Rhythm
refers to the ways musical sounds are organized in time
Melody
a sequence of notes, the main tune (One’s w/ big jumps in notes tend to be emotional melodies)
Harmony
two or more notes played at the same time
Tone Color
(raspy vs. clear)
Simple Verse
A form that employs only verses (ex. Rocket 88)
12-Bar Blues
Structural pattern that consists of twelve groups of four-beat measures
AABA
First two 8-bar phrases are similar and the third is contrasting, the fourth is similar to the first two (A-8mm,A-8mm,B-8mm,A-8mm); (ex. Over the Rainbow)
Simple Verse-Chorus
a single musical pattern is used as the basis for both verses and choruses in a song (ex. Can the Circle Be Unbroken)
Contrasting Verse-Chorus
when verses and choruses of a song employ different music: may include a bridge or non-repeated section of music (ex. That’ll be the Day)
Drums & Percussion
rhythm section that forms a solid foundation for soloists. They control the tempo, meter, and ‘feel’
Snare and Bass- played at slower intervals, seem to be dialogue with each other
High hat cymbal- used for fastest notes, played in regular stream
Electric Bass
locks in w/ drummer to provide by notes to chord progression played by guitar/keyboard
Used to use upright bass but then electric took over except for jazz and country
Rhythm Guitar & Keyboards
fleshes out harmonic dimensions by playing full chords.
R. Guitar can be played in acoustic or electric guitar- A. guitar replace drums. R. Guitar complements bass/drums
Lead Singers & Backup Vocals
does the melodic dimensions and deliver lyrics in convincing manner. Backup vocals are usually coordinated.
Instrumental Solos
creates contrast and refreshes singer
Horns and Strings
gives a little more punch by making it sound bigger and more elegant. Usually saved for the end of a track and have to stay out of rhythm and singers’ ways
The Influence of Technology
internet made it possible to buy CD’s online (started Amazon), then listeners began to share electronic files (Napster)- it allowed for easier access and listening to stuff they normally wouldn’t have but it was illegal and decentralized label companies and musicians lost money. Then apple created a music manager, ipod, and then itunes store. Physical purchase drastically with online files.
Amy Winehouse
Influences- soul, girl sound of 1960’s, thread to black styles, Aretha Franklin’s ripping voice
Success- contemporary but reminded people of older styles, full lush sound
Image-
Wilco Background
Jeff Tweedy from Uncle Tupelo’s (responsible for Alt. Country) created Wilco in 1990’s. They became Indie Rock.
Wilco Style
Country music beat, steel guitar, lazy voice, integrated noise and other musical forms, unpredictable, took Jeff’s writing and made it obtuse/abstract. (I’m trying to Break Your Heart”- lyrics abstract, piano sounds like wrong notes and noise takes over at the end), experimented with sonic landscapes
Wilco Influences
pulled a lot of things from past, put obvious fragments to show who they borrowed from
Wilco Concept Album
Yankee Hotel Fox Trot used stark Chicago building to show they were different. They were signed to a subsidiary of Warner Records- Warner didn’t like that any of the songs so Wilco leaked the songs so Warner gave them the rights and then Wilco sold it to a Warner subsidiary. It became their biggest selling album to date.
Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers
A Hillbilly Stringband played dance music mixed with minstel humor
Carter Family
(HB) family that was founded by Ralph Pierre. A.P. Carter understood copyright laws so he collected songs from his neighbors and copyrighted them; They defined traditional country music. (Wildflower)
Jimmie Rodgers
(Father of Country Music-HB) He would yodel his blues songs. He was willing to take black and white styles and pull them together. Called them Blues Yodels. Used to be railroad worker, got TB, became musicians-wasn’t reputable. Discovered w/in a week of Carter family by Pierre; from MS. Died and carried from NY to MS on bed car. Louis Armstrong played in his record
Country and Western
southwest Appalachia and west and southwest respectively. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were big western’s biggest stars
Hank Williams Sr.
