Foundations of Music Lecture

Foundations of Early American Music

• Key idea: Early American music arose from a dynamic blend of European, African, and Indigenous musical elements, with African musical practices often identified as the most influential overall, especially in the South.
• Three foundational influences to know:
  • African influence: Enslaved Africans brought complex rhythms, call-and-response patterns, and expressive vocal styles that profoundly shaped American music, particularly in the South.
  • European influence: Colonial settlers carried hymns, folk songs, and dance tunes that formed the basis of many early American styles; later, European art music and the classical tradition also left a mark.
  • Indigenous influence: Native American musical elements contributed in various regions, though the extent varies by area.
• The idea that "+everything basically contributes to everything else" emphasizes ongoing cultural exchange; history isn’t in a vacuum.
• Biggest and earliest frame of reference:
  • Africa as a major influence (rhythms, call-and-response, vocal timbres).
  • European influence (folk, sacred, and art music) and Indigenous contributions to regional styles.
• Europeans in North America brought: hymns, folk songs, and dance tunes; these shaped many early American styles.
• African contributions include:
  • Complex rhythms, call-and-response, expressive vocal styles.
  • Strong influence on Southern musical practices.
• Indigenous contributions: regionally variable, often overlooked but present.
• Important terms and concepts:
  • Call-and-response: one singer leads, others respond; a defining feature of African-derived music.
  • Monophonic vs. polyphonic/homophonic textures: early slave songs were often described as monophonic, but many actually included accompanying parts (homophony).
  • Syncopation: a crucial rhythmic element originating in Africa that became central to many American styles.
  • Spirituals vs. gospel: spirituals develop out of Christian themes with coded meanings; gospel emerges later as a related tradition.
• Contextual music history in Europe (as a reference frame for later American music):
  • Europe had a class-based society with aristocracy and peasants; power resided in birthright, monarchies, and the church.
  • Church music often used Latin and was sacred; secular folk music existed alongside sacred forms.
  • “Pulp music” (music of the people, by the people, for the people) referred to non-sacred, popular traditions.
  • The medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and eighteenth-century transitions led to the period often labeled as Classical in the 18th century, featuring composers like Mozart and Haydn in what today we call European art music or classical music.
  • Classical music (as a label today) denotes composed, instrumental works intended as art music, not party or liturgical music. Example forms include piano sonatas (e.g., in F minor) and symphonies.
• Hymns and hymnody:
  • Hymns typically use a strophic form: the same music is used for multiple verses with varying words.
  • Strophic form: a single chord progression or musical setting repeated for each verse.
  • In church services, sacred Latin texts were performed by trained choirs; vernacular, congregational singing grew later.
• Secular European traditions and their forms:
  • Folk songs: songs about daily life, love, pastoral themes, work, dancing, partying.
  • Dance tunes: used for social gatherings and tavern dances; music served social and recreational purposes.
  • Classical/art music: formal, composed, often serious in intent; music for music’s sake; example forms include sonatas, symphonies.
• A note on terms and language:
  • The lecturer often uses terms like "classical" and "art music" to describe European composed music, and contrasts it with folk/popular traditions.
  • When discussing hymnody, the term "strophic" is the standard description for the repeating musical setting across verses.
• Historical arc and simultaneity:
  • Slavery and spirituals coexisted with urban Tin Pan Alley publishing and the rise of gospel and blues, showing parallel and interacting developments.
  • The transition from slave music to blues is framed as a continuum: work songs and spirituals evolve into Delta blues and then Chicago blues as mobility and technology change.
  • The early modern music industry begins with sheet music publishing rather than records, a concept tied to Tin Pan Alley in Manhattan around the late 19th to early 20th centuries.
• Tin Pan Alley and the birth of a music industry
  • Before recorded media, homes with pianos were common; music consumption depended on sheet music sold by publishers.
  • Sheet music allowed families to learn popular songs at home; publishing hubs in New York (Tin Pan Alley) drove a vast catalog of songs.
  • The model: purchase sheet music from publishing companies, then perform and sing at home.
  • This era predates mass radio, recorded sound, and the modern recording industry; the music business began with printed music and publishing.
  • The beginnings of a commercial music industry are tied to print culture and the demand for home piano entertainment.
• Distinctions within African American musical practices
  • Slave songs, work songs, field hollers, and spirituals are umbrella terms; regional distinctions exist, but these forms often overlap.
  • Call-and-response remains a core trait across these practices, with leaders and responders in a dynamic, interactive musical texture.
  • Spirituals developed from Christian themes of repentance and deliverance, reframed with enslaved experiences in mind; they often used biblical imagery (e.g., Exodus, rivers like the Jordan) as metaphor for oppression and liberation.
