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8.1 OBJECTIVES
• Basic knowledge of the history and origins of popular styles
• Basic knowledge of representative artists in various popular styles
• Ability to recognize representative music from various popular styles
• Ability to identify the development of Ragtime, the Blues, Early Jazz,
Bebop, Fusion, Rock, and other popular styles as a synthesis of both
African and Western European musical practices
• Ability to recognize important style traits of Early Jazz, the Blues, Big
Band Jazz, Bebop, Cool Jazz, Fusion, Rock, and Country
• Ability to identify important historical facts about Early Jazz, the Blues,
Big Band Jazz, Bebop, Cool Jazz, Fusion, and Rock music
• Ability to recognize important composers of Early Jazz, the Blues, Big
Band Jazz, Bebop, Cool Jazz, Fusion, and Rock music
8.2 KEY TERMS
• 45’s
• A Tribe Called Quest
• Alan Freed
• Arthur Pryor
• Ballads
• BB King
• Bebop
• Big Band
• Bluegrass
• Blues
• Bob Dylan
• Broadway Musical
• Charles “Buddy” Bolden
• Chestnut Valley
• Children’s Song
• Chuck Berry
• Contemporary Country
• Contemporary R&B
• Count Basie
• Country
8
Popular Music in the United States
N. Alan Clark and Thomas Hein
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8.3 INTRODUCTION
Popular music is by denition music that is disseminated widely. As such, it
has been particularly signicant with the twentieth-century proliferation of record-
ing technologies and mass media. Sometimes we may forget that it was not until
the 1920s that recording and playback technology allowed for the spread of music
through records. To become popular before that time, a tune had to be spread by
word of mouth, by traveling performers, and by music notation, which might ap-
pear in a music magazine or newspaper or in sheet music that could be bought at
general stores, catalogs, and music stores.
• Creole
• Curtis Blow
• Dance Music
• Dixieland
• Duane Eddy
• Duke Ellington
• Earth, Wind & Fire
• Elvis Presley
• Folk Music
• Frank Sinatra
• Fusion
• George Gershwin
• Hillbilly Music
• Honky Tonk Music
• Improvisation
• Jelly Roll Morton
• Joan Baez
• Leonard Bernstein
• Louis Armstrong
• LPs
• Michael Bublé
• Minstrel Show
• Musical Theatre
• Operetta
• Original Dixieland Jazz Band
• Oscar Hammerstein
• Protest Song
• Ragtime
• Rap
• Ray Charles
• Rhythm and Blues
• Richard Rodgers
• Ricky Skaggs
• Robert Johnson
• Rock and Roll
• Sampling
• Scott Joplin
• Scratching
• Stan Kenton
• Stan Kenton
• Stephen Foster
• Storyville
• Swing
• Syncopated
• The Beatles
• Victor Herbert
• Weather Report
• Western Swing
• William Billings
• WJW Radio
• Work Songs
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Today the success of a popular music artist is most often measured by how
many songs they sell. In the past, that meant record and CD sales, but today it es-
sentially means numbers of downloads. Recording industry executives determine
which artists to record and distribute based almost entirely on their perceived abil-
ity to sell units. Most popular music today is sold by downloading it to an electronic
device, though CDs are still manufactured and distributed.
Popular music is also often thought of as ephemeral, that is, as remaining in
the consciousness of a group of people for a limited time. For this chapter, we have
chosen popular music that has either transcended that boundary or that was so
important in or exemplary of its time and place that its discussion helps us un-
derstand music, history, and culture more broadly. It is, however, but a sampling
of a huge body of popular music that exists in the United States since roughly the
Colonial period. As you listen to these examples, perhaps you can think of similar
examples of popular music that you know.
8.4 EARLY AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC – OR NOT!
As music with the power to connect with large groups of people, popular music has
sometimes been censored. In Colonial times, popular (pop) music was discouraged
and, often, even illegal. Later, after church leaders began to lose some of their politi-
cal power, with the separation of church and state, composers began to write popular
music intended for singing at home by amateurs with some instrumental accompani-
ment. One popular political song of the 1700s was “Chester” by William Billings.
William Billings – “Chester”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_St8bsx31A
The birth and early development of Ragtime, New Orleans Jazz (Dixieland), and
the Blues are all critical to the creation and growth of the popular music we enjoy
today. The rhythm, melody, harmony, and instrumentation of all three styles were
foundational to the big band, jazz, bebop, and rock and roll styles that followed.
The syncopated rhythms and the importance of a steady dance-like beat in rag-
time, and the styles that followed originated in the African cultures accompanying
the slaves brought to the American South. The use of scales, chords, and the rules
of Western harmony—as well as the use of orchestral instruments like clarinets,
saxophones, trumpets, trombones, tubas, pianos, and snare and bass drums—were
all borrowed from the Western European tradition. The combination of these dif-
ferent musical cultures occurred almost exclusively in New Orleans, a city that in-
cluded French, Spanish, English, Creole (Native American), and African popula-
tions in an environment that was unusually cooperative and open-minded for the
late 1800s and early 1900s.
We must remember that most musical styles do not disappear when new styles
evolve; they just fade in popularity. Ragtime, New Orleans jazz, and the Blues are
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still performed today—not only in New Orleans and St. Louis, but also across the
United States, in Europe, and even parts of Asia.
8.4.1 Ragtime
One important point to realize is that most popu-
lar music from the 1890s on is heavily inuenced by
the dominance of syncopation. Syncopation is the
act of disrupting the normal pattern of accents in a
piece of music by emphasizing what would normally
be weak beats. For instance, in a march in quadru-
ple meter, the musicians would typically emphasize
beats one and three. However, in Ragtime, the em-
phasis would be placed on beats two and four (or the
“upbeats”). We attribute this practice largely to the
music and culture of the Africans who were sold into
slavery in the American South. Syncopation and the
emphasis on beats two and four permeate ragtime,
Dixieland jazz, the blues, and most of the rock music
that follows these styles.
The style of piano playing known as “ragtime”
greatly inuenced the development of American popular music. Indeed, all of our
popular music styles grew out of ragtime and its New Orleans based cousin, jazz.
Before the establishment of the recording industry, musicians supplied all live mu-
sical entertainment and background music. Music for these musicians to play was
published in its written form for piano and other non-electric instruments.
Ragtime was rst published as written piano sheet music in the 1890s; by the
early 1900s, it had almost taken over the music publishing industry. In fact, rag-
time was so popular that it even increased the sale of pianos and energized the
early music recording industry.
After the Civil War much of the Midwest, particularly Missouri, sported nu-
merous saloons, dance halls, and brothels. These establishments oered work to
piano players because of the need for live music—remember there was no record-
ed music industry at that time. Many African American businessmen at this time
came to enjoy nancial success in a section of St. Louis called Chestnut Valley,
one such man being John L. Turpin from Savannah who moved to St. Louis and
opened the Silver Dollar saloon. Ten years later, in 1897, Turpin’s son, a self-taught
pianist, published “Harlem Rag,” a dening piece of piano Ragtime and a model
for future composers. That same year, W. H. Krell published “Mississippi Rag.”
One of the most important ragtime composers, Scott Joplin was born some-
time late 1867 and early 1868, probably in the northern part of Texas. Although
most of the details of his early life are uncertain, his name appears in the 1880
census, listing him as twelve years of age. His father was a former slave and his
Figure 8.1 | Second edition
cover of Maple Leaf Rag
Author | Scott Joplin
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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mother worked in the home of a well to do white family in Texarkana. Scholars
believe that Joplin probably had access to a piano in the home of his mother’s em-
ployer and began at that time to learn the rudiments of music. While in Texarkana,
Joplin’s ability gained notice, and he began to study with Julius Weiss, a Ger-
man-born music teacher. Scott later attended high school in Sedalia, Missouri then
alternated between Texarkana, where in 1891 he was performing with a minstrel
show, and Sedalia, where for several years he continued to perfect his composi-
tional technique. In 1899, he convinced Civil War veteran, music lover, and music
store owner John Stark to publish “Maple Leaf Rag”— a piece destined to become
the most popular ragtime composition. By 1914, it had sold over 1 million copies.
Click on the links below to listen to Cory Hall
perform two of Scott Joplin’s better known compo-
sitions, “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer.”
Pay attention to the steady beat of the music and
then notice that many of the accented notes are
not on the beat. Those are the syncopated notes,
and they are what make the time sound “ragged.”
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, musicians often
called music that was written with dierent beat
patterns by the name of the purpose for which it
was composed. For example, music written for
dancing that was grouped in three beats per mea-
sure was called “waltz-time,” and music written
in two beats per measure for marching was called
“march-time.” So it seems reasonable that music
written with many notes o the beat, or syncopat-
ed, would be called “ragged-time” or “ragtime.”
Maple Leaf Rag – Scott Joplin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fagH03fxY7c
The Entertainer – Scott Joplin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9gzZJ344Co
Arthur Pryor was the most famous trombone soloist of his era and a member
of the world renowned band of John Philip Sousa. Prior was born in Missouri and
wrote numerous successful ragtime compositions. When the Sousa Band toured
Europe in 1900, Arthur Pryor’s ragtime compositions did much to spread the fame
of ragtime to Europe.
By the early 1900s, ragtime enjoyed tremendous popularity and could be found
in many dierent forms, including the early example of mass-produced recorded
music, the phonograph record. Listen to the following phonograph recording of
the Sousa Band from 1906.
Figure 8.2 | Scott Joplin
Author | Unknown
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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Sousa Band, “Arkansaw Huskin’ Bee”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCDhpPGzCC4
The syncopated feel of ragtime encourages a feeling of movement—perhaps a
desire to tap your foot, or bob your head, or dance. Many older people perceived
this feeling as a threat that would lead young people down the road to sin and deg-
radation; they associated the music with saloons, dance halls, and bordellos. Need-
less to say, they didn’t approve! We will later see many similar warnings about the
rock music of the 1960s.
You may have also noticed that “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer” com-
prise sections that repeat. These three or four repeated sections make up the “form”
of the vast majority of ragtime compositions. Music of all styles can either be built
of sections that repeat (a repeating form), or be written in a way that does not re-
peat (through-composed). We will talk more about form later.
8.4.2 The Blues
The term “the blues” may have originated in two
possible ways. The rst possibility is that as early as
the 1790s the term “blue devils” was used to refer to
feelings of suering and sadness. The term rst ap-
peared in print in Hart Wand’s piece, “Dallas Blues”
(1912), the rst copyrighted blues composition. The
second possibility suggests it derives from the mys-
ticism associated with many West African cultures
that used the Blue Indigo plant to dye the garments of
those who were in mourning after the death of a loved
one. The indigo plant was grown on many Southern
plantations, and its use could have strengthened the
slaves’ connecting “blue” indigo with suering.
Whatever the source, the term “the blues” became
universally associated with a style of music that at the
turn of the twentieth century began to form out of Af-
rican American work songs, eld hollers, and spirituals. Today, the word “blues” is
used loosely and can mean several dierent things, like feeling sad or down. It can
also describe any song played in a bluesy style.
In musical circles, the term “blues” most commonly describes a song that fol-
lows a blues form, which is a twelve-bar strophic song form. This musical struc-
ture of the blues has inuenced the development of jazz, rock, techno, and other
popular styles of music and is based on a few basic and recurring composition-
al and performance techniques. The form of the blues is repeating. It is usually
eight, twelve, or sixteen bars in length, although some pieces vary this somewhat,
and those sections are repeated several times. The blues uses a limited number of
Figure 8.3 | Robert Johnson
Author | User “Anetode”
Source | Wikipedia
License | Fair Use
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chords, usually three or four. Specic notes within these chords are often lowered
(the third, fth, and seventh notes above the root of the chord), and the scales asso-
ciated with these “blue note” alterations are called “blues scales.” Musicians often
“bend” the pitch of these notes to give them their bluesy quality.
Over the years, the blues has found its way into many dierent styles of pop-
ular music. First, listen to two examples of traditional blues selections: Robert
Johnson performs “Cross Road Blues,” and B. B. King performs “How Blue Can
You Get”
Robert Johnson – “Cross Road Blues”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsB_cGdgPTo
BB King - “How Blue Can You Get”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jCNXASjzMY
Next listen to Stevie Ray Vaughn perform a number of blues selections that use
rock as the rhythmic basis, including a composition by Jimi Hendrix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smSiCjYIvrM
More than any other musical style, the blues is the foundation of all American
music. It appears in virtually every other native musical style, including jazz, rock,
rhythm and blues, and hip hop.
8.4.3 Jazz
New Orleans has, for centuries,
been a city of many dierent cultural
and ethnic groups. French, Spanish,
Italian, German, and Irish immigrants
all settled there before and during the
1800s, and it is in this city where their
musical styles mixed with the dierent
musical inuences infused by the de-
scendants of African slaves.
New Orleans jazz has its roots in
Storyville, an area of New Orleans (NO-
LA) known for its bars, dance halls,
and brothels—like Missouri’s Chestnut
Valley. In the early part of the 1900s,
African American musical styles such as ragtime, blues, spirituals, and marches
merged together to create a unique art form. Although jazz borrows much of its
harmony and instrumentation from Europe, it diers fundamentally from Europe-
an styles in its rhythmic makeup. Jazz emphasized syncopation and swing. Swing
is a term used to describe the rhythmic bounce that characterizes the jazz style.
Figure 8.4 | Louis Armstrong
Author | World-Telegram Staff
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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One of the most important aspects of the jazz style is that it often depends on
performers being able to improvise. Improvisation is the act of creating melodies
and harmonies on the spot without reading the music o a page. The blending of
written and improvised performance has become an integral part of jazz perfor-
mance and has continued in the later evolution of rock and other popular styles.
Early jazz musicians learned to improvise entire new melodies over the chord
structures of existing tunes.
Unlike with ragtime, which is largely a piano performance style, jazz musicians
often provided music for dancing. By the early 1900s, dance music group instru-
mentation had changed from mostly string orchestras to jazz bands using instru-
ments borrowed from marching bands; the band instruments were louder and
more suited to noisy dance halls. Dierent combinations of trumpets, clarinets,
saxophones, trombones, and tubas joined with drums, piano, guitar, and banjo to
form the common jazz band instrumentation. However, piano players often trav-
eled from city to city looking for work and it is easy to see how the music of these
popular ragtime pianists inuenced early jazz development in NOLA.
In 1917, Storyville was closed
down due to the eorts of reli-
gious leaders in NOLA, so jazz
musicians were forced to move
to Chicago, New York, Los Ange-
les, Memphis, St. Louis, and oth-
er big cities to nd work. Around
this same time, the recording in-
dustry began to ourish, partic-
ularly in Chicago and New York.
Soon groups like the Original
Dixieland Jazz Band began
recording New Orleans style jazz.
Jazz eventually became part of a performing and recording revolution that swept
the country (and Western world) and changed popular music and culture forever.
