Chapter 1 – Roots of Rock Music
“The way to write American music is simple.
All you have to do is be an American and
then write any kind of music you wish” –
Virgil Thomson, composer
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Early American Popular songs
From Britain and other parts of Europe
American National Copyright Act, 1790
Printed sheet music sold for home use
Ragtime (“ragged,” or syncopated rhythms) – 1890s
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
Influence on rhythm and blues piano styles
Tin Pan Alley – 1890s into early 20th century
Simple, easy to remember songs (“Take Me Out to the
Ball Game”)
Songs used in Vaudeville shows
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Early Jazz in New Orleans
Improvisation used, early roots not known because music not notated, first recorded
in 1917
“Hot band” instrumentation:
Front line:
1 trumpet (or cornet)
1 trombone
1 Clarinet
Rhythm section:
banjo and/or guitar
piano
string bass or tuba
drums
Jazz spread north as early as 1908
Bands became larger for use in dance halls, Swing Jazz developed for dancing by 1934
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Swine Dance Bands
Played from arrangements
Improvisation still used in solos
Horn section:
2-4
trumpets
2-4
trombones
2-4
saxophones (clarinets or flutes)
Rhythm section:
piano
string bass (“walking bass” style)
drums
Male singers as “crooners” influenced late-50’s teen idols
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The Blues
Early roots not known because no notation was used
Influences from songs by African griot singers, and African
American work songs and field hollers
“signifying” (double meanings) used in song texts
improvisation
call-and-response
“blue” notes
string bending
AAB lyric form
four-beat bars
12-bar form
uneven beat subdivisions
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12-Bar Blues Form
“A” lyric
Sung text--------------- Instrumental fill
CCCC/CCCC/CCCC/CCCC/
“A” lyric
Sung text------------ Instrumental fill
FFFF/FFFF/CCCC/CCCC/
“B” lyric
Sung text-------------------- Instrumental fill
G7 G7 G7 G7 / F F F F / C C C C / C C C C /
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Robert Johnson
King of the Delta Blues: Robert Johnson (1911-1938), singer,
songwriter, guitarist
Listening Guide:
“Cross Road Blues” by R. Johnson (1936)
Tempo: 88 beats per minute, 4 beats per bar
Form: 12-bar blues played freely with occasional
added and missing beats
Features: voice and acoustic guitar, and uneven beat
subdivisions
Lyrics: Images include a lonely black man “flagging a ride,”
an illusion to darkness and a curfew, no one stopping,
and his failure to connect with a woman.
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Classic Blues
Empress of the Blues: Bessie Smith (1894-1937), singer,
songwriter
Listening Guide:
“Lost Your Head Blues” by B. Smith (1926)
Tempo: 84 beats per minute, 4 beats per bar
Form: 4-bar introduction, 12-bar blues
Features: voice with cornet and piano
Lyrics: The singer’s lover has deserted her since he
“got money” and he has forgotten that she stood by
him when he was poor.
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The Beginnings of Rock and Roll
Magnetic tape recorders improved recorded sound
Overdubbing used
Performers lip sync to recordings on television in 1950s
Technological developments in 1948, more available by mid-50s:
Transistor radios, light and easy to carry
33 1/3 rpm long-playing (LP) records
45 rpm single records
Jukeboxes played 45 rpm single records when coins were dropped
in
Radio stations playing black rhythm and blues
Televisions common in homes during the 1950s
Alan Freed helped promote r&b on radio and in live concerts
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Discussion questions
To what degree did early rock music depend on
sociological changes as distinct from
technological developments?
What were some of those sociological changes and
how did they help create and popularize rock
music?
How might the blues be different if slavery had
never existed and African Americans had been
welcomed immigrants in the United States?
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