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2010 16

2011
MUSIC
YE
AR
S
IT
HIN
EDITION K,
TH
ER
EFO
RE

CRAM KIT
IC
RA
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MUSIC
AU TH OR
Music of the Jonathan Spatola-Knoll
Great
Depression E DI TOR
Sophy Lee

A L PAC A- I N -C H IE F
Daniel Berdichevsky

® the World
Scholar’s Cup ®

Check out our new AP and SAT Cram Kits


at www.demidec.com
MUSIC
CRAM KIT ®

I. WHAT IS A CRAM KIT?................................................................. 2


II. CRAMMING FOR SUCCESS...........................................................2
III. MUSIC THEORY............................................................................... 3
IV. JAZZ AND BLUES.............................................................................14
V. POPULAR SONG...............................................................................28
VI. CLASSICAL MUSIC.......................................................................... 37
VII. CRUNCH KIT.....................................................................................45
VIII. ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND EDITOR..........................................52

BY EDITED BY
JONATHAN SPATOLA-KNOLL SOPHY LEE
WHITMAN COLLEGE HARVARD UNIVERSITY
OLYMPIA HIGH SCHOOL PEARLAND HIGH SCHOOL

DEDICATED TO MY FORMER COACH


MR. "WILD BILL" CURTIS

© 2010 DEMIDEC

DemiDec, The World Scholar’s Cup, Power Guide, and Cram Kit are registered trademarks of the DemiDec Corporation.
Academic Decathlon and USAD are registered trademarks of the United States Academic Decathlon Association.
DemiDec is not affiliated with the United States Academic Decathlon.
Music Cram Kit | 2

WHAT IS A CRAM KIT?


A Word from the Editor
COMPETITION IS NEARING... STRUCTURE OF A CRAM KIT
The handful of days before competition can be the most The main body of the Cram Kit is filled with charts and
overwhelming. You don’t have enough time to review diagrams for efficient studying. You’ll also find helpful
everything, so a strategic allocation of your resources is quizzes to reinforce the information as you review.
crucial. Cram Kits are designed with one goal in mind—
The Crunch Kit condenses the entire subject into five
to provide you with the most testable and most easily
pages or less of must-know facts. At the very end of the
forgotten facts.
Crunch Kit, you’ll find a series of glossary-like lists to
The Music Exam offers the bittersweet combination of help you distinguish among different names and terms.
some of the easiest points to score (the first 12 listening
Last, but not least, remember to relax. In the final
questions) and some of the most difficult to gain
moments before you open your test booklet, confidence
consistently (the music theory questions).
is your most important asset.
What you need is a Decathlete who loves music and
Good luck and happy cramming!
who understands the ebb and flow of USAD Music
exams. That's where Jonathan Spatola-Knoll, your guide
for this Cram Kit, comes in. He has broken apart the
Music portion of the curriculum, extracted the fluff, and
left you with the essential details you need to score as Sophy Lee
many points as possible, even if—and especially if—you
are short on time.

CRAMMING FOR SUCCESS


A Word from the Author
CURRICULUM SUMMARY FOUR SECTIONS

SUMMARY
The first section deals with music fundamentals. Unlike
past years, all music theory questions will come from
Classical
the official resource guide rather than independent Music
Music
study. While preparing for this part of the test, prioritize 20%
Theory
terms and concepts over topics related to reading music. 24%

The rest of the guide deals with American music of the


Popular
1930s beginning with blues and jazz, moving on to Song Blues and
popular song, and ending with classical music. 24% Jazz
32%
If you have only a few days left to study, make sure you
know basic aspects of various styles like urban blues,
modernism, and parlor song. Then, check your
familiarity with the listening examples, particularly the
classical ones. If you feel secure in both of these areas,
review your knowledge of famous musicians like W.C.
TIME IS TICKING!
Handy and Ella Fitzgerald.
Don’t memorize USAD’s charts on each track. Memorize
the basic forms of these songs, especially anything that
strikes you as unusual.
Music Cram Kit | 3

MUSIC THEORY
Physics and Classification
PHYSICS OF SOUND CLASSIFICATION OF INSTRUMENTS

WESTERN MUSIC
The western musical tradition began around 2,000 FAMILY CLASSIFICATION EXAMPLES
years ago. In 1750, equal temperament tuning became
standard, dividing octaves into 12 equal parts. At about Violin, viola,
String Chordophone
the same time, theorists codified common practice cello, bass
tonality, which has since remained the most common
Flute, oboe,
means of organizing pitches.
clarinet,
Woodwind Aerophone
saxophone,
bassoon
HISTORY OF PITCH AND OCTAVES
Xylophone,
Percussion Idiophone cymbals, wood
block, marimba
Snare drum,
Percussion Membranophone
timpani
The new
pitch is an Trumpet,
octave Brass Aerophone trombone,
A musician higher and
cuts the French horn
the
length of frequency of
the string in Keyboard Various Piano, organ
An open the
half soundwave
string
vibrates at doubles to
440 Hz
A 440, or QUICK QUIZ
440 waves
per second QUESTIONS

1. The ________ pitch usually dominates a sound.


AMPLITUDE AND VOLUME 2. _________ faintly color a pitch.
ƒ A sound wave’s height, or amplitude, determines 3. The __________ scale contains 12 pitches.
volume ANSWERS
• Scientists measure volume in decibels 1. fundamental
• Composers use dynamics to indicate what volumes 2. Overtones
to play 3. chromatic

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
TWO WAYS TO PERFORM ELECTRONIC MUSIC
1. Hang out with your buddies and jam on your handy •A stretched membrane vibrates to
theremin or another electrophone! Membrano- produce sound
2. Record some sounds, manipulate the tape, and brag phones
about your new musique concrète composition at
parties!
•The body of the instrument itself vibrates
Idiophones
Music Cram Kit | 4

MUSIC THEORY
Pitch and Scales
MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES

THREE MINORS WALK INTO A BAR…

LOWERED
RAISED SCALE
MINOR SCALE SCALE
DEGREES
DEGREES

Natural 3, 6, 7 N/A

Harmonic 3, 6 7

6, 7
Melodic 3
(ascending)

ƒ Tonic: the “home base” of the scale


ƒ Dominant: the second-most important scale
degree
ƒ Leading tone: lies a half step below the tonic and
leads upwards
A TALE OF TWO CONTOURS

CONJUNCT DISJUNCT

Mostly steps Fewer steps

Few leaps More leaps

“The Star Spangled


“Happy Birthday”
Banner”
Music Cram Kit | 5

MUSIC THEORY
Rhythm (Page 1 of 3)
NOTATION
Music Cram Kit | 6

MUSIC THEORY
Rhythm (Page 2 of 3)
TEMPO

TEMPO DIRECTIONS SHOPPING LIST HOW MANY BEATS AM I HOLDING UP?


1. Rubato: change tempo expressively QUESTIONS
2. Ritardando: SL O W D O W N ! 1. A dot by the note-head increases the rhythmic
3. Accelerando: S p e e d UP!!!! value by ________.
4. Poco a poco: change gradually 2. The first beat of a measure is the __________.
3. A(n) ___________ can start a tune before the first
5. Subito: SUDDEN change measure begins.
4. A dotted quarter note contains _____ sixteenths.

ANSWERS
GET YOUR RHYTHM FUNKIES GOING! 1. half
ƒ Syncopation: tap your feet to those grooves, which 2. downbeat
punch on weak beats or between beats! 3. pickup, or anacrusis
ƒ Polyrhythm: pick yourself off the dance floor after 4. six
literally falling for those conflicting rhythmic
patterns!
Music Cram Kit | 7

MUSIC THEORY
Rhythm (Page 3 of 3)
MEASURES ANDTERMS EXAMPLES

DEFINITIONS BAKING HOME-STYLE TIME SIGNATURES


(FROM SCRATCH!)
Measures (Bars)
• Organize
beats
1. Decide which note will receive the beat
• Organize 2. Assign that note the appropriate number (for
Beats rhythm and instance, a quarter note requires a 4)
tempo 3. Decide how many beats each measure will contain
4. Balance this second number on top of the first like a
Barlines
• Separate fraction
measures 5. Stir vigorously

A METER-IC TON OF QUESTIONS

PAN PETER REMEMBER HIS METERS? QUESTIONS


ƒ Duple – two or four beats per measure 1. A common duple compound meter is ______ time.
ƒ Triple – three beats per measure 2. Which time signature do swing composers most
commonly notate?
ƒ Compound – three subdivisions per beat
ƒ Irregular – organizes beats unusually ANSWERS
ƒ Mixed – quickly juxtaposes different meters 1. 6/8
ƒ Polymeter – multiple meters going on at once 2. 4/4
ƒ Unmetered – no clear tempo or steady beat

EXAMPLES

TRIPLE METER

DUPLE METER
Music Cram Kit | 8

MUSIC THEORY
Harmony (Page 1 of 3)
TRIADS KEYS

KEY FACTS
ƒ A set of accidentals (sharps or flats) called the key
Chords-
signature establishes a work’s key
3 or more
simiultaneous ƒ The key establishes the music’s scale
notes ƒ Each of the 12 key signatures can indicate a major
or a minor scale
ƒ The circle of fifths describes the relationship
between all 12 major and all 12 minor keys
Triads- ƒ “Diatonic” describes music which sticks with the
3 Notes seven notes in a key
ƒ Chromatic music uses notes outside of the key

TRIAD-ITION
ƒ 1 Major 3rd + 1 Minor 3rd = 1 Major Triad
ƒ 1 Minor 3rd + 1 Major 3rd = 1 Minor Triad
ƒ 1 Minor 3rd + 1 Minor 3rd = 1 Diminished Triad
ƒ 1 Major 3rd + 1 Major 3rd = 1 Augmented Triad

DISSONANCE CONSONANCE
Begs for resolution Sense of rest

Provides aural
Leads to Consonance
resolution

Example: Tritones Example: Tonic Triad


Music Cram Kit | 9

MUSIC THEORY
Harmony (Page 2 of 3)
DIATONIC TRIADS NEW HARMONIES

TWO IMPORTANT DIATONIC TRIADS ADDING NOTES TO CHORDS


1. Tonic
• Uses the tonic pitch as the root
• Major in major keys (I)
• Minor in minor keys (i)
2. Dominant
• Uses the dominant pitch as the root and the
leading tone as the third of the chord
• Always major (V)
• Leads to tonic

9 Composers most often add a seventh on top of a


dominant triad, creating a four-note dominant
seventh, or V7 chord
9 The V7 chord contains a dissonant tritone between
the third and the seventh
9 The seventh resolves downwards by a half step

CHORD PROGRESSIONS
ƒ A bass line reinforces a chord progression
DID YOU KNOW? ƒ Composers commonly change the bass notes, or
invert chords in the progression
Predominant harmonies like the subdominant (IV) and
the supertonic (ii) lead to dominant chords ƒ These changes improve voice leading, or ease of
singing
ƒ More complex progressions chromatically alter
TRIADS’ CASES AND SYMBOLS notes of chords, creating modal mixture
SYMBOL OR CASE MEANING ƒ Some progressions modulate, or change key
ƒ Composers most easily modulate along the circle of
Uppercase Major fifths
Lowercase Minor

Lowercase with circle (˚) Diminished


Music Cram Kit | 10

MUSIC THEORY
Harmony (Page 3 of 3)
BEYOND COMMON PRACTICE BEYOND COMMON PRACTICE

ROMANTIC-ERA: HARMONIC EVOLUTION MODERN NON-ATONAL HARMONIES


9 Non-functional harmonies require common-
practice chords, but do not resolve them
Music grows more expressive
9 Some composers use unusual scales like octatonic
or pentatonic scales
Works become longer and more 9 Polytonal passages contain music in multiple keys
chromatic simultaneously

Tonality reaches its supposed limit


MUSICIANS’ BLIND DATES
• Luigi Russolo – this young gentleman sought to
redefine music by categorizing noises
• Claude Debussy – a challenger of the common-
practice system, Claude composed outside of the
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG box
Schoenberg believed that common practice harmony • Igor Stravinsky – much like Debussy, this dashing
had reached its limits. He decided to eliminate the need devil expanded the possibilities of composition
for dissonance to resolve and abandoned common- beyond common practice
practice tonality. In 1910, Schoenberg created atonal
music, which does not draw its pitch relationships from
scales. Schoenberg later created the twelve-tone
method in 1925. CROSS-CURRICULUM REFERENCE
Ruth Crawford Seeger, composer of String Quartet,
adopted some of Schoenberg’s methods. She not
ATONAL FUN FACTS only organized pitches in series, but even form and
ƒ Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique began to take rhythm.
off in popularity after World War II. Aaron Copland’s Piano Variations is atonal.
ƒ His methods nevertheless inspired composers like
Anton von Webern and Alban Berg in the 1930s.
AS THE 20TH CENTURY WEARS ON….
CREATE YOUR OWN TONE ROW!
1. Gather all 12 pitches of the chromatic scale
2. Order these notes in any way you wish
(remember that you are writing a serial Works reject Many
composition in which you must adhere to the More common- compositions
specific order) composers practice's become more
experiment forward meditative or
3. Congratulations! Your new tone row will form motion static
the basis of your atonal, twelve-tone
masterpiece!
Music Cram Kit | 11

MUSIC THEORY
Other Aspects of Sound and Music
TEXTURE, INSTRUMENTATION AND DYNAMICS ARTICULATION, ORNAMENTATION, AND DYNAMICS

MUSICAL TEXTURE ARTICULATION


TEXTURE DESCRIPTION ƒ Articulation describes the mechanics that produce
a sound
One unaccompanied melody; ƒ Staccato requires the musicians to play short notes
Monophonic several musicians can play very separately
together in unison
ƒ Musicians play smoothly when they see a legato
Several musicians play ƒ A slur also indicates connected notes.
Heterophonic the same melody, but ƒ Accent marks indicate sudden force
slightly differently
ƒ Tenuto indicates to stress notes, but without force
A distinct melody and ƒ String players play pizzicato when they pluck rather
Homophonic
accompaniment than bow the string
Multiple independent
Polyphonic
melodic lines ORNAMENTATION
Ornamentation involves localized embellishments.
Composers do not always notate ornaments.
INSTRUMENTATION
Musicians can change the instrumentation of a melody
by arranging. Each arrangement of a song assigns QUIZ TIME!
different music to different instruments, but the melody
maintains its identity.
QUESTIONS
Instrumentation helps listeners distinguish between 1. A gradual increase in dynamics is called a
many musical genres. _________, or abbreviated as ________.
2. A gradual decrease in dynamics is called a
_________ or a __________ . This change can be
abbreviated as __________.
3. Composers often notate a gradual increase in
dynamics by rotating a ________ clockwise ___
degrees.
4. Composers often notate a gradual decrease in
dynamics by rotating a ________ counterclockwise
___ degrees.