  • The song Follow the Drinking Gourd is cited as an example used for coded directions toward escape via the Underground Railroad.
  • Monophony vs. polyphony: traditional accounts sometimes describe slave songs as monophonic, but in practice many featured accompanying melodies and rhythms (i.e., polyphonic or homophonic textures).
  • Lyrics often conveyed hardship, sorrow, and longing; spirituals were tools of solace, solidarity, and sometimes resistance; the affect could be hopeful or troubled depending on the song.
  • The terms “spiritual” and “gospel” are used to describe evolving religious music in African American communities, with spirituals generally tied to Biblical themes and gospel developing more explicitly within a later era.
• Imagery and metaphor in spirituals
  • Biblical allusions (e.g., Moses, Exodus, Jordan River) function as metaphor for deliverance from slavery.
  • Imagery like rivers and exodus served as coded language to discuss escape and freedom without inviting direct suppression.
• Delta blues and regional evolution
  • The Blues emerge prominently in the early 20th century, with Delta blues as a regional form centered in the Mississippi Delta.
  • Early delta blues featured solo performers who sang, played guitar (often slide guitar), stomped their feet, and sometimes employed harmonica.
  • The Great Migration: large-scale movement of African Americans to Northern cities (e.g., Detroit, Chicago) seeking factory jobs; this shift spreads Delta blues into urban settings, leading to electric blues and larger ensembles.
  • Chicago blues and other northern forms respond to new urban environments with electric guitars, drums, bass, piano, and vocal ensembles.
  • Notable artists and motifs:
  • Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) as a key Delta/Louisiana blues figure;
  • Robert Johnson as a quintessential Delta blues figure, later mythologized for stories about selling his soul at the crossroads; themes such as hellhound on my trail exemplify more metaphysical branding alongside musician self-promotion.
  • Thematic focus and affect:
  • Delta blues often conveys secular themes of discontent, heartbreak, struggle, and malevolent forces, rather than sacred topics; the mood can be raw, gritty, and emotionally direct.
  • The blues often blends personal storytelling with broader social and existential concerns.
• The practical and ethical implications embedded in the music history discussed
  • Music as a reflection of power structures: church, aristocracy, and publishers shape what gets taught, performed, and preserved.
  • Music as a vehicle for community, resistance, and identity: spirituals and blues served as outlets for collective memory, longing, and resilience.
  • The role of coded language and metaphor in liberation narratives: enslaved communities used coded imagery to discuss escape and emancipation without inviting censorship.
  • The commercialization of music: sheet music publishing and later mass media transformed private, communal music-making into a public, market-driven enterprise.
  • The interplay between rural/folk origins and urban, professional scenes (Tin Pan Alley, Broadway): shows how regional styles become national or international genres.
• Timeline snapshot to connect eras
  • Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical (European heritage) -> 18th century classical forms emphasized in art music.
  • 19th century: continued European influence; hymnody and sacred music remain central in church contexts.
  • Late 19th to early 20th century: Tin Pan Alley and the rise of sheet music publishing; home piano culture.
  • 1920s–1930s: Blues expands, Great Migration accelerates; urban blues develops; set-up for electric blues; radio and phonograph begin shaping distribution.
  • 1909: early recordings begin to appear, but the dominant model remains sheet music publishing in the initial phase.
• Recap of recurring themes emphasized for exam-style understanding
  • African vs European foundations and how they blended to form distinct American styles.
  • Distinctions between sacred and secular, and between different African-derived forms (work songs, field hollers, spirituals, gospel) with attention to texture (monophony vs homophony) and rhythm (syncopation).
  • The cultural and economic contexts: class structure in Europe vs the immigrant diversity in America; the shift from home-piano entertainment to sheet music publishing and eventually to recorded media.
  • The evolution from spirituals and blues to Tin Pan Alley and Broadway as a broad arc of American popular music.
• Key terms for quick review
  • Call-and-response, syncopation, monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, strophic form, hymns, spirituals, gospel, blues, Delta blues, Chicago blues, Great Migration, Tin Pan Alley, sheet music, phonograph, radio, stereo.
• Quick questions you should be able to answer after studying this content
  • What are the three foundational influences on early American music, and which is considered the most influential?
  • How does a hymn’s form differ from a folk song’s typical form?
  • What is the difference between a spiritual and a gospel piece in terms of historical context and lyric content?
  • How did the Great Migration influence the development of the blues?
  • Why did Tin Pan Alley emerge, and how did sheet music publishing shape early 20th-century music consumption?