Charles “Buddy” Bolden is widely recognized as the rst major gure in
the early development of jazz in NOLA. Bolden, like most of the other top jazz
performers at that time, was of African descent, a fact which points to the central
importance of African Americans to the development of New Orleans jazz and later
American popular music from this point forward. Unfortunately, no known record-
ings of Bolden exist. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, an ensemble comprised of
white musicians, is widely considered to have made the rst recording of jazz. This
recording sold over one million copies in the rst six months of its release and did
much to associate New Orleans with “jazz” in the new recording industry. Phono-
graph records soon replaced sheet music as a favorite way to experience new music
because records allowed the listener to hear the subtle jazz performance practices
that could not be accurately put down on paper.
Figure 8.5 | Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Author | Unknown
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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Listen to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s recording of “Livery Stable Blues”
which was recorded in New York in 1917, linked below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_Dixieland_Jass_Band#/media/
File:ODJBcard.JPG
Original Dixieland Jazz Band – “Livery Stable Blues”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WojNaU4-kI
This early style of jazz, now known as New Orleans Jazz, or “Dixieland,” is
based almost entirely on the tradition of improvisation. The mature Dixieland style
was in full swing by the 1920s and included syncopated rhythms, improvised solos
and harmonies, as well as a common instrumentation that included trumpet, clari-
net, saxophone, trombone, tuba, banjo, piano, guitar, and drums. The form of most
Dixieland tunes, like almost all popular music, was based on repeated sections.
The late 1920s saw the rise of a New Orleans native who transformed jazz from a
somewhat loose style with many parts being improvised at the same time, into a style
that featured soloists taking turns playing improvised solos. Louis Armstrong,
whose nickname was “Satchmo,” became an international jazz superstar and movie
and television personality in a career that stretched from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Armstrong was born in 1901 in a section of New Orleans with a violent reputa-
tion, so much so that it was called “The Battleeld.” At the age of 11, Armstrong was
arrested for ring a gun in the air to celebrate the New Year and was subsequently
sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. It was here that Armstrong learned to
play the cornet (an early version of the trumpet). He quickly realized his aptitude
for music and, upon being released two years later, soon began to build a reputa-
tion as one of the best trumpet players in New Orleans, performing everywhere
from the seedy bars of Storyville to the riverboats that traveled up and down the
Mississippi River.
Armstrong eventually moved to Chicago to join the band of his old mentor, Joe
“King” Oliver. From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong made a series of recordings as a lead-
er known as the “Hot Fives” and “Hot Sevens” that would cement his status as one
of the most important jazz artists of the twentieth century. His innovations include
the following: he established jazz as a solo art form rmly rooted in the blues and
which celebrated individual expression; he introduced a jazz singing style, which
included a loose phrasing style; he dened the new rhythmic feel of jazz known as
swing; and he expanded the possibilities of the trumpet through bends and other
techniques that allowed him to mimic the human voice.
Listen to “West End Blues” recorded by Louis Armstrong, America’s rst pop-
ular music superstar, in Chicago in 1928 (linked below.) In addition to common
Dixieland instrumentation and improvised solos, this selection also contains a vo-
cal solo by Louis Armstrong using a technique called “scat singing.” Scat singing
occurs when a vocalist improvises a melody using seemingly nonsense syllables,
often in an attempt to imitate the style of a wind instrument.
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LISTENING GUIDE
For audio, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W232OsTAMo8
Composer: Joe “King” Oliver
Composition: Louis Armstrong: “West End Blues”
Date: 1928
Genre: Early jazz or “Dixieland”
Form: 12-bar blues
Performing Forces: Early New Orleans Jazz Instrumentation:
Louis Armstrong – trumpet and vocal; Fred Robinson – trombone; Jimmy
Strong – clarinet; Earl Hines – piano; Mancy Cara – banjo; Zutty Singleton –
drums
What we want you to remember about this composition:
• Much of the piece is improvised over a repeating 12-bar blues form
• It features Armstrong’s virtuosity on trumpet as well as his unique
interpretation of the melody on trumpet and on vocals
Other things to listen for:
• Each time the twelve bar form is repeated, it is called a “chorus”
• Each chorus is an opportunity for a new soloist or a new ensemble
passage
• Armstrong’s vocals are “scat singing,” and incorporate syllables
instead of text
• The piano, banjo, and drums are collectively called the “rhythm section”
Timing Performing Forces, Melody,
and Texture
Text and Form
0:00 Trumpet.
Improvised lines incorporate dramatic leaps, chromaticism, triplet
gures, and elements of the blues.
0:13 Full band.
Trumpet plays the melody while clarinet and trombone improvise
supporting parts.
0:50 Trombone with rhythm section.
Trombone plays the melody.
1:25 Clarinet and voice with rhythm section.
Call-and-response melody between clarinet and voice.
2:00 Rhythm section featuring piano.
Improvised piano solo.
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2:34 Full band.
Improvised trumpet solo supported by full band.
2:57 Full band.
Piano followed by trumpet.
No unit on New Orleans jazz would be complete without mentioning the Mar-
salis family. Father Ellis (piano) and sons Branford (saxophone), Wynton (trum-
pet), Delfeayo (trombone), and Jason (drums) are all artists of the rst rate and
world-renowned as individual jazz musicians. Listen to the Marsalis family contin-
ue the New Orleans jazz tradition as they perform “Struttin’ with Some Barbeque.”
Struttin’ With Some Barbeque – The Marsalis Family
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnWt21HxMQ
Later Jazz Styles
Big Bands
By the 1930s, jazz was the most popular music
in the country. Most jazz ensembles at this time
featured a large group of fteen to twenty musi-
cians. This increase in size was needed mainly
because the larger venues used for dancing made
it dicult to hear small combos over the noises in
the room. Before long, the standard instrumen-
tation of the performing dance band had become
ve saxophones, ve trombones, ve trumpets, a
rhythm section (piano, bass, and drum set), and
oftentimes one or more singers. The larger num-
ber of instruments made the normal improvised
Dixieland parts impractical; fteen musicians improvising at the same time just
sounded like noise. Therefore, band leaders began to either arrange parts for the
dierent sections (as Duke Ellington did) or hire arrangers to do it for them (as did
Glenn Miller, Stan Kenton, and others). The standard big band instrumentation
that resulted survives to this day.
Throughout the later 1930s, the 1940s, and to some extent the 1950s, big bands
enjoyed enormous popularity performing both for dances and as concert perform-
ing groups. Today the terms dance band and big band are used interchangeably.
During the heyday of big band popularity, a number of superstars rose with the
tide. Many times the leaders of these bands became famous; Duke Ellington, Count
Basie, Stan Kenton, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller were just a few that became
household names. Listen to the traditional big band sound of Glenn Miller and his
orchestra as they perform their number one hit “In the Mood.”
Figure 8.6 | Duke Ellington
Author | Unknown
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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Glenn Miller – “In the Mood”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CI-0E_jses
One of the most important gures in the big band era was Duke Ellington, a
bandleader and composer who created some of most unique and innovative sounding
music of the era. Ellington sought out musicians with their own personal sounds to
incorporate into his orchestra. Some famous musicians from the Ellington band in-
clude trumpeter Cootie Williams, who created interesting vocal eects with a plung-
er mute; Cat Anderson, who could hit high notes that most trumpeters thought im-
possible, and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, a master at bending notes to create
beautiful expressive melodies. Ellington was able write music that wove these unique
playing styles together into a musical tapestry that was complex and dissonant, yet
beautiful and accessible. Ellington wrote many big band hits of the 1930s and 1940s,
such as the example below, “It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing.”
