Immigrant Songs The Origins of American Musical Styles.
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Transcript of Immigrant Songs The Origins of American Musical Styles.
Contents
• Immigration and musical styles• The Blues• Country Music, Western Music• Folk Music• Rock and Roll• Jazz and Gospel• Swing / Boogie-woogie / Jitterbug• Folk and Soul• Rap and Hip-Hop• Electronic Music• Music and Morality
West African Slaves brought their music to America
They converted to Christianity, but kept their musical traditions
This music became known as the
blues
The Blues
• African-Americans in the Deep South sang about the difficult experiences of everyday life
• Simple, rhyming, narrative ballads• “The Blues” comes from a 1798 play. Refers to
Blue Devils, which evoke feelings of melancholy, images of sadness
• Today, describes a depressed mood: unhappy, downhearted, heavy-hearted
• Grew in popularity during the 1920s and evolved into jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll
Irish, French and Scottish immigrants brought their traditional music, instruments and songs
This music became folk music, and also
country music
Country Music & Western Music
• Cowboy songs were known as Western Music– Western: a folk music composed by pioneers who settled the western United
States and Canada. – Came from older English, Irish and Scottish ballads and Mexican music from
the Southwest.– Celebrated the hard life of the working cowboy on the open ranges and
prairies of western North America.
• Country music: blended from traditional and popular musical forms in south-eastern areas of the US in the 1920s.– The term country music became popularin the 1940s when the earlier name
hillbilly music became politically incorrect.– Today the label "country music" is used to describe many styles.
• Both types are commonly grouped as Country & Western because Billboard magazine put them together in a chart.
• In reality, western music was from the western U.S. while country music originated in the southeast.
Folk Music
• A musical term that covers many different genres
• Some types are known as roots music because they were the basis for music later developed in the US, such as rock and roll, rhythm and blues, jazz
• The American Folk Music revival began in the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s
• Popularity ended by the invasion of British rock which had its roots in American Folk
Folk singers like Woody Guthrie inspired the Counterculture generation
Folk music is still popular today
Country singers like Johnny Cash were also inspired by Woody Guthrie
White singers like Elvis Presley were able to copy the style and achieve commercial success
Artists like Bo Diddley…..
…. And Chuck Berry, developed Blues music in to Rock’n’Roll in the 1950s
Rock and Roll
• A new style of music in the 1950s• Melded the blues, country music, jazz
and gospel music and sometimes folk and classical music
• The source of many types of rock music: soft rock, glam rock, heavy metal, punk rock, grunge, indie, Britpop…
• Rock and roll was criticized as immoral and a threat to decent society
Jazz and Gospel• The Jazz age began in 1916• A mix of West African and
European music• 1920s: American society
changed by industrialization, urbanization, modernization
• Phonograph records and radio: new ways to deliver jazz into homes
• Its popularity caused an anti-jazz movement.
• Conservatives blamed jazz for declining morals and changing social norms
• Gospel music grew out of Blues and the Great Depression
• The Great Depression: – Occurred worldwide from
1929 until the late 1930s– Longest, most widespread
and deepest economic depression
• Expresses communal spiritual beliefs about Christian life
• Common theme: praise, worship or thanks to God
Swing / Boogie-woogie / Jitterbug
• Swing and big bands replaced Jazz as America’s favourite in the 1930s– Criticized as immoral: the music’s tempo drove people to evil and sin!– Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Harry James, Lionel Hampton "Sing,
Sing, Sing": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTzP7ecGQiw
• Boogie-Woogie: a piano-style of blues popular from the late 1930s – 1940s– Blues depicted emotions but boogie-woogie was about dancing– Also criticized as immoral and a threat to the standards of decency
• Jitterbug (the Lindy Hop): a popular form of dancing to big band music during World War II– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6s0AZRtQt0 /
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbaNYWkQYYA– As with earlier types of music/dancing…criticized as immoral
Hip Hop Culture was influenced by European electronic music, Funk and Soul music, and the Jamaican Dub Soundsystem culture
DJ’s noticed that people enjoyed the ‘breaks’ in records most….
So they invented ‘scratching’
Some rappers, like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, were not happy to just make ‘party music’. They began making more socially
conscious Hip Hop
This gradually evolved into
what was called Gangsta Rap, in the 1990s
In Chicago, producers like Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles made extended, looping versions of
Disco music, to dance to…..
Through the 1980’s this
evolved into House music
At the same time, in Detroit, producers like Juan Atkins used drum machines and samplers to
make electro music….
…..which developed into
techno music
EDM (Electronic Dance Music)
• Electronic Dance Music: A US term for dance music• American house music influenced rave culture in the
UK and Europe in the 1990s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQM3pa3L1Lg&list=PLBF1F6DE54BEDDE7E
• As with earlier types of music, rave was criticized as a danger to society because of its association with drugs
• Not popular in the US until the 2000s – influenced by different British and European dance acts and genres
• Now hugely popular in the US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUgK_RYjj2o
Music and Morality
• New types of music/dance are often seen as immoral and a threat to society– ________ is ruining the youth of America! What will
become of the country?
• Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)• A committee formed in 1985 to increase parental
control over access of children to music• List of “Filthy Fifteen” songs• Uncertain whether the sticker was effective• Some people suggest it actually increased sales