American Week
N5/6 Music
Concepts this week
National 3
Blues, Jazz, Improvisation, Accent, on the beat, off the beat
National 4
Ragtime, Swing, Scat singing, Syncopation
National 5
Walking Bass
Higher
Soul Music, Jazz Funk
Ragtime
• An early style of dance music which became
popular at the end of the 19th century – major
influence on jazz music.
• Features a strongly syncopated melody against a
steady, simple vamp accompaniment played on
piano.
Listen to The Entertainer – a
famous piano rag by Scott Joplin –
and listen out for the vamp
accompaniment and syncopated
melody…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPmruHc4S9Q
Blues
• Blues started as Black American folk music,
developing from spirituals and work songs. Due
to this, the music tends to sound sad.
• Often in 4/4 time and is mostly patterned on a
12-bar structure and on a blues scale where
some notes are flattened.
Listen!
Charles Brown sings the Blues –
“Driftin’ Blues”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUyC2l--fSw
The Blues Scale
Jazz
• At first this was music created by black
Americans in the early 20th century.
• Features of the music may include syncopation,
off-beat rhythms and improvisation.
Improvisation
The spontaneous creation of music –
making it up on the spot!
Improvisation usually follows the
harmonies/chord progressions of the
piece being played.
Listen and Watch! Louis Armstrong sings
Hello Dolly and improvises…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfeKUNDDYs
Syncopation
Strongly accented notes playing off
or against the beat.
Top = original
Bottom = syncopated
Other Jazz Concepts…
Walking Bass
A bass line often featured in
jazz styles. It ‘goes for a walk’,
up and down a pattern of
notes, and is often played on a
double bass.
Scat Singing
A style of vocal improvisation
using nonsense words, like
“be-bop a doo-da”
Listen out for the walking bass
in this track A String Of Pearls
by the famous Glenn Miller
Orchestra.
Watch a live performance of
singer Beyonce as she scat
sings – also listen out for
examples
of
call
and
response/question
and
answer…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg2vtWezWbw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1T8nG-2VNg
Swing
A type of jazz which began in the 1930s and was performed
by a big band. The numbers and types of instruments in the
big bands increased during this period, through the
influence of swing.
In The Mood
Listen to one of the most famous
examples of swing music – “In The
Mood” . Released in 1940 by the
Glenn Miller Orchestra, it is heavily
associated with the Second World
War and was one of the few chosen
records sent abroad to the troops to
raise their spirits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJE-onnw2gM
• Listen! The melody is based on
arpeggios/broken chords…
Big Band
• Originated in the United States
and is associated with jazz and the
Swing Era.
• Percussion, brass, and woodwind
instruments.
• A standard big band consists of
saxophones, trumpets, trombones
and a four-piece rhythm section
(composed of drums, acoustic bass
or electric bass, piano and guitar).
Higher – Soul Music
What?
Who?
• A style of Afro-American popular
music first made popular in America
in the 1950s and early 1960s.
• Features elements of blues and
gospel music and often conveys strong
emotions.
• Famous soul artists
include Otis Redding,
Marvin Gaye, Smokey
Robinson, The
Temptations and The
Supremes.
• Most successful soul artists
were linked to one of the 3
main record companies of
the time; Motown, Atlantic
and Stax.
•Artists and record labels
were influential during the
period of the civil rights
movement of America.
Listen!
• Ray Charles “I Got A Woman” (1954)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrd14PxaUco
• Aretha Franklin “Respect” (1967) – a song
originally sung by Otis Redding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FOUqQt3Kg0
Watch!
• Sam and Dave “Soul Man” (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fS9-Yimdhw
Higher – Jazz Funk
What?
• Sub genre of jazz music.
•A combination of jazz improvisation
and the amplified instruments and
character of Rock.
• Early presence of synthesisers –
enhancing the combination of
electronic and acoustic instruments.
Who?
• Famous jazz funk artists
include; Earth, Wind and
Fire, George Benson,
Herbie Hancock and Kool
and the Gang.
Watch!
Earth, Wind and Fire “September” (1980)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk