THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND THEIR MUSIC

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THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND THEIR MUSIC What is this course about? This course presents students with a broad narrative of the social and cultural history of American vernacular or popular music.

1 THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND THEIR MUSIC What is this course about? This course presents students with a broad narrative of the social and cultural history of American vernacular or popular music. Music is the particular object of our study; we will examine various genres of American vernacular or popular music among them slave spirituals, jazz, blues, folk, country, rock and hip hop. History, historical change and historical context is also the object of our study. So, for example, we will come to understand all of these music genres as outcomes of global movements bringing various peoples to the United States and their interactions with each other. From the seventeenth century to the present, the United States popular music resulted from the interaction of peoples from Europe and Africa, a blending process that continued with the arrival of Latino peoples arriving with musical cultures themselves a product of cultural blending. As globalization and modern technology disseminated American musical production, so it brought musical influences from all over the world to the United States. Today we refer to this contemporary sound as world music when in fact, the United States vernacular music has been a form of world music (also described as fusion )from the moment when Europeans and Africans came into contact with each other. We will study and identify other 1

2 historical conditions that changed and determined what American music is. By the late nineteenth century, the American sound landscape changed dramatically; technological reproduction of sound vastly enhanced possibilities for the dissemination of popular and vernacular idioms and dramatically increased the size, class access to, and regional distribution of sound and musical entertainment. Music became a consumer product. In fact, the sound and music landscapes and technological innovations that changed them are inseparable from what we understand to be the modern world, a world in which industrial capitalism, consumer culture, technological innovation, class, racial and gender differences determined access to and production of musical entertainment. Today s music world emerges from this modernization process including the search for profits and consuming audiences. Persisting throughout the history of the American people from slave spirituals, to the blues, to sixties rock, to hip hop and to GaGa we can find in American musical expressions continuing visions of a different world, of protest against modern capitalism and, as well, accommodation to the search for profit. It is a wonderful story and I invite you to enjoy the journey with me. Reading assignments: Most of the readings for the course will be provided on the Sakai site. You may have to purchase a book or two. Course Assignments: There will be two take home exams based upon readings, videos and class discussions. I will ask students to do a few short 1 or 2 page papers in addition at various times during the semester. (Please Note: below is a draft syllabus which I will be adding to and revising. Please disregard the class dates. The first few weeks of the course as they now appear suggest the mix of reading, thinking and listening which I hope to use throughout the course). Draft Syllabus 512:334:01 Professor Virginia Yans The American People and Their Music Department of History Fall 2014 Van Dyck Hall 221 Office hours: Wednes. 3:30-4:30 and by appointment M/W virginiayans@earthlink.net Readings and Calendar: Sept. 5 (Wed.) INTRODUCTION: THE MEANING OF POPULAR MUSIC 2

3 Film: "American Music from Folk to Jazz and Pop" Sept. 10 (Mon.) What is the function of music in cultures across the world and through history? Reading: Karen Schrock, Why Music Moves Us, Scientific American Mind, Jul/Aug 2009, Vol. 20, issue 4 (Sakai). Video for class discussion thinking like a historian: the electric guitar as product and creator of historical change: (5 min) AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC: DEFINING THE POPULAR AND CLASSICAL TRADITIONS Sept. 12 (Wed.) The Euro-African fusion; the vernacular and the elite in Ives, Gershwin and Joplin Sept. 17 (Mon.) Reading: Jan Koewenhoven, "Stone, Steel, and Jazz" from Made in America and A. Bloom, Introduction, Closing of the American Mind (Sakai) Musical elements: film excerpts on rhythm, melody, etc. Reading: Daniel Levitin, This is Your Brain on Music, selections, Ch. 1 (Sakai) and 2 Film: "Music: The Expressive Language" THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: ORAL TRADITIONS Sept. 19 (Wed.) and Sept. 24 (Mon.) SPIRITUALS AND FOLK MUSIC IN SLAVERY AND FREEDOM Reading: Lawrence Levine, Black Culture, Preface, 5-135, Film: "Georgia Sea Island Singers" What is a spiritual? What is folk music and how does it differ from other types of song and sound? Is there anything special about American spirituals and folk music? How have they changed over time? Are there any similarities between African- American and European music traditions? 3

