Deans Community
High School
Music Department
Listening
popular music
For your Intermediate 2 exam you have to be able to recognise
different styles of popular music …
Many of these styles you will have heard of before … but you
may not have heard any examples of music in those styles
The SQA go back more than 100 years when they talk about
popular music and most of the styles they expect you to
recognise come from the years 1900 - 1970
List as many different styles of popular music as you can …
popular music
Ragtime
Blues
Jazz
Dixieland
Rock
Pop
Country
Soul
Boogie-Woogie
Latin American
Swing
Samba / Salsa
popular music
ragtime
Ragtime music developed in the southern
states of the USA in the late 1890s
It is a mixture of European music (the
march) and Afro-American music
(syncopated melodies)
Scott Joplin
Ragtime music was written down (not
improvised) and played on the piano
The most important and well-known
composer of ragtime music was Scott
Joplin (1868-1917)
ragtime
popular music
Features of Ragtime music
• piano music
• ‘on the beat’ left hand accompaniment
• march-like (‘oom pah’)
• syncopated melody in right hand
• regular 16 bar melodies (4 bars X 4)
extracts
• Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag
• Scott Joplin: The Entertainer
• Scott Joplin: Bethena
ragtime
popular music
Example of ‘on beat’ LH
Example of ‘syncopated’ RH
popular music
blues
The blues was a type of folk music that
grew out of a mixture of African and
European music
It first developed in the southern states,
(the slave states) of the USA
The blues told of the feelings, fears and
hopes of the singer
Originally the blues was performed by one
singer usually accompanied by guitar or
banjo
Some of the notes of the scale were ‘bent’
(sung below pitch) and this gives the
blues its special flavour
blues
popular music
Features of Blues music
• use of the ‘blues’ scale
• 3rd and 7th of the scale sung ‘flat’
• ‘12 bar blues’ structure
• improvised
• slide guitar
extracts
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• ??
• ??
blues
popular music
Example of blues scale
blue note
blue note
12 bar blues chord pattern
I
I
I
I
IV
IV
I
I
V
IV
I
I
jazz
popular music
Jazz developed in the first two decades of
the 1900s in New Orleans
Like Ragtime and Blues it was a mixture of
African and European music
Many different types of music probably
influenced how jazz developed … including:
•
•
•
•
•
Ragtime/Blues
Marches
Hymns/Spirituals
Work songs
Minstrel show music
Early jazz was not written down, it was
‘improvised’
Jazz bands often used instruments left over
from the marching bands of the civil war
jazz
popular music
Features of Jazz
• use of the ‘blues’ scale
• 3rd and 7th of the scale sung ‘flat’
• ‘12 bar blues’ structure
• improvisation
extracts
• ??
• ??
• ??
popular music
dixieland
Dixieland Jazz or Traditional Jazz was the
first type of Jazz
Dixieland Jazz groups were small - around
6 players
cornet, clarinet, banjo/piano, trombone,
string bass, drums
most of the early jazz musicians
were not formally trained
the jazz was improvised - relying
on the skill of the performers
often used ‘12 bar blues’ form
often each player had a chance to
improvise on the main tune
dixieland
popular music
Some important early dixie players were:
Jelly Roll Morton
Louis Armstrong
Joe King Oliver
Bix Beiderbecke
dixieland
popular music
Features of Dixieland Jazz
• use of the ‘blues’ scale
• ‘12 bar blues’ structure
• equal emphasis on all 4 beats
• improvisation
• small group of players
extracts
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• ??
• ??
