MUSC 2140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Blues, Jim Crow Laws, Thirty-Two-Bar Form
19 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Historical context: the usa in the first half of the 20th century. Example of our perception of a work changing according to: programs that involved white men dressing up as black men and (the presidential election) the atomic age. Socioeconomic class relations: working class vs. middle and upper classes, this minor class war (as we know, there was no revolution) was mirrored in differences between the music of the lower and middle classes. Blues and country, marketed to the lower working classes, valued sincerity and earthiness. Tin pan alley music, marketed to the middle class, valued polish, sumptuousness, and romantic love. Many music industry professionals assumed that the classes did not listen to each other"s music. the radio no money to be made off of ads. Economic divide on national radio: music aimed at the lower class + black people were often ignored by, mainstream popular music. The rise of the radio networks in the 1920s.
