamics means how loud or quiet the music is
backbeat
In rock music, the accenting of the 2nd and 4th beat of a four-beat bar
James "Bubber" Miley
Influential trumpeter who created his signature sound by combining two types of mutes and creating a deep growl in his throat.
Noble Sissle
Instrumentalist and composer who began his career with James Reese Europe's orchestra in 1916 and, along with Eubie Blake, launched the first successful all-black Broadway musical, Shuffle Along.
Hillbilly music
Later rechristened "country and western music" developed mainly out of the folk songs, ballads, and dance music of immigrants from the British Isles. A term used from the 1910s to the 1930s for traditional Anglo American folk music and dance music styles, and for other music of white rural southerners, stemming from these courses. Ex: Carter family, Jimmie Rodgers
Paul Whiteman
Leader of the Ambassador Orchestra, by far the most successful dance band of the 1920s. His assumption of the title "King of Jazz" was part of an attempt to promote a watered-down, "safe" version of jazz to the public but he also made some important contributions to jazz music and defended jazz against its moral critics.
Foster Carlos Gardel
Legendary French-born superstar of tango -"La Cumparsita" recorded in 1928 is the best known composition from the tango tradition -Died in a plane crash at the age of 44 and is still celebrated as a national hero in Argentina
tempo
Literally, "time" (from Italian). The rate at which a musical composition proceeds, regulated by the speed of the beat or pulse to which is is performed
dance music
Music designed to accompany or inspire dancing
major key
One of several musical modes featuring a major third.
Carter Family
One of the most important groups in the history of country music whose repertoire included adaptations of old songs from the Anglo-American folk music tradition, old hymns, and sentimental songs reminiscent of turn-of-the-century Tin Pan Alley hits. Discovered by Ralph Peer Conservative representation in songs Made over 300 recordings Doc was the leader/arranged songs
"Barbra Allen"
Performed by Jean Ritchie Recorded in 1960 British ballad tradition The song was originally in wide circulation in the English Colonies of north america by the eighteenth century Story: A young man is dying of unrequited love for Barbra Allen. When she is called to his bedside all she can say is that he is dying. When he perishes of heartache, Barbra is stricken with guilt and dies soon after Sung a capella Typical of Appalachian hill country singing (melodic ornamentations)
strophes
Poetic stanzas; often, a pair of stanzas of alternating for that constitute the structure of a poem
disk jockeys
Radio announcers who played records and provided entertaining patter, sometimes actually impersonating absent bandleaders--into important position. Helped demonstrate the commercial potential of radio by promoting the products of their shows sponsors over air
Edward Blake (Eubie Blake)
Ragtime pianist and composer who began his career with James Reese Europe's orchestra in 1916 and, along with Noble Sissle, launched the first successful all-black Broadway musical, Shuffle Along.
verse
Refers to a group of lines of poetic text, often rhyming, that usually exhibits regularly recurring metrical patterns. The verse usually sets up a dramatic context or emotional tone. Although versus were most important part of the 19th century popular songs, they were regarded as near intros by the 1920s and today verses of Tin Pan Alley songs are infrequently performed
"Center"
Refers to several geographically distinct centers (New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville) where power, capital, and control over mass media are concentrated.
"Periphery"
Refers to smaller institutions and to people historically excluded from the political and economic mainstream
tonic
Refers to the central or "home" pitch, or chord, of a music piece--or sometimes of just a section of a piece
syncopation
Rhythmic patterns in which the stresses occur on what ordinary weak beats, thus displacing or suspending the sense of metric regularity -Become an important part of ragtime music
release
Same as bridge for Tin Pan Alley songs
From the nineteenth century until the 1920s, what was the principal means of disseminating popular songs to a mass audience
Sheet music
crooning
Soft, intimate style of singing that was mastered by Bing Crosby and Gene Austin
Skillet Lickers
Soldiers Joy performed by Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers; released 1929 One of the very first Southern strings bands to appear on commercial recordings Led by James Gideon Tanner Columbia Records' first "hillbilly" act Members had grown up steeped in the old southern ballad and string band traditions Gained experience through dances, house parties and fiddling acts Distinguished by a high level of technical skill; a rough, hard driving, dance-oriented sound and the raucous comedy skits (stereotypes of "country bumpkin" and hayseed)
groove
Term originally employed by jazz, rhythm and blues, and funk musicians to describe the handled flow of swinging, "funky" or "phat" rhythms
timbre/tone quality
The "tone color" or characteristic sound of an instrument or voice, determined by its frequency and overtone components. Timbre is the aspect of sound that allows us, for example, to differentiate between the sound of a violin and the sound of a flute when both instruments are playing the same pitch
composer
The author of a piece of music
A&R (artists and repertoire)
The department of a record company whose responsibility it is to discover and cultivate new musical talent, and to find material for artists to preform--naturally with an eye toward commercial potential
dialect
The distinctive aspect of language unique to a geographic region, social group or ethnicity
slap-back
The distinctive echo of Elvis Presley's early recordings on Sun Records
George Washington Dixon
The first white performer to establish a wide reputation as a "blackface" entertainer.
