Chapter 33: American Popular Music to World War II

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

• 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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