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LectureJazz This week's lecture includes several flash file links.  You must have Flash Player installed on your computer to view these.  If you don't have it, download it!! Flash Download Remember Our popular music in America came from either Europe (mostly English pubs and Irish folksongs) or Africa (mostly West Africa as a result of the slave trade). We specify "mostly West Africa" because to lump all of Africa together and discuss "African music" would be even tougher than trying to talk about "American music" and including all of North, Central, and South America in the discussion!! West African drummers   African music has profoundly affected our popular music. Your textbook does a good job of categorizing these influences into Be sure and review the explanations in your text (p. 42-45).   1.  Blue Notes "flattened" tones of the scale; particularly the 3rd and 7th scale degrees 2.  Unique tone a rougher texture, both vocally and instrumentally 3.  Motor Rhythm driving rhythms, steady beats 4.  Syncopation displacing the regular accents in music 5.  Swing feeling the basic feel of long - short - long - short, instead of equal note values 6.  Improvisation making up the music as it is played (or sung)   Here is a good representation of the development of early jazz.  Feel free to explore the links. Jazz Roots     RAGTIME     Scott Joplin 1868-1917 The "King of Ragtime"   Scott Joplin composed music in a form similar to marches.  Listen to John Phillip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever.    Notice how each section is repeated and then there is a new section?  Now listen to Joplin's Maple Street Rag - same deal!   The syncopated rhythms were referred to as “ragged time,” which was eventually shortened to - you guessed it - Ragtime. Rags (shortened again) became very popular                                                                                                                                   He made a modest living as a composer during his lifetime.  The big awards came much later. 1973:  An academy award for Best Film Score (Joplin's original music)  in the movie The Sting 1976:  A Pulitzer Prize for his opera Treemonisha (the first opera ever composed by an African American)           THE BLUES     The first recording  by  a black singer was made in 1920 by Mamie Smith singing "Crazy Blues."   Bessie Smith (not to be confused with Mamie Smith) became famous in the 1920's and was called   "The Empress of the Blues." Read about Bessie Smith on p. 53-54 of your textbook.   Watch this   Why was she important as a cultural icon in addition to her success as a singer?     Her song, "Down Hearted Blues" (1923) sold over a million copies.     Check out this version of  Big Joe Turner singing "Doggin' the Blues" Rock 'n Roll is only a short step away from the blues played at a fast tempo.   It is not difficult to trace the legacy of Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters to Chuck Berry and the rest is history!     For some more info on The Blues, and some examples to help you with this week's assignment, follow this link: Blues Page     Syllabus    Links    Created and maintained by Vicky V. Johnson