Jong Guen Lim

Professor, Ross Levison

Music 5990

10, 09, 2017

Midterm Exam

1. Describe Minstrel music. What are its roots, what does sound like, and what are the
lyrics?
Minstrel music is the first form of musical and theatrical entertainment to be regarded
by European audiences as distinctively American in its character. It mainly featured white
performers who artificially blackened their skin and carried out parodies of African
American music, dance, dress, and dialect. Minstrel music emerged from rough-and-
tumble, predominantly working-class neighborhoods, such as New York Citys Seventh Ward,
commercial urban zones where interracial interaction was common. The typical minstrel
song was accompanied by fiddle, banjo, tambourine, and a pair of rib bones held in one
hand and shake to create a syncopated rhythmic pattern. In the 1850s, the rhythms of the
music used to accompany the cakewalk exemplify the principle of syncopation. The lyrics
contain hybrid dialectneither black nor white but something in betweento make fun of
pretentious politicians and social elites mangling their fancy words.
2. Describe early (1850- 1910) Tin Pan Alley songs. What are its roots, what does it sound
like, and what are the lyrics about
Tin Pan Alley is one of the genres of popular American music. It stemmed from 28th St.
and 5th Avenue in New York City in the late 19th century. There was the industry of
American song-publication. In the industry of song- publication, one of small offices
published songs by piano players called song plungers that sounded like furiously pounded
pianos. Tin Pan Alley songs consist of the commercial music of songwriters of ballads, dance
music, and vaudeville. When these genres became famous, it was published by sheet music
for home consumption, and songwriters, lyricists, and popular performers. Stephen Foster
firmed the genre, and it was developed by Tin Pan Alley composers, such as Pa Dresser and
Harry von Tilzer who were influenced by Irish song and waltz songs. Therefore, it specialized
in melodramatic European ballads and developed newly popular music style of cakewalk
and ragtime. Also, it incorporated with jazz and blues later on. It is usually made up of four
sections of equal length in the pattern AABA. Tin Pan Alley was linked to the prominence of
privacy and romance as cultural ideals and their nostalgia. Tin Pan Alley songs are comprised
of the following instruments: guitar, bass, piano, and adds brass section above composition
by upright piano players.
3. Name of describing West African musical characteristics that have influenced American
popular music
Dance music in the Jazz-age had developed with the rhythmic pattern called clave.
This rhythmic pattern can be found in the Cuban rumba and the Brazilian bossa nova.
The musicians play the dance music that had a characteristic of complex ensemble texture
made by close interaction between individual instruments. On top of this rhythmic base, the
solo trumpet blend with the voice of the singer, who imitate the sound of venders cry on
the streets. One of dance music companies Victor released big hit song El Manicero then
millions of Americans were taking ballroom dance lessons to learn a simplified version of
the Cuban rumba.
4. Name and describe the difference between classic blues and Country(delta) blues.
Classic blues is one of the most influential musical genres that emerged from black
communities of the south, especially in the Mississippi Delta region. It was filtered through
Tin Pan Alleys musical tendency. These blues songs were written by professional
songwriters, who were middle-class African American composers. Often these composers
were eager to cash in on the national fascination with authentic Negro music. High-class
nightclub singers performed Classic blues songs. They had a rougher singing style, and
singers were accompanied with reed organ and corner. These songs had a singing formula
call and response based on AABA Tin Pan Alley model.
Delta blues is derived from Country Blues in the Mississippi Delta. Lyrics of Delta blues
were more personally expressive representations of the lives led by the musicians. Specific
songs form called 12-Bar Blues emerged that would have an impact on the course of
popular music. Delta blues has characteristic dominated in guitar sound with bottlenecks
allowed for bending a note. Also, it uses melody features such as pentatonic scale and blue
note.

