MUSIC140 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Rhythm And Blues, Pop Music, White People
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
MUSIC140
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
MUSIC 140
Thursday May 4th
Shifts in below creates shifts in music
• Technology
• Economics
• Demographics
Pop Music
• Shapes by people we have never heard of
Diane Warren (1956- ) Songwriter
• 12 Grammy Nominations
• 8 Academy Award Nominations
• songs used in over 60 films
• over 100 songs on “Billboard Top 100” songs including
• 32 top-ten and 9 No. 1s
• Artists include: Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, Aerosmith, Rod
Steward, Gloria Estefan, Alice Cooper, Whitney Houston, Cher, Heart, Rihanna,
Chicago, Faith Hill, Leanne Rhimes, Tony Braxton
What is Popular Music?
• Hard to define
• Idea that changes over time
• Brings in the new and rejects the old
• Not classical music
• Music meant for entertainment
• Significant interest in commercial success
By 1945:
• End of WWII
• Economic growth
• Explosion of birth rates (baby boom)
• Music under goes huge change
• End of the “Big Band” era
• Big Bands had dominated music industry since mid 1930s
o Jazz music
• EXAMPLE: “Sentimental Journey” (Brown/Homer/Green, 1944) Performed by Les
Brown and His Band of Renown, featuring Doris Day
o Vocals come in late
o Focus was on the instruments
o Now we focus on the vocals
o The song is anthem of the return home for soldiers
• Band leaders such as Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey
were the “stars” of this period
• During the late 1940s, there would be a returning to the focus on vocalists
• Music industry divided into three distinct categories
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
1. Popular (or pop): white/middle class/urban
a. Targeted at audience that had money
b. Doris Day – Sentimental Journey
2. Race: black, regardless of class or location
a. Name change to rhythm and blues later on
b. Roy Brown – Good Rockin’ Tonight 1947
3. Hillbilly: origins in poor, white, rural – is now migrating to urban areas
(particularly in the southern US)
a. Name change to Country/Western by 1950s
b. Roy Acuff – Wabash Cannonball
• Importance of economics and race in music/music history
• Products of the music industry are sheet music and recordings
• Sheet music dominates recordings until the later 1920s
• While sheet music is still important, by the end of WWII the Recording Industry has
come to dominate
• Quality of recordings increased to the 90s but then decreases
Development of American Music Industry:
• What creates the conditions for Popular Music to become a consumer product?
• Copyright law – intellectual property.
o The statue of an (England)
o Modern copyright law
o Largely based on models out of England
• 1790s to 1830s – Amendments to the copyright law to cover sheet music
o Enough people trying to make a living writing music so they need laws
The Victorian Ballad:
• Most of 1800s the Queen was Queen Victoria, Victorian Era
• Ballad = song
• Industrial Revolution – factories, creation of working-class
• Rise of Middle Class
• Luxury items – Piano – a symbol of wealth
• Daughters pursue “leisure” activities
• Women don’t have to work – shown through their clothing (hoop skirts, corsets), nail
polish
• These are ways to demonstrate our wealth
• Women learn to play the piano – for your own entertainment and your family’s
• Parlour Songs
o Parlour = nice front room in a house
o Aimed at young middle class women to play on their piano at home
• Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms – Thomas Moore (early 1800s)
o Solo female voice accompanied by piano
o AABA form
▪ Musical structure with capital letters
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Shifts in below creates shifts in music: technology, economics, demographics. Pop music: shapes by people we have never heard of. Diane warren (1956- ) songwriter: 12 grammy nominations, 8 academy award nominations, songs used in over 60 films, over 100 songs on billboard top 100 songs including, 32 top-ten and 9 no. 1s: artists include: beyonc , lady gaga, justin bieber, celine dion, aerosmith, rod. Steward, gloria estefan, alice cooper, whitney houston, cher, heart, rihanna, Idea that changes over time: hard to define, brings in the new and rejects the old, not classical music, music meant for entertainment, significant interest in commercial success. The victorian ballad: most of 1800s the queen was queen victoria, victorian era, ballad = song. Division of labour profound influence on early history of pop music industry. Style lyrics: basic rhyme scheme, short words, syllabic, subject: idealized romance beginning and ending.