If you took away the accent and fiddle he sounds like Boogie Woogie Blues. Died of alcohol and drugs. Pure Country (Your Cheatin Heart) Influenced by Roy Acuff and Ernest Tubb; Iconic figure of western and country
Stephen Foster
Wrote “Ethiopain Melodies” “Oh Susannah”
A Famous Minstrel Siner
Minstrel Race Issues
painted faces black and acted like buffoons and highlighted black sterotypes. They’re lyrics were very derogatory (why blacks stopped playing banjos). Humor found in Grand Old Opry and country music
Tin Pan Alley Pop
sheet music industry in district of NY where, got its name from all the musician plunking notes on the piano
Sheet Music
was the principle method of selling music in 20th century
Irving Berlin
Professional songwriter (Wrote White Christmas)- TPA
Bing Crosby
famous Tin Pan Alley singer (Sang White Christmas)
African Musical Traits
-Syncopation
-Swing feel
-Blue notes and Blues Scale
-Rattle and Buzz
-Call and Response
-Improvisation
Syncopation
– putting rhythmic emphasis on something other than the downbeat, instead the back beat. (Prominent in Bluegrass) Pulls at the beat and makes it easy for dancing
Swing Feel
music with a dancing pull
Blue notes and Blues Scale
blues notes come from ‘bending’ the note in between pitches, blues scales sound like blues or Rock n Roll solo. So much dissonance which makes tension which sounds emotional
Rattle and Buzz
a raw dirtying rattle sound (Embira- amde from shells and and gourds; influenced by distorted guitar and snare)
Call and Response
“Well shake it up baby…shake it up baby”- it can be singer instrument or instrument instrument too
Improvisation
the idea of making it up as you go
Spirituals
– religious work songs that hat double meanings like “Wade in the Water)
Bessie Jones and the Sea Island Singers
“Sheep Sheep Don’t ya know”- clapping, call response, R&B, syncopation
12-bar Country blues
12 bars with the same line twice with a third that rhymes
Robert Johnson
not famous until dead, “Cross Roads Blues”- call/response (s&g). Played the slide guitar to create rattle, syncopation
King of the Delta Blues- one of the most influential blues albums ever
Influence of image and music on rock-dug up for rock n roll because they wanted something gritty than the radio crap
WC Handy
blues songwriter; made blues a national thing not just regional
Father of the Blues
Tennessee Chocolate Drops
Louie Bluie, Carl Martin, Ted Bogin; played pop, hoedown, and blues (From Knoxville) Louie was the most famous but all anybody wanted them to play was blues so he dropped.
String Band Music
Classic Blues- Bessie Smith
sang “Down Hearted Blues” with a million sold. From TN but recorded in NY where she could use Jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong. Her career faded as blues fell off radar. She played at minstrel shows. After her success many tried to find a signer to recreate it, which was how Robert Johnson was found.
Chicago Electric Blues
blues music came north because of industrial age: started using electric pickups, country blues to electric blues
Muddy Waters- King of Chicago Blues- call and response
Rhythm and blues
a blues tune with a dance beat, it was grittier than swing
R&B threat
the racial stereotype (Stagger Lee) that black were defiant and sexually driven so people were concerned about their teens. Thought to be on the lookout for virginal white women
Joe Turner
R&B singer
from Kansas City sang My Girl’s a Jockey: swing beat (borrowed boogie woogie bass line from jazz), 12 bar blues and aaba, very sexual
Big Momma Thornton
R&B Singer
sang Ain’t Nothing but a Hound Dog, sexual, didn’t require professionals, oral song
Bill Haley(and the Comets)- Cover Phenomenom
Rock around the Clock, mix of R&B and country. Did a cover of Shake Rattle and Roll by Joe Turner; Haley takes out innuendos, it more ‘clock’ like
Teenagers and Rebellion
teenagers became major consumers in music and therefore started listening to whatever they wanted, which wasn’t the normal family music
Major versus independent record labels
major labels weren’t interested in black music so it was performed for indie labels and when they started to become popular big labels got whites to clean it up and cover it
