The Developmen

t of Pop Music

Unit 30: Pop Music in Practice

Topic 1Context: The Beginnings of Pop Music & Rockabilly

Pop began in the 1950s with…

Rock & RollWhy the Aggressive

Images?

Rock is associated teenage rebellion.

In the 1950s America’s economic prosperity gave rise to the new phenomenon of teenage affluence. This spurred a teenage culture that shaped itself around cars, motorbikes, dance, fashion, and especially music.

The raw, raunchy, aggressive, loud, and strongly rhythmic sounds of rock and roll became a symbol of what separated teenagers from parental control.

Why the Aggressive Images?

What other genres of popular music have been closely linked with a movement, an idea, or a belief?

Psychedelic Rock

Heavy Metal

Glam Rock

Punk Rock

Hip Hop

Music and Identity

Before Rock & Roll

Sunshine Cake by Bing Crosby & Carole Richards was a big hit in 1950. Why do you think this was popular with the American people?

Lighthearted music provided an escape in the post Great Depression and World War era.

When Rock & Roll emerged in the 1950s, teenagers had little memory of the Great Depression or World War II. Music like Sunshine Cake didn’t mean anything to them.

An Emerging Teen Culture

Rock: An Umbrella Term

E.g. Brit Pop

E.g. Punk Rock

One of the earliest styles of Rock & Roll.

A portmanteau of rock and hillbilly.

Rock & Roll is basically a fusion of Rhythm & Blues and Country & Western.

Elvis Presley’s first single, That’s Alright Mama, was released in 1954 and effectively combines the two genres. So much so in fact that the song was banned from country music radio for being too black, and from R&B radio for being too white.

Rockabilly

That’s Alright Mama

What are the features of this record (e.g. melody, chords, rhythms, form, instrumentation)?

Can any of these be described as being more closely related to Blues or Country?

Blues Country & Western

Same three chords as the 12-bar blues

Mostly acoustic instruments including the double bass

Blue notes in the melody No drums, but a percussive feel is created in the rhythm guitar playing

Walking bass line Electric guitar ‘licks’ tend to follow vocal phrases

Simple song structure: 5 verses (3rd is a guitar solo)

Live feel – records (7” 45rpm) at the time were monoaural (the recording is a single track – the reverb is natural to the performance space)

Rolling Stone magazine argue that this was the first ever Rock & Roll record.

Performance Project 1

Rehearse and perform That’s Alright Mama using the recording, sheet music, and tablature provided. Elvis sang

and played rhythm guitar, but this could be divided across two performers. Your performance will be graded under criteria

23.3 and 30.4.

Rockabilly Review

With roots in Country & Western, the instrumentation tends to contain … instruments such as the … rather than the electric bass guitar. Blues influences can be felt in the … approach to harmony; That’s Alright Mama contains only … chords. These are the chords that would typically be found in a … structure. Additionally, the melody line contains many … notes. A strong sense of rhythm is felt from the bass player, who uses a … pattern that is typical in jazz. The rhythm guitarist’s playing technique creates a … sound that makes up for the lack … in this recording.

Topic 2The Beatles and The Rolling Stones

Listen to Day Tripper (1965). Use the recording to establish the essential elements of Beat Music.

Merseybeat

Part of the British Beat movement; The Beatles were from Liverpool, Merseyside.

They established the guitar-dominated line up of lead, rhythm, and bass guitars, plus drums.

Riff-dominated composition – functions as

a hook – strong commercial aspect

Riff contains blue notes(showing blues influences)

Strong backbeat (beats 2 & 4) emphasised by the

snare drum

Close vocal harmonies inspired by Doo-wop groups

Strong rhythmic feel created by straight eighths on the kit and syncopated

guitar & vocal parts

Major key – feel good factor

Double-A single (not part of an album). This is a stereo release recorded using a 4-track machine (introduced in 1963): listen to the song using headphones and create a stereo image showing

where the instrumentation is panned.

Reason for change: increasing pressure from

record labels to maximise sales.

Bass Guitar Rhythm Guitar

TambourineDrum Kit

Lead Vocals

Lead Guitar

Many Beatles fans prefer the mono version of this recording (mono versions were used for radio broadcasts). The hard panning and poor use of the stereo field are disappointing

factors in this recording.

Unlike That’s Alright Mama, this is a multitrack recording (4-track) in which the parts are overdubbed. E.g. Paul McCartney is the lead

singer and the bass guitarist, but they would’ve been recorded in

separate takes.

