American Popular Music: Themes, Streams, and History (Chapter 1)

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key concepts, terms, genres, and figures from the lecture notes on American popular music and its streams.

Formal Analysis

Listening for musical structure, its building blocks, and how they are combined; includes the musical process and performer interpretation.

Riff

A repeated musical pattern designed to generate rhythmic momentum.

Hook

A memorable musical phrase or riff.

Groove

Rhythmic feel associated with swinging, funky, or driving rhythms.

Timbre

The quality or tone color of a sound; the 'grain' of a voice and the unique soundprints of performers.

Lyrics

The words of a song.

Dialect

Dialects closely associated with particular musical genres.

DAW

Digital Audio Workstation; software/hardware for recording, editing, and producing music.

A&R

Artists and Repertoire; talent scouting and development within the music industry.

Producer

Person who shapes the recording and development of a project and may influence backing and recording decisions.

Engineer

Recording engineer; handles the technical aspects of capturing sound.

Universal Music Group

One of the three major transnational corporations controlling a large share of the legal global music trade.

Sony Music Entertainment

Major global record company; one of the leading transnational corporations.

Warner Music Group

Major global record company; one of the leading transnational corporations.

Center

Geographical centers of the music industry (e.g., New York, Los Angeles, Nashville).

Periphery

Smaller institutions historically excluded from the political and economic mainstream.

Ballad

A song with verses telling a story, often about a historical event or personal tragedy.

Verse

Part of a ballad that tells a story; verses alternate with the chorus.

Chorus

Repeated melody with fixed text between verses.

Strophic

Musical form with verses and a repeated chorus.

Broadsides

Large sheets of paper; ancestors of printed sheet music.

Call-and-Response

Leader-singer and group alternation of phrases; a characteristic African American/antique music texture.

Cantillation

Chanting of scripture in sacred Jewish tradition.

Gospel music

Sacred songs reflecting the personal religious experiences of Protestant evangelical groups.

Spirituals

Sacred songs originating in breakaway African American religious movements.

Montuno

A dense, often improvisatory section in Afro-Cuban music featuring call-and-response and rhythmic drive.

Old-time music

Category including string band music, ballads, and sacred songs; a predecessor to country and rock.

String band

Old-time ensemble featuring stringed instruments, notably fiddle and banjo.

Banjo

A plucked string instrument central to old-time music.

Soldier’s Joy

One of the most popular fiddle tunes in the old-time repertoire.

Skillet Lickers

One of the first southern string bands and a pioneering hillbilly act for Columbia Records.

Tommy Jarrell

Influential old-time fiddler and banjo player from North Carolina.

Barbara Allen

Old English ballad documented in 1666; a core example of the ballad tradition.

Songster

African American secular musician who performed songs before the blues era.

Coo Coo

A recorded songster piece featuring banjo, documented by Dink Roberts.

Stagolee

Variant of the ballad about a ‘bad man’; Mississippi John Hurt’s version is a key example.

Gardel

Carlos Gardel, the French-born Argentine tango star.

Francisco Canaro

Uruguay-born violinist and bandleader influential in tango.

Orquesta Típica

Traditional tango ensemble with two violins, piano, bass, drums, and bandoneón.

Bandoneón

A reed-like accordion central to tango music.

Tango

Dance/music style originating in Argentina/Uruguay; the genre of La Cumparsita.

La Cumparsita

Best-known tango composition, originally written in 1916.

El Negro Ricardo

Afro-Argentine musician in the tango tradition.

Habanera

Cuban dance rhythm; African-influenced origin later associated with the habanera.

Contradanza

African-influenced variant of the French country dance; precursor to Latin American dance forms.

Rumba

Afro-Cuban family of dances and the percussion-driven music that accompanies them.

Conga drums

Single-headed drums (conga drums) used in Afro-Cuban music; includes tumbadores and quinto.

Mariachi

Mexican musical ensemble typically including strings and trumpets.

Son de la Negra

Classic Mariachi piece tied to the Mexican corrido/tradition.

Vargas de Tecalitlán

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, renowned Mariachi ensemble.

Rancheras

Mexican song style commonly performed by mariachi groups.

Corrido

Mexican narrative song style telling stories, often of historical events or heroes.

Banda

Mexican ensemble or genre featuring brass and percussion.