CHAPTER FOUR: “I GOT RHYTHM”: THE GOLDEN AGE OF TIN PAN ALLEY SONG
Review/Discussion Questions
1. What role(s) did Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe play in the music
business in the early twentieth century?
2. What was Tin Pan Alley?
3. What is the form of most Tin Pan Alley songs?
4. What is the most important section of a Tin Pan Alley song?
5. What is a standard?
6. Describe the relationship between Tin Pan Alley and Broadway. How has this
relationship changed over the years?
7. What was the significance of the musical Show Boat written in 1927, with a score by
Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II?
8. How is the ideal of romantic love reflected in the lyrical content and performance style
of Tin Pan Alley songs?
CHAPTER FOUR: “I GOT RHYTHM”: THE GOLDEN AGE OF TIN PAN ALLEY SONG
9. What were the characteristics of Al Jolson’s career? What made him “The World’s
Greatest Entertainer”?
10. Name three Tin Pan Alley composers and describe their contributions to American
popular music.
11. In what ways did popular song both reflect and help shape the profound changes in
American society during the 1920s and 1930s?