ANSWERS
1. crescendo; cresc.
2. diminuendo; decrescendo; dim.
ƒ Dynamic markings tell musicians how loudly, forte, 3. V, 90
or softly, piano, to play 4. V, 90
ƒ Early in the instrument’s history, musicians called
the piano the pianoforte because of its ability to
play varied dynamics
Music Cram Kit | 12

MUSIC THEORY
Musical Form (Page 1 of 2)
ELEMENTS OF FORM ARTICULATION, ORNAMENTATION, AND DYNAMICS

MOTIVES, PHRASES, AND THEMES REPETITION VS. SEQUENCE

Repetition - literally repeats


Motives are small material
recurring ideas

Sequence - repeats material at


Multiple motives make up a new pitch level
a phrase, a coheherent
musical though
VARIATION
Composers often repeat material with alterations, or
variation. Theme and variations form consists of a
Multiple phrases make up melody and then repetition of the melody with
a theme, or a longer changes. A prime mark next to a capital letter in a
melody diagram indicates a variation: AA’A’’A’’’ etc...
Jazz musicians often improvise variations of a tune on
the spot.
ƒ A pair of symmetrical phrases construct parallel
structure, forming a coherent whole:
12-BAR BLUES
ƒ Blues musicians will repeat a 12-measure chord
progression with variations
ƒ A performance of a 12-bar blues can theoretically
Antecedent Phrase - Consequent Phrase - last indefinitely
often ends differs slightly from ƒ A 12-bar blues includes three lines of text
inconclusively the first phrase containing four measures each
ƒ Every line of lyrics follows an aab pattern
ƒ Most 12-bar blues include four beats per measure
over a relaxed tempo

CADENCES 12-BAR BLUES HARMONIC PROGRESSION


ƒ Cadences function as resting points, much like a
comma or a period I I I I
ƒ Half cadences end on the dominant (V) harmony IV IV I I
ƒ Full or authentic cadences conclude with a V-I
chord progression V V I I

Each stanza of a blues performance repeats the same


chord progression, sometimes with alterations.
Music Cram Kit | 13

MUSIC THEORY
Musical Form (Page 2 of 2)
CONTRAST AND FUGUE SONATA FORM

MUSICAL CONTRAST
ƒ Ternary, or ABA form contains a contrasting middle
section
ƒ Rondo form contrasts material with a returning A
section
ƒ Common diagrams include ABACABA or ABACA

32-BAR FORM
ƒ Many popular song choruses use a 4-part 32-bar
form
ƒ Each part lasts for eight measures
ƒ The contrasting B section is sometimes called the
bridge

A A B A
FUGUES

Composer introduces the main theme, or fugue subject

SO-NAT-A QUIZ, OR IS IT?


Material repeats, or imitates, the subject
at a new pitch level
QUESTIONS
1. How many movements does a typical sonata
contain?
The composer develops the material 2. How many movements does a typical symphony or
string quartet contain?
3. A sonata’s finale usually uses either sonata or
ƒ Sometimes another melody, or countersubject ______ form.
accompanies the subject
4. The third movement of a symphony is often a
ƒ Fugues combine multiple melodic lines using dance-like _______ and ________.
counterpoint, creating a polyphonic texture
ANSWERS
1. three
2. four
3. rondo
4. minuet and trio
Music Cram Kit | 14

JAZZ AND BLUES


Blues before 1929 (1 of 4)
GENERAL TRAITS OF THE BLUES CONTRIBUTING GENRES

POETRY RING SHOUTS


ƒ Each stanza of text in a blues performance
corresponds with one 12-bar blues progression Slaves often gathered after church
services
ƒ Each stanza includes three lines of text, each of
which includes four measures
Their ring shouts combined African
ƒ Blues musicians sing about everyday hardships and Christian elements
such as physical, economic, or emotional pain

These often lengthy performances


A FOUR-MEASURE SECTION involved improvisation, call and
response, and movement

WORK SONGS
Instruments African-American workers sang work songs on the fields
The vocalist
comment A call-and- or in railroad yards. The steady tempos mirrored the
sings for less
upon the response rhythm of their work.
than four
lyrics with effect results
measures Work songs significantly exploited the idea of
fills
alternating forces. Sometimes a leader called out lyrics.
Sometimes two groups of workers alternated lines.
Additionally, the strong rhythms and theoretically
endless qualities of work songs resemble the blues.
NEW NOTES
Musicians “flatten,” “bend,” or “shade” the third, fifth, or
seventh scale degrees to create blue notes. These notes DID YOU KNOW?
often lie in between the 12 chromatic pitches of Western 9 Many states banned slaves from playing drums.
tuning systems. Instead, many slaves practiced body percussion,
Blues pianists cannot play blue notes at the exact pitch. or patting.
Instead, they play crushed notes by pressing down two
adjacent keys simultaneously.
FIELD HOLLERS
ƒ Individual slaves sometimes broke out into
AN IMPROVISED PRACTICE improvised performances called field hollers
ƒ Scores cannot account for all aspects of a blues ƒ These slaves expressed their moods and concerns
performance ƒ Musicians simply sang whatever rhythms,
ƒ Notation cannot reproduce blue notes at the melodies, or words which popped into their heads
exact pitch ƒ Although highly embellished, motives often
ƒ Many traditional blues musicians often recurred in the melodies
improvise fills, growls, slides, or other inflections
Music Cram Kit | 15

JAZZ AND BLUES


Blues Before 1929 (Page 2 of 4)
TYPES OF BLUES SOME HANDY MINSTRELS

COUNTRY BLUES A DAY AT THE MINSTREL SHOW


By 1920, blues musicians performed two main styles of 1. After much anticipation, having prepared the home
blues. theater or toured the last stretch of a theater
circuit, the minstrel troupe gets ready to begin their
Country blues, also named downhome blues or folk
performance!
blues, is the older, more rural, and more “authentic”
blues genre. 2. White performers skillfully begin their routine of
dances, skits, and musical numbers as part of this
Early in blues’ history, travelling musicians called variety show.
songsters helped spread the genre from the Mississippi 3. Actors make fun of an American minority, playing
Delta. Country blues musicians often accompanied their
stock characters in blackface. You’ll have to wait
singing on guitar or harmonica at African-American
until about 1850 to see African-Americans perform!
social gatherings.
W.C. HANDY, THE “FATHER OF THE BLUES”
CLASSIC BLUES

Other names for classic blues include urban


blues or vaudeville blues W.C. Handy begins He hears the blues
his musical career. for the first time.

Classic blues performances took place in an


urban, professional setting

This genre especially favored black female


singers with experience in vaudeville W.C. Handy writes
Handy's "St. Louis
"Memphis Blues,"
Blues," a classic
an early attempt at
blues composition,
capturing the spirit
appears.
TIN PAN ALLEY BLUES of the blues.
ƒ White songwriters sometimes drew inspiration
from blues elements like flattened third scale
degrees, syncopation, and 12-measure chord
progressions
ƒ George Gershwin composed Rhapsody in Blue, a Harry Pace assists Classic blues artists
work that demonstrates the Tin Pan Alley Blues the composer and turn away from
style bandleader in emphasizing sheet
founding a New music: "St. Louis
York City publishing Blues" becomes a
company. recording hit.
DID YOU KNOW?
Professional classic blues singers often sang the A W.C. HANDY FEW
blues as part of a larger, more varied repertoire.
ƒ “Joe Turner Blues”
These musicians often traced their roots to
minstrel shows or vaudeville, and would ƒ “Yellow Dog Blues”
sometimes sing as part of an act. ƒ “Aunt Hagar’s Children”
ƒ “Atlanta Blues”
ƒ “Beale Street Blues”
ƒ “Loveless Love”
Music Cram Kit | 16

JAZZ AND BLUES


Blues Before 1929 (Page 3 of 4)
FEMALE CLASSIC BLUES SINGERS MALE COUNTRY BLUES SINGERS

A BREAKTHROUGH IN CLASSIC BLUES CHARLIE PATTON AND SON HOUSE


In 1920, Mamie Smith sang “Crazy Blues,” a Perry ƒ Charlie Patton and Son House both hailed from the
Bradford composition, for Okeh Records. This recording Mississippi Delta
became a surprise bestseller. This hit inspired a wave of ƒ Charlie Patton, a musician with a rowdy reputation,
new race records for black audiences, especially those sang his complex lyrics and rhythms with a raspy,
involving black female singers of classic blues. rugged voice
Some independent companies like Gennet Records ƒ Son House favored tremolos and bottleneck slides
produced race records for black audiences, while larger ƒ Although House inspired a retinue of later
companies like Columbia featured departments called musicians, 1930s audiences considered his style
race divisions. outdated

MA RAINEY
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON
Ma Rainey had experience singing in minstrel shows Blind Lemon Jefferson came fromTexas. Much like
Charlie Patton, Jefferson sang a repertoire outside
Over 100 recordings from the 1920s demonstrate of the blues and recorded for Paramount Records.
her emotional, earthy voice

BESSIE SMITH
BLIND BLAKE
Records "Gulf Coast Blind Blake made his first recordings on the East Coast.
Bessie Smith
Blues" and
performs in a
"Downhearted His elaborate guitar finger picking reflected the influence
minstrel troupe and
Blues"; Columbia of ragtime. Although many of Blake’s lyrics were light in
later begins her own nature, he sometimes touched upon serious topics like
dubs her "Empress
show. lynching. Much like many other blues musicians, his
of the Blues"
recording sales fell and he lost his contract during the
early 1930s.

Smith's career
In the late 1920s,
peaks. Her mostly ROBERT JOHNSON
like other blues
black audiences
musicians, Smith's ƒ Robert Johnson, another Delta bluesman, reached
compare her ability
popularity begins to the peak of his career in the 1930s
to work a crowd to
falter.
that of a preacher. ƒ This legendary musician lead a wild life and died
violently
ƒ Johnson did not impact the musical world much
while still alive
ƒ After he died in 1938, however, Johnson exerted
Columbia cancels
Smith appears in the
her contract early in considerable influence on future blues and blues-
talkie St. Louis Blues. rock artists
the Depression.

Bessie Smith adapts Smith records with


to the swing era by artists who would
performing Tin Pan later become
Alley Repertoire. famous.
Music Cram Kit | 17

JAZZ AND BLUES


Blues Before 1929 (Page 4 of 4)
STYLE AND STRUCTURE SUBJECT AND AUDIENCE

WHY IS “ST. LOUIS BLUES” A CLASSIC BLUES? THE CONTRASTING B SECTION


ƒ W.C. Handy provided a written musical score for
“St. Louis Blues”
Contains four
ƒ Performances of the work require a large ensemble similar phrases
of musicians
ƒ The composition features a clear linear structure
with a beginning, middle, and end
ƒ Although the basis of the harmonies of “St. Louis Changes key
from G major
Blues” lie in the 12-bar blues pattern, W.C. Handy to G minor, an The B
References the
chose to alter many of the chords awkward key Section
recent tango
craze
on traditional
instruments
FUN FACT
Even though W.C. Handy aimed “St. Louis Blues” Forgoes with
at music-reading consumers, the composer did his the 12-bar
best to capture the spirit of the older country blues harmonic
style. progression

PERFORMANCE STYLE
Billie Holiday sings “St. Louis Blues” on the recording. CRAWFORD SAYS….
She often includes blue notes, or bent scale degrees. SECTION SUBJECT MATTER
Although similar, many of her blues notes do not exactly
share the same pitch. A A “confession of misery”
STRUCTURE OF “ST. LOUIS BLUES” B A “St. Louis woman”
SECTION BRIEF NOTES C The pain of stolen love
Intro Features the polyphonic Dixieland style

A Features a twelve-bar blues structure AUDIENCE


A Features a twelve-bar blues structure “St. Louis Blues” and other classic blues compositions
brought the blues to a mainstream audience. Consumers
B Departs from the twelve-bar blues bought sheet music to play on their pianos. In the 1920s,
progression and references tango the work enjoyed recording fame.

C Returns to the twelve-bar blues Due to the work’s long-lived status in the repertoire, “St.
progression Louis Blues” is today considered a jazz standard.