LISTENING GUIDE
For audio, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbwDRdRXP3k
Composer: Duke Ellington
Composition: It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
Date: 1931 (recorded 1932)
Genre: Big Band Jazz
Form: AABA
Nature of Text: an upbeat song celebrating swing music
Performing Forces: Early Big Band Instrumentation:
Arthur Whetsel, Freddie Jenkins, Cootie Williams – trumpet; Joe Nanton, Juan
Tizol – trombone; Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney – woodwinds;
Duke Ellington – piano, Fred Guy – banjo; Wellman Braud – bass; Sonny Greer
– drums; Ivie Anderson – vocals
What we want you to remember about this composition:
• The original song follows a standard AABA form, which is repeated
over and over. Much like the blues, each time through the form is
called a “chorus.”
• Take a look at the words to the song below to follow along with the form.
A
It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing
(doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah)
A
It don’t mean a thing, all you got to do is sing
(doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah)
B
It makes no dierence if it’s sweet or hot
Just give that rhythm everything you’ve got
A
It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing
(doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah)
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Other things to listen for:
• In the A sections of the form, the brass players use standard toilet
plungers on the bells of their horns to create a “wa, wa” sound
Timing Performing Forces, Melody,
and Texture
Text and Form
0:00 Upright bass and vocals.
Bluesy “scat singing” ri in vocals.
Introduction
0:13 Trombone with rhythm section.
Improvised solos alternating with
original melody.
First “chorus” of AABA form
0:47 Full Band.
Main melody which includes a call
and response between vocalist and
horns.
Second chorus of AABA form
1:23 Alto sax solo over horn backgrounds.
Improvised solo.
Interlude
1:58 Alto sax solo.
Improvised solo.
First two A sections of third
chorus
2:07 Sax section.
New melodic material written in a
soloistic manner.
B section of third chorus
2:16 Alto sax solo over horn backgrounds.
Improvised solo.
Last A section of third chorus
2:25 Full Band (Shout Chorus).
New melodic material written in a
soloistic manner.
First two A sections of fourth
chorus
2:42 Vocalist with rhythm section.
Improvised “scat” solo.
B section of fourth chorus
2:52 Full Band.
Main melody which includes a call
and response between vocalist and
horns.
Last A section of fourth chorus
Stan Kenton was an innovative big band leader who liked to incorporate mu-
sic from other cultures into his repertoire. Listen to the Latin inuence in his re-
cording of “Malaga.”
Stan Kenton – “Malaga”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEt13RIL0ko
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This recording of the Count Basie band is a great example of the traditional
swing style of jazz in a contemporary arrangement of “Sweet Georgia Brown.”
Count Basie – “Sweet Georgia Brown”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbbBeU1vHew
Numerous vocalists also became stars in the Big Band movement. One of the
most famous also became a movie star: Frank Sinatra.
Frank Sinatra – “New York, New York”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odNmQiSC6dY
Ella Fitzgerald became world famous as a jazz vocalist and recording artist,
and enjoyed a long and illustrious career as one of the leading jazz recording artists
of all time.
Ella Fitzgerald – “The Lady is a Tramp”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9mssKqk6YE
The big band tradition continues to this day with vocal artists such as Michael
Bublé recording and performing live concerts. Here Michael Bublé performs his
hit “Moon Dance.”
Michael Bublé - “Moon Dance”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBCJWJXeFzk
Bebop
In the early 1940s, World War II had put
a serious damper on saloons and dance halls
due to rationing, lower incomes, and the
drafting of a large number of musicians. It
was dicult for bandleaders to hire enough
good players because many musicians had
gone to war. Consequently, many musi-
cians began to form smaller jazz ensembles
consisting of a few wind instruments and a
rhythm section. These ensembles are often
called jazz “combos.”
Figure 8.7 | Charlie Parker, Tommy Potter, Miles
Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach, Three Deuces,
New York, N.Y.
Author | William P. Gottlieb
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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At this same time, several important musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Bud
Powell, and Thelonious Monk, began meeting at such clubs in uptown New York
City as Minton’s Playhouse. During late night jam sessions, they began explor-
ing new ways to improvise in a small group setting. The bebop style developed
when Charlie Parker arrived in New York from Kansas City. His nickname was
“Bird,” and he soon became perhaps the most inuential bebop player. Bebop was
a dramatic departure from the jazz that came before it in several ways. The music
featured more complex, faster moving harmonies, angular melodies, and highly
complex rhythms that were not conducive to dancing. Most importantly, bebop
marked the beginning of the modern jazz era. From this point on, jazz was no lon-
ger perceived as a popular music. Dance halls gave way to basement clubs where
jazz enthusiasts would come to sit and listen. While jazz never regained its initial
popularity, musicians such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and others carried on
the jazz tradition into the 1950s and beyond, creating some of the most ground-
breaking recordings in American music.
Listen for the complex melodies and complex chords in the following selection.
Charlie Parker – “Donna Lee”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02apSoxB7B4
In the late 1960s and 1970s, some acoustic jazz musicians became interested in
incorporating electronic instruments and rock beats into the jazz idiom. This style
is often called fusion as it “fuses” jazz with other styles. A truly outstanding group
from this era is Weather Report. The composition entitled “Birdland” from
Weather Report’s 1977 Heavy Weather studio album, Heavy Weather received
numerous awards, as well as ranking #1 on the Billboard jazz charts. Although the
title of the song pays tribute to an acoustic jazz club in New York City named after
Charlie Parker, the music itself features a rock instrumentation, a straight beat,
and electronic instruments. The group’s bass player Jaco Pastorius is considered
by many to be the best electric bassist of all time.
Weather Report – “Birdland”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH-WXR-Y2xs
8.5 THE R’S: ROCK, RHYTHM AND BLUES AND RAP
The popular styles of music that we hear today, like most other Western mu-
sical styles, grew out of combinations of elements borrowed from the styles that
preceded them. Rhythm and blues (R&B), rock and roll, and rap all resulted from
combinations and changes of music practices that were borrowed from jazz, gos-
pel, country, and the blues.
Elements of Contemporary Popular Music (the popular music we hear today)
are the following: it is easy to listen to; its melody and lyrics, that is, words, are
most important; it has a simple structure and strong melody; it is easy to sing and
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repetitive, with the form comprising repeating sections; it has a strong beat (with
Rap, it IS the beat) and clear/regular phases; and it uses few chords.
8.5.1 Rhythm and Blues
The term “rhythm and
blues (R&B)” was rst used
by Billboard magazine in 1948
to refer to music recorded by
black musicians and intended
for use by the African Ameri-
can community. It has changed
denitions several times over
the years and is now very much
in the mainstream. At one
point, the term encapsulated
several dierent musical styles,
including soul and funk. Early
rhythm and blues ensembles
often featured a twelve-bar blues form with a strong backbeat (emphasis on beats
two and four.) These early groups typically consisted of a rhythm section augment-
ed by a saxophone or background vocalists. Georgia native Ray Charles was one
of the early innovators of R&B.
Ray Charles – “Hit the Road Jack”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Tiz6INF7I&list=PL4417733726B17DBF
“Contemporary R&B” generally refers to music with jazz, gospel, and funk roots
that uses electronic instruments, drums, horns, and vocals. This Earth, Wind &
Fire example of contemporary R&B includes a rock rhythm section, brass, and
synthesizer—plus a great groove. Many other excellent examples exist from groups
like Kool and the Gang and The Ohio Players.
Earth, Wind & Fire – “In the Stone”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNNaK0hSkrA
8.5.2 Rock and Roll
Early rock and roll grew directly out of the tradition of rhythm and blues. The
term “rock and roll” is widely credited to the disk jockey Alan Freed, who used it to
describe the R&B records he played on Cleveland’s WJW radio station. Rock and
Roll was marketed and consumed primarily by a teenage audience. Eventually, the
term “rock and roll” was shortened to “rock” and evolved into an all-encompassing
international music with a wide variety of subgenres such as glam rock, heavy met-
Figure 8.8 | Ray Charles
Author | Heinrich Klaffs
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | CC BY-SA 2.0
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al, new wave and grunge. The cultural impact of rock and roll has been massive,
inuencing almost every facet of popular culture, from fashion to language.