4 FROM FOLK TO POPULAR ART: MUSIC IN PRINT AND ON THE STAGE Sept.24 (Mon.) FOLK MUSIC continued: Selections from Benjamin Filene, Romancing the Folk : Film: "Home Made American Music" Art Song as Print: Tin Pan Alley; Vaudeville as Popular Sept. 26 David Suisman, Selling Sounds: The Commercial Revolution in American Music, Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2. Oct. 1, (Wed.) 19 TH CENTURY AMERICANA: THE WORLDS OF STEPHEN FOSTER, SCOTT JOPLIN AND THE MINSTEL SHOWS; MUSICAL THEATRE AS POPULAR ART Reading: Curtis, Dancing to a Black Man s Tune: A Life of Scott Joplin, (there are two selections for Curtis on Sakai; please be sure to read both during this week and early next week). How does Joplin's life and music express a fusion of the European and African traditions? Oct. 3 Reading: continue reading Curtis, Scott Joplin ( Sakai selections) Film: Joplin s opera TREEMONISHA Selections from: THE 20th CENTURY ON RECORDS, ON THE AIR, AND AT THE MOVIES TURN OF THE CENTURY: DANCE AND ALL THAT JAZZ Oct. 8 (Mon.) Oct. 10(Wed.) RAGTIME, BAND MUSIC AND CABARET DANCE 4

5 Reading: Curtis, Scott Joplin (finish Sakai selections). Davidoff, The Kind of Person You have to Sound Like to Sing Alexander s Ragtime Band, in Barkan and Bush, Prehistories of the Future (Sakai) Music Without Musicians: Suisman, Selling Sounds, Ch. 3 How did Americans achieve in their leisure, at dance, and music making what they did not achieve in formal social relationships? Oct. 15 (Mon.) JAZZ ROOTS TO JAZZ AGE Reading: Peretti, The Creation of Jazz, Part 1, (Sakai). How can jazz be understood as a typically urban form of entertainment? The Blues and other love songs Oct. 17 (Wed.) Reading: Giles Oakley, The Devil s Music: A History of the Blues (Sakai, selections); Levine, Black Culture, Films: country and city blues How do the blues demonstrate the urbanization of American culture? Oct. 22 (Mon.) THE 1920 S AND THE JAZZ AGE: MASS CULTURE AND MUSIC AND MUSIC FOR THE MASSES Reading: Ogren, Jazz Revolution, Ch.2-4 (Sakai) How did technology and consumption patterns influence Americans at play and in their musical entertainment? ************* MID-TERM ESSAY DUE Wed.. Oct. 24 **************** Oct. 24 (Wed.) From Broadway to the Talkies: Movies Learn to Talk...and 5

6 Reading: "The Movies" from Arthur Knight, The Liveliest Art (Sakai); Ennis, The Seventh Stream, Ch. 2 What was the impact of film technology on composers and the music business? Oct. 29 (Mon.) and Oct. 31(Wed.)---- THE 1930 S AND THE 1940 S: THE BIG BANDS, SWING, CROONERS: THE BEE BOP Revolution Reading: Ennis, Seventh Stream, Ch. 4. Arthur Miller, "Going to College," Fortune Magazine, June, 1936 (Sakai); Peretti, Part 2 on Swing (Sakai) and Ben Sidran, Black Talk, Ch. 4 (Sakai) Do you agree that technology and mechanical reproduction determine musical culture? How do cultural influences operate on musical production? Nov. 5 (Mon.) and Nov. 7(Wed.) THE 1950 S AND YOUTH Reading: Ennis, The Seventh Stream, Ch.1,5,pp : Grover, Teenage New Jersey, Intro. to p.70 Film: "Generation Without a Cause" Nov. 12(Mon.) and Nov. 14 (Wed.)--The 1950 s Rock and Roll and Mass Culture Reading: Ennis, The Seventh Stream, Ch. 8; finish Teenage New Jersey Who actually makes records? Is Rock and Roll, as some have said, a people's music? Films: Rock and Roll history NOTE: THERE IS NO WEDNESDAY CLASS ON NOV. 21 BECAUSE OF CHANGE IN CLASS DAY DESIGNATION (FRIDAY CLASSES MEET ON WEDNESDAY) THE LAST OF THE FOLK Nov. 19 (Mon.) and Nov. 26 (Mon.) --Country Music and Gospel Reading: Ennis, Seventh Stream, Ch. 3; Albert Goldman, Elvis, Ch. 3-6 (Sakai); Levine, Black Culture,

