Bessie Smith and The Blues

Black Music Pre-Emancipation

Spirituals

  • Religious songs of black Christian slaves in the southern US

    • Derived from European hymns + African music

  • Originally, African-Americans practiced Muslim traditions

    • Viewed as barbaric/pagan by white colonists

  • Slaves converted to Christianity

    • Found parallels to their struggles in Bible stories

  • Call-and-response form

    • Leader improvises a line, chorus responds

  • Topics: religious stories/praise

  • Vocal style: freeform rhythms, tonal ambiguity, slides/melismas

    • Difficult to notate

    • Alterations to major scale used for expression

  • Scales Used:

    • Major Pentatonic

    • Parallel Minor Pentatonic

    • Flat 3 (interchangeable with major 3rd)

    • Flat 7 (mixolydian)

    • Flat 5 (blue note)

    • Blues scale

Work Song

  • Sung by field slaves during work

    • Rhythms from grunts/movements

    • Made work more efficient, less monotonous

  • Often call and response/chorus

  • Post-emancipation: Sharecropping introduced

    • Former slaves worked for crops to pay 'rent'

    • Owners set unfair pay/rent, trapping them in debt

    • Songs continued after abolition

Field Holler

  • Solo singers, similar to work songs

    • Call and response from distant fields

    • Used to locate others, narrative folk tales

    • Homemade instruments

  • 'Holler' = crying for needs, motivation

  • Common theme was corn (primary diet)

  • Described as yodeling

  • DIY instruments banned (feared rebellion)

European music brought to America

Minstrelsy

  • 1830s/40s: White actors in blackface

    • Caricatures of African American slaves

    • Parodies of music, dance, dialect

    • 'Stump speech' (parodied Black Vernacular English)

  • 1840s: Black people in shows degrading themselves

  • Audience: working/lower-middle class males

  • Abolition progressed: Minstrel shows frowned upon (racist)

    • Moved further South (pro-slave)

  • Stephen Foster: 'Father of American Music,' minstrelsy composer

    • Parlour music for amateur musicians

  • James A Bland: Well-known African-American minstrel performer

Vaudeville

  • Taboo variety shows (dancers, etc.)

    • Upper-middle to upper class entertainment

    • Started in the 1860s

  • Traveling companies toured cities>

  • Minstrel acts included in vaudeville lineups

  • English equivalent: 'Music Hall'

  • Foundation for blues, jazz, ragtime, tap dance

  • Tony Hart & Edward Harrigan: Famous singer/comedian duo

  • George M. Cohan: Family act 'The Four Cohans'

  • Mamie Smith: Vaudeville singer

Operetta

  • 1850s: 'Classical' music scene featuring European music

    • Developed Operetta (theatre/light opera)

  • Includes dialogue/songs/dance

  • Smaller orchestra than operas

  • Shorter, light/amusing

  • Key composers: Jacques Offenbach, Johann Strauss II

  • Gilbert & Sullivan: Famous composer/lyricist duo

Revue

  • Similar to vaudeville (variety shows)

    • Songs/dances/jokes about recent events

  • Later than vaudeville (1910s+), less taboo

  • Upper-class audience (high price)

    • Performers held residency, didn't tour

  • Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr.: Broadway impresario, theatrical revues

Early Blues

Ragtime

  • Early form of blues (1890s), syncopated rhythm

    • Originated in African American communities of Mississippi Valley

    • Dance events hosted by plantation slaves

  • Laid ground for early jazz

    • Mixed minor/major tonality, passing chords, modes

  • Distinct themes, repeats/reprises

  • Scott Joplin: 'King of Ragtime'

Dixieland Jazz

  • Style of jazz from New Orleans (early 20th century)

    • Heterophonic textures (instruments improvising)

    • Emulated swing feel (triplets, dotted rhythms)

Urban Blues

  • Performed in cities with African American populations

    • Great Migration (1910-onward): Moved from South to North

  • W.C. Handy: Composer, published blues officially

    • Led band that inspired Ravel

    • Speakeasy clubs popular

  • 12-bar blues became prominent

  • Ma Rainey: Connected country and urban blues

Stride Piano

  • 1920s: Harlem pianists evolved ragtime

    • 'Striding' motion (low octaves/tenths, high chords)

    • 'Oom-pah' feel

    • Melodies and fills in right hand

  • James P. Johnson: stylised left hand technique, chording in left hand

  • Thomas ‘