CROSS-CURRICULUM REFERENCE
ANOTHER HANDY THING TO KNOW
William Grant Still, composer of Afro-American
W.C. Handy Based the C section of this Symphony, studied with W.C. Handy and worked at the
composition off an earlier 1913 composition. blues composer's publishing company.
Music Cram Kit | 18

JAZZ AND BLUES


Blues and the Great Depression (Page 1 of 2)
URBAN BLUES AND RECORDINGS DOWNHOME BLUES AND HOKUM

DECLINE IN POPULARITY COUNTRY BLUES: A CHANGE OF SOUND


The economic devastation of the Great Depression During the 1930s, country blues became less “country”
vastly reduced recording and performing opportunities in style. Two or three instruments accompanied a male
for blues musicians—especially classic blues soloist with a rough sound. This style has been called
performers. the downhome blues sound.
During the 1930s, female blues singers lost their Although downhome blues artists built their reputation
stardom. These musicians formerly required an in cities, audiences especially enjoyed the rural
ensemble merely for support. In the 1930s, however, traditions of the genre.
bands more often incorporated a singer as a part of the
Musicians like Robert Johnson preserved the older
ensemble.
country blues style. Nevertheless, blues musicians
In the end, the classic blues tradition primarily survived increasingly grew to favor piano over guitar as an
through its infusion with jazz. For instance, Benny Moten accompanying instrument.
and Count Basie blended the two styles in their band’s
dance music.
BIG BILL BROONZY

BESSIE SMITH: A CHANGE OF STYLE Big Bill Broonzy helped create an urban, “Southside
Chicago” type of blues. Although he recorded for
ƒ Bessie Smith came closer to economic survival than
many labels, Broonzy could not make a full living
any other black female blues singers during the
from music until the folk music revival of the 1950s
Depression
and 60s. Broonzy also notably assisted Muddy
ƒ Although Columbia terminated her lucrative Waters, the “Father of Modern Chicago Blues.”
contract, Smith continued to record
ƒ In the mid-1930s, she demonstrated an ability and
willingness to adopt Tin Pan Alley works like “Tea
For Two” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” into her A NEW GENRE
repertoire
Big Bill Broonzy, Tampa Red, and Thomas "Georgia
ƒ Smith succeeded Billie Holliday at a Harlem club in Tom" Dorsey helped create hokum, or party blues
1936

BLUES AND THE RECORDING INDUSTRY


Hokum featured obscene lyrics, while combining
During the Depression, record urban sophistication with rural wit
companies took far fewer risks

When sales fell, talented artists lost


their contracts Georgia Tom later pioneered the Gospel Genre

Companies no longer sent talent


scouts or recording equipment to
the South DID YOU KNOW?

The industry consolidated in Chicago lacked recording studios for a long time.
Northern, urban areas Famous blues artists often travelled to Grafton,
Wisconsin instead to record.
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JAZZ AND BLUES


Blues and the Great Depression (Page 2 of 2)
FOLKSONG COLLECTORS “MIDNIGHT SPECIAL”

FOLKSONG COLLECTORS A CONCERT SERIES


ƒ In the 1930s, the blues piqued the interest of white In 1938, the folk music enthusiast John Hammond
folksong collectors organized a concert series at Carnegie Hall entitled
ƒ These collectors discovered and promoted artists “From Spirituals to Swing.” This set of performances
and music which went on to enjoy lasting popularity traced the history of African-American music from the
ƒ Many of these collectors believed in left-leaning time of slavery to the present and included black artists
ideals like the “common man” such as Lead Belly.

JOHN LOMAX LEAD BELLY SINGS “MIDNIGHT SPECIAL”

John Lomax was an especially important folksong Subject Matter


collector. He made field recordings with his son •This Texan black song refers to a train that shone
Alan and even worked at the Library of Congress. its light through prison cells at night

Harmony
LEAD BELLY
•Lead Belly repeats a IV, I, V, I chord progression
under each line of text
Although named Huddie Ledbetter, this
guitarist preferred the name Lead Belly Form

•"Midnight Special" contains four stanzas of lyrics


John and Alan Lomax discovered this artist at •A refrain concludes each stanza
a Louisiana prison
Accompaniment
This skilled bluesman could sing a varied •Lead Belly accompanies himself on his 12-string
repertoire of around 500 songs guitar, closely following the beat
•His complex accompaniment effectively interacts
with the melody
Some scholars believed that this old-style •The intricate guitar work even holds equal
musician provided a valuable link to the past prominence to the singing
•Lead Belly commonly alternates a bass line with
broken chords, in which he plays notes
successively rather than simultaneously

DIVIDED OPINIONS Rhythm


Black and white audiences could not agree upon the
•The steady tempo of "Midnight Special"
best type of blues. As whites became interested in this resembles a railroad song
genre in the 1930s, blacks tended to gravitate more
•Lead Belly interestingly treats meters flexibly
towards jazz with blues elements.
•He shortens the last line of each verse
For example, many blacks considered Lead Belly’s style •He also lengthens the last line of the refrain by a
old fashioned. On the other hand, left-leaning whites felt beat
that the artist symbolized pure, authentic black folk •A metaphor for the train theme, Lead Belly speeds
culture. Lead Belly even sang the leftist song “The up as the performance continues
Bourgeois Blues.”
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JAZZ AND BLUES


Jazz Origins (Page 1 of 2)
JAZZ: ORIGINS RAGTIME

NEW ORLEANS – A DIVERSE COMMUNITY RAGTIME


New Orleans, a cultural and economic center on the ƒ Ragtime was enormously popular throughout much
Caribbean, contained a wide array of cultural groups. of the early part of the 20th century
Some locals traced their ancestry to the former French ƒ This style featured syncopated, disjunct melodies
and Spanish colonists or black slaves. ƒ A steady bass line alternates low notes and notes in
Creoles descended from former French colonists and the middle register
their slaves. Creoles considered themselves European,
spoke their own dialect, and enjoyed a middle-class
lifestyle. SCOTT JOPLIN
Around 1900, black and Creole cultural boundaries Biography
began to blur. Creole musicians like Sidney Bechet and
Jelly Roll Morton began to listen to black musicians.
•Scott Joplin was the most famous ragtime pianist
•This composer learned about classical technique
and music notation from his German-born teacher
NEW ORLEANS: THE MUSICAL SCENE •He especially succeeded financially after moving to
New York during the ragtime craze
Classical musicians often visted New Orleans
by boat Composer's Music
•Most popular or parlor song composers expected
performers to adapt their music depending on the
Like in many towns, wind and brass bands style and situation
exposed audiences to the latest dance and •Scott Joplin, on the other hand, expected
classical compositions musicians to play his music exactly as notated

Individual ethnic groups also held individual


musical identiies A RAG OF A QUIZ

QUESTIONS
1. “Jelly Roll” Morton contributed to _______.
STRAINS 2. Who composed “That Mysterious Rag” and
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band”?
Many pre-jazz styles demonstrated similar traits.
3. “That Mysterious Rag” and “Alexander’s Ragtime
For instance, two or four phrases often made up a
Band” features a _______ _______ _______ style.
strain. Because strains limited formal and metrical
variation, the interest of a performance more likely 4. What rhythmic effect do “That Mysterious Rag”
lay in dynamics, melody, or rhythm as well as and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” feature?
contrast between strains.
ANSWERS
Many African-American dance bands in New 1. ragtime
Orleans became influenced by the blues. These 2. Irving Berlin
musicians improvised blue notes, melodies, and 3. Tin Pan Alley
rhythms. Their performances also showed the
influence of the 12-bar blues structure, including 4. syncopation
three phrases per strain rather than two or four.
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JAZZ AND BLUES


Jazz Origins (Page 2 of 2)
DIXIELAND AND THE HOT SOUND LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND OTHER MUSICIANS

LOUIS ARMSTRONG
THE DIXIELAND STYLE Louis Armstrong developed the “hot”
sound on his trumpet. This sound provided the
In 1917, the all-white Original Dixieland Jazz Band basis for swing jazz.
became the first group to record jazz. Other
musicians soon began to imitate their style, the
Dixieland Style. The Dixieland style featured a DATE EVENT
polyphonic texture in which everybody played at
once. Despite the lack of solos or improvisation, 1922 “King” Oliver, a mentor of Louis
listeners heard a sense of freedom and spontaneity. Armstrong, invites the younger
musician to join his Chicago band

1923 Armstrong features on a race record with


A DIXIELAND BAND Oliver’s band, which became the first
black jazz group to record
Melody Instruments
1924 Armstrong plays in Fletcher Henderson’s
•Trumpet or cornet band in New York, receives more solo
•Clarinet or saxophone opportunities, and begins developing his
“hot” sound
•Trombone

Supportive Instruments STRIDE PIANO


James P. Johnson and Fats Waller helped create stride
•Piano
piano, the first true jazz piano style, in the 1920s.
•Drum set Though similar to ragtime, stride piano featured a fluid
•Percussion like wood blocks or cowbells sound and required virtuosic skill.
•Sometimes banjo or guitar

JOE “KING” OLIVER GEORGE GERSHWIN


ƒ George Gershwin, a white songwriter, incorporated
elements of jazz and blues into his compositions
Joe "King" Oliver was a famous trumpeter. In
1918, Oliver became one of the first black ƒ Gershwin considered many of his works symphonic
bandleaders to enjoy success outside of New jazz
Orleans. He founded a band in Chicago that ƒ Concerto in F, Rhapsody in Blue, and the opera Porgy
eventually included Louis Armstrong. and Bess fall into this category

PAUL WHITEMAN
ASPECTS OF THE “HOT” SOUND
ƒ Uneven eighth notes Paul Whiteman, a white bandleader, incorporated
ƒ Four smooth beats per measure jazz elements into standard dance band
arrangements. Other white bandleaders followed
ƒ Blues inflections Whiteman's example. This bandleader famously
ƒ Emphasis on improvising soloists arranged a concert in New York during which he
conducted the premiere performanace of
Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
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JAZZ AND BLUES


Swing (Page 1 of 2)
BIG BAND JAZZ SWING ENSEMBLES

SWING TRAITS A SWING BREAKTHROUGH


ƒ Unevenly played eighth note pairs Although some recordings may have contained
ƒ Frequent harmonic changes elements of swing as early as 1926, the swing craze
began in earnest in August 1935.
ƒ Smooth, fast beats
ƒ A sense of forward propulsion At this time, Benny Goodman’s orchestra broadcasted
swing music from the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles.
The Palomar Broadcast introduced swing to Americans
DANCE BANDS across the country and this style of music became a
Dance bands, or big bands, played big band jazz. national phenomenon. Swing began to dominate the
These ensembles dominated the mainstream music realm of popular music until about 1945.
scene. Their style both appealed to the public and
gave talented musicians room to innovate.
BENNY GOODMAN
SWEET VERSUS HOT DATE EVENT
Benny Goodman begins performing
saxophone and clarinet in white dance
bands. This musician goes on to gain a
•Some ensembles 1925
emphasized sweet jazz. reputation for skilled improvisation as
•White musicians most well as skill playing both sweet and hot
often played in this style. jazz.
•Similarly, white audiences
Sweet Jazz particularly enjoyed Goodman’s band begins to use Fletcher
elegant sweet jazz. Henderson as an arranger. In result, the
•Sweet jazz arrangments 1934 ensemble gains a more hot sound which
adapted and notated becomes the standard style for big-band
popular songs for the swing.
appropriate ensemble.

Benny Goodman successfully brought African-American


music to America’s white majority population. His clean-
cut image and skill with the media helped him
•Dance bands increasingly popularize the swing genre.
drew inspiration from a
hot sound.
•These ensembles began
to hire musicians who had
Hot Jazz THREE BLACK BANDLEADERS
experience playing blues
or hot jazz. ƒ Duke Ellington
•This style concentrated ƒ Count Basie
among African-American
musicians. ƒ Jimmie Lunceford

DID YOU KNOW? SHORT STAT


Hundreds of professional big bands thrived in the
Most dance bands in the 1930s drew at least a little United States by the time the country entered
inspiration from jazz. World War Two. About 50 of these ensembles
enjoyed national popularity.
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JAZZ AND BLUES


Swing (Page 2 of 2)
CHARACTERISTICS ENSEMBLE

SWING TRAITS A 1930S SWING BAND

Melody instruments could play one note at a


The band clearly presents time
the main tune, or chorus, at
the beginning
•Bands commonly contained two trombones
•Three trumpets also played
•Four reeds, saxophones or clarinets, rounded out
the melody section
The ensemble then repeats
the chorus several times
with variation, but only plays The rhythm section reinforced the beat and the
the chord progression, or harmonies
changes of the original tune
•The bass usually played one note on every beat
•On weak beats, some bassists played non-
VARIATION METHODS FOR REPEATED CHORUSES harmonic notes to create a low melodic line, or
ƒ New melodies and rhythms over a constant tempo walking bass
•A guitarist usually filled out the music texture
ƒ Changes in instrumentation while playing the chords
ƒ Altered harmonies which retain the original basic •The pianist, the only rhythm instrument to take
functions solos, functioned similarly to the guitar
•The rhythm section additionally contained
percussion
DANCE BANDS
Swing arrangements commonly borrowed their
melodies from popular song choruses. This practice Although a swing band could contain between 10
gave rise to the name “chorus” for the primary tune and 15 instruments, a standard ensemble contained
of an arrangement. These popular song choruses 13 pieces by 1932.
also often gave jazz choruses 32-bar form. Some
jazz choruses do not borrow material from 32-bar
choruses. Instead, these performances usually
THREE ELEMENTS OF AN ARRANGEMENT
follow a 12-bar blues progression.
ƒ Riffs – short repeated phrases
ƒ Call-and-response – alterations of material between
HOW TO ARRANGE A CHOIR FORMAT forces
ƒ Shout chorus – climactic chorus in which the full
1. Select which melody instrument
ensemble plays
a. The saxophone, which comes in soprano, alto,
tenor, and baritone varieties is an especially
good choice CROSS-CURRICULUM REFERENCE
2. Assign several of the same instrument the same
The shout chorus of a swing performance takes its
rhythms, but different notes within each chord
name from the ring shout, a religious musical
3. Congratulations, some of your band’s instruments practice among African-American slaves.
will now be playing as a choir!
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JAZZ AND BLUES


Duke Ellington (Page 1 of 3)
LIFE STYLE

DUKE ELLINGTON ASPECTS OF THE ELLINGTON EFFECT


1. Duke Ellington took full advantage of the unique
sounds and styles of each of his musicians
2. He could skillfully work with both the sweet and hot
Duke Ellington grows He learns about jazz sounds
up in a middle-class harmony, piano, and 3. Ellington favored large compositional forms like
neighborhood in various musical fantasies, theater pieces, and suites
Washington, D.C. styles
4. He deviated from the standard arrangement
methods of his time. For instance, Ellington
combined instruments from different families
rather than have multiples of the same instrument
play as a choir
Ellington joins the
Washingtonians in
He soon becomes Harlem and begins to
the band's leader. arrange and DUKE ELLINGTON – COMPOSITIONAL GENRES
compose for the
group The Jungle Style

•This style appealed to white perceptions of a


"primitive" culture
•Dancers performed fake tribal dances in grass
skirts while the band performed
New manager Irving Ellington's band •The band played thick minor key chords
Mills secures leaves the Cotton
Ellington's band a gig Club to go on tour for •Musicians also used special effects like the growl
at the Cotton Club the rest of the 1930s effect
•Ellington's "Ko-ko" exemplifies the jungle style