7 Consider Elvis' life as one representing an instance of the move of poor southern white country folk to the city. Was Elvis' music folk music? How did folk sound become urban? Does Gospel resemble country music? **** Thanksgiving Break, Thurs. Nov. 22-Nov.25****** Nov. 26 (Mon.) (The Last of the Folk continued) Nov. 28 (Wed.) Dec. 3 (Mon.), Dec. 5 (Wed(. ROCK AND COUNTER- CULTURE Reading: Ennis, Seventh Stream, Ch.9-12 What was the relationship between artist, audience, and musical production in the 1960 s? Was the counterculture really counter? RECENT TRENDS such as Punk, AVANT GARDE, Hip Hop, Rap Dec. 10 (Mon.) and Dec. 12 (Wed.) Reading: Fletcher, All Hopped Up and Ready to Go (Sakai) How does local culture influence the production of popular music? Video, The History of Hip Hop. BOOKS: THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ARE AT NEW JERSEY BOOKS READING ASSIGNMENTS OTHER THAN THESE BOOKS WILL BE ON THE COURSE SAKAI SITE. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: 1. EXAMS. Students are required to do two take-home exams. The mid-term will be 4 to 5 typewritten pages; the final should be a 6 or 7 pages. The exam answers must be based upon 3 ELEMENTS: lectures, readings, and other materials presented and discussed in class such as film/video. In short, an exam 7

8 paper based completely upon readings or completely upon lecture material is NOT going to earn a good grade. The object is to integrate your readings with what you have heard and seen in class. The mid-term paper is due on Wednesday Oct. 24; the final is due after class is over on Dec. 12. Reading period begins on Dec. 13. Your paper is due that day. Late papers will be penalized by a loss of 1/4 grade unless the student presents a doctor's note or a note from his or her college Dean stating that there is a legitimate reason for lateness. (Telling me that you will hand your paper in late is not a legitimate "reason" for lateness.) The exam questions will be presented to you ahead of the due date, so that you will have time to prepare your paper. ***************** IMPORTANT: FOR THE MID-TERM I WILL NOT ACCEPT PAPERS IN FORMAT OR ATTACHMENT. ONLY HARD COPIES OF YOUR EXAM ARE ACCEPTABLE. Normally, electronically submitted finals are acceptable. I will let you know. 2. ATTENDANCE/ABSENCES/OTHER RULES: In order to protect students and faculty from misunderstandings, University requirements stipulate that students be informed of attendance requirements in writing. Students are required to attend class. Only four cuts are permitted. There are 28 classes. You must attend 24 of them. If you expect to miss one or more classes, please use the University absence reporting website: to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An is automatically forwarded to me. Students who must miss periods longer than a week should see a Dean of Students. Your signature on an attendance sheet will determine your presence in class. If you sign the attendance sheet and then leave, you will be counted as absent. Students who leave class before the class is over will be counted as absent. Students who sign in for other students will be heavily penalized. It is your responsibility to sign the attendance sheet on the day of class. You cannot sign up later. It is your responsibility to keep track of your absences as the semester proceeds. (You can do this by entering a date on your class notes). Final grades will be dropped 1/8 grade for every class missed above the permitted 4 cuts. Please think about the 8

9 implications of this policy. It means that you can easily fail the class if you cut too many classes. If you miss too many classes, you will fail. A doctor's note or a note from the Dean of your college is required to demonstrate illness or other legitimate reasons for absences above 4 cuts. Occasionally, with the professor s approval students will be given opportunities for extra credit work that may be used to raise their grades on their papers. This extra credit does not forgive penalties for absences. Religious holidays are respected. If you plan to take religious holidays, count them in your allowable 4 cuts. If you are unable to accept these regulations, you should not register for this class. OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION: PLAGIARISM: If you do not understand what plagiarism is, this will be explained to you in class. Plagiarism will have serious consequences. For the History Department statement on the subject, please go to: &id=109&itemid=147 ON CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE, please see the History Department statement on mutual responsibilities and classroom etiquette at: &id=108&itemid=147 As an addendum to this policy: if you wish to use your laptop to take notes on class lectures, by all means do so. If you want to write and chat, the place to do that is outside the classroom. NO TEXTING, NO SURFING AND NO CELL PHONE USAGE. STUDENTS ENGAGED IN THESE ACTIVITIES WILL BE ASKED TO DEPOSIT THEIR PHONES OR LAP TOPS ON THE FRONT DESK UNTIL CLASS IS OVER. ON HOW TO WRITE A HISTORY ESSAY, SEE: &id=106&itemid=147 9

American Popular Music: Course Syllabus

American Popular Music: Course Syllabus Instructor: E-mail: Office: Office Hours: Phone: Textbook American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3, Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman, 2nd ed. Prerequisites