History of Rock Music Exam 1 Review

Musical Form

How a piece of musical is organized

Beat

Refers to the regular, underlying pulse found in music. Beats are grouped into measures

Meter

Refers to the recurring pattern of strong and weak beats that are found in a given piece of music

Duple Meter

Refers to music whose beat pattern (meter) is divisible by 2 (most common)

Example, “We Will Rock You”, by Queen

Triple Meter

Refers to music whose beat pattern (meter) is divisible by 3 (less common)

Example, “Take It to the Limit”, by the Eagles

Simple Meter

Refers to music whose individual beats are divisible by 2 (most common)

Compound Meter

Refers to music whose individual beats are divisible by 3 (less common)

Simple Verse Form

Consists of a series of verses, all of which use the same underlying music (similar to a church hymn)

12 Bar Blues

A common chord configuration with a distinctive pattern of four-beat measures that fall into three groups of four, this pattern can repeat throughout the entire song

“Rocket ‘88”

The Rhythm Section

Consists of drums, bass guitar, and non-solo guitars all lay a solid foundation for singers, instrumental soloists, and other members of the group who focus on the melody

Reverb vs. Echo

Artificially created ambiance or room sound vs. something that occurs when a sound bounces back to the listener to create two sonic impressions of the same event

The Regional Aspect of Early Rock Music

-most of the music was regional before radios and motion pictures came into the scene

-people purchased sheet music

-could go into a record store and hear someone play a piece of music for you

-when radios came out, a national audience also emerged and the distinctions of regional listeners began to blur (1928)

Tin Pan Alley

-a small section of West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Ave

-got its name from the fact that there were so many song writers and producers clustered together in such a small area, that all the sound/music they were making sounded like a bunch of people banging on pans

-Many famous composers such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and Jerome Kern were associated with this group

-aimed at selling the song itself, not specific recordings of a song

AABA Form

-typically a 32-bar scheme with four 8-bar phrases

-repeat some or all of the 32-bar pattern

-either full or partial reprise(s)

-”Sh-Boom”, “Great Balls of Fire”, and “Over the Rainbow”

Frank Sinatra

-started out performing with big bands

-went solo in 1942, made the singer, not the band, the star, paving the way for early rock and roll singers such as Elvis Presley and Pat Boone

-”All or Nothing at All”

Les Paul

-a leading guitarist during the Big Band Era who was a master of many styles

-inventor of one of the first solid body electric guitars, collaborating with Gibson Guitar company in 1951

-inventor of sound-on-sound recording, known as “overdubbing”

-also invented the technique of recording sound at half speed for playback at full speed, creating a higher pitch, alla the cartoon Chipmunks

-Les Paul and Mary Ford “I’m Sittin’ on Top of the World”

Overdubbing

-sound-on-sound recording

-thanks to magnetic tape technology that the Germans had invented in WWII

Ralph Peer

-a producer who was looking for “hillbilly music'“ for record companies, and is credited with capturing some of the earliest recordings from the region of the British Isles

Country and Western Music

-Country music was found in the southeast and Appalachia, and was mainly a regional style before 1945, can be traced to folk traditions

-Western music was defined by Hollywood portrayals of cowboys and life on the open prairie

-”Back in the Saddle Again”

-Western Swing incorporated fiddles, steel guitars, and sometimes mariachi music

Jimmie Rodgers

-the first star of country music in the late 1920s and 1930s

-known as “The Blue Yodeler” and “The Singing Brakeman”, often portrayed a wandering hobo image based on rustic stereotypes that were contrived for marketing purposes

-”Blue Yodel” (often called “T- for Texas”)

Nashville as a Center of Country Music

-WSM (radio station) that was located in Nashville, and carried the Grand Ole Opry became a clear-channel station in 1932, making the station more available across the country

-attracted many musicians to Nashville

-after WWII, country music was disseminated to northerners

-country and western music spread domestically due to the migration of southerners to northern cities to fill war effort factory jobs

-thus Nashville became the center of country music recording and publishing, thanks in part to the Grand Ole Opry and the influential publishing form Acuff-Rose (formed in 1942)

