Exam 1, Tin Pan Alley

What was first to be put on recorders?

Brass band and opera

Who would ASCAP not represent?

Non-whites or country artists

Rhythm in TPA

Not a lot of percussion; consistent with regular pulse; very smooth; not aggressive

What is harmony?

Notes at the same time; chords supporting the melody

What is melody?

Notes in series; thing that you sing

What were lantern slides?

Old style of image projection; slide projection

What kind of government can TPA be compared to?

Oligopoly because there were 3-4 large publishing houses

What is a bridge?

Takes you from verse to the chorus; not required; can be same lyrics every time or not; can be instrumental; can change keys; can be a novelty

What is rhythm?

Temporal dimension; how sounds are organized in time

TPA and movies _____.

got along great (TPA would get their songs on movies)

Radio and TPA _____.

hated one another

When did the first radio station broadcast?

1920

What does ASCAP stand for?

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers

Melody and harmony in TPA

Built around memorable melodies; got stuck in your head; major scales; harmony was straightforward (main chords)

How did music change from a business to an industry?

By publishing and producing; marketing, manipulating the legal system; making deals with other sectors of the entertainment business

What were the 2 main radio networks?

CBS and NBC

What did ASCAP do?

Collect royalties to give to songwriters; very restrictive

Who mostly invested in movies?

Companies that owned Vaudeville houses and radio networks

What is a lyric song?

Each verse will tell a different facet of that theme; chorus will articulate the central theme

What is a narrative song?

Each verse will tell a different part of the story; chorus gives a single theme that ties the song together

Lyrics in TPA

Formal, poetic; romantic; register changes

What was instrumentation?

Group of instruments and voices that go on during a song

What is form?

How the piece is organized across its whole length

What class was TPA marketed to?

Middle class

What was Broadway Melody of 1929?

Movie musical

1920's TPA

Much larger accompaniment; brass, strings, reeds; rich sound; used for dancing; everyday language; crooning

What was Tin Pan Alley (TPA)?

Music publishing houses in NYC on 28th Street; specialized in one style of music

What was the copyright act?

People had to pay so much to the publisher every time a recorder (cylinder) was manufactured

What was a shill?

People paid to write great reviews about music; would sing along; passed out lyric sheet so audience could sing along

Who were songpluggers?

People who marketed and advertised the music; sold sheet music; frequented bars, night clubs, brownstones; paid people to listen to their music; worked everywhere with an audience (even political events)

What was the style of TPA music?

Piano arrangements of popular songs

What was ragtime?

Piano music used to accompany competitive dance

What were 3 major technological advances in TPA?

Recordings, radio, and music

What was bought if someone couldn't afford a piano?

Reed organs

Length of songs in TPA

Relatively long (4-5 min.); changed to 3 min. pop song

What were the songs of TPA like?

Sentimental, emotional, G-rated, moral lesson, cheerful, not sexual (targeted to women)

What is crooning?

Sing in a quiet manner; more romantic; electronic amplification allowed this; before, had to be loud to be heard

What were cylinder recordings?

Sing into the horn; needle digs groove into the wax; songs lasts about 3 minutes; deeper the groove, the deeper the sound

What were some changes in TPA in the 20th century?

Slow death of the verse (long songs wouldn't fit on cylinders); jazz became more popular; style of lyrics changed to more everyday register; sophisticated; crooning

What is a hook?

Small bit of musical material; 4-6 notes; vocal or instrumental; meant to stick in your head; can be multiple hooks; intro hooks and title hooks; can be anywhere in the song but chorus is most important

What were Vaudeville houses turned into?

Theaters

How did TPA manipulate the legal system?

They pushed Congress to enact copyright laws so their profits would be maximized.

Why did TPA partner with Vaudeville?

To have the performers play their songs and get them out there; performers got money while TPA got songs in front of audiences

What was the original use of cylinder recordings?

To record political oratory

What is key?

Tonic center of the melody

I'm Old Fashioned by Fred Astaire

V/C form gone; I, C, O; melodic contour (rises and falls); arcing contour (low, climax, drift off); sophisticated; title ironic; example of crooning

Come Along, My Mandy by Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth

V/C form; very similar to today's songs in form; antique; title is perfect hook; small accompaniment

What was Vaudeville?

Variety entertainment; series of different acts (dancing, singing, comedians, etc.); very popular

What was the form in TPA?

Verse/chorus form; every time the verse comes along, same melody with different lyrics; chorus is the same melody, same lyrics

Where did the name TPA come from?

Very hot in the summer; opened the windows but didn't want anyone copying their music so they wove paper between the strings in the piano; sounded like tin pans

What was the instrumentation of TPA?

Vocal music; accompaniment by a small orchestra

What was minstrelsy?

White performers who would paint their faces and perform racist acts of African Americans (AA); some AA's did the same

Who was Vaudeville marketed to?

Working class

TPA changed music from a _____ to an _____.

business; industry

There were often _____ of the same song.

multiple versions

There was an emphasis on the _____, not the _____.

song; singer

Music making was a _____ activity.

woman's

Radio was great for _____.

working class and poor people