Notes on Early 20th-Century American Music and the Roots of Rock and Roll

Scott Joplin and Ragtime

The lecturer begins by highlighting Scott Joplin as a Black composer who is clearly competent and purposeful in his craft.
Despite this, music critics labeled ragtime as primitive music, reflecting race-based bigotry rather than a lack of skill.
The instructor notes the historical bias in the way the history of rock and roll has often been taught, pointing to bigotry as part of the narrative value.
A provocative aside is shared: a doctor allegedly wrote about the possibility of becoming insane from listening to this music, used as a warning about the emotional impact of early ragtime.
Ragtime is described as originating from a “raggedy” syncopated rhythm; the instructor emphasizes that syncopation is a key feature, and that terminology will be introduced gradually.
The entertainer excerpt by Scott Joplin is used as listening material to illustrate ragtime’s rhythmic character.
The message: ragtime and its radical, over-a-century-old roots are far from primitive; they foreshadow later developments in popular music.

The you-can-hear-and-not-hear-right-now: Blues notes versus bluesy dissonance

The blues notes are acknowledged as a recognizable element in later blues and rock, but the immediate listening context may mask them.
The instructor points out that the dissonant notes in early ragtime and blues can sound harsh or unusual to modern ears, yet they are deliberate and expressive choices.
A quick conceptual distinction: consonant notes are stable and pleasing, while dissonant notes are unstable and want resolution.
Joplin’s late-into-his-early-harmonic language features dissonances that resolve quickly, contributing to the adventurous harmonic direction that would influence later rock.
The key takeaway: many rock and roll ideas arose from highly trained early twentieth-century musicians who were crafting new musical sounds—harmonically and melodically—rather than from “primitive” forms.

From ragtime to broader roots: context and radicalism

Ragtime’s radicalism is underscored: it’s not just about rhythm but about a break with established European-derived musical norms.
The lecture stresses that the music of this era was often underground before becoming mainstream, a pattern that recurs in vital forms of art.
The instructor cautions that current listening may sound tame, but historically, this was a boundary-pusting moment.

The blues: from Robert Johnson to the British Invasion

The Blues as a foundational genre in the rock narrative: its history spans from the Delta to Chicago and beyond.
The speaker introduces WC Handy as a pivotal figure in formalizing the 12-bar blues form, with Saint Louis Blues becoming extremely popular quickly.
The main listening example is a 12-bar blues structure, with emphasis on how form, chorus-like repetition, and lyrical content interact.
The lecture notes four key properties that apply to every 12-bar blues song featured in class:
- Each of the 12 bars corresponds to a chord; there are 12 measures total.
- Roman-numeral harmony for the progression is typically I, IV, and V.
- The form is a cycle that returns to I after the completion of the pattern.
- Lyrical form often follows a pattern of statement, restatement, and conclusion in the verses.
The concept of “12-bar blues” is reinforced as a universal frame that recurs across many early rock and R&B songs.
The 12-bar blues is a vessel for both harmonic form and lyrical shape (see below for details).

The 12-bar blues: structure and roman numerals

The 12-bar blues is presented as a 12-bar form with a fixed harmonic map:
- Bars 1–4: I
- Bars 5–6: IV
- Bars 7–8: I
- Bar 9: V
- Bar 10: IV
- Bars 11–12: I
In Roman numerals: I, IV, V form the core triad family used in this structure.
The teacher notes that this form is common across our listening examples and will reappear in various guises (verse-chorus, modified blues forms).
A quick parallel question: what song form do you know that resembles this structure in a different wording? (Verse–chorus is a widely familiar form.)

Verse-chorus form vs. 12-bar blues form

The common pop song form (verse–chorus) is contrasted with the 12-bar blues, though both can overlap in practice.
The class is encouraged to recognize that verse–chorus and 12-bar blues can be combined or “shoehorned” into one another depending on how the chords and lyrics are arranged.
The instructor notes that in some songs, a verse can be followed by a chorus that isn’t a separate 12-bar cycle but still provides a sense of form.

