chapter 33: american popular music to world war ii
DESCRIPTION
Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II. Early American Psalm Singing. Pilgrims brought with them simple religious music found in a Psalter (Book of Psalms) Neither wanted nor had musical instruments, trained singers, or professional choirs - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War
II
![Page 2: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Early American Psalm Singing• Pilgrims brought with them simple religious
music – found in a Psalter (Book of Psalms)– Neither wanted nor had musical instruments,
trained singers, or professional choirs
• Within 20 years of their arrival, the Bay Psalm Book (1640) was printed– Only a few tunes were needed because one
tune could be used for an entire group of psalms
• “Lining Out”: A leader would sing each line of a psalm and the full congregation would immediately repeat that line
![Page 3: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Early American Psalm Singing• Musical notation began to appear in new editions of
the Bay Psalm Book• Steeped in the Anglo-Irish tradition of singing
improvised harmony against a given tune• By the mid-18th century, fuguing tunes appeared– Singing the psalm as a short canon or roud
• “Windsor”: includes examples of lining out, improvised four-part harmony, and fuguing
![Page 4: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Folk Music and Country Music• Folk music– Usually remembered by ear, not written
down– Music and text change over the years– Product of an entire group
• Country music– Repertoire of songs for solo singer, male or
female, with lyrics treating the subjects of love and life’s disappointment
– Came from ballads of Anglo-Irish settlers in Appalachian region
– Fiddle, banjo, dulcimer– Uncomplicated harmonies– Radio, recording separated country music
from folk tradition
![Page 5: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Blues• A form of black folksong– Emerged during the 1880s and 1890s– Passed along by oral tradition– Work song and field holler of black laborers– Wailing vocal style, the blues scale, and a body of
subjects• Anglo-American folk ballad– Regular, predictable pattern of chord changes
• First printed as sheet music in 1912• First recorded in 1920, most made by black artists• Sung to relieve a melancholy soul, to give vent to
feelings of pain and anger• Blues subjects: poverty, loneliness, oppression,
family troubles, infidelity, separation
![Page 6: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Blues• Blues Lyrics– Three to six stanzas common– Each stanza three lines (AAB form)• A: The blues is a lowdown, achin’ heart disease,• A: The blues is a lowdown, achin’ heart disease,• B: It’s like consumption, killin’ you by degrees.
• Instrumental Break – A short instrumental response to the voice– Occurs at the end of each line
• Guitar as accompanying instrument – Provides a solid harmonic support– Serves as an expressive “second voice”
answering the singer
![Page 7: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Blues• Blues Scale– Features “blue notes”• Notes that fall between the diatonic notes of
the scale• Common in African-American folk song• Used in place of a major or minor scale
![Page 8: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Bessie Smith (1894-1937)• “Empress of the Blues”• Sold 2 million records her first year• Highest-paid black artist of the day• Powerful voice capable of strength, precision,
and tender beauty• “Lost Your Head Blues” (1926)– Huge sweeping voice– Twelve-bar blues
![Page 9: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Jazz• “America’s classical music”• Influenced by traditional musical practices of Africa
(found in African-American spirituals and blues)• European influence of marches, hymns, and folk
music• General definition
– Lively and energetic– Pulsating rhythms and scintillating syncopations– Played by small ensemble (a combo) or big band– Tends to be polyphonic– Strong element of improvisation
![Page 10: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Ragtime: A Precursor of Jazz• The immediate precursor of jazz and includes many of
the same rhythmic features• “To rag”: Play or sing music in a heavily syncopated
jazzy style• Musical style:
– Steady bass, syncopated treble– Jaunty and upbeat– Originated during the 1890s
• Primarily piano music• Emerged in saloons and brothels • Eventually accepted into middle-class homes• Lost popularity after World War I
![Page 11: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
• “King of Ragtime”• Maple Leaf Rag (1899)– His most successful composition– Sold more than a million copies– Form similar to an American military march– Harmony distinctly European– Syncopation
![Page 12: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
New Orleans Jazz
• Early jazz greats lived in New Orleans:– King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong
• French influence• City filled with sounds of opera, marches,
ballroom dances, African-American blues and ragtime
• Style– Melody played by the trumpet– Clarinet supports trumpet, embellishes the tune– Trombone adds a lower contrapuntal line– Rhythm section sets harmony and tempo– Improvised
![Page 13: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)• Born in New Orleans• Followed his mentor King Oliver to Chicago• Invented “scat” singing– Nonsense syllables – Voice treated like an instrument
• Gravelly sound to his voice in “Hello Dolly” and “Mack the Knife”
• Hot Seven • “Willie the Weeper”– Never written in music notation– Chorus: Each presentation of the tune
![Page 14: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Big Bands and Swing• Swing: A popular style of jazz played by a big
band in the 1930’s and 1940’s• Glory days of the bands of Duke Ellington,
Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman
• Large ensemble (“Big Bands”): – Multiple trumpets, trombones, and saxophones
– Rhythm section still consists of single instruments
• “Charts” rather than improvisation– Everything planned out– Played from notation– A more disciplined, polished sound
![Page 15: Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062422/56813b86550346895da4b25e/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
A Jazz and Folk Synthesis: George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
(1935)• George Gershwin (1898-1937)– Began his career as a song plugger– Soon writing his own songs– Rich and famous at age 21– Created symphonic jazz• Rhapsody in Blue (1924), Piano Concerto in
F (1925), An American in Paris (1928)
• Porgy and Bess (1935)– Story revolves around African American life
in Charleston, South Carolina– “Summertime” functions as an idée fixe– Includes folk elements