popular music
boogie-woogie
Boogie-Woogie was a style of jazz that
was nearly always played by solo piano
It had a strong, driving, ‘ostinato’ type
bass pattern in the left hand
The right hand improvised using a blues
scale
Boogie-woogie usually used the 12 bar
blues form
A Boogie-Woogie Bassline
popular music
boogie-woogie
Features of Boogie-woogie
• usually for solo piano
• strong, ‘driving’ left hand riffs
• improvised melodies in right hand
• ‘12 bar blues’ structure
• improvisation
extracts
• Meade Lux Lewis: Honky Tonk Train Blues
• Jimmy Blythe: Chicago Stomp
• Jools Holland: Let the Boogie Woogie Roll
popular music
swing
During the 1920s jazz bands gradually
became larger with 10 or more players
These larger groups needed more organising
than the original smaller groups
Music began to be written down to avoid the
clashes that would happen if all the players
improvised together
A typical swing band might consist of:
• Brass: 3 trumpets, 3 trombones
• Reeds: clarinet, 2 alto/2 tenor saxes
• Rhythm: piano, guitar, bass, drums
popular music
swing
The brass and the reeds would often
alternate - one section having the tune
the other providing the accompaniment
- then they would swap over
The instruments in each group often
played together in chords (harmony)
giving a smooth, mellow sound
Individual instruments might improvise
Arrangers were beginning to use ‘added’
chords to give their harmonies a ‘richer’
feel - ‘added 6th’ chords, 7th chords
Melodies became more complex, going
beyond the simple ‘blues’ scale and
using all the notes of the chromatic
scale
swing
popular music
Features of Swing
• large ensemble: brass, reeds, rhythm
• instruments used in ‘close’ harmony
• rich, smooth, mellow sound
• ‘12 bar blues’ structure
• mainly written out, notated
• use of ‘added 6ths’ and 7th chords
extracts
• ??
• ??
• ??
popular music
rock
Rock music is a form of pop music which
usually has a strong driving beat.
It was developed in America in the 1960s
and combines elements of folk, blues,
rock’n’roll and pop music.
Lyrics were still aimed at a youth audience
but were sometimes more complex talking
about political issues.
Some early musicians who played rock
music are listed below along with the style
that influenced them:
Bob Dylan; folk music & blues
The Beach Boys; rock’n’roll and pop music
The Rolling Stones; rock’n’roll
The Beatles; pop
rock
popular music
Feature of Rock Music
• form of ‘pop’ music with a driving beat
• change from acoustic to electric sounds
• often included vocal harmonies
• simple time, often 4/4
Extracts
Bob Dylan: Masters of War
The Beach Boys: Fun, Fun, Fun
The Rolling Stones: Come On
The Beatles: A Hard Days Night
popular music
rock ‘n’ roll
Rock’n’Roll developed in America in the
late 1940s combining elements of blues,
boogie-woogie and jazz.
It was also a mixture of African and
European music but was mainly aimed at
a white American audience.
In early Rock’n’Roll a saxophone was often
the lead instrument but this was later
replaced by the electric guitar.
A Rock’n’Roll group would usually include:
• Electric Guitars: 1 lead, 1 rhythm
• Bass Guitar
• Drumkit
• Keyboard: sometimes
rock ‘n’ roll
popular music
Features of Rock’n’Roll
• move from acoustic to electric instruments
• emphasis on 2nd & 4th beats
• strong, driving bassline
• use of ‘12 bar blues’ structure
• lyrics aimed at youth audience
extracts
• Fats Domino: The Fat Man
• Elvis Presley: That’s All Right (Mama)
• Bill Hayley: Rock Around the Clock
popular music
pop
Pop music developed in America in the
late 1940s and 1950s from a variety of
other styles including ‘big band’ and
‘swing’ music and refers to popular music
of the day.
Frank Sinatra was an artist who crossed
over between big band and pop music.
Pop music was sold to a wide audience but
was aimed at a youth audience. This was
reflected in many of the lyrics.
Today the term pop music covers a range
of different styles such as:
• Rock
• Hip Hop
• Dance
• R&B
• Country
pop
popular music
Features of pop music
• refers to popular music of the day
• smoother vocal sound
• lyrics aimed at youth audience
• simple time, usually 4/4
Extracts
Frank Sinatra: I get a kick out of you
The Everley Brothers: All I have to do
Cliff Richard: Summer Holiday
country
popular music
On this page some background info about
the style ….
History
Famous names
Instruments
etc
popular music
country
This page will list some of the concepts
associated with this style
Will introduce the musical extracts used to
exemplify the musical style
soul
popular music
On this page some background info about
the style ….
History
Famous names
Instruments
etc
popular music
soul
This page will list some of the concepts
associated with this style
Will introduce the musical extracts used to
exemplify the musical style
popular music
latin american
On this page some background info about
the style ….
History
Famous names
Instruments
etc
popular music
latin american
This page will list some of the concepts
associated with this style
Will introduce the musical extracts used to
exemplify the musical style
popular music
salsa / samba
On this page some background info about
the style ….
History
Famous names
Instruments
etc
popular music
salsa / samba
This page will list some of the concepts
associated with this style
Will introduce the musical extracts used to
exemplify the musical style