Introduction to Theatre and Music History

Vocabulary and concepts covering introduction to theatre, musical terminology, key figures in soul and rock music, and the influence of the Vietnam War on the music industry.

Dialogue

The words that performers speak in a play, typically from character to character.

Soliloquy

A speech spoken by one character to share inner thoughts that is not spoken to anyone else.

Stage directions

Written directions that tell characters and crew what to do at different times durante the production.

Exposition

The initial part of a play that introduces important background information.

Rising Action

The portion of a play following the exposition that introduces conflict and builds emotional tension leading to the climax.

Climax

The highest moment of emotional tension and the turning point of the story.

Falling Action

The phase following the climax where tension is reduced and the conflict begins to resolve.

Resolution/Denouement

The part of the play that resolves all conflict and provides a conclusion to the story line.

Musical theatre

Often called "Musicals," this form tells a story through live actions, song performance, choreographed dance, and complex design, developed in the $1800s$ out of America and England.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Award-winning American playwright, songwriter, actor, singer, rapper, and filmmaker who wrote Hamilton, In the Heights, Moana, Encanto, and Tick Tick Boom.

Alexander Hamilton (2004)

The best-selling biography written by Mon Chernow that served as the concept for the musical Hamilton.

Hamilton (2015)

An act musical about the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, covering his involvement in the American Revolution, his childhood as an orphan in the Caribbean, and his death following a duel with Aaron Burr.

Music

The organized arrangement of sounds through time using elements such as melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.

Classical

A music style characterized by being highly structured, formal, ceremonial, and containing no improvisation.

Jazz

A music style featuring complex and syncopated rhythms, improvisation, and heavy use of brass instruments, which often does not resolve dissonance.

Rap/Hip hop

A music style characterized by the use of samples, lyrical creativity, rhythmic dexterity, polyrhythm, and syncopation.

Pitch

The relative highness or lowness of sound based on measurable differences in sound waves at fixed distances known as intervals.

Dynamics

The loudness or softness of a musical sound, such as forte (loud) and piano (quiet).

Disjunct melody

A melody that rises and falls quickly with large intervals between one note and the next.

Conjunct melody

A melody that rises and falls slowly with small pitch changes between one note and the next.

Consonance

Musical result that produces stable and pleasant sounds that follow predictable and traditional harmonies.

Dissonance

A note or chord that does not fit into traditional harmonies, often creating tension.

Syncopation

A rhythmic technique where a weak beat, offbeat, or subdivision of a strong beat is accented.

Billie Holiday

Also known as "Lady Day," she was an iconic American jazz and blues singer known for her deeply emotional voice and unique phrasing.

Strange Fruit

A song performed by Billie Holiday and written by Abel Meeropol that served as a turning point between Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement.

Sam Cooke

Pioneering American singer known as the "King of Soul" who rose to fame in the $1950s$ and $1960s$ with hits like "You Send Me" and "Cupid."

A Change is Gonna Come

Sam Cooke's celebrated $1964$ song that became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement, utilizing an understated and simple songwriting style to convey hope and despair.

James Brown

Legendary American singer known as the "Godfather of Soul" who played a key role in developing soul, funk, and hip-hop music.

Say it Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)

A $1968$ song by James Brown that served as an anthem for the Black Power Movement, utilizing a call-and-response format derived from Southern gospel.

Funk music

A music genre emphasizing groove and rhythm where every note must be played precisely in time while retaining an improvisational feel.

Vietnam War

A costly war from $1955-1975$ fought between the North Vietnamese, led by Ho Chi Minh, and the South Vietnamese, who were supported by the U.S.

The Military Draft

A system that drafted $2.2\,million$ American men out of a pool of $27\,million$ between $1964$ and $1973$, disproportionately affecting the poor and working-class.

Folk Music

A music genre popular on college campuses in the $1960s$ that expressed anti-war sentiment and rejected electrification as a symbol of technocracy and war technology.

Jimi Hendrix

A revolutionary electric guitar player who formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience and blended R&B, funk, and blues rock with psychedelia.

Star-Spangled Banner (Woodstock interpretation)

Hendrix's controversial $1969$ performance that used guitar distortion and feedback to mimic the sounds of war (screams, sirens, and bombs) as a protest against the Vietnam War.