M100: Music Appreciation
Discussion Group
Ben Tibbetts, T.A.
benjamintibbetts@yahoo.com
Thursday April 11, 2013
Welcome! Please sign the attendance at the front of the room.
Discussion, not lecture today and Tuesday
20th century lecture on Thursday April 18
Today’s Agenda
Pages 383-398 (Scott Joplin & Robert
Johnson)
I’ll work on it this weekend.
Question: If I uploaded lesson materials,
would you use them?
Jazz.
Some humility – not a historian
(Wikipedia to the rescue!)
Jazz – “a music that originated at the beginning of
the 20th century within the African-American
communities of the Southern United States. Its
roots lie in the African-American adoption of
European harmony and form to existing African
musical elements. African musical influences are
evident in the use of blue notes, improvisation,
polyrhythms, syncopation and the swung note.
From its early development until the present day,
jazz has also incorporated elements from
American popular music.” –Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz
Some background:
• American racism and the Emancipation
Proclamation
• Jazz as an African American tradition
Some Dates:
January 1, 1863 - Emancipation Proclamation was issued
April 9, 1865 - Lee surrendered, officially ending Civil War
December 6, 1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment of the US
Constitution was ratified (officially abolishing slavery).
Minstrel shows (or salon music) – “an American
entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety
acts, dancing, and music, performed by white
people in blackface or, especially after the Civil
War, black people in blackface.” –Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_show
Musical improvisation
“immediate (‘in the moment’) musical composition, which
combines performance with communication of emotions
and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous
response to other musicians.” -Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_improvisation
Scott Joplin
c.1867-1917
American composer/pianist
Ragtime – “A style of [generally piano] music
from the early twentieth century that
emphasizes rhythmic syncopation while
continuing many of the characteristics of
marches, cakewalks, two-steps, and
popular songs from the late nineteenth
century.” -page 518
Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin
(performed by the composer)
Syncopation
“A type of rhythm in which the notes run against the
regular pulse of the musical meter, with accents on
beats other than the ones usually accented.” -page
518
Listen: Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
The rhythms in this song exhibit a high degree of
syncopation.
Review (to clarify):
Rhythm vs. Tempo
A further rhythmic distinction:
Swung vs. Straight
Some influences on Scott Joplin’s rags:
• Marches
• Cakewalks
• Two-step and Polkas
• Vaudeville
March – “a piece of music with a strong regular
rhythm” –Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_(music)
Always in duple meter. Straight eighth notes.
Listen: excerpt from
Pomp and Circumstance by Edward Elgar
Cake-walk – “was developed from a "Prize
Walk" done in the days of slavery, generally at
get-togethers on plantations in the Southern
United States....At the conclusion of a
performance of the original form of the dance
in an exhibit at the 1876 Centennial
Exposition in Philadelphia, an enormous cake
was awarded to the winning couple.” –
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk
Always in duple meter
Listen: excerpt from
Golliwog’s Cakewalk by Claude Debussy
Two-step – “a step found in many folk
dances….from the 19th century dance
related to the Polka” –Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twostep_(dance_move)
Listen: excerpt from Pennsylvania Polka
Vaudeville – “a theatrical genre of variety
entertainment popular in the United States
and Canada from the early 1880s until the
early 1930s.” –Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaudeville
Dixieland – “a style of jazz music which developed
in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century,
and was spread to Chicago and New York City by
New Orleans bands in the 1910s.” –Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixieland
Listen: excerpt from
When The Saints Go Marching In
Performed by “The Dukes of Dixieland”
Boogie-woogie
“is an African American style of piano-based blues that
became popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but
originated much earlier, and was extended from piano, to
three pianos at once, guitar, big band, and country and
western music, and even gospel.” –Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogie_woogie
Listen: excerpt from Swanee River Boogie
performed by Albert Ammons
Player piano
and
piano rolls
stride bass, stride piano, or stride – “A jazz piano
style that was developed in the large cities of the
East Coast, mainly New York, during 1920s and
1930s.” –Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stride_(music)
Listen: improvisations by Martin Spitznagel, pianist
(using melodies from
Super Mario Bros., Harry Potter, & Star Wars)
Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin
(performed by the composer)
Form: A A B B A A C C D D
Robert Johnson
1911-1938
American blues singer/musician
Blues - "A musical genre derived from African
American performance traditions that uses
blue notes (flattened pitches) in its melodies
and tells first-person stories of hard knocks
and love gone wrong." -page 515
Terraplane Blues by Robert Johnson
Lyrics on next slides
"TERRAPLANE BLUES" LYRICS
And I feel so lonesome, you hear me when I moan
When I feel so lonesome, you hear me when I moan
Who been drivin' my Terraplane1, for you since I been gone.
I'd said I flash your lights, mama, you horn won't even blow
(spoken: Somebody's been runnin' my batteries down on this
machine)
I even flash my lights, mama, this horn won't even blow
Got a short in this connection, hoo well, babe, it's way down
below
I'm goin' heist your hood, mama, I'm bound to check your oil
I'm goin' heist your hood, mama, mmm, I'm bound to check
your oil
I got a woman that I'm lovin', way down in Arkansas
Now, you know the coils ain't even buzzin', little generator won't get the
spark
Motor's in a bad condition, you gotta have these batteries charged
But I'm cryin', pleease, pleease don't do me wrong.
Who been drivin' my Terraplane1 now for, you since I been gone.
Mr. highway man, please don't block the road
Puh hee hee, please don't block the road
'Cause she's reachin' a cold one hundred and I'm booked and I got to go
Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm
Yoo ooo ooo ooo, you hear me weep and moan
Who been drivin' my Terraplane now for, you since I been gone
I'm goin' get down in this connection, keep on tanglin' with your wires
I'm goin' get down in this connection, oh well, keep on tanglin' with these
wires
And when I mash down on your little starter, then your spark plug will
give me fire
12-bar blues – “A common model for blues
songs, in which each verse consists of three
lines of text over twelve measures of music.
Each line receives four measures in a
predetermined harmonic pattern using
chords built on the first, fourth, and fifth
scale degrees.” -page 519
Every measure is a different chord.
12-bar blues chord progression:
I
I
IV IV
V V
I
I
I
I
I
I
2 measures text, 2 measures “fill”
Listen again: Terraplane Blues by Robert Johnson
Final Reminders / Homework
• Read pages 399-415
• Questions? Email: benjamintibbetts@yahoo.com