5. Describe the standard and how does it differ from early Tin Pan Alley?
 The standard is American popular songs from the Tin Pan Alley style of songwriting
that develop an essential part of the repertoire of today's jazz musicians and pop singers.
It continued to record again and again with different arrangements and in different styles.
The standard differs from early Tin Pan Alley songs because early Tin Pan Alleys lyrics
contain the theme of immigrant's nostalgia, racial stereotype and dialect for social satire.
On the other hand, standard songs contain romantic love and dramatic monologue. Early
Tin Pan Alley has AABA structure formula, and chorus part repeats again on order that
singer sung and show up performance and joke. Whereas on the standard the chorus part
dominated in a structure. Also, standards are used by contemporary jazz musicians as the
basis for improvising, and many artists today continue to record standards.
6. Describe Hillbilly Music
Previously called "hillbilly music," it refers to early country and western music recorded in
the American South by record producers who were looking for a new and commercially-
appealing sound. Record companies eventually dropped the term "hillbilly music" with the
arrival of radio. Hillbilly music became incredibly popular, spawning a number of subgenres
in the 1940s, such as bluegrass, honky-tonk, and country crooning. The migration of
southern Americans to northern urban areas further increased the demand for radio
broadcasts of country and western music, and the Grand Ole Opry became popular radio
show for radio listener. Hillbilly music provided the basis for forms of popular music that
emerged after WWII (R&B, country and western, rock n roll) extending their appeal across
regional boundaries and eventually international boundaries. Hillbilly music is comprised of
several guitarists, fiddlers, and banjo players. White southerners listened to hillbilly music
because its lyrics and themes captured the particulars of their lives while the music provided
a reason to congregate with friends and family. White southerners looked on music as an
important social and religious part of their lives.
7. Discuss the origin of syncopation and how it made its way into popular songs
The exact origins of ragtime, which include particular technique as known as syncopation,
are not know; however, it has been suggested that the basic patterns of ragtime music were
transferred from the banjo, a stringed instrument developed by slave musicians from
African prototypes. Ragtime was performed by many types of ensembles, such as dance
bands and brass bands. Between 1895-1915, many ragtime repertoires were composed by
Joplin and made to popularize the style through his piano arrangements. He composed a
ragtime folk ballet, published ragtime piano compositions, and popularized the influence of
ragtime after his death. His recordings of ragtime compositions contribute greatly to the
growth of jazz, specifically the jazz genre of ragtime. Growth of Ragtime Market is the first
proof that black music contribute to white people's satisfaction.
8. Name and describe the 4 style of R&B Popular in the late 1940s early 1950s and 2styles
of country music.
Jump blues It emerged as the 1st successful category of rhythm & blues after World War
Two. It transformed the form of the big band to form of smaller combos. It comprised
rhythm section (bass, piano, drums, and sometimes guitar), and 1 or more horn players.
Blues Ballad Style- The sound of blues ballad style is like smooth and glossy with 12-bar
blues. It was soulful singing style because the songs were straight-up secularized versions
of gospel songs in the mid-50s. Ray Charles, who was one of the successful crooners. It was
rediscovered by a new generation of R&B fans (both black and white) in the 1980s.
Chicago electric blues- It is called urban blues. It is derived from the Mississippi Delta
tradition but was updated to an electronic amplifier form to reflect an urban way of life. The
blues singer sung and accompanied by electric guitar, a harmonica that sounded through PA
speaker, bass guitar, and drum.
Doo-wop- After WWII, the vocal harmony group transferred church music to the secular
R&B market. The vocal harmony group renovated sound like harder-edged sound closely
linked to gospel music, but the lyrics contained secular lifes expression.
Bluegrass Music It is related to country music. It was influenced by the music of Appalachia.
A form of the song followed jazz music structure formula with short improvisation. Bill
Monroe, the pioneer of bluegrass music, recorded his great hit song, Its a Mighty Dark to
Travel in 1947. This song is a classic example of bluegrass.
Honky-tonk music- It is a style that carried the sound of the roadside bar or juke joint and
provided country music with piano playing related to ragtime for entertainment. Honky-
tonk vocal styles were often directly emotional, making use of raspy in the voice
influenced by stylistic African American music.