The lyric form in the blues: statement, restatement, and conclusion

The lecturer introduces a lyrical architectural pattern common in blues:
- Statement: a concrete line or idea (e.g., I hate to see the evening sun go down).
- Restatement: repeats the core idea for emphasis (often the same line).
- Conclusion (or resolution): a line that pushes the thought toward a consequence or imagery (e.g., it makes me think of my last go round).
The second verse illustrates a continuation of this pattern with lines like:
- “Feeling tomorrow like I feel today.”
- “I packed my grip and made my dead away.”
This pattern demonstrates the functional use of repetition within the 12-bar cycle and how lyrics reinforce the musical form.

Blues notes and the “spice” of the blues

Blues notes are described as the distinctive dissonant notes that add “spice” to the music; metaphorically likened to pepper or cayenne.
Removing these notes yields a more pleasant-sounding tune but loses the characteristic “bluesy” flavor and intensity.
The speaker notes that the blues’ “spice” carried into rock and roll; over time, some pop-rock styles have reduced that spice, a trade-off discussed in terms of artistic evolution.

The blues’ evolving influence on rock and roll

The talk emphasizes the notion that many rock and roll ideas emerged from highly skilled, traditional blues and early 20th-century musicians.
The statement underscores the irony that much of the earliest rock and roll sound is rooted in sophisticated, deliberate blues and ragtime harmonies rather than naive simplicity.

The historical arc: from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters to Willie Dixon

Robert Johnson and the Delta blues become a touchstone for later rock and roll: his music travels across the Atlantic and deeply influences British musicians.
In 1960, a record titled Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues is released in England; artists like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger acquire it and are deeply inspired by Johnson’s playing.
Johnson’s legend includes stories of selling his soul to the devil and a mysterious death; these stories amplify the mythos around his guitar prowess.
The British Invasion is linked to Johnson’s recordings and mythos, shaping how rock guitarists in the UK and later the US approached blues-based rock.
The instructor asks students to contextualize this music in late-1930s–1950s England, a period of postwar bleakness that contributed to the fascination with Delta blues.
The 1960s UK audience’s reception of Johnson’s music is framed as a catalyst for the British rock explosion that would follow.

Robert Johnson, the Crossroads film reference, and the “soul to the devil” myth

The Crossroads movie is invoked as a pop-culture reference illustrating the Johnson myth (though the film itself is fictionalized).
The plot point of Johnson supposedly selling his soul to the devil during a guitar encounter is presented as a legend that fuels the mystique of early blues mastery.
The teacher notes the discrepancy between myth and historical record, using it to discuss how legends travel and influence perception.
The “twenty-seventh” reference in the film/legend is cited as an example of exaggerated or misremembered detail about famous musicians, highlighting how stories accumulate over time.
The narrative then connects to Cream’s version and to other white guitarists who encountered Johnson’s material and were influenced by it.

Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and the electric blues transition

Muddy Waters is presented as a pivotal figure who started in the rural South, recorded for the Smithsonian project with Alan Lomax, and then moved to Chicago.
Waters helped pioneer electric blues by plugging in an electric guitar and creating a new, electrified sound that would become foundational to rock and roll).
Willie Dixon is introduced as a prolific songwriter and “poet laureate of the blues,” responsible for writing many important standards.
The guitar work and rhythm in Waters’ recordings are shown as a bridge between acoustic rural blues and urban electric blues.
The bassist and rhythm section (and Dixon’s writing) contributed to a sound that would be widely emulated in rock.
The lecture mentions Buddy Guy as a contemporary who was influenced by Dixon and Waters, and it situates this period as a crucible for the urban blues that fed rock’s future.

The Hoochie Coochie Man and the embedded riff/ostinato concept

Hoochie Coochie Man is discussed as a seminal example featuring a distinctive riff and an ostinato (a repeating musical figure).
The riff is described as a repetitive melodic figure in the lower strings, which in a formal sense would be called an ostinato, though it is often referred to colloquially as a riff.
The distinction between a “riff” (a recurring motif) and an “ostinato” (a formal term) is noted, with the practical observation that the two concepts frequently overlap in rock vocabulary.
The riff in Hoochie Coochie Man is presented as foundational to rock and roll guitar playing, illustrating how repetition and motif drive momentum.
The tape/movie reference to Muddy Waters’ sound (and how it influenced later British bands like the Rolling Stones) is used to illustrate cross-cultural influence.