The Train Theme


•Trains inspired musical qualities and titles of
many Duke Ellington compositions
LONG-LIVED FAME •"Daybreak Express" imitates the chugging and
Duke Ellington remained a central figure in jazz for whistling of a train
decades, from the 1920s until the 1970s. The composer
and bandleader balanced musical artistry with the tastes Mood Pieces
of the public. His willingness to adapt to new musical
styles contributed to his band’s enduring fame. •Many Ellington compositions demonstrate the
Furthermore, Ellington, who led his ensemble from the influence of jazz
piano, consistently drew first-rate performances from •One of the composer's mood pieces is "Mood
his travel-weary instrumentalists. Indigo"
Jazz Influenced Dances
•Ellington works like Cotton Tail combine
A FACT ON RECORD Ellington's unique sound with standard popular
Each side of a 78-rpm record could hold three dance styles
minutes of music. Duke Ellington arranged
“Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” specifically so
the work would last six minutes—and therefore fit
on two sides of a record.
Music Cram Kit | 25

JAZZ AND BLUES


Duke Ellington (Page 2 of 3)
“I GOT RHYTHM” COTTON TAIL

FORM OF GERSHWIN’S “I GOT RHYTHM” A JAZZ CONTRAFACT


ƒ “I Got Rhythm” begins with an instrumental Duke Ellington’s Cotton Tail is considered a contrafact
introduction because the work borrows its chord progression from
ƒ A verse in a minor key follows the introduction that of an earlier composition. In this case, Duke
ƒ Next, the singer sings two iterations of the more Ellington uses rhythm changes, the chord progression
memorable chorus, or refrain from the chorus of Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.”
ƒ The chorus contains four phrases which follow an
AABA pattern in 32-bar form The difference between a good and bad Cram Kit is that
the former will actually help students, even strong ones.
ƒ Some musicians call the contrasting B section the
The latter will only seem to assist students, and they will
bridge
only prove useful for much less serious students, if at all.
ƒ Gershwin also added a two-measure tag at the end
of chorus in order to repeat the last line of lyrics
"I GOT RHYTHM" FORM IN "COTTON TAIL"

SECTION CHORUS
Clear Statement of the tune
“I got rhythm, I got music, I got my
A man, who could ask for anything
more?
Several repetitions of the chorus
I got daisies, in green pastures I got
A my man, who could ask for anything
more?
Alterations with each reiteration
Old man trouble I don’t mind him. create variation form
B
You won’t find him round my door.

I got starlight I got sweet dreams. I


A got my man, who could ask for
anything more? COTTON TAIL AND BIG-BAND SWING

Tag Who could ask for anything more?”


•Easy for dancing
A HIT SONG •Steady tempo and mood, clear
beat, and symmetrical
George Gershwin and his brother Ira first produced “I Typical
phrases
Got Rhythm” for Girl Crazy, a 1930 Broadway show. Ethel Traits
•Changes in instrumentation
Merman sang the song at the premiere. and texture emphasize
changes in the form
Like many hit songs, “I Got Rhythm” outlasted the
immediate context of the Broadway show. Swing bands,
for instance, commonly performed this song. •Syncopated melodies with
Audiences and musicians became so familiar with the intermittent rests
Innovations
chorus that many performances omitted the melody. •Fast rhythms
The chord progression, known as rhythm changes, has •Angular melodies
since become a standard harmonic structure for jazz
compositions.
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JAZZ AND BLUES


Duke Ellington (Page 3 of 3)
MUSICIANS IN THE BAND OTHER MUSICIANS

MUSICIANS IN COTTON TAIL RAY NANCE

Ray Nance plays trumpet and


Ben Webster cornet in his Chicago jazz sextet

•Ben Webster played tenor saxophone


•He plays a solo in Cotton Tail He moves to New York to play in
•This musician interestingly provides a bluesy the Earl Hines Band
atmosphere in Cotton Tail by playing notes
between pitches of the chromatic scale
•Although he skillfully used vibrato, Webster's Nance then joins Horace
signature sound was the raspy growl effect Henderson's band

In 1940, Ray Nance finally begins


Jimmy Blanton working with the Duke Ellington
band
•The bassist Jimmy Blanton produced more than
100 recordings with Duke Ellington's band
•Blanton creates a low-pitched melodic line with
walking bass technique
ART TATUM
Harry Carney Older jazz pianists like Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller,
and James P. Johnson still performed during the 1930s.
•Harry Carney was among the first musicians to At the time, however, none of these musicians attained
demonstrate the potential of the baritone the fame of Art Tatum.
saxohpone as a solo instrument Tatum’s solo piano performances featured brilliant
•He solos briefly in Cotton Tail passagework, adventurous harmonies, and considerable
virtuosity. Even pianists in the classical world admired
Art Tatum, and today transcriptions of his solos
A FEW OTHER MUSICIANS IN ELLINGTON’S BAND
occasionally appear on concert programs.
ƒ The Creole musician Sidney Bechet played clarinet
ƒ James “Bubber” Miley brought the Ellington
orchestra a more “hot” swing sound on his trumpet COTTON TAIL AND BIG-BAND SWING
ƒ Joseph “Tricky Sam” Nanton played trombone and
used growls and a plunger mute to create many Quentin Jackson played trombone in two famous
special effects groups in the 1930s
ƒ Nanton’s special effects influenced the trumpeter
Cootie Williams, who also sometimes sang
ƒ Arthur Whetsol, a sweet jazz trumpeter, had been
friends with Duke Ellington since childhood He first played for McKinney's Cotton Pickers
ƒ From 1929-1944, the band also employed the
talents of Juan Tizol, a Puerto Rican valve
trombonist
He then joined Don Redman's band
Music Cram Kit | 27

JAZZ AND BLUES


Jazz Outside Big Bands
COMBO JAZZ JAZZ AND WHITE AUDIENCES

COMBO JAZZ JAZZ AND WHITES


Small groups called combos played combo jazz. By 1939, most audiences for big-band jazz were white.
Combos often played in smaller venues like clubs. Even as early as 1926, black musicians like King Oliver
After a club closed for the day, a combo would and Louis Armstrong drew most of their income from
often hold a jam session. white audiences.
In around 1924, Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington
primarily began to perform for a white audience.
ADVANTAGES OF COMBO JAZZ Although the Cotton Club featured famous black
musicians like Ellington, the club usually only admitted
Combos could fit into smaller venues whites.
Even the ensembles themselves were segregated. Even
•Many combos played in small clubs or still some white musicians were “hot” enough to get jobs
speakeasies in mostly black bands, and a few blacks played in white
•New York audiences visited clubs with music not bands.
to dance, but to listen
•Even ensembles as small as a solo pianist could
draw a profitable crowd for club owners WHY DID WHITES LIKE JAZZ?
ƒ Many whites appreciated jazz for its musical
Combos provided recording opportunities content and suitability for dancing
ƒ The interest of some, however, drew inspiration
•Big bands, but not individuals, commonly held
from leftist ideals
recording contracts
•Combos allowed musicians from various bands to o Many white intellectuals believed in racial
mingle and even record together equality and viewed capitalism with suspicion
ƒ Jazz also gained political capital in America when
Combos did not rely on detailed arrangements fascist governments in Europe condemned the
genre
•Combos decided upon head arrangements
•Musicians would establish the order of solos
ahead of time and remember them
BECOMING MORE MAINSTREAM
Combos gave more room for improvisation Jazz gained a more mainstream and respectable status
in the 1930s. After prohibition, jazz moved out of the
•Solos stopped naturally realm of the underground world. Beginning in the 1920s,
•When appropriate, musicians could extend solos white jazz criticism began to appear in magazines like
New Republic.
By the time the United States entered World War Two,
critics viewed jazz musicians as genuine artists. At the
JAZZ GENRES AS OF C1930 same time, some Americans even considered jazz
ƒ White bands favored sweet or symphonic jazz appropriate for music schools.
ƒ Black ensembles, however, became attracted to the
hot sound
ƒ Some musicians still played Dixieland jazz, but In the 1940s some younger blacks felt that whites
audiences considered this style outdated had taken over jazz, previously an authentic African-
American genre. In response, these musicians
ƒ As the 1930s wore on, big-band jazz increasingly created the bebop style.
dominated
Music Cram Kit | 28

POPULAR SONG
Popular Song Before the Depression (Page 1 of 3)
COLONIAL MUSIC PROFESSIONAL MUSIC

COLONIAL SONG MUSICAL PROFESSIONS


Music played a part in the daily life of American 1. Before the 1830s, the lines between professional
colonists, who brought to the New World musical and amateur musicians were blurred
traditions from their own countries.
2. Only a few cities could support fulltime musicians
Modern scholars know the most about colonial religious
3. Musicians commonly earned an income from
singing. Many colonists brought Psalters to America,
various sources
which were books that adapted the Psalms of David into
rhymed verse. Congregations could sing these texts to 4. For instance, teachers preferably specialized in
familiar tunes. The Bay Psalm Book became the first book multiple instruments
printed in the American colonies in 1640. 5. Travelling salesmen sold instruments and sheet
Singing schools functioned during the week. Colonists music
gathered to practice singing for Sunday services and to 6. They also taught customers basic musical skills
socialize.

SUBSCRIPTION CONCERTS
TWO COLONIAL GROUPS
Subscription funded many colonial concerts.
Mennonites Audiences paid for tickets, or promised to pay,
ahead of time. If customers pledged enough money
ahead of time, organizers would produce the
•Mennonites emphasized congregational singing concert.
•The Mennonites did not allow instruments into
services until the 1960s

Moravians A THEATRICAL QUIZLET

•These German speakers brought instruments of QUESTIONS


all kinds from Europe 1. Many popular songs traced their origins to
•Moravians also composed instrumental music of theatrical works from _______.
all kinds in the styles of popular European
composers 2. These works included spoken dialogue and song
alongside ______ plots.
3. At certain points, actors sang songs called _______.
FOLKSONGS 4. Colonial Americans especially enjoyed the theater
work ______ by _______.

Some colonists
lived in isolated These settlers often ANSWERS
commercial
communities
performed the same 1. England
folksongs for
generations 2. thin, formulaic
3. airs
4. Love in a Village, Thomas Arne
Music Cram Kit | 29

POPULAR SONG
Popular Song Before the Depression (Page 2 of 3)
PARLOR SONG GENRES

PARLOR SONG – COMMON FORM PARLOR SONG GENRES

The chorus features four-part Patriotic Parlor Song


harmony. •Francis Scott Key set his poem "In Defense of Fort
McHenry" to the British popular tune "To
Anacreon in Heaven" to create "The Star
Strophic verses alternate with the Spangled Banner
chorus in unison.
Civil War Songs
•Although most Civil War songs gloss over the
Each iteration of the verse features horrors of the war, Walter Kittredge's "Tenting on
different lyrics. the Old Campground" recognizes the negative
emotions of the conflict
•The beginning of George Frederick Root's "The
Battle Cry of Freedom" imitates marching feet in
the piano
PARLOR SONG – CONTEXT
Songs of Westward Expansion
Parlor songs’ lyrics could deal with various subjects.
Musicians often adapted parlor songs for new •Most songs of Westward expansion deal with the
ensembles and situations. depravity of moving west
•Daniel E. Kelly's "Home on the Range," however,
Parlor songs were simple enough that amateurs could idealizes the West
perform parlor song in the home. Many families
purchased pianos as a source of entertainment and Gospel Songs
status. •These songs demonstrated a sentimental, genle
Although sheet music primarily distributed parlor song, tone
many of these works found their way into theatrical •Examples include William Bradbury's "Jesus
productions like operettas and melodramas. Loves Me"

Other Genres
Lowell Mason •Americans, especially in the Southwest, sang folk
songs
•Lowell Mason has been called America's father of
musical education •Nostalgic songs like Danks' and Rexford's "Silver
Threads Among the Gold" idealize antebellum
•Mason earned a living from selling instruments America
and instructional material
•One cowboy song was "Ole Chisholm Trail"

“HOME SWEET HOME”


STEPHEN FOSTER
For decades. "Home Sweet Home" was the most Stephen Foster was the most popular songwriter in
popular song in America. Although musicians 19th-century America. Foster’s finely crafted works
performed various arrangements of this song in
many settings, "Home Sweet Home" premiered in made him perhaps the first American to live entirely
the British operetta Clari or The Maid of Milan. off of sales of his works. Although he hesitated to
Henry Bishop, a British composer, wrote the write them, Foster’s minstrel songs provided 90%
song's music. American Actor John Howard of his income. Dan Emmett’s Dixie also has
Payne provided the lyrics. Southern themes.
Music Cram Kit | 30

POPULAR SONG
Popular Song Before the Depression (Page 3 of 3)
MINSTRELS AND TIN PAN ALLEY THE DEPRESSION HITS

MINSTREL SHOWS POPULAR SONG AROUND 1900


Minstrel shows provided the most popular American ƒ Triple meter lent songs a waltz feel
musical entertainment for decades. These comedic ƒ Catchy choruses follow long verses
variety shows featured actors in blackface. ƒ Verses were more musically unstable
A group of instruments provided a soundtrack for the o They served to increase tension or tell a story
show. Actors ridiculed all types of music. For instance, ƒ Examples of these popular songs include “The
they humorously adapted operas by Italian bel canto Sidewalks of New York” and “The Band Played On”
composers like Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti.

OVER TIME…
THE HUTCHINSON FAMILY SINGERS
Popular music choruses grew in importance, while
the verses shortened. These stable choruses often
could stand alone. As tastes changed, Ragtime and
The Hutchinson Family Singers promoted a variety waltzes became less popular. Broadway and Tin Pan
of social causes. This group, for instance, adapted
the minstrel song "Old Man Tucker" into an Alley also increasingly promoted songs in duple
abolitionist anthem by including new lyrics. meter.

