History_of_Popular_Music_Study_and_Discussion

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Concordia University *

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200

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Arts Humanities

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Jan 9, 2024

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History of Popular Music Study and Discussion Group: # 1 Team Members: Sean H, Ahmed H, Rebekah T, Isaiah C DUE DATE : 12 NOON ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14TH, 2020 Question and Answers Chapter 3: 1) What role did minstrelsy play in the development of popular music and culture in america? Minstrelsy helped bring african american music into the white population. It helped shape the blues into what it became. Especially when black minstrelsy came into the mix. There was a dilemma for the black performers as it gave a sense of authenticity but at the cost of enforcing those racist stereotypes. 3) What are the musical qualities of the blues? The basics of the blues is it was common to include bent notes, usually the flattened third, fifth or seventh note in a scale. Like a great musician said “that's where blueseness lives”. There are often many parts where the performer improvises. It usually has a basic 12 bar progression. 9) What type of musical styles did the blues influence? Why did the blues affect so many popular music styles? Blues help make jazz, often called the american classical music. It helped spawn gospel music and country, and of course Rock n roll. Blues was so influential because it represented the opposing voice that resisted racism and segregation and refused to be silenced. Its messages were simple and clear. It helped people express themselves and create the many genres of music we have today. Chapter 4: 2) What historical and musical events shaped the development of the style? Jazz was born in New Orleans and in the turn of the twentieth century. Latan music and African American culture played a huge role and was a dormant force in the creation of jazz. African American innovators like Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton influenced a bunch of white musicians including Bix Beiderbecke and Benny Goodman. Kansas City was an important center of jazz innovation for a time and produced great musicians like Lester Young and Charlie Parker. Kansas City’s contributions to jazz style included jam sessions and the use of riffs. The development of jazz vocal traditions overall was shaped by Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgereld. 4) Why was Louis Armstrong called the father of jazz improvisation? What other important contributions did he make to jazz? Louis Armstrong was called the father of jazz improvisation because his technical ability on the trumpet was unsurpassed. He was the first great soloist in jazz history, making improvised solos the centerpiece of jazz. He was also one of the first jazz musicians to develop a swing approach to rhythm that abandoned the stiffness of ragtime, and he demonstrated ingenious phrasing and use of syncopation. His vocal style reshaped American popular singing and influenced many singers, including Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. He also popularized scat singing. Chapter 5: 5) What are the origins and significance of the bel canto style of popular singing? Originating in the late 16th century in Italy, bel canto was a popular style of singing that involved using a small dynamic range. The main focus was to have control over the intensity of the vocals, as well as clarity when

singing the lyrics. It became less popular after the 19th century as opera singing became more focused on intense vocals. 7) What is Stephen Foster’s place in American popular music? Stephen Foster is well known as the “father of American music”, and for writing over 200 minstrel and parlor songs, including many popular ones such as “Oh! Susanna”, “Camptown Races” and “Beautiful Dreamer”. Chapter 6: 2) How did new technologies affect the music industry at the turn of the twentieth century? Technology played a very vital and fundamental part in carrying mainstream music to people's homes. The innovation of the phonograph and gramophone in the late nineteenth century empowered the generation and mass dissemination of sound recordings for the first time ever. The creation of the reel-to-reel recording device and the advancement of vinyl records during the 1940s definitely improved this process. The after war commonness of radio enormously affected famous music, with radio airplay of mainstream tunes advancing record deals. Not only that, technology also affected music production in general, new sounds and instruments were discovered like the percussion and the electric guitar which are used in today’s music industry. 8) What contributions did Jewish Americans, African Americans, Latinos, and women make to Broadway and the golden age of American popular song? Jewish migrants, especially from Central and Eastern Europe, assumed a focal part in the music business during the mid-20th century as writers, lyricists, entertainers, publishers, and advertisers. Some of the several Jewish entertainers who worked the vaudeville circuit proceeded to become significant big names on Broadway and in Hollywood: Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker are some examples. Various African American writers additionally made enduring commitments to American popular music, including Clarence Williams, Spencer Williams, Ma-chief Pinkard, James P. Johnson, Henry Creamer, J. Turner Layton, and Shelton Brooks. Most were individuals from ASCAP just as the Clef Club, an expert association for African American performers in New York. Following the lead of numerous other Tin Pan Alley essayists, Clarence Williams likewise began his own music distributing house and for all intents and purposes hoarded early blues and jazz distribution during the 1920s. Starting when the new century rolled over, dark arrangers and entertainers created shows that occasionally developed on Broadway. The endorsement of U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans in 1917 and expanded migration extended the Latin hint in Tin Pan Alley, and by the mid-1920s numerous musicals had at any rate one melody with a Latin theme. Despite the fact that men ruled the music business, few female writers and lyricists made significant commitments to American popular songs. The best female musician of the time was lyricist Dorothy Fields. 10) What social and musical developments contributed to the decline in the popularity of Tin Pan Alley styles? The Tin Pan Alley song style changed little for over 50 years. Nearly 300,000 mainstream tunes were copyrighted from 1900 to 1950, and New York City filled in as the business community for the standard type of American famous tune all through the period. The Tin Pan Alley style joined components of past ages of American tune, new thoughts from European traditional music, and advancements from African American and Latin music to deliver the absolute best melodies throughout the entire existence of American well known music. By the 1950s, notwithstanding, the disposition of American mainstream music had changed, and Tin Pan Alley began to lose its imaginative edge. Through predictable reiteration of demonstrated examples, the business step by step lost the consideration of the pop crowd. Ways to deal with tune piece additionally changed in the post–World War II years as vocalist/musicians started to compose their own material, and new melodic styles R and B, rock, and country became the overwhelming focus. The ascent of radio and film and the consistent urbanization of the populace added to the decrease of Tin Pan Alley.

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