Although early rock and roll bands often featured a
variety of wind instruments such as the saxophone, by
the 1950’s, the typical rock and roll band was dened
by the electric guitar. Invented in 1931, the instrument
used an electronic device called a pickup to convert the
vibration of the strings into electronic signals run to a
speaker. The earliest electric guitars were merely used
as a means of amplication, but rock and roll guitarists
began to experiment with various eects, such as dis-
tortion that would alter the sound of the instrument.
A typical rock and roll band often included two gui-
tarists. One guitarist typically played “rhythm guitar,”
which mean supporting the band by strumming the
chords of the song. The second guitarist played “lead
guitar, which meant playing solos in between the vo-
cal lines or in open solo sections. These two guitarists
were backed by a drum set and a bass. Often, one of
the guitarists doubled as the lead vocalist, while other
members might sing background harmonies.
Like R&B, rock and roll music places a strong em-
phasis on the backbeat. These accents are very notice-
able in Chuck Berry’s “rock and roll music,” which fea-
tures snare drum accents on beats two and four.
Chuck Berry – “Rock and Roll Music”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XSaKQlBZuE
Elvis Presley was one of the most important
gures in the history of rock and roll, and one of the
most celebrated recording artists of the twentieth cen-
tury. He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi but grew up
in Memphis, Tennessee. His recording career began in
Memphis in 1954 when he worked with Sam Phillips,
the owner of Sun Records. Elvis combined the sounds
of country music and rhythm and blues into a style that was initially called rock-
abilly. Elvis soon moved to the RCA label, and his rst single record “Heartbreak
Hotel,” released in 1956, became the number one hit in the United States. By em-
bracing music from both sides of the civil rights movement, Elvis became both very
popular and very controversial at the same time. In many ways, he helped bring
the popular music of African Americans into the mainstream of white society and
paved the way for groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, who were heavily
Figure 8.9 | Elvis Presley
Author | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
Figure 8.10 | Electric guitar,
solidbody, Kramer XKG-20
circa 1980
Author | User “BellwetherToday”
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | CC BY-SA 4.0
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Understanding MUsic PoPUlar MUsic in the United states
inuenced by black artists. Elvis later branched out and recorded many successful
ballads and rock tunes. He died of a drug overdose in 1977.
Listen to the blues inuence in Elvis’s singing and the guitar and piano solos in
“Heartbreak Hotel.”
LISTENING GUIDE
For audio, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9BLw4W5KU8
Composer: Tommy Durden and Mae Boren Axton
Composition: Heartbreak Hotel
Date: 1956 recording by Elvis Presley
Genre: Rock and Roll
Form: Strophic
Nature of Lyrics: About a hotel that embodies the feelings of being heartbroken
Performing Forces: Elvis Presley – lead vocals, Scotty Moore – electric
guitar, Chet Atkins – acoustic guitar, Bill Black – double bass, D.J. Fontana –
drums, Floyd Cramer – piano
What we want you to remember about this composition:
• Each verse repeats the same form, always ending with “Heartbreak is
so lonely…”
• Each verse follows an 8-bar chord progression
• Notice how Presley’s singing style is a mix of blues, country, and
gospel inuences
Timing Text and Form
0:00 Verse 1:
Well, since my baby left me,
I found a new place to dwell
Its down at the end of lonely street
At heartbreak hotel.
Heartbreak is so lonely baby,
Heartbreak so lonely,
Heartbreak is so lonely I could die
0:21 Verse 2:
And although it’s always crowded,
You still can nd some room
For broken hearted lovers
To cry away their gloom.
Heartbreak is so lonely baby,
Heartbreak so lonely,
Heartbreak is so lonely they could die
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0:42 Verse 3:
Well, the bell hops tears keep owin’,
And the desk clerks dressed in black.
Well they been so long on lonely street
They ain’t ever gonna look back.
Heartbreak is so lonely baby,
Heartbreak so lonely,
Heartbreak is so lonely they could die
1:02 Verse 4:
Hey now, if your baby leaves you,
And you got a tale to tell.
Just take a walk down lonely street
To heartbreak hotel.
Where you will be lonely baby,
Where you will be lonely,
You’ll be so lonely you could die
1:22 Verse 5:
Guitar solo followed by piano solo
1:43 Verse 6:
And although it’s always crowded,
You still can nd some room
For broken-hearted lovers
To cry away their gloom.
Heartbreak is so lonely baby,
Heartbreak so lonely,
Heartbreak is so lonely they could die
One of the most famous rock and roll groups of all time was The Beatles. This
British group toured the United States in 1964 and changed the face of popular
music and the recording industry from that time forward. The Beatles popularized
the use of electric guitars as the basis of the modern rock band and went on to add
strings, brass, organ, and other instruments to the list of instruments used in rock
performances and recordings. Their use of straight eighth notes on the cymbals
and accents on beats two and four on the snare drum are classic rock and roll
rhythm elements. Most Americans are unaware of the inuence that Chuck Berry
and other American artists had on the style and content of the Beatles’ music.
The Beatles – “I Want To Hold Your Hand”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1_zdt_FNmM
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8.5.3 Rap
Rap is a form of spoken word delivered over a beat. It can be improvised or
written out in advance. The history of rap music is intertwined with the history of
hip hop and even disco music. An excellent history of hip hop and rap can be found
on the Hiphop-Network site linked below.
http://www.hiphop-network.com/articles/general/kurtisblowversionofhiphop.asp
While the origins of rap can be traced back to Africa, rap as we know it came into
being in the Bronx, NY in the 1970s. However, not until the art form was recorded did
it enter the cultural mainstream. One of the rst important rap recordings was the
1979 hit, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang. Kurtis Blow (Kurt Walker, born
August 9, 1959) is the rst rapper to sign with a major record label. “The Breaks,” a
single from his 1980 debut album, is the rst certied gold record rap song.
Kurtis Blow - “The Breaks” (1980)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAk2wlv1N1I
By the 1990s, rap had evolved in-
to a more sophisticated musical style
featuring complex rhythms and clev-
er wordplay. The instrumentation of
rap music varies greatly depending
on the artist and, often, the individual
song. Early rap concerts featured DJs
creating beats on turntables, which
allowed the DJ to create music on the
spot by playing and manipulating re-
cords. One well-known technique on
the turntables is scratching, or im-
provising a rhythmic solo on one turntable over a beat.
A Tribe Called Quest is widely considered one of the greatest groups of the so-
called golden age of hip hop during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Listen to the track
below, “Can I Kick It” by A Tribe Called Quest. Like many rap songs, this track
utilizes a technique called “sampling,” in which a clip of a preexisting song is isolat-
ed and looped underneath the rapper (in this case, the bass line for Lou Reed’s Walk
On The Wild Side). The song also features the use of scratching mentioned above.
LISTENING GUIDE
For audio, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71ubKHzujy8
Figure 8.11 | A Tribe Called Quest
Author | James Chutter
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | CC BY 2.0
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Understanding MUsic PoPUlar MUsic in the United states
Composer: A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife
Dawg, Jarobi White)
Composition: “Can I Kick It”
Date: 1990
Genre: Rap
Form: Verse-chorus
Nature of Text: recited to a steady beat
Performing Forces: Rap vocals over looped music backdrop incorporating a
variety of musical samples from previous recordings
Rappers: Q-tip and Phife Dawg
What we want you to remember about this composition:
• Listen for the verse-chorus form
• The rst verse features clever wordplay, with the last word of each
phrase rhyming. Notice how the last syllable of each line slowly
evolves from words like “cuz” and “fuzz” to “rug” and “hug” and
nally to “love” and “shove.”
