MU239 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Jazz, Syncopation, Ragtime
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
MU239
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Pre-Jazz Influences
Jazz DNA (Middle Eastern/African elements in American Music)
● Syncopated rhythm
○ Playing rhythms in between or against the steady beat
● Improvisation
○ The art of spontaneous composition in music
● Call and response
○ Echo style (copy)
○ Question and answer style (musical conversation)
● Individuality
○ Human voice as instrumental model
○ Use of bends, slides and timbre (tone manipulation) to sound like no one else
Muslim Roots of the Blues
● Deep relationship between slaves of Islamic descent and U.S. Culture
○ Connection between Renaissance music and Arab-Islamic Culture
● Muslim call to prayer sounds a lot like “Levee Camp Holler”, an early type of blues song
from the Mississippi Delta
○ Melody and note changes closely parallel one of Islam’s best-known refrains
○ Nasal intonation is evident in both
○ Came from Muslim slaves from West Africa who were forced to the U.S.
○ Upward of 30 percent of the African slaves in the U.S. were Muslim
● Muslim slaves had an indirect influence on blues music b/c:
○ The instrumentation
■ Drumming was banned by white slave owners
■ Stringed instruments were allowed because slave owners considered
them akin to european instruments like the violin
○ Today’s blues singers unconsciously echo Arabic-Islamic patterns in their music
19th Century Music Forms
The History of Jazz--The Africanization of American Music
● Social dance (Grandparent of jazz)
○ Congo Square (New Orleans)
○ Musicians of Congo Square (1819) were playing percussion and stringed
instruments virtually identical to those of African music
○ Earliest documentation of African American Music (aka Ring Shout)
■ Most members of Baptist church get into a circle and stomp and clap to
create beat, shuffle around circle creating syncopated rhythms
■ Leader in middle leads the circle in song (folk hymn)
○ First distinction of African American music
○ Slaves were given one day off to practice religion and were permitted to play
music (Not the African instruments, but the African Americanized version of their
instruments. They made the banjo based off a stringed instrument used in Africa)
● Work songs, Folk Hymns (Grandparent of jazz, Parents of blues)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
○ Simple song structures (verse/chorus) using call and response, improvisation
and individuality
○ Folk hymns were a way of communicating
■ Used as a teaching tool since most people couldn’t read text or music
■ Used to communication the sermon, could teach lessons of sin,
forgiveness, etc.
■ Passing on information to family members on different plantations
● Coded language (ex: underground railroad)
○ Using metaphors, double entendres, slang, etc. to disguise
language in front of slave owners
○ “Follow the Drinking Gourd”
■ Work becomes the music
● Sets the pace of work (chopping wood could be the beat)
○ Always start with chorus
● Minstrel shows (very similar to today’s tonight/late night shows)
○ No musical influence on jazz, but important in the relationship between jazz and
the entertainment industry
○ Bridge between jazz and mainstream pop culture
■ Jazz/blues music was “separated” from pop music by a “river”, the
amateurs (jazz/blues musicians) needed a “bridge” to become popular
(and eventually paid) musicians. Minstrel shows (variety shows) acted as
this bridge.
○ White musicians took the idea of black artists playing the banjo and took it since
they didn’t know anything truly about the music and were racist
○ Source of America’s humor
■ Knock knock jokes, ‘Why did the chicken cross the road’, insult jokes
○ Jazz musicians ending up leaving New Orleans and touring to bigger cities
(playing for white audiences), becoming popular, making a name from
themselves, and
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Jazz dna (middle eastern/african elements in american music) Playing rhythms in between or against the steady beat. The art of spontaneous composition in music. Use of bends, slides and timbre (tone manipulation) to sound like no one else. Deep relationship between slaves of islamic descent and u. s. culture. Connection between renaissance music and arab-islamic culture. Muslim call to prayer sounds a lot like levee camp holler , an early type of blues song from the mississippi delta. Melody and note changes closely parallel one of islam"s best-known refrains. Came from muslim slaves from west africa who were forced to the u. s. Upward of 30 percent of the african slaves in the u. s. were muslim. Muslim slaves had an indirect influence on blues music b/c: Drumming was banned by white slave owners. Stringed instruments were allowed because slave owners considered them akin to european instruments like the violin. Today"s blues singers unconsciously echo arabic-islamic patterns in their music.