White musicians in rock and a critical context of racial dynamics

The instructor emphasizes that white musicians played a significant role in early rock and roll’s formation, often drawing directly from Black American music.
A common historical claim is that pre-1955 rock and roll drew on black music’s swing vs. white music’s straight-ahead feel; the lecturer uses this to discuss cultural exchange and racial dynamics.
Examples include Hank Williams (a country artist with a “bluesy” vocal quality through microtones) and bluegrass players who influenced rock through rhythm and modal tones.
The session points out that Elvis Presley did not co-author Black American music; Pat Boone is referenced as a white performer who popularized the same material and was emblematic of white mainstream uptake.
The lecturer acknowledges the interconnectedness of musical forms across communities and geographies (Ireland, bluegrass, Delta blues, Motown-era pop), challenging simplistic racial narratives.

Hank Williams, bluegrass influence, and microtonal notes

Hank Williams is used as an example of a country artist who sings what sounds like blues notes but within a fairly straight chord framework; the lecturer notes the presence of microtonal or “quarter-step” notes that appear when singing bluesy inflections.
The speaker explains that Western music typically uses 12 notes per octave, with a vast but finite perceptual range (~138 distinct audible notes), yet only a subset of these notes are commonly considered useful in traditional Western harmony; he uses this to explain why some notes sound “blue” or expressive even if they are not standard blues notes.

White-country and bluegrass cross-pertilization: Bob Wills, Junior Barnard, and doo-wop links

The lecture includes a quick foray into two-chord country songs and tail-end guitar solos (e.g., Bob Wills and Junior Barnard) as important links in the rock-and-roll chain.
The two-chord structure is presented as a simple, effective basis for early rock and roll and Western swing; Junior Barnard’s guitar solo is highlighted as a notable example.
The discussion briefly touches on Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (bluegrass) and how their work sits alongside the electric and urban blues in the broader history of American roots music.
The concept of “I read” (likely a Bob Wills tune) is mentioned as a historical stepping stone in the evolution toward rock forms.
The two-chord and instrumental emphasis illustrate how chord economy and virtuosic soloing contributed to the evolution of rock guitar language.

Doo-wop, phrasing, and a new chord: A minor

Doo-wop emerges as a bridge between rhythm-and-blues and mainstream pop, with distinct harmonic and vocal character.
The class notes a specific example with two verses and a bridge, and notes the absence of a traditional chorus; instead, there is a refrain at the end of each verse.
A minor is flagged as a new chord introduced in the progression, and it is suggested that this minor chord would become ubiquitous in later popular songs.
The discussion underscores how doo-wop’s structure—verses, a bridge, and a recurring refrain—would influence later rock and pop song formulations.

Formally: verse, chorus, bridge, and refrain development

The class explores how different songs use verse-chorus form, 12-bar blues, and variations (verse with a refrain, bridge, back to verse with a refrain) to build form.
A key point is that a refrain at the end of each verse (the final line repeated across verses) can substitute for a traditional chorus while still delivering a strong formal architecture.
The idea of a “refrain” as a formal element broadens students’ sense of song structure beyond the traditional verse-chorus-bridge model.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe: gospel, rock precursor, and iconography

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is presented as a pivotal figure—the “godmother of rock and roll.”
Her performances edge toward rock-like sonorities and electric guitar exploits in the 1940s-1950s, prefiguring later rock forms.
The instructor notes that her public persona—including a sense of self that challenged norms—made her an important cultural figure beyond music.
A video of Tharpe is referenced as a popular but sometimes misrepresented piece of history on the internet, illustrating how online depictions can vary in accuracy.
The discussion acknowledges that most of Tharpe’s catalog was more aligned with gospel and straight-ahead jazz rather than a continuous push toward rock, yet her influence on later generations remains essential.