• In the second verse, most of the phrases rhyme on the sound “ayer”
as in “layer”or “player”
Timing Performing
Forces
Text and Form
0:00 Q-tip Chorus or “Hook”:
Hey y’all, we is havin’ a ball
And you know they ask me to get on the MIC
And they ask me
Can I kick it? Word yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Well I’m gone, gone
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Understanding MUsic PoPUlar MUsic in the United states
Q-tip Verse 1:
Can I kick it? To all the people who can Quest like A
Tribe does
Before this, did you really know what live was?
Comprehend to the track, for it’s why cuz
Gettin measures on the tip of the vibers
Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz
Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug
If you feel the urge to freak, do the jitterbug
Come and spread your arms if you really need a hug
Afrocentric living is a big shrug
A life lled with fun that’s what I love
A lower plateau is what we’re above
If you diss us, we won’t even think of
Will Nipper the doggy give a big shove?
This rhythm really ts like a snug glove
Like a box of positives it’s a plus, love
As the Tribe ies high like a dove
0:13 Phife Dawg Verse 1:
Can I kick it? To all the people who can Quest like A
Tribe does
Before this, did you really know what live was?
Comprehend to the track, for it’s why cuz
Gettin measures on the tip of the vibers
Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz
Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug
If you feel the urge to freak, do the jitterbug
Come and spread your arms if you really need a hug
Afrocentric living is a big shrug
A life lled with fun that’s what I love
A lower plateau is what we’re above
If you diss us, we won’t even think of
Will Nipper the doggy give a big shove?
This rhythm really ts like a snug glove
Like a box of positives it’s a plus, love
As the Tribe ies high like a dove
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Understanding MUsic PoPUlar MUsic in the United states
0:50
Phife Dawg Hook:
Can I kick it? Can I kick it?
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Can I kick it? Yes you can
Well I’m gone, gone
8.6 FOLK MUSIC
Folk music is a broad term used to describe
a wide variety of musical forms that developed
within dierent cultures, often for dierent rea-
sons. American folk music varies widely depend-
ing on the region, but most American folk music
was inuenced by the European and African cul-
tures from which many Americans descended. We
will explore some of the more popular forms of
folk music and folk-inspired music. Folk music in
America largely developed from a combination of
music from the British Isles and other European
regions and music brought here by African slaves.
Folk music often uses the form known as the bal-
lad. Ballads most often tell a story that usually
contains a moral or lesson.
Listen to this recording of the Scottish/English
ballad “Barbara Allen.”
Joan Baez performing “Barbara Allen”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqHJ4V893e0
Work songs often helped groups of people (including slaves) perform phys-
ical work. The music usually uses the tempo of the work itself and was sung by
lumberjacks, railroad workers, and prison chain gangs, among others.
Listen to this recording of a Texas prison chain gang singing “Let the Hammer
Reign” as they chop down trees. This piece is very similar to how slaves would sing
while working on Southern plantations. Its compositional and style traits include
the following: it uses a “Call and Response” technique, where a lead singer sings a
line and then the group follows him with their response; it uses a simple melody;
its instrumentation is only vocal; it possesses thicker texture (several singers);
Figure 8.12 | Woody Guthrie
Author | Al Aumuller
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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Understanding MUsic PoPUlar MUsic in the United states
its tempo is constant and matched to the speed of the axes; and its dynamics are
fairly constant.
Prison chain gang – “Let the Hammer Reign”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFSlw8LlIw0
Children’s songs also have a purpose, usually to teach a simple lesson. They
are, therefore, simple to sing and easy to remember. In the case of “ABC Song,” its
lesson helped children remember the twenty-six letters of the alphabet.
The “ABC Song”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75p-N9YKqNo
Protest songs are written to directly, or by suggestion, voice complaints
about some injustice. Listen to Bob Dylan perform his composition “Blowin’ in the
Wind,” a protest song written in the 1970s to indirectly protest social injustice and
the Vietnam War. Its compositional and stylistic elements include the following:
it uses the same music for each verse, its melody is simple, its instrumentation is
voice and guitar, its texture is thin, and its tempo and dynamics are constant.
Bob Dylan – “Blowin’ in the Wind”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l4nVByCL44
Dance music is folk music written for dancing. It’s that simple! The instru-
mentation of various types of folk dance music varies with the style. Acoustic in-
struments were used before the 1950s simply because electric and electronic in-
struments didn’t yet exist. Its compositional and stylistic components include the
following: the form is almost always a repeating form; sometimes dance music
comprises song with words while at other times, it is just instrumental; its form is
almost always a repeating form; the dynamics are usually loud in order to be heard
in a dance hall or other large space.
Below are links to three examples of dierent dance forms: a two-step, a waltz,
and a square dance.
Gil Tanner & the Skillet Lickers, “Soldiers Joy”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd54F6bVvwo
Country Waltz
Ernest Tubb, “Waltz Across Texas”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK_qrg4Jz20
Square Dance
The Chuckwagen Team, “Golden Reel”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0zVE1ICidc
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8.7 COUNTRY MUSIC
Like many musical terms discussed in this chapter,
Country Music has come to dene a broad variety of
musical styles encompassing Bluegrass, Hillbilly Music,
and Contemporary Country among others. Generally
speaking, most types of music that fall under this cate-
gory originated in the American South (although it also
encompasses Western Swing and cowboy songs) and
features a singing style with a distinctly rural southern
accent, as well as an instrumentation that favors string
instruments such as the banjo, guitar, or ddle.
Bluegrass music is a variation of country mu-
sic that developed largely in the Appalachian region; it
features ddle, guitar, mandolin, bass guitar, and the
ve-string banjo. Often associated with Appalachia,
bluegrass combines many of the song forms that are common in the region’s Scot-
tish/English musical heritage. For example, bluegrass blends the Scottish/English
ballad with blues inections. Some bluegrass songs are fast instrumental pieces
featuring amazing technique by the performers. Listen to Ricky Skaggs and the
Bluegrass Thunder perform via the link below.
Ricky Skaggs, “Bluegrass Breakdown”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZIHSXpmilw
Hillbilly music was an alternative to the jazz and dance music of the 1920s.
It was portrayed as wholesome and as the music of the “good old days.” Nashville’s
Grand Ole Opry radio show became a very successful weekly network radio broad-
cast heard nationwide. Noticing an opportunity, record companies soon opened
oces in Nashville. Country music became a source of big money for producers,
song writers, and artists.
The Hillbillies – “Cluck Old Hen” 1927
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qizwcdHAWNU
Honky-tonk music developed as Hillbilly music went west to entertain in sa-
loons called “honky tonks.” Many of the songs dealt with subjects associated with
honky tonks, such as indelity and drinking. Although the rst use of the term “honky
tonk” referred to a ragtime-like piano style, it later came to refer to a country combo
style that became quite popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Duane Eddy’s combo ex-
ample of the honky-tonk style shows a more modern variation of honky-tonk:
Hank Williams – “Honky Tonkin’” 1948
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88XvpkHS4UE
Figure 8.13 | Hank Williams
Author | WSM radio
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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Understanding MUsic PoPUlar MUsic in the United states
Western Music refers to music composed about the Great American West,
such as the cowboy songs heard in movies of the 1930s and 1940s by singers such
as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.
One variation of this genre, Western swing, developed in Austin, Texas and
other western cities and borrowed instruments from the dance band (saxophones,
trombones, trumpets, piano, bass, and drums).
