MUS 203 Connell Exam 2

Ragtime

A genre of musical composition for the piano, generally in duple meter and containing a highly syncopated treble lead over a rhythmically steady bass. A ragtime composition is usually composed three or four contrasting sections or strains, each one being 16 or 32 measures in length

Composed with the audience in mind

"Ragged time," to rag

"ragged" referred to taking a simple and conventional melody and breaking up the rhythm

The name, over time, was shortened to "rag time"

Scott Joplin

American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions and was dubbed the King of Ragtime.

During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas

Ragtime Form

Improvising on songs

typically AA BB A CC DD with 3 or 4 strains repeated

Ragtime as popular music

Want popular in a lot of place because it was consider to be African American music culture

Reactions to ragtime

At the time it was thought to be a threat to America's youth

Seen as a low class / "negros" music

Irving Berlin

American composer born in Russia but moved to US when he was 5

Known as one of the best songwriters of all time

Stride piano

Style of playing the piano where the right hand plays the melody and the left adds color or hits off notes, base line, etc.

Harlem renaissance

An intellectual, social, and artistic explosion in Harlem, NY in the 1920's

Was called "New Negro Movement" during that time period

Started by James R. Europe

James R. Europe

One of first African Americans to record and he played the violin

Also began the Harlem renaissance

Rent parties

Social occasion in which people would hold a party and have a band to preform live music

Used to raise money to pay rent by some tenants

Influential role in the development of blues and jazz music

rents were high so they'd hold a party and charge at the door, may have multiple pianist who would play against each other

James P. Johnson

most well know stride pianist and was the link between ragtime piano players and other music

Pioneered the playing style of "stride piano"

Bridged ragtime and jazz eras

Fats Waller

Laid groundwork for modern jazz piano playing style by innovating the stride piano

Social Dancing

influenced by African American dance (cake walk/minstrel show)

Spontaneous, had more pelvic movement

Vernon and Irene Castle

Premier dance team

Simplified steps, improvised steps of popular dances and encouraged people to improvise also, targeted people/ popular dances such as the tango

James Reese Europe

Ragtime band leader and leading African American musician in NY in the 1910's

Founded the Clef Club

Created the first all African American orchestra in the country

Leader of the Hellfighters band

Credited for starting Harlem Renaissance

The Charleston

Popular dance of this time, originated in Charleston, SC

Strongly tied to African American music and style of dancing

Lindy Hop

A dance born in Harlem

Very active dance not stiff and rigid like ball room dancing

Constantly in motion

Golden Age of Tin Pan Alley Song

dominated everyones music taste

after microphones became invented is when this genre really became golden

Verse refrain form

Into, rubato

slow intro - larger, rarely performed today

refrain is usually 32 measure long

New Technologies

Microphones and Recorders

Singers no longer needed a lot of power/volume to be heard, benefited artist who were crooners

"Crooning" vocal style

a singing style primarily identified with male performers that enhanced light voices.

Stylistic features included pitch slides and turns on accented notes (short trills with the note immediately above).

The genre originated in the mid-1920s, being particularly suited to radio and the electrical recording process which both encouraged a softer vocal delivery

Example: Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra

Clef club

Popular entertainment venue in Harlem NY for African American musicians in the 1910s

Housed the first all-black orchestra in the states

Hellfighters Band

Created by James Europe

Served in WWI bravely

All black band in the then segregated army

Alvin P.

Producer and bass singer of the Carter family

2 superstars emerged for "modern country"

The Carter Family

Jimmy Rogers

Country-Swing

Country + Big Band Swing

----Bob Wills and Texas Playboys

The Carter Family

Alvin P.

----Producer and bass singer

Sara

----Auto harp and lead vocal

Maybelle Carter

----Invented "carter picking"

--------Hitting some chords off beat

--------"mother of country"

--------Still around and influential to this day

The carter family was a huge hit because they projected strong conservative family values

Eventually divorced but still tried to hold true to family values

Time Line

1920 first radio station in Pittsburgh

1922 more radio stations, most in south and had live music

1925 radio starts in Nashville, "Barn Dance" style

----WSM... unpaid and unsponsored radio

----Showcase of country music

----They hosted many artists, led to the creation of "The Grande Ole Opry"

----Biggest star to come from the Opry was Roy Acuff

--------He toured around TN and made the Opry stage in 1938

Jimmie Rogers

The "singing brakeman" from Mississippi

Blue yodel

Typically a solo artist

Did some minstrel shows

Used "carter picking" and yodeled led to his take on the blues

Sara Carter

Auto harp and lead vocal of Carter family

Hollywood "singing cowboys"

Led to the image of western country attire (boots, 10 gal. hats, etc.)