Origins of Bluegrass Music

-developed during post-WWII era

-can be traced to the group Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys

-included singing and showcased virtuosic instrumental soloing

-Earl Scruggs, a banjoist in Monroe’s band, was credited with advancing banjo technique by developing a style of playing known as the “three-finger roll” (“Foggy Mountain Breakdown”)

Early Blues Artists

-W.C. Handy (1873-1958) (“Memphis Blues” and “St. Louis Blues”)

-Bessie Smith (1894-1937) (“Down Hearted Blues”, her style of singing influenced Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin)

-Robert Johnson (1911-1938) (“Cross Roads Blues”, performed as an itinerant solo artist, similar to the character Jimmie Rodgers played, and sang to his own acoustic guitar accompaniment)

Memphis as a Center of Blues Music

-rural blacks migrated North in search of better work in the 1930s and 1940s, they helped make the city of Memphis a center for Black music, along with Chicago and Detroit

Chicago Electric Blues Style

-centered in Chicago in the 1950s, blues musicians moved into urban venues and formed combos featuring electric guitars, bass, piano, drums, and the harmonica

-developed in part of an independent label called Chess, opened in 1947 by Phil and Leonard Chess

-Muddy Waters’ “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man”

Doo-Wop Music

-emerged as a form of R&B in urban neighborhoods in the years immediately following WWII

-singers in these groups often could not afford instruments, so they accompanied themselves

-consisted of a cappella vocal arrangements that often contained nonsense syllables (such as “doo-wop”)

-were in AABA form (from Tin Pan Alley) and in compound time

-The Chords’ “Sh-Boom” and Frankie Lymon’s “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”

The Stagger Lee Myth

-was a racial stereotype that held that young black men were often defiant, sexually drive, and that white women were their greatest conquests

-the myth takes its name from a folksong about the murder of Billy Lyons by “Stage” Lee Shelton in St. Louis on Christmas in 1895

-this completely unsubstantiated stereotype helped to lead many white parents to believe that R&B, and later rock and roll, were dangerous influences on their teenagers

Role of the Teenager in Early Rock and Roll

-postwar period was the first to have a pop culture devoted exclusively to teenagers, who wanted their own music

-for white teens, listening to rhythm and blues was an act of social rebellion, and juvenile delinquency became a concern for adults in the 1950s

The Role of the DJ

-Disc Jockey

-helped rhythm and blues break into the mainstream in the early 1950s

-played recorded music on the radio, television, and at concerts

Alan Freed

-a disc jockey from Cleveland

-his success took him to NYC in 1954, where he got a radio show and reached a larger audience

-expanded into television, films, and live concerts, giving exposure to many new artists

Crossover Songs

-

Chuck Berry

-his record “Maybellene” was crossed over from the rhythm and blues to the pop charts in 1955, and he had several more Top 40 songs

-his early rock hits were influenced by his love of country music, and many fans were surprised to learn that he was Black

-intentions were to write songs geared to the average teenager

-while edgy and somewhat rebellious in style, his lyrics varied and can be interpreted on many levels, and were admired by John Lennon and Bob Dylan

-guitar style and iconic duck walk was widely imitated in rock

-”Johnny B. Goode”)

-the first person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986

Fats Domino

-one of the first early rockers to have consistent crossover success

-based in New Orleans and recorded for Imperial Records

-performed from the piano and had an easygoing style that sat well with white listeners

-he topped the rhythm and blues charts and also had many Top 40 hits on the pop charts

-”Blueberry Hill” 1956, was his biggest hit, and was also a hit for Glen Miller in 1940

Little Richard

-one of the most flamboyant performers in the early year of rock

-recorded for the Hollywood-based Specialty label

-had nine Top 40 hits, but his style made it difficult for him to advance his career in the mainstream pop market

-he was the first the cultivate a “wild man” stage persona (screaming, playing with one leg propped on the piano, and a driving rhythm section)

-his lyrics were more sexually overt

-prime target for cover versions that white artists “cleaned up” and recorded, often out-performing the original on the charts

-left performing and entered the ministry of Seventh-Day Adventist Church

-”Tutti Frutti”