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND THE DEPRESSION

The Stock Market Crash devastated the music


TIN PAN ALLEY industry. Recording sales plummeted, and
Broadway premired fewer musicals. Only a few
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Tin businessmen, including Irving Berlin managed to
Pan Alley functioned as a publishing district in New survive in the sheet music business.
York City. Publishers placed pianos outside of their During the Depression, radio and film became
shops. Musicians called song pluggers used these more the most important means of spreading
instruments to advertise the latest songs. Constantly popular song. Both consumers and producers
trying to outdo each other, these musicians created found these media more economical than live
performance.
considerable noise. The most famous song plugger
was George Gershwin.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES
TWO WAYS TO DISSEMINATE SONGS
In the mid-1920s, the music business changed
forever

Including songs in The phonograph and the radio became


Publishing sheet live performances, increasingly important means of spreading
music including music
Broadway shows

In 1927, The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture


starred Al Jolson
Music Cram Kit | 31

POPULAR SONG
Great Songwriters
FIVE GREAT SONGWRITERS

COMPOSER’S AND PERFORMER’S MUSIC


JEROME KERN
Composer's Music Jerome Kern composed the landmark musical Show
Boat with lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II
•Many composers expect musicians to play their in 1927. This work set a standard for the modern
music exactly as notated musical by featuring more substantial character
•Musical scores fully preserve the composer's development and plots. In the 1930s, Kern began to
instructions for examples of composer's music produce songs for film musicals. He won his first
Oscar in 1936 for “The Way You Look Tonight,” from
Performer's Music Swing Time.

•Some composers write works which various


musicians and ensembles can easily adapt GEORGE GERSHWIN
•Broadway and Tin Pan Alley songwriters
expected artists to influence performer's music George Gershwin, born Jacob Gershovitz, teamed up
with their individual performance styles with his lyricist brother Ira to write many hit songs in
the 1920s and 1930s.

COLE PORTER Gershwin's first hit, "Swanee," referenced Stephen


Foster's "Old Folks at Home," demonstrating the
Cole Porter failed to establish a reputation as a continued influence of minstrelsy over popular song.
songwriter during his years at Yale and Harvard.
After World War I, Porter spent a decade in Paris.
He acheived his fame in the 1930s with songs like Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess introduced
"Night and Day," "Begin the Beguine," and "Summertime." Gershwin considered this work an
"Anything Goes." Porter is known for his own witty "American folk opera."
lyrics.

THE WINDS OF CHANGE


RICHARD RODGERS
ƒ Richard Rodgers wrote music for over 900
In the mid-1920s, the music business
published songs and 43 musicals changed forever
ƒ Rodgers teamed up with lyricist Lorenz Hart in the
1920s
o From 1935 to 1943, only Cole Porter The phonograph and the radio became
consistently challenged Rodgers and Hart’s increasingly important means of spreading
dominance over Broadway theater music
o Rodgers and Hart even appeared on the cover
of Time in 1938
In 1927, The Jazz Singer, the first talking
ƒ After Hart died, Rodgers famously collaborated picture starred Al Jolson
with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II
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POPULAR SONG
"Bei Mir Bist Du Schön"
HISTORY FORM

ELLA FITZGERALD FORM OF “BEI MIR BIST DU SCHÖN”


Ella Fitzgerald launched her musical career as a dance- The band plays an
band vocalist. She sang with the Chick Webb Orchestra introduction which repeats
and led the band after Chick Webb died. Fitzgerald went the main motive four times,
on to enjoy a career as a famous soloist. featuring a bent #4 scale
degree
Fitzgerald preferred to apply her signature style to
mainstream repertoire, including “Bei Mir Bist Du
Schön.” Fitzgerald joins the orchestra
for the two-part verse

ONE CONTROVERSIAL SONG


Three choruses feature the
vocalist and the ensemble
Unlike Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday sometimes
caused a stir with her choice of repertoire. Holiday A short coda concludes the
incited a ruckus whenever she sang the performance
controversial song "Strange Fruit," which set an
Abel Meeropol poem critical of lynching.

A HYBRID LANGUAGE
The Yiddish language combines elements of Hebrew
HISTORY OF “BEI MIR BIST DU SCHÖN” and German. The English translation of “Bei Mir Bist
Du Schön” only retains the original title, which
translates to “To Me You Are Beautiful.”
Sholom Secunda composes the song "Bay Mir Bistu
Sheyn" using lyrics by Jacob Jacobs.

EIN QUIZ
Musicians perform the song on
the Yiddish theater circuit. QUESTIONS
1. The verse of “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” begins with a
pickup, or _____________.
2. Ella Fitzgerald improvises wordless vocal lines using
After radio and Hollywood reject the song, Jacobs ______ technique.
and Secunda sell the work to a publisher for $30.
3. The Chick Webb Orchestra commonly performed
at the _________ Ballroom.
4. The rhythm at which chords changed is called
Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn translate "Bei Mir _______ rhythm.
Bist Du Schön" into English.
ANSWERS
1. anacrusis
Decca Records releases a surprise hit recording of
the Andrews Sisters singing the song. 2. scat
3. Savoy
4. harmonic
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POPULAR SONG
Film Musicals
FILM MUSICALS ”CHEEK TO CHEEK”

A NEW ERA IN FILM MUSICALS FRED ASTAIRE


ƒ The Warner Brothers film 42nd Street set a new
standard in filming and recording technology in Fred Astaire, born Frederick Austerlitz, began his
1933 career in vaudeville then moved on to Broadway. In
the 1930s, Astaire performed in 11 movie musicals.
ƒ Director Busby Berkeley choreographed mass
He produced his first musical with Ginger Rogers in
dance numbers, which became standard
1933 with Flying Down to Rio. Fred Astaire introduced
throughout the decade
various songs to the public, including “Cheek to
ƒ Also significantly, Leo Forbstein and Ray Heindorf Cheek” from Top Hat.
arranged Henry Warren’s songs for a large
orchestra Astaire became so popular that he could insist upon
artistic standards. For instance, he insisted that
ƒ Al Dubin provided lyrics
dance sequences move along the plot of a film.

FILM MUSICAL GENRES


OVERALL FORM OF “CHEEK TO CHEEK”
Hollywood sometimes adapted Broadway Musicals

Cole Porter - The Gay Divorcee Chorus (with


singer)

Brief Chorus
Some composers wrote musicals specifically for the instrumental (instrumental
screen introduction only)
Jerome Kern - High Wide and Handsome
"Cheek
to
Cheek"

Hollywood began to produce dance musicals in 1933


Irving Berlin - Top Hat
Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields - Swing Time
Geroge and Ira Gershwin - Shall We Dance? FORM OF THE FIRST CHORUS

OPULENT ESCAPISM A A B C A
Musicals of the 1930s featured opulent escapism.
Charming, elegant songs helped Americans forget about
the bleakness of everyday life.
Many of these songs have become standards that have
outlived their immediate context in films or shows. The C section provides the most contrast in the
chorus of "Cheek to Cheek." Astaire sings this
section in C minor, whereas the rest of the chorus
employs C major.
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POPULAR SONG
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime"
“BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME”

BACKGROUND TRACK ANALYSIS


Unlike most popular songs of the time, “Brother, Can
You Spare a Dime” addresses the hardships of the
Depression. Introduction
This song premiered in the 1932 show New America.
Within a few months, Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee •The instrumental introduction slows down
released the two most popular recordings of “Brother, melodramatically after beginning quickly
Can You Spare a Dime.”
Chorus (Insturmental)

COMPOSER AND LYRICIST •The instrumental chorus follows an AABA' form


•The dance band plays the music while Rudy
Jay Gorney Vallee speaks an introduction
•At the end of the chorus, the music modulates
•Jay Gorney's original name was Jacob Gornetzky from the starting key of C minor to D minor
•This Russian-Jewish immigrant drew upon the
lullabies of his youth while composing "Brother, Verse
Can You Spare a Dime"
•The Verse follows an XYXZ form
Yip Harburg •Three instrumental chords at the end of the verse
modulate to B minor
•Yip Harburg wrote the lyrics of "Brother, Can You
Spare a Dime"
•He later worked with songwriter Harold Arlen on Chorus
The Wizard of Oz
•Rudy Vallee sings during the next chorus
•This chorus employs the same chord progression
as the first, but transposed to B minor
VERSE LYRICS
Bridge (Instrumental)
“They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I
followed the mob. When there was earth to plow or •The instruments in the bridge follow the same
guns to bear I was always there right on the job. harmonic progression as earlier B sections
They used to tell me I was building a dream with •Furthermore, the instruments play the vocal
peace and glory ahead. Why should I be standing in melody from the B sections
line, just waiting for bread?”
Chorus (Instrumental)

•The final chorus only contains an A' section then


CHORUS LYRICS a trumpet call
“Once I built a railroad, made it run, made it race HARMONY
against time. Once I built a railroad, now it’s done.
Brother can you spare a dime? Once I built a tower The harmonies of “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”
to the sun, brick and rivet and lime – Once I built a significantly contrast those of other popular songs of the
tower now it’s done. Brother can you spare a dime?" day. Composed in a minor key, “Brother, Can You Spare
a Dime” features many examples of modal mixture and
diminished chords.
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POPULAR SONG
Popular Music Outside New York
POPULAR SONG FOLK MUSIC

POPULAR SONG GENRES CONDESCENDING ATTITUDES


Hollywood and Broadway Folksong collectors preserved much valuable
information. These educated men, however, often
•Hollywood and Broadway produced many of the held a paternalistic or condescending view towards
most popular songs of the 1930s. folk music. For instance, one British organization
•Other popular styles, however, still thrived sought to “save something primitive and genuine
outside of New York from extinction.” On the other hand, some fans of
folk music sympathized with social causes.
Country and Hillbilly Music

•Rural white Americans played country and


hillbilly music at social gatherings FOLK MUSIC AND MASS MEDIA
•These styles drew influences from English and • While recording technology improved, commercial
Irish folk music markets for folk music grew
•Non-professional musicians often played this
music on mandolin, fiddle, banjo, harmonica, or • After World War I, folk radio shows gained fans
other instruments o Alan Lomax, for instance, spent many years
•Audiences first called this genre hillbilly music, working on shows like “Your Ballad Man,”
and later country, or country and western “Well-springs of America,” and “Transatlantic
•The Carter family and Jimmy Rodgers were Call”
famous early country musicians
• In the 1920s, record companies also become more
Bluegrass interested in folk music

•By the end of the 1930s, country and hillbilly • In 1939, Moses Asch founded Asch Records, which
music had become more mainstream would later become Folkways
•Several styles, including bluegrass, sought to o This label featured many famous folk
return this music to its rural roots musicians, including Woody Guthrie and Lead
Belly
Ethnic Music

•Ethnic immigrant groups brought their own music


to America THREE CLASSICAL COMPOSERS USING FOLK TUNES
•Yiddish and Irish musical influences particularly 1. Aaron Copland
permeated mainstream music
2. William Schuman
•These groups concentrated in New York
3. Virgil Thomson

BILL MONROE SOCIAL ACTIVISM


th
Bill Monroe, a pioneer in bluegrass, begins playing 19 -century singers like the Hutchinson Singers
virtuoso fiddle and guitar in 1935 anticipated the 20th-century protest-song movement.
Hollywood and Broadway, on the other hand, usually
Monroe and his brother play string band music in shied away from advocating social causes. Traditional
their band, the Blue Grass Boys folksongs dealt with more day-to-day woes like poverty
and other hardships.
Monroe joins a different group, Grand Ole Opry,
which features on national radio
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POPULAR SONG
Woody Guthrie
WOODY GUTHRIE “SO LONG, IT’S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU”

BACKGROUND GENERAL TRAITS


• “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You” draws its
inspiration from a severe dust storm which Guthrie
witnessed in Pampa, West Texas in 1935
Shortly before the • The guitar begins the work alone and then provides
Guthrie grows up in the singer with simple accompaniment
Depression, Guthrie
an unstable
becomes a
Oklahoma family
wandering hobo • The song features simple harmonies with no
chromaticism and little dissonance
• Woody Guthrie alternates verses and choruses
• The work resembles an Anglo-American ballad in
Guthrie composes that Guthrie repeats melodic material to tell a sad
songs while Guthrie's story
hitchhiking to New experiences in the
York in 1940, and Dust Bowl and in • The verse takes its melody from the cowboy tune
then performs at the California committ “Billy the Kid”
Grapes of Wrath him to social causes
Evening concert • Guthrie delivers his performance in a
straightforward, unembellished fashion

In the same year, the


film version of The TIME LINE
Guthrie records two
Grapes of Wrath
versions of "So Long,
inspirses him to March 1940
It's Been Good to
compose the ballad
Know You" in 1940
"Tom Joad" •More informal and spontaneous
overnight •Contains some spoken verses over accompaniment
•Guthrie lengthens or shortens most of the phrases
•Between verses, guitar interludes vary in length
April 1940
A FEW OF WOODY GUTHRIE’S 1000+ SONGS
•This recording features on the CD
• “Union Maid”
•This more streamlined and polished
• “This Land is Your Land” versionrepresents more of a performance than an
activity
• “Roll On Columbia”
• “Pastures of Plenty”
COMMUNISM AND BACKLASH
• “Reuben James”
During the Great Depression and World War II,
Americans tolerated socialist ideals. After the war, many
DID YOU KNOW? left-leaning musicians, including songwriter Jay Gorney,
Woody Guthrie influenced a new generation of faced fewer employment opportunities due to increase
singers during the resurgence of radical folk music in fears of communism
the 1960s. Protest singers like Bruce Springsteen and The McCarthy Era was a difficult time for Americans
Bob Dylan drew upon the music and ideals of who advocated social or political causes. The Senate
Guthrie, a now-legendary folk hero. Subcommittee of Joseph McCarthy and HUAC (The Un-
American Activities Committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives) both questions suspected communists.
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CLASSICAL MUSIC
Modernism (Page 1 of 2)
A NEW STYLE STRING QUARTET

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG RUTH CRAWFORD SEEGER

Arnold Schoenberg, a Ruth Crawford Seeger studied with European


Viennese composer, decides modernist composers in the 1920s
that common-practice
tonality has become as
complex as possible
In the 1930s she moved to New York and began to
study with Charles Seeger, whom she later married

He resolves to take the


next step in advancing
musical progress by Ruth Crawford Seeger later turned away from
making music atonal modernism and she and her family remained active
in the folk music revival of the 1930s and 1940s

MODERNIST OR MODERN? DISSONANT COUNTERPOINT


• Many modernist compositions, including String
Quartet use a technique called dissonant
counterpoint
Modernists made • This technique structures pitches not according to a
a point of rejecting Modern
past musical ideas, composers did not scale, but according to the relationships of the
contrasting their demonstrate this pitches themselves
music with that of self-conscious • Melodies using dissonant counterpoint form a
more popular stance
coherent whole without incorporating common-
composers
practice harmonic progressions.