Mitch Ballard & The Western Swing Machine, “Ace in the Hole”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQawiRq-QDk
Contemporary country music has become a mixture of rock rhythm sec-
tions and a singer singing with a country accent about many of the same topics that
traditional country singers have used over the decades. Contemporary country art-
ists often use electric guitars, electric steel guitar, electric bass, keyboards (often
synthesizers), and drum set. Country music is still big business, selling millions of
units per year. Watch and listen to the Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert
performance linked below:
Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert, “Something Bad”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RfT2KqPCoI
8.8 MUSIC FOR THE STAGE
Although music has been part of dramatic performances at least as far back as
ancient Greece, American musical theatre has its own unique style, which devel-
oped from several earlier forms. The term musical theatre refers to a type of
dramatic performance that tells a story through dialogue, with singing and danc-
ing added to support and move the plot along. This diers from opera, which is
presented purely through song, without any spoken word.
One precursor to modern
musical theatre is the minstrel
show. The rst distinctly Amer-
ican form of theatre, minstrelsy
was developed in the nineteenth
century and featured white per-
formers in blackface perform-
ing in a variety show of sorts.
These three-act shows featured
stock characters singing songs,
performing in skits, and telling
jokes. They often depicted black
characters as happy participants
in romanticized versions of the
Figure 8.14 | West Side Story
Author | Fred Fehl
Source | Wikimedia Commons
License | Public Domain
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Understanding MUsic PoPUlar MUsic in the United states
American slave south. One of the most well-known songwriters of minstrel music
was Stephen Foster. Listen to his song Camptown Races, which depicts a group
of men in a “camp town” (a community of transients) who bet on horses to try to
make money.
Stephen Foster – “Camptown Races” (sung by Al Jolson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tuu5YtkPIo
Foster was one of the rst Americans to make a living as a professional song-
writer, a feat which would become common in the twentieth century. Minstrelsy
continued into the twentieth century and eventually evolved into other forms such
as vaudeville, which featured variety shows with music, comedy, and talent acts.
Although minstrelsy is now regarded by many as a remnant of the racism of the
past, it was responsible for many songs that are still part of our repertory.
8.8.1 Early Broadway: Operettas
Operetta evolved in Europe in the middle of the nineteenth century and grew
out of the French opéra comique tradition. An operetta can be characterized as
“light opera” in which the focus is the music, but with less complex music than op-
era. Although not as technically demanding as opera, operettas typically required
the use of classically trained singers. The operetta was popularized in America most
famously by Victor Herbert, who wrote works at the beginning of the twentieth
century. Operetta is important as a direct precursor to modern musical theatre.
Listen to Victor Herbert’s “Ah Sweet Mystery of Life” from Naughty Marietta.
Victor Herbert – “Ah Sweet Mystery of Life” from Naughty Marietta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xpKeabZlEs
8.8.2 Broadway Musical
During the twentieth century, the operetta slowly gave way to a more cut-and-
dry, vernacular American musical theatre style, which continues today. Modern
musical theatre (also known as the Broadway musical) integrated a cohesive
plot with songs and dances that advanced that plot. This more direct musical style
reected the American audiences of the twentieth century, who were less interest-
ed in the formal, Victorian style of the operetta.
Musicals are stage shows with music, acting, costumes, sets, and dance. They
are closely related to opera and are an American art form, though they are also pop-
ular in parts of Europe. Some successful musicals were later turned into movies.
Musicals usually use a full Romantic orchestra and often add synthesizer sounds
as well. Listen to and watch the following segment from one of the most successful
musical productions in Broadway history.
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Phantom of the Opera - “All I Ask of You”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxs7qevmy50
The rst half of the twentieth century marked the heyday of the Broadway mu-
sical, with shows like Oklahoma!, South Pacic, and The Sound of Music among
many others. Broadway refers to the main thoroughfare in midtown Manhattan
that serves as the theater district for New York City. To this day, it is considered
the highest level of musical theatre in the United States and is home to the most
popular shows in the country. Composers such as Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers,
Oscar Hammerstein, and Irving Berlin composed hundreds of tunes for Broad-
way shows that are now considered American classics. Listen to the examples be-
low from Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! from 1943.
Rogers and Hammerstein – Oklahoma!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C6J9gij5SQ
Listen to the example below of West Side Story from 1957, written by Leonard
Bernstein. Bernstein, who was conductor of the New York Philharmonic, com-
posed West Side Story as a depiction of Romeo and Juliet set in New York City.
The musical dramatized the tensions between white and Puerto Rican street gangs,
and updated the famous Shakespeare story for twentieth-century audiences. The
music was also groundbreaking for its sophistication, use of modern harmonies,
and incorporation of Latin music and jazz.
LISTENING GUIDE
For audio, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6wo2wpT2k
Composer: Leonard Bernstein
Composition: America from West Side Story
Date: 1957
Genre: Broadway Musical
Form: Verse-chorus
Nature of Text: The Puerto-Rican characters lament on the dream of living as
an immigrant in America versus the reality.
Performing Forces: Orchestra with solo vocals and chorus
What we want you to remember about this composition:
• The piece is written in mixed meter, alternating between 6/8 time
and 3/4 time
• It features Latin American rhythms and percussion
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Timing Performing Forces Text and Form
2:00 Percussion enters
behind dialogue
Introduction
Puerto Rico
My heart’s devotion
Let it sink back in the ocean
Always the hurricanes blowing
Always the population growing
And the money owing
And the sunlight streaming
And the natives steaming
I like the island Manhattan
Smoke on your pipe
And put that in
2:20 Anita Chorus:
Chorus: I like to be in America
Okay by me in America
Everything free in America
Bernardo: For a small fee in America
3:06 Chorus and Bernardo Verse
Anita: Buying on credit is so nice
Bernardo: One look at us and they charge twice
Rosalia: I’ll have my own washing machine
Indio: What will you have though to keep clean?
0:50 Exchange of lines
between various
characters
Chorus
Anita: Skyscrapers bloom in America
Rosalia: Cadillacs zoom in America
Teresita: Industry boom in America
Boys: Twelve in a room in America
3:31 Exchange of lines
between various
characters
Verse
Anita: Lots of new housing with more space
Bernardo: Lots of doors slamming in our face
Anita: I’ll get a terrace apartment
Bernardo: Better get rid of your accent
3:45 Exchange of lines
between various
characters
Chorus
Anita: Life can be bright in America
Boys: If you can ght in America
Girls: Life is all right in America
Boys: If you’re all white in America
Girls: Here you are free and you have pride
Boys: Long as you stay on your own side
Girls: Free to be anything you choose
Boys: Free to wait tables and shine shoes
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3:57 Exchange of lines
between choruses of
boys and girls
Dance Break
Boys: La, la, la, la, la, America
America
La, la, la, la, la, America
America
4:08 Orchestra Verse
Girls: Here you are free and you have pride
Boys: Long as you stay on your own side
Girls: Free to be anything you choose
Boys: Free to wait tables and shine shoes
4:50 Exchange of lines
between choruses of
boys and girls
5:02 Bernardo and Anita Chorus
Bernardo: Everywhere grime in America
Organized crime in America
Terrible time in America
Anita: You forget I’m in America
5:16 Orchestra Dance Break
N/A
5:54 Bernardo and Anita Verse
Bernardo: I think I’ll go back to San Juan
Anita: I know what boat you can get on
Bernardo: Everyone there will give big cheers
Anita: Everyone there will have moved here
8.8.3 American Opera
Although not a true opera in the strict sense, George Gershwin’s “folk op-
era” Porgy and Bess is considered one of the great American operatic works of the
century. The story is set in a tenement in Charleston, South Carolina. Based on
DuBose Heyward’s novel Porgy, the opera incorporated classically trained black
singers to depict the tragic love story between the two main title characters. Gersh-
win based the music for the opera on elements of folk music, drawing on southern
black musical style such as the blues and spirituals. Drawing on the nineteenth
century opera tradition, Gershwin made use of leitmotifs to represent people or
places. Near the beginning of the opera, we hear the famous aria “Summertime,”
which depicts the hot, hazy atmosphere in which the story is set.
