Download MHST 309 History of Rock Lecture 3 – Roots of Rock

MUSC 309 History of Rock Lecture 3 – Roots of Rock
I. Roots of rock
A. Unique American art form
1. Mixture of European, American, and African musical influences
2. Not a straight-line influence from any one kind of music
B. Helpful to think of rocks ancestors not as family tree, but as primordial soup of
music present in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries
1. Or a matrix of influences
2. Jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, country, western, all emerge from matrix
a. Different proportions
b. Different emphases
c. Rock combination of all of these
II. African music
A. Most African slaves brought to US from (north)western Africa
1. Majority from Ashanti, Dahomean, Yoruban, Congo tribes
2. Musical styles share many common traits
3. For the following, Africa = West Africa
B. In African music, rhythm is of primary importance
1. African music is functional - used to accompany dancing, working,
religious rituals, etc.
2. Therefore, strong rhythm is a necessity
3. Most African music polyrhythmic – many rhythmic layers
a. Each part has independent rhythm
b. Sometimes all parts coincide, sometimes not
4. When they don’t, create cross-rhythms
a. Rhythms working at cross purposes
b. Creates feeling of beat being pulled in different directions
c. Creates interest
C. Cyclic forms – can continue indefinitely
D. Complex tone colors prized in African music
1. Common to attach shells, pieces of metal, etc. to instruments
like drums and stringed instruments to create a more complex
sound
2. Many Europeans thought “impure” sounds, but actually quite
sophisticated
E. Ex. Untitled (Yoruban chorus)
1. Rhythmic layers
a. Stringed instrument
b. clappers
c. Drums (on diff. rhythmic parts)
d. singers
2. Thick texture
3. Cross-rhythms
4. Participatory – everyone sings, whether a good singer or not
F. Slaves brought to United States also retained certain elements of musical culture
1. Drums prohibited in most places
2. But certain instruments (banjo, tambourine), idea of rhythmic dominance,
preference for complex tone colors survived
III. Anglo-American folk music
A. Folk songs brought to US by immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland
B. Survived for decades or centuries in isolated areas, like Appalachia
C. In general:
1. types
a. Ballads – lyrical songs that relate a narrative
b. Instrumental music for fiddle, accordion, or guitar
c. story songs
2. In verse/chorus or strophic form – verses, but no chorus
3. simple melodies with narrow ranges
4. Often use pentatonic (five note) scale
i. First, second, third, fifth, and sixth notes of the major scale
ii. Common in folk musics throughout the world
5. plain, unadorned singing style
6. Often a nasal vocal quality
D. Ex. Old Joe Clark
1. Fast dance rhythms and subdivision of beat
2. Use of fiddle and banjo – African influence
3. Humorous storytelling song
4. Verse/chorus form
IV. European influenced parlor song
A. Contains elements of Irish, Scottish, German songs and Italian opera
B. Lyrical melody supported by harmonic accompaniment
C. Subjects generally melancholy or sentimental
D. Usually first performed and popularized in some secular stage entertainment and
afterwards performed
in the home
E. Designed to be performed by and listened to by persons of limited musical training and
ability
F. Often in verse/chorus or AABA form
1. Two sections using the same melody, but different words
2. Contrasting section of equal length
3. Return to initial melody
H. Ex. Woodsman Spare that Tree
1. clear, regular form
2. Arpeggiated accompaniment – notes of chords played sequentially
rather than simultaneously
3. Interdependent rhythms
a. Melody dominates
b. But rhythm of accompaniment creates forward motion
c. Work together – not at odds
V. Elements of Anglo-American folk combine with African influences to create African
American folk style
A. Work songs
1. Strong rhythmic foundation - sung in rhythm of task at hand
2. Often call and response singing
3. Subjects: the work at hand, sufferings of existence
4. Ex. "O Rosie"
B. “Field hollers”
1. Somewhat akin to yodeling
2. Good way to make voice carry across fields, long distances
3. Ex. Field Hollers 1 and 2
C. Spirituals
D. Ballads
E. Dance music
1. Played on banjo or fiddle
2. With rhythmic emphasis of West African music
3. And syncopation
4. Example: "If It's All Night Long" - Miles and Bob Pratcher
VI. Minstrelsy
1. Earliest definitive, uniquely American popular music
2. European classical and Anglo folk music combined with hints of African American
folk tradition
a. Use of banjo, fiddle
b. Percussion from bones, tambourine
3. Example – Boatmen’s Dance
a. Can hear similarities with "Old Joe Clark"
b. Essentially European form, harmony
c. Folk influence (both cultures) in
i. Pentatonic scale
ii. Song tells a story
iii. Dance-like rhythms
d. Great deal of rhythmic complexity
e. What’s the tambourine doing?
i. accents on backbeat
ii. Percussion creates syncopation
4. Minstrel shows continue to be influential until turn of the century
a. Seem wholly pejorative and distasteful in mocking of African Americans, but –
b. Now know that good number of performers were African American
under the black face!
c. And at least some composers of minstrel songs were enamored of
African American folk song, tried to incorporate authentic
elements
d. Sparks two innovations in American popular music
i. Incorporation of dance rhythms becomes the norm
ii. Verse/chorus form established
aa. Verses that tell a story
bb. Alternate with refrain