Nick LaRocca
The leader of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. A cornet player who started playing "hot music" with other white musicians as a teenager. Composed Tiger Rag
W.C. Handy
The most influential composer of classic blues. Channeled his music talents playing the cornet as a child. Co founded the first african American owned music publishing house. Handy's blues actually owned much to Tin Pan Alley song forms but also drew substantially on African American folk traditions. Biggest hit was St. Louis Blues (1914). "Father of the Blues"
rhythm
The musical organization of time
form
The musical structure of a piece of music
refrain
The part that is usually considered "the song" today. It is usually made up of four sections of equal length, in the pattern AABA. The A section represents the main melody, the basic pattern of the lyrics, and a set of chord changes to support them. Sometimes ABAC format
cantillation
The ritual chanting of readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services
polyrhythm
The simultaneous sounding of rhythms in two or more contrasting meters, such as three against two, or five against four. Found in abundance in African and Asian musics and their derivatives
sampling
The technique of using digitally encoded sounds (often from a popular song) to create new musical material (often a new popular song)
AABA form
The thirty-two-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the twentieth century. -A sections begin identically, although their endings vary slightly -The B section introduces a new melody and chords and acts as a musical "bridge" that leads us to the final A section -Became one of the most popular song forms of the early 20th century
timbre
Tone color, allows us to tell the difference between two instruments when they play the same pitch
folk music
Traditional music originating in popular culture usually transmitted orally, often related to aspects of social or national identity and frequently unknown authorship
True or False: Every aspect of popular music that is today regarded as American in character has sprung from imported traditions
True
True or False: The "Center-Periphery" relationship has profoundly shaped the development of popular music in America
True
True or False: The stylistic mainstream of American popular music was, until at least the mid-1950s, largely oriented toward the tastes of white, middle- or upper-class, Protestant, urban people.
True
True or False: Jazz developed in New Orleans
True however the first recordings of the new music were made in NY and Chicago
melody
Usually the main tune of a piece of music (part you sing along to)
Ginger Rogers
Was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She was known for dance films in which she was partnered with Fred Astaire and she appeared in films and on stage, as well as on radio and television throughout much of the 20th century. -Rogers' entertainment career was born one night when the traveling vaudeville act of Eddie Foy came to Fort Worth and needed a quick stand-in.
Fred Astaire
Was an American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer, musician, and television presenter. -Greatest male star of Old Hollywood -As a dancer, he is best remembered for his sense of rhythm, his legendary perfectionism, and as the dancing partner and on-screen romantic interest of Ginger Rogers, with whom he co-starred in a series of ten Hollywood musicals which transformed the genre.
lyrics
Words of a song
Elizabeth Marbury
Wrote the laudatory intro to the Castles' popular dance instruction manual; Modern dancing; introduced them to the upper echelons of NY society; franchised their name and photographic image; made sure they took advantage of mass media such as newspapers and silent film
hook
"catchy" or memorable musical phrase or pattern (gets stuck in your head)
Stephen Collins Foster
(1826-1864) Composed around two hundred songs during the 1840s, 1850s, and early 1860s and is regarded as the first important composer of American popular song. -"Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair"
blue notes
"Bent" or "flattened" tones lying outside traditional European-based scale structures that reflect particular African American melodic characteristics.
European folk music
1. Immigration brought a wide variety of European folk music to America. 2. From early on, the mainstream of English-dominated popular song and dance music was surrounded by a myriad of folk and popular styles brought by immigrants from other parts of Europe. 3. The descendants of early French settlers in North America and the Caribbean maintained their own musical traditions. 4. Millions of Irish and German immigrants came to the United States during the nineteenth century seeking an escape from oppression, economic uncertainty, and—particularly during the potato famine of the 1840s—the threat of starvation. 5. Between 1880 and 1910, an additional seventeen million immigrants entered the United States, mostly from eastern and southern Europe. 6. Immigration contributed to the diversity of musical life in the United States. 7. European-derived musical styles have each contributed to mainstream popular music while maintaining a solid base in particular ethnic communities a) Cajun (Acadian) fiddling b) Jewish klezmer music c) The Polish polka—an energetic dance, quite different from the "refined" style of polka discussed above
The English Folk Ballad tradition
1. Popular in America 2. Songs were reworked to suit the life circumstances of new immigrants. 3. In the early twentieth century, folklorists interested in continuities with English traditions were able to record dozens of versions of old English ballads in the United States.