OTHER ELEMENTS OF STRING QUARTET

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Ensemble


The Armory Show introduced modernist visual artists, •String Quartet uses the standard ensemble of a
including Pablo Picasso, to the American public in 1913. string quartet
Patrons and practitioners of all the arts began to •This group includes two violins, one viola, and one
promoted modernist ideals. Composers, for instance, cello
abandoned 19th-century romanticism. This older style
drew chromatic harmonies towards a tonic pitch. Melody

•The work features four main melodies which the


composer presents one at a time
ARTISTIC AUTONOMY •Each melody contains a normally-dissonant
melodic major seventh
Modernists believed in the concept of artistic
•In this atonal work, however, this interval creates
autonomy. A work of art did not require a function, some sense of repose or familiarity, especially with
but rather acted as a self-contained unit, a valuable repeated listenings
object of truth and beauty. The public did not even •Ruth Crawford Seeger wrote that "the melody line
need to like modernist art. must be heard continuously throughout the
movement" on the title page of String Quartet
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CLASSICAL MUSIC
Modernism (Page 2 of 2)
PIANO VARIATIONS EXPERIMENTALISM

PAUL ROSENFELD EDGARD VARÈSE


• Edgard Varèse moved to New York from his native
Journalist Paul Rosenfeld compared Aaron Copland’s France
Piano Variations to modernist skyscrapers. Rosenfeld
noted the composition’s clean, efficient construction • In works like Hyperprism he tried to achieve the
and lack of ornamentation. pitch continuum of all possible pitches—not only
those in the standard chromatic scale
• Varèse also employed unorthodox ensembles
ELEMENTS OF PIANO VARIATIONS o Ionisation requires 13 percussionists

Form • Ecuatorial draws inspiration from an indigenous


South American Prayer
•Piano Variations uses a traditional theme-and-
variations form o This work requires a then-recent electronic
•The 20 variations take a total of 9 to 11 minutes to instrument called the ondes martenot
perform
Material
HENRY COWELL
•Almost all of the material from Piano Variations
comes from a four-note motive, or cell Henry Cowell becomes familiar with varied types
•Copland chose to present these four notes alone of music, but not classical music, as a youth. He
at the beginning of the work later studies East Asian music before world music
trends take off.
Atonality
•The modernist, atonal harmonies lcak a pull to the
tonic In the 1920s, Cowell experiments with special
effects on the piano and tone clusters in works
Tonality such as The Banshee and Aeolian Harp
•The seventh variation, unlike earlier ones, implies
C major harmonies
In the 1930s, a "morals charge" lands the
Octave Displacement composer in San Quentin prison. After release,
•Some notes in the melody are transposed up or Cowell helps gather folk music.
down an octave or two using a technique called
octave displacement
Counterpoint
•Sometimes Copland presents two melodies at JOHN CAGE
once, creating a contrapuntal texture
In the 1930s, John Cage performed some of his
earliest compositional experiments. In 1939 he
began to find his personal voice with works like First
Construction (In Metal) and Imaginary Landscape
EXPERIMENTALISM No. 1. Both of these compositions lack standard
Beginning in the 1910s, some modernist composers melodies or harmonic tension.
considered themselves experimentalists. These In the 1940s, Cage invented the prepared piano. He
musicians experimented with timbres, musical inserted objects like erasers or bolts between the
mechanics, rhythms, unusual scales, tuning systems, strings inside of the instrument.
and other techniques. Their experiments helped expand
the possibilities of musical composition.
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CLASSICAL MUSIC
A Change in Style
NEW SIMPLICITY ORGANIZATIONS

MODERNISM MOVES ON THE COMPOSERS’ COLLECTIVE


American communists sponsored the Composers’
Soon after the onset of the Depression, many Collective. This group work to infuse musical
modernist composers began to reevaluate their roles composition with socialist ideology.
in society. Modernist performances also suffered
from long rehearsal times, reduced patronage, and Publications such as the Daily Worker and New Masses
lower ticket sales. As a result, many composers, debated upon the nature of new American communist
including Aaron Copland, turned away from music. Aaron Copland and Marc Blitzstein even entered
modernism in favor of a simpler populist or mass songs in composition contests sponsored by the
Americanist style. Daily Worker.

PUTTING MUSICIANS TO WORK


SOME POPULIST COPLAND COMPOSITIONS
• Music for the Radio
Background
• The Second Hurricane, a children’s play-opera
•Due largely to the Depression and the advent of
• Three ballets including: talking pictures, about 70% of American musicians
o Billy the Kid faced unemployment from 1929 to 1934
•In 1935, however, the Works Progress
o Appalachian Spring Adminstration began to put musicians and other
artists to work
o Rodeo

The Federal Music Project


TRAITS OF COPLAND’S POPULIST COMPOSITIONS •The Federal Music Project, part of the Works
Progress Administration, put about 16,000
musicians to work
Copland included tuneful melodies
•The organization supported 28 symphony
orchestras

Harmonies clearly pull towards The Composers' Forum-Laboratory


tonic
•The Composers' Forum-Laboratory functioned as
part of the Federal Music Project
•The forum organized performances of new
Modern elements add spice, but do
American compositions
not dominate
•After a performance, the audience asked the
composer questions about the music
•During the 1930s, the Forum supported new works
in a variety of genres
FASCISM
The Federal Theater Project
In the 1930s, fascist regimes grew in power in Italy,
Spain, and Germany. Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies •Musicians found work through the Federal Theater
inspired many Jews to move to America, bringing their Project by directing, composing, or performing
musical talent with them. music for the stage
Additionally, membership in anti-fascist organizations •Marc Blitzstein, for instance, composed music for
grew in America. Communists in particular spearheaded The Cradle Will Rock
this anti-fascist movement.
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CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Plow that Broke the Plains
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTARIES STRUCTURE

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTARIES SECTIONS OF THE FILM

In the 1930s, the government used the relatively new Prelude


film medium to inform the public of its programs. For •The four-minute "Predule" outlines the geography
instance, Virgil Thomson composed scores for The and history of the Great Plains
Plow that Broke the Plains and later The River. Aaron
Copland’s The City promotes green towns: Pastorale (Grass)
communities that provided families with an •"Pastorale (Grass)" provides a feeling of optimism
alternative to unhealthy urban living. •Diatonic brass figures rise in a major key
Cattle
VIRGIL THOMSON •"Cattle" features the cowboy tunes "Get Along
Little Dogies" and "I Ride an Old Paint"
•Aaron Copland used both of these tunes in the
Virgil Thomson spends a large part of the 1920s ballet Billy the Kid
and 1930s in Paris
The Homesteader

Warning
Thomson draws inspiration from a mocking,
•In "Warning" the narrator repeats "...the rains
simple school of French composition
failed them..."
War and the Tractor

Speculation (Blues)
Thomson combines this style with American
folksong, creating the Americana sound
Drought
•The strings begin "Drought" with a minor,
mournful tune and then a woodwind joins with a
similar melody
OVERVIEW •Later in the movement, the music references jazz
The Plow that Broke the Plains tells the story of how poor and becomes bitonal
management and bad weather contributed to the Dust
Wind and Dust
Bowl. The 27-minute film promoted the Resettlement
Administration, which relocated struggling farmers. •Loud open fifths symbolize the beginning of the
dust storm in "Wind and Dust"
This film appealed to audiences emotionally. Farm
The severe music later emphasizes a dissonant
Security Administration officer George Stoney observed tritone
that audiences, having viewed the film, acted as if they
•Eventually, the music quotes a popular hymn
had just heard an evangelical sermon. The powerful tune, the Doxology or "Old Hundredth"
music and images, not a logical message, inspired
•Thomson decided to set this usually major tune
sympathy towards struggling farm families. to minor-key harmonies
•The original score for the film calls for the
harmonium, a small pump organ, but many
recordings use a small group of woodwinds
instead
Devastation
•The four-minute "Devastation" concludes
Thomson's score
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CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Cradle Will Rock (Page 1 of 2)
OVERVIEW PREMIERE

THEMATIC OVERVIEW PREMIERE

Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock underscores


many Depression-era themes including poverty,
Marc Blitzstein
capitalism, unions, and socialism. Even though the comes up with the
The Federal Theater
musical borders on propaganda, the work does idea for the musical
Project provides
address the question of what American composers funds for the first
in 1934, completing it
could do to best serve their country in the midst of production in 1937
in 1936
social and economic disaster.

OVERVIEW OF THE PLOT John Houseman and


Violent labor unrest Orson Welles
The Cradle Will Rock describes the struggle insues in America, become the
between steelworkers and the wealthy particularly within production's
magnate Mr. Mister in fictional Steeltown, the steel industry producer and
USA director, respectively

Upon finding the


Mr. Mister's Liberty committee illegally In order to avoid
theater locked on
and unethically surpresses freedom causing a riot, the
opening night,
FTP postpone's the
Welles and
musical's June 16,
Houseman look for a
1937, premiere
new venue

The middle class must choose whether to


support Mr. Mister or the workers lead by
union organizaer Larry Foreman
Blitzstein begins to
The crowd travels 21
perform all of the
blocks to a new
parts at the piano to
theater
a packed house
RADICAL POLITICS AMONG AMERICAN COMPOSERS
Members of the semi-secret Composers’ Collective
sought to create music for the American working class.
The audience
Two German composers, Hanns Eisler and Kurt Weill In order to skirt responds
particularly inspired the organization’s members. These around union rules, ecstatically,
two men abandoned “elitist” modernist composition, the actors began plunging the
joining the Communist party and turning towards performing their roles premiere of The
simpler music. from the audience Cradle Will Rock
into theater legend
Many American composers began to favor a simpler
musical style. They considered modernism a symbol of
the “bourgeois elite” and favored the influence of
“everyman’s music,” or folk music.
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CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Cradle Will Rock (Page 2 of 2)
SCENE 6 SCENE 7

EVENTS IN SCENE 6 EVENTS IN SCENE 7

Yasha the violinist and Dauber the artist bump into Several Liberty Committee members find themselves
each other in a hotel lobby. in jail by mistake.

A car horn plays a fragment of Beethoven, Imprisoned with them, union organizer Larry
announcing Mrs. Mister's arrival. Foreman describes his arrest to the prostitute Moll.

The two men then sing to her about how much they After criticizing the Liberty Committee,
would love to spend a weekend at her country home Foreman breaks into the title song of the musical,
and the words turn ugly. "The Cradle Will Rock."

ANALYSIS STYLE OF THE TITLE SONG

Death and Killing The Composers' Collective

•Mrs. Mister's lines refer to death and killing •"The Cradle Will Rock" resembles the workers
•Her husband, Mr. Mister, intentionally caused a choruses which the Composers' Collective
fatal explosion at union headquarters in the promoted in its early years
previous scene •The music features strong rhythms and an
emphatic march-like beat
Beethoven
Performers of Workers Songs
•Also ironically, Mrs. Mister's car horn frivolously
quotes a fragment of Beethoven's Egmont Overture •Composers probably did not intend all workers to
sing a workers song
•This overture draws inspiration from a play by
Goethe •Workers signed up for regular singing groups and
performed at scheduled gatherings
Comparisons
A Blend of Broadway and Modernism
•Marc Blitzstein directly compares Beethoven to •"The Cradle Will Rock" includes modernist
Yasha and Dauber dissonance, odd melodic leaps, irregular meter,
•The Egmont motive and Yasha and Dauber's "art and unexpected shifts in ahrmony
for art's sake" motive resemble each other •Despite frequent modulations, the song remains
tonal
Characterization
Philosophy
•Blitzstein portrays Mrs. Mister, Yasha, and Dauber
as immoral sellouts •"The Cradle Will Rock" does not draw inspiration
•Mrs. Mister desires prestige and attention, while from modernist philosophy at all
the two artists want food and shelter •The song clearly intends to inspire opressed
•Marc Blitzstein does not excuse Yasha and Dauber workers to act against the status quo
from moral responsibility
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CLASSICAL MUSIC
Music and Media
OCHO POR RADIO MUSIC AND MEDIA

AMERICAN INTEREST IN MEXICO NEW MEDIA


Before the advent of the long-playing record in 1948,
Mexican composers like Silvestre Revueltas and only short classical compositions could conveniently fit
Carlos Chávez helped inspire American composers onto records.
like Aaron Copland. Revueltas’ Ocho por Radio helped
inspire Copland’s El Salon México. Classical music better thrived on radio. In 1926, NBC
broadcast Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston
Symphony to one million Americans. Regular radio
broadcasts also helped the Metropolitan opera survive
INSTRUMENTATION the Depression.
Ocho por Radio requires eight musicians FAMOUS CONDUCTORS
who play two violins, cello, bassoon, trumpet,
double bass, percussion, and clarinet
CONDUCTOR ORCHESTRA
Serge Koussevitzky Boston Symphony
THE NEOCLASSICAL STYLE
Arturo Toscanini New York Philharmonic
Ocho por Radio features many neoclassical elements.
Igor Stravinsky popularized this clear, playful, and quirky NBC Orchestra
style.
Leopold Stokowski Philadelphia Orchestra
Neoclassical compositions feature sudden musical shifts
and a steady pulse, but effects like polymeter or
irregular meter obscure the sense of downbeat. Some
passages are bitonal and brief snippets (ostinati) repeat. POPULAR COMPOSERS IN AMERICA