Maybelle Carter

Invented "carter picking"

Hitting some chords off beat

"mother of country"

Still around and influential to this day

1925 radio starts in Nashville, __________________ style

"Barn Dance"

WSM... unpaid and unsponsored radio

Showcase of country music

They hosted many artists, led to the creation of "The Grande Ole Opry"

Biggest star to come from the Opry was __________________

Roy Acuff

He toured around TN and made the Opry stage in 1938

Started his own record/publishing company

Roy Acuff

Biggest star to come from the Opry

He toured around TN and made the Opry stage in 1938

Started his own record/publishing company

In the 1940's _____________ becomes Hub of Country Music

Nashville

"Old Time" string band music

Based on social interactions

Derived from:

----Ballads

----Parlor songs

----Blues & Gospel

Folk and Country Instruments

String band:

----Banjo

----Fiddle

Folk instruments

----Auto harp

Common and endearing characteristics of Country

Lyrics have realism/ sentimentality

Vocal timbre

Southern "twang" and dialect

Sincerity

----I.E. their experiences, hard work, etc.

Music industry discovers "hillbilly" music

First commercial recording in 1923

Ralph Peer and Polk Brockman (record producers)

Fiddling John Carlson

----He sold out immediately after release

----Unexpectedly became a hit

This led to a new and booming market in music

----Because it engaged rural white people

Fiddling John Carlson

He sold out immediately after release

Unexpectedly became a hillbilly music hit

This led to a new and booming market in music

----Because it engaged rural white people

1927 Bristol, TN sessions (1927)

Had adds out looking for new talent

Made 76 recordings

2 superstars emerged for "modern country"

----The Carter Family

----Jimmy Rogers

Nashville Hub

Post WWII country blew up in the US

Sub-styles of country started

----Crooners, Honky Tonk, Bluegrass, Rockabilly, etc.

Country made up 1/3 of music sales

Nashville became center of the music scene

Sub-styles of country started

Crooners, Honky Tonk, Bluegrass, Rockabilly, etc.

"Nashville Sound"

Session musicians - "the A-Team" appears on almost every song

Electric guitars, bass, drums

----Signified the end of old music sound

Orchestral strings

Professional background singers

Studio technology expands

----Echo, reverb, dubbing, etc.

Sped up master tape

----Raises the pitch and gives the song "more life and brighter sound"

Electric guitars, bass, drums Signified _______________

the end of old music sound

Studio technology expands __________________

Echo, reverb, dubbing, etc.

A Sped up master tape Raises the _______________

pitch and gives the song "more life and brighter sound"

Honky Tonk

Texas bar music

Electric guitar, piano, and jukebox

Sad drinking songs

Popular in the 1950's

Hank Williams

Honky Tonk country singer

Short but impactful career

Drank himself to death

Nicknamed "Hillbilly Shakespeare"

Wrote all his songs

Rockabilly

Mix of country and R&B

Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Bill Haley

Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash

Husband and wife, performed together

Country Rock

Elvis, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Beatles, etc.

Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris

Song "Love Hurts" 1973

Bluegrass

black street music, normally self taught

melody is Falsetto

rhythm is usually a fast harmony with different voices

"High lonesome sound" vocal

solos from all instruments

Example: Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys

Progressive/Outlaw Country

music embraces rock

counter culture, polished Nashville sound

Willie Nelson

Nashville song writer considered to be "crazy"

First country "concept" album

No success as a performer in Nashville

Modern Country Music

Country Music Association

promoted country music on the radio, TV, award

Also promoted country music as "universal music"

"music that is all things to all people"

contemporary - lacked regional flare

Country Music Association (CMA)

promoted country music on the radio, TV, award

Also promoted country music as "universal music"

"music that is all things to all people"

contemporary - lacked regional flare

What are the blues?

Defined by sad songs but CAN be happy and funny sometimes

Specific structure, Blues notes = Half notes

Can talk about secular rituals in the same way Gospels do

Repository of black cultural meaning, also express pain and oppression, different for men and women

Express pain, oppression, poverty, desire, etc.

Delta (rural, country, folk) Blues

"devils' music" nickname

Originates from around the Mississippi delta

Spoke up for marginalized people

Delta Blues Characteristics

Solo male singer normally Accompanied by guitar or homemade instrument

Flexible Forms which Took influence from field hollers, work songs, and ballads

Diddley bow

Instrument with strings or wires on a board or fence post

Played by plucking and sliding on the wires

"Bottleneck" slide guitar: has voice like sound

Robert Johnson

Most celebrated blues artist

Only recorded 12 songs

Played music the people wanted to hear

Founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET)

W.C. Handy

Alabama born, led minstrel shows

Called himself "father of the blues"

