America changes from an agricultural society to an urban society ---> leasure time

technology: gramophone, telephone

ragtime 

Women's suffrage
WWI

technology: airplane, automobile

blues/ folk 

Roaring 20's, Prohibition, Flappers/ Speakeasies, The Crash

technology: radio, records

dixieland jazz, boogie woogie

Great Depression, Prohibition ends, Dust bowl/ California

technology: jukebox, talkies

big band jazz

WWII, Baby boom begins, Industrial might, Seeds of the Cold war

technology: jets/ rockets, television

small jazz bands, electric guitar

notes follow the letters of the alphabet from A-G

the bottom line in the bass clef is g, the space above it an A, and so fourth

in the treble clef, the botom line is an E, the space above it is an F, and so fourth

a bar line seperates written music into smaller segments

a bar is completed when the number of beats indicated in the top number of the time signature has been reached

associated with a specific scale known as the 12-Bar Blues

text form: AAB

the blues was a way for African Americans to express their feelings without fear or reprisal 

the harmonic progression for the 12-Bar Blues is:

I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I

most popular music in America during the 20's and 30's

makes great use of improvision

instrumentation for Dixieland and Big Band Jazz

began in a time of increasing racial tension in the United States. Rock performers did much to fan the flames of controversy 

lasted for only about four years

1955-59

• Elvis going into the army
• Chuck Berry's arrest
• Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 14-year old cousin
• the death of Buddy Holly (and others) in a plane crash
• Little Richard quits music for ministry 
• "Payola Scandal" 

an investigation by Congress into the practice of record company payments to DJ's and radio executives in return for airplay of certain records

ruins the career of DJ Alan Freed

"The Twist"

this era saw an increase in the importance of music  songwriters/ producers

some important producers during this era were Don Kershner, Phil Spector, Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller

Enlgish bands covering the music of earlier American blues and rhythm, and blues artists

The Rolling Stones began as one of these bands

originally known as the "Quarry Men" a group influenced by the Blues and Elvis

made their first impact on the US in 1964, not only with the music but the look, fashion, and humor they displayed

led by the beatles, aslo including the rolling stones, the kinks, the animals, and herman's hermits

american media portrays the beatles as the "good boys" and the rolling stones as the "bad boys"

begin to develop a more complex, studio based sound

also developing more complex forms for pop music

has a long tradition in the United States, with text focusing on the trials of the oppressed

folk music of the 1960's was rooted in the civil rights and  anti-war protest movements

it was promoted in cafes and coffee houses of large eastern cities; this was an extention of the "beat" movement of the 1950's

folk music was performed on acoustic instruments most entirely, until Bob Dylan "electrified" his sound in the Newport Folk Festival of 1965

Dylan's influence of The Beatles led them to write lyrics with more poetic depth

The Beatles influenced Dylan and other folk artists to experiment with a wider range of instruments 

an Italian musical term meaning stubborn or obstinate 

it means a repeating melodic or harmonic figure

soul music grew out of the gospel music tradition

"doo-wop" was an extension of the gospel quartet

it was named because of the nonsense syllables often used to give the music rhythmic interest

the artists of motown had a very cultured presentation; long gowns and gloves for women, suit and ties for men

Berry Gordy, the founder of motown, coached his artists in diction, appearance, and manners

Berry Gordy liked to have a child star, this is how Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5 started

introduced many "unknown" artists to the American audience

The Who, and Jimi Hendrix introduce a new level of "theatricality" to live rock performance with their antics at Montery

protests against the ecscalation in the Vietnam War, and Civil Rights marches continued 

violent confrontations became more commonplace, culminating in the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968

the ultimate celebration of the 1960's hippie lifestyle; a celebration of peace, racial harmony, free love and drug use

the festival ran the gamut from traditional folk to acid rock

1. adaptions of pre-existing classical music for rock instruments

2. newly composed works that borrowed classical forms and styles

a story set entirely to music, almost always completely sung

recitative- the part of an opera that moves the plot along

aria- longer songs that reflect on what has just occured

opera composers use specific terminology

was also called "fusion" because it borrowed musical elements from other types of music, such as country and jazz

two types of jazz fusion:

1. rock music played by instruments often associated with a jazz band

2. jazz music played by rock instruments

a time of musical experimentation, particularly with the use of electronic instruments

traces its origins back to post WWII Europe when discotheques played music for dancers because no bands were available

in the 1970's the trend again came from Europe with recorded music being played for dancers as a cost-cutting measure

first popular in the United States in urban areas, and had its earliest followers in the Hispanic, African-American and Gay communities 

funk has a slower tempo: 84-100 BPM

"true" disco has a tempo of 110-140 BPM

in disco, the bass drum will often play heavily on each beat of the bar

in funk, the bass drum usually plays only beats 1 and 3, just as in most rock and roll

british and american

the punk movement was a philosophical continuation of the beat movement

punk music emphasizes the return of the traditional pop song format: VCVCBC

changed the way music is produced, peformed, and heard forever

MIDI- musical instrument digital interface

digital recording/ sampling

CD's- compact disc

changes the way music is heard by providing a medium for listening that was a vast improvement over anything previously available 

the discs contain virtually none of the defects inherent in analog media (hiss, degradation, wow and flutter) and are nearly indestructible

which began broadcasting in 1981, forever changed the way music was marketed

Robert Pittman, the creator of MTV, for the first time aided the importance of the way a song "looked" in getting the public to buy a recording

the rhythmic patter of words, rhymes, or poetry over a musical background, emerged form African Griot, American gospel sermons, beat poetry, and jamaican reggae

rap poetry soon took on political and social causes and became a powerful form of protest music for African Americans