FORM
Classical
A
•Mozart, Haydn, Rossini, early Beethoven
•The A section conveys a festive mood over a quick
tempo
Romantic
•Cheerful folk melodies pervade throughout the A
section
•Late Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann,
•Ostinati in different keys provide a polytonal Mendelssohn, Schubert, Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi,
texture Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Verdi
•Rhythmic effects sometimes even obscure the
sense of meter
Late Romantic
B
•Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Richard Strauss, Mahler,
•The slower, languid B section provides contrast Puccini
•The bassoon plays a melody which begins on a
repeated pitch Modern
A •Igor Stravinsky
•The final A section resumes the party atmosphere
of the first A
Coda
•A short flourish ends the composition
Music Cram Kit | 44

CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Harlem Renaissance
WILLIAM GRANT STILL AFRO-AMERICAN SYMPHONY

WILLIAM GRANT STILL AFRO-AMERICAN SYMPHONY


William Grant Still studies composition, violin, cello, William Grant Still decided to include blues elements
and oboe at Oberlin College and Wilberforce into Afro-American Symphony because the genre does
University
“not exhibit the influence of Caucasian music. Still
even attached poetry by black poet Paul Laurence
Dunbar to each of the work’s four movements.
William Grant Still works for the publishing company
of W.C. Handy, composer of "St. Louis Blues" while
studying under Edgard Varèse
FORM

Exposition
He wins a prestigous grant from the Guggenheim
Foundation and relocates to Los Angeles, where he •Before the exposition of this sonata-allegro
sets a new standard in film scoring movement, an English horn plays a lyrical solo
•The first major idea of the exposition features an
AAB 12-bar blues pattern
•The second idea is a lyrical melody which
In 1931, Afro-American Symphony becomes the first resembles black spirituals
work by an African-American composer to be
performed by a major orchestra Development

In 1935, Still conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, •A violin solo dominates the movement's
becoming the first African-American to conduct a development
major orchestra
Recapitulation

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE •The CD only contains the recapitulation


•The recapitulation reverses the order of the two
Harlem Renaissance intellectuals like W.E.B. DuBois main ideas of the exposition
sought to prove the value and potential of African- •The movement ends with a bass clarinet solo
American art and depict the heritage of black America
by using mainstream white artistic forms.
These intellectuals debated upon which music best fit
A FEW FINAL TIDBITS
their goals. Many African-Americans had gained
mainstream fame through jazz, but jazz did not enjoy ƒ William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony uses
comparable artistic status to classical music at the time. banjo and vibraphone, referring to jazz past and
present
Some thinkers, including Alain Locke, believed that
ƒ Afro-American Symphony represents the first of
singers like Paul Robeson should sing spirituals in an
Still’s five symphonies
operatic style. Others, like Zora Neale Hurston, believed
that this music should reflect the freedom and o The later four demonstrate a more modernist
spontaneity of traditional performances. style
ƒ Still’s varied output composed eight operas and
numerous dance-band arrangements
DID YOU KNOW?
Although not directly involved in the Harlem
Renaissance, William Grant Still’s music nevertheless
reflects some of the movement’s goals
Music Cram Kit | 45

CRUNCH KIT
Music in Four Pages (Page 1)
INSTRUMENTAL FAMILIES KEYS
ƒ Any instrument whose strings vibrate to produce sound ƒ A key describes the main scale of a passage of music
is a chordophone ƒ A set of accidentals called the key signature indicates
ƒ A vibrating column of air produces sound in aerophones the key
like woodwind or brass instruments ƒ A key signature can refer to a major scale or its relative
ƒ All drums are membranophones minor
ƒ Striking the body of the instrument itself produces sound ƒ Music can change key, or modulate, most often along
on an idiophone the circle of fifths
ƒ Electrophones such as the Theremin produce sound HARMONIC PROGRESSION
electronically
ƒ A progression of chords, or a harmonic progression,
PITCH AND TUNING resolves unstable dissonance into consonance
ƒ The frequency of a sound wave determines the highness ƒ A bass line reinforces a progression
or lowness of the sound, its pitch ƒ Chord progressions commonly resolve to tonic
ƒ Doubling frequency increases the pitch by an octave harmonies
ƒ Using equal temperament tuning, the chromatic scale ƒ The dominant seventh chord (V7) pulls particularly
divides an octave into 12 equal parts strongly to tonic, in part due to its dissonant internal
tritone
A FEW SCALE DEGREES
ƒ The tonic is the “home base” of the scale BEYOND COMMON PRACTICE
ƒ The dominant, or fifth scale degree, is almost as ƒ Common-practice tonality is the most intuitive Western
important system of organizing harmonic progressions
ƒ The leading tone leads upwards by a half step to the ƒ Over time, composers began to use more and more
tonic chromatic pitches outside of their music’s key
ƒ In around 1910, Arnold Schoenberg decided to abandon
COMPARING TWO SCALES
common-practice altogether, creating atonality and later
ƒ Relative major and minor scales contain the same notes, the twelve-tone method
but have different tonics
COMMON MUSICAL TEXTURES
ƒ Parallel major and minor scales use the same tonics, but
different pitches ƒ Homophonic texture results when a melody and
supporting accompaniment function separately
CONTOUR
ƒ Multiple independent voices sound melodies at once in
ƒ Contour describes the profile of a melody polyphonic textures
ƒ Conjunct melodies contain many steps, while disjunct
TWO OTHER ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
melodies include more leaps
ƒ Dynamics indicate how loud or soft a musician should
METER AND RHYTHM play
ƒ Rhythm describes the duration of musical notes ƒ Articulation refers to the mechanics of producing the
ƒ The beat provides musical pulse music itself
ƒ Meter organizes beats into measures using a time COMMON FORMS
signature
ƒ A composer presents a main theme then repeats it with
ƒ Two beats per measure indicates duple meter, while variations in theme and variations form
three beats indicates triple
ƒ Twelve-bar blues also uses variation techniques
ƒ Irregular meter features atypical groupings of beats
ƒ ABA form exploits musical contrast, as does 32-bar
ƒ Syncopated rhythms emphasize notes in between beats form, which is common in popular songs
or on weak beats
ƒ Fugues are contrapuntal, imitative pieces with a main
CHORDS theme called a fugue subject
ƒ Three or more simultaneous pitches make up a chord SONATA FORM
ƒ Three-note chords, or triads, can be major, minor, ƒ The composer introduces two main themes and
diminished, or augmented modulates in the exposition
ƒ Sometimes composers invert triads by putting the third ƒ The development explores the possibilities of these
or the fifth of a triad on the bottom instead of the root themes
ƒ The recapitulation restates the material of the exposition
without modulating
Music Cram Kit | 46

CRUNCH KIT
Music in Four Pages (Page 2)
BLUES TRAITS JAZZ ORIGINS
ƒ The blues uses the three-part twelve-bar blues harmonic ƒ Jazz draws influence from various musical styles popular
structure in New Orleans including brass band music
ƒ Blues performances features call and response effects ƒ Scott Joplin’s syncopated Ragtime piano compositions
between performers also helped inspire the genre
ƒ Notation cannot capture the improvised elements of a ƒ The all-white Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded jazz
performance for the first time in the polyphonic Dixieland Style
ƒ Musicians common flatten third, fifth, or seventh scale LOUIS ARMSTRONG
degrees, creating blue notes
ƒ Assisted by Joe “King” Oliver, Louis Armstrong’s
PRE-BLUES GENRES trumpet playing helped shift the focus towards solos in
ƒ After church services, slaves often gathered to jazz
participate in a musical ring shout ƒ Armstrong’s “hot” sound and uneven swing rhythms
ƒ While working slaves often sang steady work songs inspired musicians
ƒ An individual slave sometimes improvised an elaborate, GEORGE GERSHWIN
spontaneous field holler ƒ White songwriter George Gershwin composed jazz
ƒ Variety shows like vaudeville and the minstrel show influenced works he called “Symphonic Jazz”
contributed to the later blues business model ƒ Examples include Rhapsody in Blue and the opera Porgy
ƒ Minstrel shows often featured white performers in and Bess
blackface BIG BANDS AND SWING
TYPES OF BLUES ƒ Big bands, or dance bands, played the most popular
ƒ Country blues featured itinerant male singers and was music of the 1930s
considered more “authentic” and rural ƒ White musicians favored sweet jazz while blacks
ƒ Classic blues showcased more professional musicians performed hot jazz
and flourished in cities ƒ Swing features a fast pulse and uneven eighth notes
W.C. HANDY ƒ In 1935, Benny Goodman’s Orchestra’s Palomar
ƒ W.C. Handy has been called the “Father of the Blues” Broadcast ushered in the swing era
ƒ Handy established a publishing company and composed PERFORMANCE CONVENTIONS
classic blues works like “St. Louis Blues” ƒ Many jazz performances use a 32-bar form borrowed
ƒ Billie Holiday sang “St. Louis Blues” from a popular song chorus
ƒ Unlike country blues, this work contains an established ƒ After stating the tune, the musicians repeat the chord
structure and requires a score progression and played variations or solos on top
BLUES SINGERS ƒ The rhythm section maintains the beat
ƒ In 1920, Mamie Smith released a hit recording of “Crazy ƒ Melody instruments like the saxophone often play
Blues” different notes of the same chords all at once by playing
as a choir
ƒ Other black female singers, in particular Bessie Smith,
subsequently featured on race records DUKE ELLINGTON
ƒ The Depression lost many blues musicians recording and ƒ Duke Ellington remained an important figure in jazz for
performing opportunities many years
HOKUM ƒ He composed and arranged for his band in innovative
ways
ƒ Big Bill Broonzy played a large role in creating hokum, a
more obscene type of blues ƒ Ellington’s composition Cotton Tail borrows the chord
progression, or changes, from Gershwin’s “I Got
ƒ Boogie-woogie piano also developed with the
Rhythm”
Depression
MORE MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
LEAD BELLY
ƒ Some musicians played combo jazz in smaller ensembles
ƒ Lead Belly could sing a large repertoire of songs,
called combos
including the blues
ƒ Art Tatum enjoyed fame as a virtuoso solo jazz pianist
ƒ He accompanied himself singing “Midnight Special” on
his twelve-string guitar ƒ Jimmy Blanton showcased his walking bass technique in
Duke Ellington’s band on his bass
ƒ Lead Belly came to the attention of folksong collector
John Lomax
Music Cram Kit | 47

CRUNCH KIT
Music in Four Pages (Page 3)
COLONIAL SONG FRED ASTAIRE
ƒ We know the most about American colonial religious ƒ Fred Astaire starred in 11 movie musicals in the 1930s
singing ƒ He insisted upon high artistic standards for dance
ƒ The Psalter The Bay Psalm Book became the first book numbers
printed in America in 1640 ƒ Astaire introduced many new songs to the public
ƒ Various colonial groups brought their own ethnic musical through film, notably Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek”
traditions to the New World from the movie Top Hat
PARLOR SONG BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME
ƒ Parlor song dominated the 19th-century popular music ƒ Jay Gorney drew upon lullabies while composing
scene “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”
ƒ Amateur musicians could play these simple songs at ƒ Lyricist Yip Harburg later worked on songs for The
home Wizard of Oz
ƒ One popular parlor song was ”Home Sweet Home” ƒ Unlike many popular songs, “Brother, Can You Spare a
ƒ The most popular American songwriter of the century Dime” admits to the hardships of the Depression
was Stephen Foster who only wrote lucrative minstrel ƒ The work also includes unusually chromatic harmonies,
songs reluctantly including modal mixture
TIN PAN ALLEY ƒ Rudy Vallee sings on the CD
ƒ New York City was a center of the music industry OTHER POPULAR MUSIC
ƒ Song pluggers played the latest sheet music along the ƒ Rural white musicians played country, or hillbilly music
publishing district Tin Pan Alley ƒ Bill Monroe pioneered bluegrass
PERFORMER’S MUSIC ƒ Ethnic groups like the Irish and Jews influenced
ƒ Composers writing composers' music intended mainstream culture with their unique musical traditions
musicians to perform the music exactly as written FOLKSONG COLLECTORS
ƒ Musicians could adapt works to fit their personal styles ƒ Many organizations collecting folk music viewed the
while performing performers' music genre condescendingly
GREAT SONGWRITERS OF THE 1930S ƒ Collectors like John Lomax helped preserve and promote
ƒ Jerome Kern famously teams up with lyricist Oscar American folk music
Hammerstein II to compose the musical Show Boat ƒ Classical composers like Aaron Copland even drew upon
ƒ Richard Rodgers famously collaborated with Lorenz Hart, folk material
and later Hammerstein WOODY GUTHRIE
ƒ Only Cole Porter could challenge Rodgers and Hart’s ƒ The Dust Bowl and the Depression galvanized folk
dominance on Broadway after 1935 singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie towards social
ƒ George Gershwin composed a large number of hit songs activism
with his lyricist brother Ira ƒ Guthrie performed in the Grapes of Wrath Evening
ƒ Irving Berlin owned a publishing company, could only concert alongside Alan Lomax and Lead Belly
play the piano in F-sharp, and lived to age 101
SO LONG, IT’S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU
BEI MIR BIST DO SCHÖN ƒ Guthrie’s “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You” draws
ƒ Sholom Secunda and Jacob Jacobs produced the original inspiration from a dust storm
version of “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” in Yiddish ƒ This ballad relies on storytelling and subtle variation, not
ƒ The Andrews Sisters made the song famous in its English chromaticism and dissonance
translation ƒ Guthrie recorded the song twice
ƒ Ella Fitzgerald also sang the song with the Chick Webb
POLITICAL FALLOUT
Orchestra
ƒ Many musicians saw their opportunities wane due to a
ƒ Her performance shows off her ability to scat, improvise
fear of communism during the McCarthy Era
wordless melodies
ƒ In the 1960s, however, a group of younger protest
FILM MUSICALS singers rose to prominence
ƒ Film musicals like 42nd Street provided entertainment in ƒ Woody Guthrie inspired figures such as Bob Dylan and
the 1930s Bruce Springsteen
ƒ Musicals generally featured a degree of spectacle and
offered a route for escapism
Music Cram Kit | 48