Trailblazer when it came to bringing blues to the people

Popular Music

Tin Pan Alley, northern middleclass white society target

Music industry categories

Popular Music: ie. Tin Pan Alley, northern middleclass white society target

Hillbilly Music: southern working class, rural

Race Records: black pop music, focused on non-white audiences

Hillbilly Music

southern working class, rural

Race Records

black pop music, focused on non-white audiences

Classical Blues

sexually subliminal

Example: Betsy Smith

Urban Blues

AKA. The Chicago Blues

Included, electric guitar, bass, organ, harmonica, and drums

a style of blues that featured a female singer backed by a solo piano or small combo

Muddy Waters

Born in Mississippi

Discovered by Alan Lomax in 1941

Moved to Chicago in 1943 for music reasons

"Father of modern Chicago blues"

Female Stars

Allowed people to hear the female perspective

Ensemble Accompaniment usually with pianos and bands

12-bar blues form

Call (1-4), Call (5-8), Response (9-12)

Sexual subjects / double entendre

Made things sound sexy

Would allude to sexual things without clearly stating them

Bessie Smith

Known as the "Empress of Blues"

Cross over appeal meaning, whites and blacks enjoyed her music

Rhythm-and-blues

1940's

Made billboard records

Popular in urban African American areas such as, Detroit, Memphis, LA, etc.

Used electric instruments for a louder and more aggressive sound

Commonly played when dancing or at parties

1949 Billboard makes Rhythm 'n Blues chart

New pop genera category, huge stride for African American music

Signified new attitude in pop culture

Roots of rock and roll

Jump Blues & Boogie Woogie

Swinging rhythm

Very prominent baseline

Louis Jordan (& Tympany Five)

Had massive hit songs

Crossover artist

Appeared in Hollywood films

Had multicultural listeners

Electric/Urban blues

Refers to blues that use electronic amplification for instruments

B.B. King

----Singer-songwriter with a distinct sound when playing guitar, influenced later electric blues artists

Big Mama Thornton

----Singer-songwriter known for her big voice, original writer/singer of "Hound Dog", which was later covered by Elvis

Doubleness / Double Consciousness

Describes the individual sensation of feeling as though your identity is divided into several parts, making it difficult or impossible to have one unified identity (from W.E. Dubois)

Signifyin(g): Performance of life, like their resistance and struggle

W.E. Dubois; what does it mean to be African-American; a lot of words and music would have a double meaning; used as a tool of liberation because they have to act a certain way in public

Civil war: Contraband of war

"contraband of war"... those seeking protection by Union soldiers

Research into African American spirituals

William Allen, Charles Ware, & Lucy Garrison researched into African American spirituals

Slave Songs of the United States

Fisk Jubilee Singers (founded 1870)

Fisk University: First college for African Americans

Singers for Fisk published songs and even toured and published books (including Europe)

They represented a new style and view on African American culture

20th century gospel music

Roots in Pentecostal church

Developed in urban black churches, they were emotionally charged and had lots of showmanship, typically poor/working class members

Blues based with lots of similarities and crossovers

Welcomed instruments not typical in gospel such as; drums, piano, guitar, and wind instruments

Verse chorus songs

Very inspiring, meant to lift people up

Thomas A. Dorsey

"The Father of Black Gospel Music"

Pianist/ Composer of black spirituals/ gospel music

Had roots in blues music

Post 1932 he devoted himself to gospel music as a singer, composer, and publisher

Founded the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses in 1932, promoted music and community values, and worked with the first major stars of that time

Mahalia Jackson

"The Queen" of spiritual singers

Influenced by Bessy Smith

From NOLA moved to Chicago

Became a solo singer

1930 she rose to fame and started touring

Civil Rights activist, even sang for MLK Jr.

1930 she rose to fame and started touring

Civil Rights activist, even sang for MLK Jr.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Chicago blues and jazz scene

Great guitar player, influence on rock and Elvis' style

Gospel Quartets

Jubilee artists, acapella

Polyrhythmic

Blind Boys of Alabama, Take 6, and Dixie Hummingbirds

Popular quartets

Modern Gospel

Traditional orientation: maintained ambiance of an actual church service and meant to inspire deep religious feelings

Characteristics of Traditional orientation: Choir ,Hand clapping, Call and response with leader

Contemporary orientation of Gospel

For entertainment, typically in a concert hall, smooth and polished pop music, designed to attract crossover fans

Precursors of Musical Theater

Opera, operetta, minstrelsy

Audiences for opera

Knowledgeable about music and operas/ Popular elite

19th Century Musical Theater

Operas as pop-entertainment

For the elite

Brought Euro stars overseas to preform

Jenny Lind

The "Swedish Nightingale"

Swedish opera star

Very famous, toured for years straight

PT Barnum

Organizer of operas in US

A nineteenth-century American showman known for his circus, "The Greatest Show on Earth."

His sideshows were particularly notable, even though many of the "freaks" he advertised were hoaxes."

After Barnum's death, his circus was absorbed into the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

20th Century (Musical Theater)

Viennese Operettas

Shorter shows