Radio and Disc Jockeys
White disc jockeys started playing black music late at night and teens were listening (Renegade Disc Jockeys)
Alan Freed
Major person in Disc Jocky movement. The first one to call it rock and roll, switched from r&b to rock and roll (black slang for sex and partying). He played the music on his station
Doo Wop
it was the safest cleanest type of black music, not based on blues, inoffensive to whites, first black music to cross to white charts
Doo Wop Characteristics
got its name from the sounds they made with their voices (replaced instruments) acapella
The Crows
the first Doo Wop to cross. The emphasis is on their voice and the instrument was way in the back
The Chords
Sh’Boom it was a grittier doo-wop but not lyrically offensive (covered by Crew Cuts)
New Orleans Rock ‘n Roll
slave port so a lot of AA musical influences; it was different than the rest of the country and how they viewed race
J Recording Studios
Dave Bartholomew
Domino’s producer
Fats Domino
Popularity- sang r but mixed it with country and made it smoother and safer for whites
Image- warm friendly image that wasn’t going to trigger racial anxiety
Little Richard
Tootie Fruity- gay noveltie song, charismatic
Comparison to Domino- he was very in your face, arrogant and sexual, over the top
Pat Boone
Elvis Presley: Paradox
came back from army and he was not the same musician, he played at Vegas, became flashy
Elvis Presley: Background
Family moved to Memphis when he was 12
went to Sun studios to record songs for mom in LA
Elvis Presley Sun Records
where he started singing ballads but then played r
Elvis Presley: Sam Phillips
owner of Sun studios, he founded Elvis and then sold him
Elvis Presley: Popularity
he was able to be sexual and black because he was white and that was what teens wanted. Alright Momma- first single
Elvis Presley: Scotty and Bill
Electric guitar and upright bass, with Elvis all the way to big label
Elvis Presley: Col. Tom Parker
– manager, could merchandise him more than anyone had ever done (TV, shirts, lipstick, etc.)
Elvis Presley: Move from Sun to RCA
Sam sold him for $30,000 when he became good
Issues of race relating to the title “The King” of Rock ?n Roll
people said he stole black music and that he didn’t event rock, but he did make it a national sensation
Rockabilly
A mix between country and rock
Sun Records artists & Buddy Holly
Sun Records
Elvis Presley
Jerry Lee Lewis
Carl Perkins
Johnny Cash
Jerry Lee Lewis
– image of Little Richards, Sam makes him a star. Piano player, over the top, charismatic. Very dimensional unlike Elvis, he could only do over the top
Carl Perkins
styled after Elvis’s Rockabilly sound at Sun. “Blue Suede Shoes” (covered by Elvis). He wrote his own songs, played the E. guitar, but never made it like Elvis (Elvis was handsome, charismatic, and single)
Buddy Holly
DECA records signed him, smoother than rockabilly, originally country. Innocent face of rock and roll because he died young from a plane crash and never had time to do drugs
Chuck Berry
Chicago R and Rock’n Roll
not from south, went to Chicago. Was his own boss
Chuck Berry: Songwriting
very in touch with what teens wanted
Chess Records
small indie label in Chicago (muddy waters) played a big part in the birth of r&b and rock and roll. (Chuck Berry)
Chuck Berry: Song Style
mixed genres in an obvious way, but Chess didn’t know what to do with it. Ida May(Maybelline) sounded country/wester but had guitar and blues in it
Blueberry Hill
Fat’s Domino
New Orleans Rock ‘n Roll
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Judy Garland
Tin Pan Alley Pop
The Fat Man
Fat’s Domino
New Orleans Rock ‘n Roll
Hound dog
Big Momma Thornton
Rhythm and Blues
That’s Alright Momma
Elvis Presley
Rockbilly
Shake Rattle and Roll (1)
Big Joe Turner
Rhythm and Blues
Johnny Be Good
Chuck Berry
Chicago Rock ‘n Roll
Maybellene
Chuck Berry
Chicago Rack ‘n Roll
Shake Rattle and Roll (2)
Bill Haley and the Comets
Cover Phenomenon
I Can’t Be Satisfied
Muddy Waters
Electric Blues
Gee
The Crows
Doo Wop
Crossroads Blues
Robert Johnson
Country Blues
Waitin’ For A Train
Jimmie Rodgers
Hillbilly