Technology has shaped popular music and has helped disseminate it
1. Printed sheet music in the 19th century 2. The rise of the phonograph 3. Network radio 4. Sound films in the 1920s 5. Digital recording 6. Computerized sampling 7. Internet based radio
European religious music
1. The Europeans who came to America also brought many styles and traditions of religious music to our shores. a) Echoes of synagogue cantorial in Tin Pan Alley songs b) Christmas music
Dance Music
1. Until the late nineteenth century, European American dance was closely modeled on styles imported from England and the Continent. 2. Country dances were popular. 3. The nineteenth century also saw a move toward couple dances, including the waltz, the galop, the schottische, and the ballroom polka, the last based on a Bohemian dance that had already become the rage in the ballrooms of Paris and London before coming to America. 4. Later, in the 1880s, a fast dance called the one-step, based in part on marching band music, became popular. 5. These couple dances are direct predecessors of the African American- influenced popular dance styles of the early twentieth century, including the two-step, fox trot, bunny hug, and Charleston.
James Gideon Tanner
1885-1960 Chicken farmer and fiddler from Norther Georgia who founded Skillet Lickers beginning in 1926
Jose ("El Negro") Ricardo
1888-1937 Guitarist who worked with Carlos Gardel and demonstrated the importance of Afro-Argentine musicians in the tango tradition -His performance with Gardel both demonstrates the importance of Afro-Argentine musicians in the tango tradition and the role of the guitar as the original form of instrumental accompaniment for tango songs
Francisco Canaro
1888-1964 Violinist, leader and composer -Instrumental version of La Cumparisita by the Quinteto Pirincho, led by the Uruguay violinist and bandleader,is a good example of the other major context for tango performance, the traditional dance band -Promoted much of the tango style through his performances in nightclubs of paris -Learned the tango in Buenos Aires and became a successful performer, composter and bandleader who did much to promote the style through his performance in Paris nightclubs
Mississippi John Hurt
1892-1937 African American guitarist representative of the songster tradition -Taught himself how to play the guitar at around age nine -Raised in Mississippi -Stagolee
Dink Robert
1894-1984 Banjoist and songster (tradition of African American secular music-making that predates the emergence of the blues) known for his repertoire of songs and playing techniques learned from older players and crossing the official color line intended to separate blacks and whites in rural North Carolina -Coo Coo -African American
Tommy Jarrell
1901-1985 An influential old-time fiddler and band player from Mt. Airy, in the mountains of North Carolina Soldiers Joy (1980s), fiddle solo
African American Stream
A. African American culture B. The genesis of African American music involved two closely related processes. B. The genesis of African American music involved two closely related processes. 1. Syncretism, the selective blending of traditions derived from Africa and Europe 2. The creation of institutions that became important centers of black musical life (e.g., families, churches, voluntary associations, schools) C. Certain features of African music form the core of African American music and, by extension, of American popular music as a whole. 1. Call-and-response forms, in which a lead singer and chorus alternate, the leader allowed more freedom to elaborate his part 2. Repetition a) Regarded as an aesthetic strength b) Many forms are constructed of relatively short phrases—often two to eight beats in length—that recur in a regular cycle. c) These short phrases are combined in various ways to produce music of great power and complexity. d) In African American music, repeated patterns are often called riffs. 3. Multiple repeating patterns interlock to form dense polyrhythmic textures (textures in which many rhythms are going on at the same time). 4. One common West African rhythm pattern has generated many variants in the Americas, including the hambone riff, popularized during the rock 'n' roll era by Bo Diddley, Johnny Otis, and Buddy Holly. 5. African singers and instrumentalists often make use of a wide palette of timbres. a) Buzzing tones are often created by attaching a rattling device to an instrument. b) Singers frequently use growling and humming effects. 6. In West African drumming traditions, the lead or master drummer often plays the lowest-pitched drum in the group. a) This emphasis on low-pitched sounds may be a predecessor of the prominent role of the bass drum in Mississippi black fife-and- drum ensembles. b) "Sonic boom bass" aesthetic in rap music (the whoooomp! created by heavily amplified low-frequency signals)
European music in America
A. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, American popular music was almost entirely European in character. B. The cultural and linguistic dominance of the English meant that their music (e.g., folk ballads, dance music) became a mainstream around which other styles circulated. C. Ballad D. Pleasure Gardens E. The English ballad opera tradition—also extremely popular in America during the early nineteenth century F. The English folk ballad tradition G. Irish, Scottish, and Italian influence on early American popular song. H. Italian opera I. Dance music J. European folk music K. European religious music
Lightening Washington
African American musical who recorded the work song "Long John" in 1934 with fellow convicts
verse-chorus form
After The Ball in verse-chorus form the chorus is highlighted (prepared and contrasted with the verse). Many popular songs, particularly from early in the 20th century, are in a verse and a chorus (refrain) form
soli section
All instruments playing the same melody together, often in harmony.
reverb
An echo effect used in music
sound film (e.g. The Jazz Singer)
An important means for the dissemination of popular music introduced in 1927. The first successful sound film, The Jazz Singer, feature a white vaudevillian performer singing in blackface
montuno
An improvised and often climactic part of rumba music