George Gershwin – “Summertime”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7-Qa92Rzbk
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8.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY
The musical styles that have developed in the United States are as varied as
the people who live here. In this chapter, we learned that ragtime, New Orleans
jazz, and the blues are all critical to the creation and growth of the popular music
we enjoy today. We learned about the emphasis on rhythm inherited from African
roots, and that syncopation refers to accented notes that are not on the beat. We
also learned that from the country’s colonial beginnings to the present day, the
musical, societal, and cultural establishment has not always approved of popular
music—particularly ragtime, blues, and jazz.
Scott Joplin and others developed the distinct style that was called “ragtime,”
which contributed, along with other African American music styles to the forma-
tion of jazz in and around New Orleans. We saw Louis Armstrong rise to interna-
tional fame as a jazz performer, recording artist, and movie star. This was followed
by the “big bands” of the 1930s and 1940s, and later the small groups, or combos
that performed the highly sophisticated music known as bebop. We discussed the
evolution of rhythm and blues (R&B) into modern R&B and learned to identify rap
music as a style based on two central elements; a strong rhythmic beat and lyrics.
We explored the wide variety of folk songs in America. We also learned that folk
music in America largely developed from music of the British Isles and Europe, as
well as the music brought here by African slaves. We also investigated how rock
music incorporated the blues and an emphasis on beats two and four borrowed
from jazz to create an exciting new music that appealed to the youth culture.
In the realm of country music, we learned about bluegrass music, which devel-
oped largely in the Appalachian region, as well as honky-tonk and hillbilly music,
both of which were variations of country music. We examined Western swing as a
subset of country music that often uses dance band instruments, and recognized
contemporary country music as a mixture of rock and country styles.
America was also home to a wide variety of styles of musical theatre. From
the minstrel songs of Stephen Foster, which gloried the plantation South, to the
operettas of Victor Herbert, which dominated musical theatre at the turn of the
nineteenth century, America has a rich history of song and dance. Today, Amer-
ican musical theatre takes the form of the Broadway musical, which features a
strong plot conveyed through dialogue and supported by song and dance. We also
discussed American opera in the form of Gershwin’s folk opera, Porgy and Bess.
The importance of American popular music of the twentieth century cannot be
overstated. Genres such as rock and roll and rap have now been exported around
the globe. At their root, all forms of American popular music have been inuenced
by the blues, and thus owe their existence to the cultural contributions of African
Americans. Although America was not yet discovered during much of the early
development of Western art music, we have contributed much to the culture of the
world in a relatively short span of time.
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8.10 GLOSSARY
Ballads – a song form used often in folk music, which is used to tell a story that usually
contains a moral or lesson.
Bebop - a style of small group jazz developed in the late 1940s, which featured fast moving
harmonies, angular melodies, and highly complex rhythms
Big Band – large jazz ensembles (15-20 members) popular in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The
term “Big Band” also refers to the era in which these bands were popular.
Bluegrass – a variation of country music featuring ddle, guitar, mandolin, bass guitar,
and the ve-string banjo that developed largely in the Appalachian region
Blues – a style of music that, at the turn of the twentieth century, began to form out of
African American work songs, eld hollers, and spirituals. Today, the word “blues”
is used loosely and can refer to feeling sad or down, to any song played in a bluesy
style, or more specically, to a song that follows a blues form, which is a twelve-bar
strophic song form.
Broadway Musical – a style of Musical Theatre, which integrated a cohesive plot with
songs and dances that advanced that plot. Broadway specically refers to the street
of the same name in New York City that became known for this style.
Children’s Song – a type of folk song designed to teach a simple lesson. They are often
simple to sing and easy to remember.
Contemporary Country – a mixture of rock rhythm sections and a singer singing with a
country accent about many of the same topics that traditional country singers have
used over the decades.
Contemporary R&B – generally refers to music with jazz, gospel, and funk roots that
uses electronic instruments, drums, horns, and vocals.
Country Music – a term describing a broad variety of musical styles including Bluegrass,
Hillbilly Music, and Contemporary Country. Generally speaking, most types of
music that fall under this category originated in the American South (although it
also encompasses Western Swing and cowboy songs) and features a singing style
with a distinctly rural southern accent, as well as an instrumentation that favors
string instruments such as the banjo, guitar, or ddle.
Dance Music – music written for dancing. The instrumentation of various types of folk
dance music varies with the style.
Dixieland – an early form of jazz developed in New Orleans during the turn of the
twentieth century featuring syncopated rhythms, improvised solos and harmonies,
as well as a common instrumentation that included trumpet, clarinet, saxophone,
trombone, tuba, banjo, piano, guitar, and drums.
Folk Music – a term used to describe a wide variety of musical forms that developed
within dierent cultures, often for dierent reasons. Folk music is often passed
down not through written music, but orally from one generation to another.
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Hillbilly Music – an early form of country music, Hillbilly Music was an alternative to
the jazz and dance music of the 1920s and was portrayed as wholesome music of
the “good old days.”
Honky Tonk Music – a country combo style that became quite popular in the 1940s and
1950s. Originally performed in saloons known as “honky tonks,’ many of the songs
dealt with subjects associated with honky tonks such as indelity and drinking.
Improvisation – the act of creating melodies and harmonies on the spot without reading
the music o a page.
Minstrel Show – an American form of theatre developed in the nineteenth century
and featuring white performers in blackface performing in a variety show, which
depicted black characters as happy participants in romanticized versions of the
American slave south.
Musical Theatre – a type of dramatic performance that tells a story through dialogue,
with singing and dancing added to support and move the plot along.
New Orleans Jazz – (see Dixieland)
Operetta – a “light opera” developed in the nineteenth century that required classically
trained singers, but featured less complex music than a typical opera.
Protest Song – a type of folk song written to directly, or by suggestion, voice complaints
about some injustice.
Ragtime – a musical genre developed near the turn of the twentieth century that featured
syncopated rhythms. The style became nationally popular after being widely
published as sheet music.
Rap – a form of spoken word delivered over a beat. It can be improvised or written out in
advance.
Rhythm and Blues (R&B) – a term originally referring to music recorded by black
musicians and intended for use by the African American community. The term has
evolved throughout the years and encompasses several dierent musical styles,
including soul, funk and now contemporary R&B.
Rock and Roll – a style of music that grew out of Rhythm and Blues and came into
prominence during the 1950s. The style features a strong backbeat and often
features electric guitar, bass and drums. The style is now known as “rock” has
spawned many subgenres.
Sampling – a technique in which a clip of a preexisting song is isolated and looped, often
as a background for a rapper
Scratching – the technique of improvising a rhythmic solo on one turntable over a beat
Swing – a term used to describe the rhythmic bounce that characterizes the jazz style. The
term can also refer to the big band music of the 1930s and 1940s.
Syncopation – the act of disrupting the normal pattern of accents in a piece of music by
emphasizing what would normally be weak beats.
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Western Swing – a style of country music that developed in western cities and borrowed
instruments from the dance band such as saxophones, trombones, trumpets,
piano, bass, and drums.
Work Songs – a type of folk song devised to help groups of people perform physical work.
The music usually uses the tempo of the work itself and was sung by lumberjacks,
railroad workers, and prison chain gangs, among others.
