History of Rock Music: Ragtime, Jazz, Blues, and Tin Pan Alley - Prof. Roberta Schwartz, Study notes of Music

Download History of Rock Music: Ragtime, Jazz, Blues, and Tin Pan Alley - Prof. Roberta Schwartz and more Study notes Music in PDF only on Docsity! MUSC 309 History of Rock Lecture 4: Ragtime, Jazz, Blues, and Tin Pan Alley I. Ragtime A. In late 1880s, type of music starts to become popular in saloons, brothels, and other non-savory locales 1. Played by African-American pianists 2. Named for the “ragged” sound of the melody line B. Characteristics 1. Emphasis on cross- rhythms a. Left hand establishes steady beat i. “walking” bass aa. rhythmic motion predominantly in one note value, usually quarter or eighths = pulse bb. Characteristically stepwise motion cc. pitch repetition avoided ii. “Stride” bass aa. single tone or 8ve on beats 1 and 3, bb. full chord on beats 2 and 4 b. Right hand lays highly syncopated & complex melody line over the “ragged” line 2. Melody composed of 2 and 4 bar figures 3. Repeated and varied to build 16 bar strain, or section of the piece C. Form 1. Generally 4 strains, but not absolute 2. Each repeated D. Primarily written style - not generally improvised E. Major performers 1. James P. Johnson 2. Eubie Blake 3. Scott Joplin (1868-1917) a. Don’t know much about his early life b. Emerges as a performer in and around St. Louis c. 1885 c. His Maple Leaf Rag was the 1st really famous published rag piece i. Sold over a million copies shortly after publication in 1899 ii. Defined form for many F. Maple Leaf Rag 1. AA BB A CC DD form 2. Predominantly stride accompaniment G. Ragtime spreads from piano to instrumental ensembles 1. Rhythms particularly good for dancing a. Spawns a number of dance crazes, like the monkey, turkey trot, and other animal-imitation dances b. And later, the fox trot 2. To accommodate dancers, most dance orchestras start to play in ragtime style 3. Fine line between instrumental ragtime and early jazz 4. Ex. Copenhagen - Fletcher Henderson a. Banjo and tuba alternate between bass note and backbeat – two-beat style beat b. Such music establishes backbeat as important feature of any music that aspires to popularity c. Also riff-based d. Extensive syncopation II. “New Orleans style” jazz A. Starts among black musicians playing for dances B. Differences from ragtime 1. Blue notes a. Typical inflections in sung blues b. Lowering of certain pitches by quarter tone or half tone for emotional effect c. Particularly 3rd, 7th, or 5th degree of the scale d. May be influenced by African music 2. Solid beat (not staccato & “raggy”) 3. Four beat style beat C. Collective improvisation 1. All musicians improvising a. Making up parts b. Based on mutually agreed characteristics like form, key 2. Role of each musician in ensemble clearly defined - either: a. Melody instrument b. Rhythm section i. piano (not if outdoors) ii. banjo or guitar iii. percussion iv. tuba D. Featured solos, with accompaniment from rest of ensemble E. Ex. – Dippermouth Blues - King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band 1. 12-bar blues form 2. Collective improvisation 3. Four beat style beat 4. King Oliver solo using wah-wah mute 5. Second cornet player - Louis Armstrong F. Louis Armstrong (c.1900-1971) 1. Far and away finest and most inventive soloist in early jazz 2. Known for fluid rhythms a. Realized that the rhythm section was hitting the accents b. soloist didn’t really need to be doing it too 3. Most influential jazz trumpeter, but also great impact as a singer a. Most credit with inventing “scat” singing - vocalizing on nonsense syllables b. Adds instrumental quality to jazz singing i. Phrases those he’d play on trumpet i. Playing both melody and harmony ii. Melodic playing mirrors vocal line iii. Some slide guitar aa. Metal tube or bottle neck worn on pinkie bb. Creates glissandos, or sliding, between notes iv. Robert Johnson model for most later rhythm and blues guitarists, and number of English rock artists from 60s (Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Jimmy Hendrix) E. Eventually, “country” blues carried north by Blacks migrants 1. Like jazz, certain style changes 2. coalesces into several more urban-oriented styles a. Chicago blues b. Boogie-Woogie c. R&B d. Hokum blues 3. Hokum a. Novelty blues b. Bluesy delivery, but not as emotional as country blues or best of Classic blues singers c. Some of the jazz “bounce” d. Singer with piano or guitar accompaniment (or both) i. Sometimes larger group - drums, bass, harmonica as well ii. Much more regular - almost all 12-bar blues or verse/refrain songs e. Lyrics silly or, more frequently, double entendres of varying degrees of subtlety f. Biggest seller, and one of least subtle, Tight Like That – Tampa Red and Georgia Tom (Thomas A. Dorsey) i. Verse and refrain, with weight on the refrain ii. “Naughty good humor” iii. Infectious little groove established through aa. Stop time bb. “Walking” guitar riffs cc. Hear Rock around the Clock in there? 5. Boogie Woogie a. Piano blues b. Ragtime at the next level c. Shuffle rhythm in left hand, which plays stride bass or walking bass d. Riffs in right hand build up melody e. Ex. Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie 6. Boogie Woogie at fast tempos = rock rhythms a. Shuffle kind of melts into rock beat b. Ex. Roll ‘Em Pete – Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner III. Tin Pan Alley A. New York center of music publishing business, beginning in 1880s 1.Professional songwriters employed in "factories" (publishing firms) to turn out songs a. Concentrated on 28th street, near theatres b. Song pluggers -- musicians who could sing and play new works for prospective customers--employed by each firm c. Made such a racket that soon nicknamed Tin-Pan alley 2. At first, writing songs in same mold as Stephen Foster (Camptown Races, Old Folks at Home) a. But incorporate whatever styles rise to popularity 3. Through vaudeville, minstrel shows, medicine shows, Broadway reviews, etc. 4. Hence, after ragtime becomes popular, lots of songs that incorporate light syncopation and had word "rag" in title 5. Ditto after W. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" sells a million copies B. In general 1. Gently flowing melodies 2. Texture: homophonic - melody + accompaniment 3. Clear sense of the beat, even when there is syncopation as well 4. Clear, uncomplicated forms 5. Influence of dance rhythms 6. Ex. Hot-Diggity