The “underground to mainstream” arc and the role of segregation

The lecture emphasizes that much of rock and roll’s early vitality emerged from underground scenes—often Black, often marginalized—before breaking into mainstream culture.
The period before 1955 is described as highly segregated in terms of cultural production and audience, with Black music functioning in rural and urban loops that later intersected with white audiences.
The shift from underground to mainstream is framed as a recurring pattern in the history of American art forms.

The backbeat and rhythmic foundation

The backbeat (clap on 2 and 4) is highlighted as a fundamental rhythmic feature distinguishing many Black and white early rock-influenced styles.
The discussion links backbeat to the “swing field” perception of the 18th-century French overture and then connects it to later pop and country styles via Hank Williams and others.
The idea of a backbeat is reinforced as a signal of the groove that would anchor rock’s rhythm section in the decades to come.

A note on recommended readings, media, and test preparation

Recommended reading: Good Booty: Love and Sex by Anne Powers, described as a top-tier book about the sex lives of musicians in early days, framed within the culture of the era.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s material and YouTube resources are suggested for additional context (with a caveat about online content variability).
The lecturer mentions a 1994 documentary, The History of Rock and Roll, as a strong summary resource for material not covered in class; it includes various pivotal figures.
Students are reminded to check Canvas for required items that will appear on tests, and the instructor notes that some elements will be test-relevant even if not explicitly covered in class.
Final reminder: the field readings and the documentary are designed to complement the in-class material and help students connect concepts for upcoming assessments.

Side notes: the broader arc and cultural context

The narrative emphasizes the importance of considering both Black and white musicians in the development of rock and roll; the flow is not a straight line but an interwoven tapestry of influences.
The course underscores that early forms—ragtime, blues, gospel, country, bluegrass, and doo-wop—provided concrete musical vocabularies (rhythms, chord progressions, form, and phrasing) that later rock and roll would reap and transform.
The ethical and philosophical implications of race, tradition, and innovation are foregrounded in the lectures, inviting students to reflect on how music history is written and taught.

Quick reference: key concepts to know for exams

Ragtime: syncopated, “raggedy” rhythm; Joplin as a trained Black composer; misperceptions of primitiveness due to race.
Blues fundamentals: blues notes, dissonance as expressive rather than “bad”; the pepper metaphor for blues inflection.
12-bar blues: 12 measures, fixed Roman-numeral progression (I, IV, V); map of bars 1–12; typical lyrical form (statement, restatement, conclusion).
Riff vs. ostinato: short repeating melodic figure; lower-string focus; colloquial vs. formal terminology.
Form evolution: verse–chorus; 12-bar blues as a structural backbone; verse with refrain and bridge forms.
The Delta blues to Chicago electric blues transition: Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon as central figures; the electric guitar shift.
Johnson and the British Invasion: Johnson’s recordings fueling UK rock giants (Page, Clapton, Jagger, Richards); cross-cultural transfer.
Doo-wop’s chordal expansion: introduction of A minor; structure of verses and bridges with a refrain replacing a formal chorus.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe: cultural icon, early gospel-leaning rock precursor, gender and sexuality context.
White musicians and rock’s formation: cross-pollination and the pre-1955 segregation context.
Backbeat: 2 and 4 as fundamental timing for the groove and later rock rhythm.
Recommended media and readings: The History of Rock and Roll (1994 documentary); Good Booty by Anne Powers; Sister Rosetta Tharpe online resources; Keep an eye on Canvas for required assignments.

Summary takeaway

The history of rock and roll emerges from a dynamic, cross-cultural blend of ragtime, blues, gospel, country, and doo-wop, shaped by both underground and mainstream forces, and influenced by legends and myths as much as by musical practice. The formal structures (12-bar blues, verse–chorus, refrains) and musical devices (syncopation, dissonant blues notes, ostinati/riffs, backbeat) provided the building blocks for later rock, while social dynamics (racial segregation, acceptance, and the role of white musicians) shaped how this music was produced, marketed, and remembered.