The World of Music 7 th Edition Part 2 Listening to American Music: Folk, Religious, Pop, and Jazz CHAPTER 6 American Popular Music

Tin Pan Alley Country African American influenced –Blues –Gospel –Motown –Rap Pop/Pock

Common Traits of Popular Music Music that is known by a majority of interested people at any given time Simple and Tuneful Singable Lyrics Repetitive Three (or less) chords (typically) Strong Beat and Regular Meter Clear Phrases

Measuring a Song’s Popularity Then –measured by sales of sheet music Now –Radio/Jukebox play Billboard Magazine The Hit Parade Radio Show “Airplay” –Sales LP’s/45’s Cassettes/8-Tracks CD’s –Downloads

Colonial American/Pre 20 th Century Popular Music Opera Melodies Scottish and Irish Airs Hymns German Art Songs

Songs by Stephen Foster Old Folks at Home (Swanee River) Oh Susanna! My Old Kentucky Home Old Black Joe Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair Come Where My Love Lies Desiring Beautiful Dreamer

Minstrel Shows Minstrel Song First Distinctive American Music style –Lively, Syncopated, “humorous” Written by and for Whites, sung by musicians in “Black Face” –Attempted to portray the “Negro way of life” Often Stereotypical and not accurate Drawn from: –Popular Music –Folk Music –Songs from Italian Opera Eventually written by Black Composers –So it ended up as: Blacks, portraying Whites, who were portraying Blacks… Preceded Vaudeville

Vaudeville Shows Similar to modern variety shows – typically a group of unrelated acts –Singers –Dancers –Comedians –Jugglers –Child Performers –Animals –Dramatic Sketches

Tin Pan Alley A place in NYC –28 th street Typically in Verse-Chorus form Where to hear Tin Pan Alley Sons –Vaudeville –Broadway Musicals –Films –Nightclubs –Radio and Recordings –Jazz Concerts

Tin Pan Alley Names Composers –Jerome Kern –Cole Porter –George Gershwin –Irving Berlin –Richard Rodgers Performers –Al Jolson –Eddie Cantor –Rudy Vallee –Kate Smith –Paul Whiteman –Bing Crosby

Broadway Musicals A Musical Play –Acting –Singing (but using vernacular languages) –Costumes National Tours Then –Stirke Up the Band –Porgy and Bess –West Side Story –Oklahoma! Now –The Producers –Spam-a-lot –Cats –The Lion King –Phantom of the Opera

Film and Film Music “born” in 1927 –The Jazz Singer Entertainment for the masses –Transports the viewer to a different world Singers who Act(ed) –Then Bing Crosby Frank Sinatra Barbra Streisand –Now Harry Connick Jr. Lindsay Lohan 50 Cent Ice-T

Radio and Recordings Invention of the Term “Hit” Folk Styles Now were preserved Recorded specialized categories of music Sold the recordings back to the category of people the music came from Fame for Formerly Obscure Artists Aided the spread of Jazz

Country Music Hillbilly Cowboy Songs Western Swing Bluegrass Nashville Sound

Hillbilly Described the poor, illiterate, rural, uneducated southerners Viewed as “culturally and musically inferior” Later it represented wholesome concepts in America Performers –Uncle Dave Macon –The Carter Family –Jimmy Rodgers

Cowboy songs Dealt with Loneliness and infidelity When performed on solo piano: –Honky Tonk Propelled by the movie industry Singing Cowboys: –Gene Autry –Tex Ritter –Roy Rogers

Bluegrass Mountain Music Instruments –Acoustic Guitar –Fiddle –Mandolin –Bass Fiddle –Banjo Artists then –Bill Monrow –Lester Flatt –Earl Scruggs Artists Now –Alison Krauss –Nickel Creek –Nashville Bluegrass Band

The Nashville Sound Grand Ole Opry Influential from Made Nashville an important city in the American Music Industry Obscured roots of country Musicians –Roy Acuff –Chet Atkins

Contemporary Country Honky-Tonk Bluegrass Cowboy Music Mainstream or Traditional Country Young Country Success measured by tours and concerts

Popular Music with African- Americans Motown Gospel Rhythm and Blues (R+B) –Race Records Recorded speciality types of music marketed for African-Americans Boogie Woogie Soul –An extension of R+B –Name changed in 1969 by Billboard mag –Picked up where Motown left off Rock –A combination of “Black” music (R+B) and “White” music (C+W) –Originally segregated, but Brown v. BOE changed that –Rockabilly – Southern C+W plus Rock

British Invasion Served mostly Urban Whites In England, it is influenced by American R+B –Everly Brothers –Buddy Holly –Chuck Berry –Little Richard Groups –The Beatles –The Rolling Stones –The Who –Pick Floyd Strongly Influenced Future Rock Bands

New Technologies Create Rock Genres Sound Amplification Studio Manipulations Synthesizers MIDI Sampling Mixing Acid Rock Art Rock Blues Rock Folk Rock Gospel Rock Industrial Rock New Wave Punk Southern Rock Metal

Rap and Hip-Hop Embraced Technology Socially Aware Led by Black Males New use of the Turntable/Record Player as an instrument –Scratching –Turntabalism From Urban Arts –Street Poetry –Graffitti “Tagging” –Break Dancing