Darker “bad boy” image and lyrical content

Minor key

Sitar & tabla – showing influences from Indian Classical Music – link to the hippie era (Eastern Spirituality)

No real chorus or hook

The Beatles vs. The Stones

Paint it Black was released in 1966.

How does the music and the band’s image contrast with that of The Beatles?

Reason for change: The Stones had to appeal to a different market than The Beatles. They identified more with rock’s rebellious roots (lyrics and key) and the emerging hippie

movement (instrumentation). The music isn’t so commercially driven. 18 of the UK top 60 biggest record sales in the 1960s were tracks by The Beatles. Paint it Black was not even in the

top 60.

A Day in the Life (1967) is the last track on The Beatles’ eighth studio album. Consider how this song represents the band’s maturity (when compared to Day Tripper) and what elements are deemed to be psychedelic.

Psychedelic Rock

Lyrics make little sense and imply drug use

Complex song structure

Atonal orchestral glissando

Improvised drum kit feel

Technology plays an important role in the song

Reverb (wet/dry) used differently on Lennon and McCartney’s voices. ADT invented for The Beatles.

Final chord features 3 grand pianos and increased

gain as the sound source decreases (studio noises can be heard toward the

end).

Reason for change: The Beatles were so popular by

this stage that they had freedom to explore less

conventional musical ideas and focus on artistry. The

idea of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

was to move in a new direction. At 5:35 the song

is an album track rather than a single, only possible

through the invention of the LP (1948).

Article Task

To write one appropriately formatted article entitled “The Development of Pop Music, Part 1” for Rolling Stone magazine.

Look at existing music magazines to gain ideas about formatting and use of images. Remember though, it’s what you write that is assessed.

Ideally, this should be a combination of text and images on 3-4 sides of A4.

You should only deal with this first time period.

Achieving the merit should be straight forward. Make sure you cover each genre and reference the pieces studied in class

to support your points. Each time you introduce a new piece, link it back to those

you’ve already discussed.

This task isn’t just about regurgitating your notes. You should listen carefully to each track

to make more in depth reference to instrumentation, performance elements, and

the impact of music technology.

For a distinction, there should be one piece of music referenced (in depth) in your article that wasn’t studied in

class. In groups, consider what elements you have studied that are worthy of opinion and comment.

D1 – The Critical Comment

Mono vs. stereo, referencing the successes and failures of That’s Alright Mama and Day Tripper.

A Day in the Life has been praised as The Beatles’ best song by Rolling Stone magazine, yet it wasn’t originally released as a single. You could comment on the battle between artistic expression and commercialism, looking at the differences between A Day in the Life and Day Tripper.

Could you offer a reason for The Rolling Stones’ success in a market dominated by The Beatles? Was this the first division of popular music into pop and rock?

Address this in the concluding paragraph of your article so all the genres are tied

together. Read chapter 1 of The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock,

and make notes on the role technology has played on the music studied.

D2 – The Holistic Viewpoint

String bass in rockabilly – ability of microphones to capture low frequencies.

Snare drum backbeat in beat music (and most future pop music) – use of 4-track, stereo, and multiple microphones to give this punch and clarity.

Multitrack recorders – compositional layering (A Day in the Life is a much more complex arrangement than the one take live performance of That’s Alright Mama) – overdubbing allowed one singer to harmonise with themselves (2nd period).

D2 – The Holistic Viewpoint, cont.

Rock synonymous with volume and distortion – amplification technology (including ability to overdrive – 2nd time period).

Amplifiers – extension of the musical instrument – feedback – Jimi Hendrix (2nd time period).

Exaggerated emphasis on bass frequencies central to hip hop (3rd time period) – music that is ‘felt’ as well as heard – links to break dancing.

Rejection of technology, e.g. punk (3rd time period) or imitation of lo-fi, e.g. trip hop (3rd time period).

D2 – The Holistic Viewpoint, cont.

Technology used to enhance instrumental sounds, e.g. gated reverb on the snare drum (3rd time period).

Characteristic pop music ‘sound’ (dramatically compressed a spatially separated) is created through technology (esp. 4th time period).

Check List: Have I…

Written about each genre (instrumentation and performance elements), the format, and the technology? (P1)

Discussed actual pieces of music (M1 / M2) and linked these together to show development? (P2)

Given reasons for change? (M2)

Made critical comments? (D1)

Showed how one factor affects another? (D2)

Performance Project 2

Choose a song by either The Beatles or The Rolling Stones and rehearse this with your group. Day Tripper or Paint it Black

would be good pieces, but the choice is yours. Your performance will be graded under criteria 23.3 and 30.4.