CRUNCH KIT
Music in Four Pages (Page 4)
MODERNISM VIRGIL THOMSON
ƒ Arnold Schoenberg helped inspire musical modernism in ƒ Virgil Thomson lived in France for a period of his life
America ƒ He combined a simple, mocking French style with
ƒ The 1913 Armory Show introduced Americans to American folk music to create an Americana sound
modernist visual art, including Pablo Picasso
THE PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS
ƒ Modernists did not seek to satisfy an audience, but
ƒ Virgil Thomson composed a score for the government
believed in artistic autonomy, the idea that works of art
documentary The Plow that Broke the Plains
were self-contained objects of beauty
ƒ This film sought to promote the Resettlement
RUTH CRAWFORD SEEGER Administration, which relocated families who suffered as
ƒ Ruth Crawford Seeger married one of her modernist a result of the Dust Bowl
composition teachers, Charles Seeger ƒ The film describes how inferior management and
ƒ Eventually they abandoned modernism and acted in the unfortunate weather contributed to the Dust Bowl
folk music revival ƒ The film appealed to audiences not on a logical, but on
STRING QUARTET an emotional level
ƒ Ruth Crawford Seeger’s String Quartet features dissonant ƒ Thomson’s score interestingly quotes the Doxology
counterpoint, a technique that organizes pitch hymn
relationships according to a set of pitches rather than to RADICAL POLITICS
a scale
ƒ Many composers participated in the communist
ƒ Seeger emphasized the importance of melody, but her Composers’ Collective
melodies are not traditional, emphasizing normally
ƒ This organization debated what music best served
dissonant the melodic major seventh
American workers
ƒ The string quartet contains two violins, one viola, and
ƒ Active composers admired folksong material
one cello
THE CRADLE WILL ROCK
PIANO VARIATIONS
ƒ Marc Blitzstein’s musical The Cradle Will Rock describes
ƒ Aaron Copland’s Piano Variations is atonal, yet uses the
the struggle between steel workers and the wealthy
traditional theme and variations form
magnate Mr. Mister
ƒ A four-note motive provides the basis of the entire work
ƒ This work carries a leftist message
EXPERIMENTALISM ƒ On the night of the premiere, the Federal Theatre Project
ƒ Experimentalists sought to advance the possibilities of locked the venue to avoid causing riots
composition ƒ Instead, the audience found a new theater
ƒ Edgard Varèse experimented with pitch and unorthodox ƒ The actors participated from the audience in order to
ensembles avoid union rules
ƒ The works of Henry Cowell include piano special effects ƒ Mrs. Mister’s car horn quotes a fragment of Beethoven in
and tone clusters scene 6
ƒ John Cage inserted objects between piano strings to
OCHO POR RADIO
create the prepared piano
ƒ Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas wrote Ocho por
A NEW SIMPLICITY Radio in the balanced, playful neoclassical style
ƒ Modernist composers moved towards a simpler style ƒ This work helped inspire Copland’s El Salón México
during the Depression
MASS MEDIA
ƒ Aaron Copland’s populist or Americanist works include
the ballets Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, and Billy the Kid ƒ Radio proved an especially good medium for spreading
classical music, promoting conductors like Toscanini,
THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION Stokowski, and Koussevitzky
ƒ The Works Progress Administration supported the
AFRO-AMERICAN SYMPHONY
Federal Music Project
ƒ William Grant Still, the “Dean of African American
ƒ One branch of the FMP, the Composers’ Forum-
Composers” wrote Afro-American Symphony, the first
Laboratory, organized free concerts of works by new
work by a black composer to receive a performance by a
American composers
major orchestra
ƒ Many musicians also found work through the Federal
ƒ The first movement of this symphony uses sonata-
Theatre Project
allegro form and incorporates blues elements
Music Cram Kit | 49

CRUNCH KIT
List of Lists
10 HIGH PRIORITY WORKS 10 THEATER AND FILM WORKS

Appalachian Spring An Aaron Copland ballet 42nd Street Film which set technological standards
Rodeo An Aaron Copland ballet Annie Get Your Gun A 1946 success of Irving Berlin
Billy the Kid An Aaron Copland ballet Girl Crazy Musical which premiered George
“Crazy Blues” A Perry Bradford composition which Gerhswin’s “I Got Rhythm”
Mamie Smith recorded in 1920 The Jazz Singer Starred Al Jolson and became the first
“Dixie” An originally mocking Dan Emmett song talking picture in 1927
which Southerners adopted as their own Love in a Village A Thomas Arne work popular in colonial
Ecuatorial An Edgard Varèse work which uses the America
ondes martenot Porgy and Bess George Gershwin’s “American folk opera”
“Home Sweet An enormously popular parlor song from Roberta A Broadway musical-turned-film which
Home” the operetta Clari, or The Maid of Milan earned Jerome Kern his first Opera
Rhapsody in Blue An orchestral work by George Gershwin Show Boat A Kern and Hammerstein musical which
which incorporates some jazz elements set a standard for plots and character
“Strange Fruit” A controversial song in Billie Holiday’s development
repertoire which criticized lynching St. Louis Blues A short film which featured Bessie Smith
“Tom Joad” A Woody Guthrie ballad which singing W.C. Handy’s Music
summarizes the story of The Grapes of Top Hat Premiered Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to
Wrath Cheek”

10 HIGH PRIORITY MUSICIANS 10 GENRES

Blanton, Jimmy Bassist in Duke Ellington’s band who used Ring shout A gathering of slaves after worship
the walking bass technique services
Fitzgerald, Ella Sang “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” Work song A steady song genre which slaves sang
Schoeberg, Arnold Pioneered atonality and the twelve-tone on the fields
technique Field holler An improvised, embellished song sung by
Smith, Bessie A famous black female blues singer single slaves
Broonzy, Big Bill Chicago blues musician who helped Tin Pan Alley blues A blues genre among white songwriters
create hokum like George Gershwin
Joplin, Scott Famous ragtime pianist and composer Dixieland jazz An early, polyphonic jazz style
Goodman, Benny White clarinetist, saxophonist, and Boogie-woogie A blues piano genre
bandleader who helped usher in the Sweet jazz Elegant jazz favored by white musicians
swing era Jungle style A “primitive” Duke Ellington style
Foster, Stephen C. Probably the most famous American Combo jazz Jazz performed by small ensembles
songwriter of the 19th century called combos
Whiteman, Paul White conductor who led the first Bluegrass A country style pioneered by Bill Monroe
performance of Rhapsody in Blue
Koussevitzky, Conductor of the Boston Symphony who
Serge broadcast the first-ever life performance
of a full symphonic concert
Music Cram Kit | 50

CRUNCH KIT
List of Lists
10 MEDIUM PRIORITY WORKS PARLOR SONGS
“Alexander’s Irving Berlin’s first big hit Civil War Songs Usually glorified the war
Ragtime Band” Folksongs Most important in the Southwest
“The Battle Cry of A famous Civil War song Gospel songs Gentle, sentimental religious songs
Freedom” Labor songs Promoted the causes of workers
The City An Aaron Copland film score Nostalgic songs Longed for the antebellum past
“Daybreak A Duke Ellington work with a train theme
Express” Patriotic parlor Patriotic compositions like “The Star
songs Spangled Banner”
“Ko-ko” An example of Duke Ellington’s jungle
style Songs of Typically described the misery of
Westward travelling west
“Mood Indigo” A Duke Ellington mood piece Expansion
The River A Virgil Thomson film score
“The Star Spangled A patriotic parlor song which uses Francis
Banner” Scott Key’s lyrics
“Tenting on the A Civil War song which admits to the
Old Campground” war’s negative side
“To Anacreon in A British song which provided the tune
Heaven” for “The Star Spangled Banner”

10 MEDIUM PRIORITY MUSICIANS CHARACTERS OF THE CRADLE WILL ROCK

Chávez, Carlos An important Mexican composer and Dauber An artist who meets Mrs. Mister
conductor Larry Foreman A worker who tries to organize a union in
Debussy, Claude Used non-functional harmonies and Steeltown, USA
unusual scales Moll A jailed prostitute to whom Larry
Hammerstein, Wrote lyrics and libretti for Kern and Foreman relates the story of his arrest
Oscar II Rodgers Mr. Mister A wealthy magnate who leads the
Hart, Lorenz Wrote lyrics and libretti for Richard oppressive Liberty Committee
Rogers Mrs. Mister Wife of Mr. Mister who desires prestige
Jefferson, Blind A Texas bluesman and attention
Lemon Yasha A violinist who meets Mrs. Mister
Jolson, Al Starred in the first-ever talking picture,
The Jazz Singer
Rainey, Gertrude A famous black female blues singer
“Ma”
Seeger, Charles Composer and husband of Ruth Crawford
Seeger
Stokowski, Leopold Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra
who exploited mass media early
Tatum, Art A virtuoso jazz solo pianist
Music Cram Kit | 51

CRUNCH KIT
List of Lists
8 LOWER PRIORITY WORKS 8 MODERN MUSICAL TECHNIQUES
Aeolian Harp A Henry Cowell work which instructs the Atonal Describes music without any key
pianist to strum the instrument’s strings Bitonality Occurs when music sounds in two keys at
Concerto in F An example of George Gershwin’s once
“Symphonic Jazz” Dissonant Allows composers to derive pitch
First Construction A John Cage composition which only counterpoint relationships from the notes themselves,
(In Metal) features percussion not from a scale
Hyperprism An Edgard Varèse composition which Non-functional Use common-practice chords, but do not
strives for the “pitch continuum” harmonies resolve them in the typical fashion
Ionisation An Edgard Varèse composition which Octave The technique of moving some pitches of
uses 13 percussionists displacement a melody up or down by an octave or two
“Memphis Blues” An early W.C. Handy attempt at writing a Ostinati Short, repeated snippets common in
classic blues neoclassical music
The Second An Aaron Copland play-opera for Pitch continuum Edgard Varèse’s name for the entire
Hurricane children spectrum of possible pitches, including
those outside of the chromatic scale
“Tea For Two” A Tin Pan Alley song which Bessie Smith Polytonal Describes music which contains multiple
incorporated into her repertoire keys at once

5-15 LOWER PRIORITY MUSICIANS JAZZ TERMS

Arne, Thomas Composer of Love in a Village Chorus The name given to repeated harmonic
Basie, Count Led a Kansas City band which progressions
incorporated blues elements Changes The chord progression of a chorus
Blake, Blind A ragtime-influenced bluesman Growl effect A raspy, strident instrumental effect
Dorsey, Thomas A. The father of gospel music who helped Playing as a choir The practice of assigning multiple
“Georgia Tom” create hokum instruments from a section different
Johnson, Robert An influential, yet short-lived downhome notes of the same chords in the same
blues artist rhythm
Morton, “Jelly Roll” A Creole pianist who helped develop the Plunger mute Enables special effects on instruments
ragtime style like the trombone and trumpet
Pace, Harry A college-educated African American Rhythm changes The chord progression from Gershwin’s “I
who helped W.C. Handy set up a Got Rhythm” which forms the basis of
publishing business many jazz compositions
Rodgers, Jimmy An important early country music Shout chorus A climactic, full ensemble chorus
musician Walking bass Innovative bass technique in which the
Schuman, William A classical composer who drew bassist deviates from the basic harmony
inspiration from folksong on weak beats
Weill, Kurt A German composer who inspired the
Composers’ Collective
Music Cram Kit | 52

FINAL TIPS AND ABOUT THE AUTHOR


FINAL TIPS ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ƒ Review major concepts in music theory, but do not Jonathan Spatola-Knoll


emphasize details graduated from Olympia High
ƒ Know the general instrumentation of each listening School and now attends
excerpt for the listening section of the exam Whitman College in Walla
ƒ Don’t stress over the details of each track, know the Walla, Washington. Jonathan is
big picture a music history major who plays
piano, violin, and some viola. He
ƒ Remember the major historical trends of how large loves to nerdfully research
genres evolved, especially blues, jazz, and classical music nobody really knows or
music cares about, and is absolutely terrified about applying to
ƒ Pay special attention to the musicians and graduate schools this fall. He’d rather be practicing
composers on the listening examples themselves piano, writing his thesis on an obscure Russian
ƒ Review important genres, but do not prioritize composer, or pursuing free food. As far as he knows, no
subgenres. If you do not already know them all, other Washington decathlete has broken 8,000
they might confuse you points—nor is one likely to, given that there are no
longer teams in the state.

ABOUT THE EDITOR


SOPHY LEE
Sophy Lee has quit her way into some of the best decisions of her life. In her senior year of
high school, she gave up leadership of her high school Debate team to captain her Academic
Decathlon team.
She likes to think that it turned out well! In that year, Pearland High School won its first-ever
State Championship and 3rd place at Nationals.
In her sophomore year of college, Sophy gave up her position as captain of the Harvard
University Mock Trial team—the top-ranked program in the country—to serve as President
of the Harvard Cycling team. The 2011 collegiate race season won't begin until March 2011
but who knows what might happen... feel free to check on her and her team's progress at
thefullmontee.wordpress.com.
As different as Academic Decathlon and cycling might seem, Sophy swears that the two
disciplines share the same lessons and principles. Specificity. Teamwork. Pushing personal
limits. Competition. And love for what you're doing!
As always, she welcomes your thoughts and questions at sophy@demidec.com.

ABOUT THE ALPACA-IN-CHIEF


DANIEL BERDICHEVKSY
Daniel Berdichevsky had a short-lived musical career as a would-be lyricist for musicals
and Disney movies. (If you want Daniel to tear up, try songs from Aladdin and The Little
Mermaid.) He and his one-time collaborator, composer Burch Wang, recently reunited
in Taiwan, where Burch is now a World Scholar’s Cup coach.
Daniel’s other musically inclined friend has been far more successful: Sasha Zamler-
Carhart (who wrote the 1998 Music Resource) is premiering his first opera in New York
City this October. It involves St. Francis of Assisi and puppets made of garbage. Sasha
and Daniel are quite brotherly, which probably explains why they often argue and have very different taste in clothes.
They are pictured here during a recent reunion in Sasha’s hometown, Paris.
You can find Daniel at dan@demidec.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dan.berd.
Music Cram Kit | 53

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