1 Chapter 2: The Beginnings of American Popular Music Main Points There are eleven important points to make in this chapter, six drawn from the years before the civil war, and four from the half-century after it. Before the Civil War 1. Class structure during the early nineteenth century. There was cultural delineation between music that appealed to the urban population ( highbrow, considered to be more educated, mannered and affluent) and music that appealed to those who lived in rural areas ( lowbrow, considered less educated, mannered, and affluent). 2. The birth of a distinct popular style. Minstrel music was the first popular music with a distinct musical identity. (Refer, for example, to Stephen Foster s Beautiful Dreamer to emphasize the connection between art and popular music in non-minstrel styles.) It s important to emphasize that minstrel music sounded different from other popular music of the era, and that it was homegrown (not imported from Europe or modeled on European styles). 3. Blackface minstrelsy and changes in American life. It s important to see minstrelsy in the context of the society from which it emerged. Depending on how deeply you wish to delve into cultural and societal issues, you might point out the connections between minstrelsy and a. The shift in political power away from the upper class Eastern seaboard toward the South and West and the expansion of voting rights to nonpropertied white males. b. The growing cultural independence of America, evidenced also by important contributions in philosophy, literature, and history. c. A more democratic spirit (as long as one was white and male). 4. The musical contributions of the minstrel song. The minstrel song introduced two essential features to popular song: a recurrent chorus and dance rhythms. 5. New genres emerging through cross-pollination. Minstrel music or at least minstrel songs like Foster s Oh, Susanna came about through the interaction of Anglo-American folk music with the prevailing popular style. Similarly, the
2 plantation song, exemplified by Foster s Old Folks At Home, mixed parlor song and minstrel music. The process of creating new styles by mixing existing ones, a trademark of popular music throughout its history, can be said to begin with this music. 6. Stephen Foster s importance. To an unparalleled extent, Foster towered over other American songwriters In fact, his songs are still popular after 150 years. Both the quality and the diversity of his songs merit close consideration. After the Civil War 1. The formation of the popular-music industry. With the expansion and diversification of stage entertainment and the focus by certain music publishers on popular song, popular music became a business as well as a style. 2. Verse/chorus form and dance rhythms. The two most important new features in popular song in the post-civil-war period were the recurrent chorus and dance rhythms. Both spread from the minstrel show into many popular forms. 3. The expansion and diversification of popular stage entertainment. After the Civil War, the minstrel show split into white-only and black-only variants, musical comedy and vaudeville were born, and European operetta found an audience in the U.S. 4. The heyday of the concert band. John Philip Sousa wrote most of his great marches during the 1890s. His band, formed in 1892, was the most popular of several bands that toured constantly.
3 In-Class Activities: 1. Race and popular music A discussion of minstrelsy and race relations fits well into this chapter. Despite its significant contributions to the development of popular music, it is hard to enjoy blackface minstrelsy because it is impossible to divorce the music from racial attitudes portrayed therein. It is difficult to overlook its role in creating and perpetuating racial stereotypes that still linger a century after its demise. Depending on your class s size and its willingness to engage in discussion you may wish either to give a presentation on minstrelsy and racial stereotyping or propose it as a topic for class discussion. In any case, it would seem important to address the matter directly rather than (1) sweep it under the rug, or (2) simply dismiss nineteenth-century Americans as politically incorrect in the extreme. The matter can be introduced visually by examining sheet-music covers of minstrel and ragtime songs and piano rags a significant number show how pervasive the darkie stereotypes were in a period when many whites seldom had contact with African-Americans. The relevance of such images to the twentieth century can be shown by a picture of Bert Williams in blackface and clips from 1930s movie musicals, for example, Goin To Heaven on a Mule from Wonder Bar features Al Jolson in blackface. Closer to the modern day, you and your class might discuss whether such phenomena as Berry Gordy s slick marketing of the Motown girl groups, black TV sitcoms, rap groups, and sports team names (e.g., The Washington Redskins) and logos (e.g., The Cleveland Indians) perpetuate racial stereotypes. Regardless of whether or how you present the matter, it is undeniable that popular music and race have been intertwined from the outset. 2. Verse/chorus form In addressing verse/chorus form, you might want to emphasize two points. The first is that a song s chorus the repeating part of its form, is by the 1890s no longer actually sung by a chorus (multiple voices). You can compare pre-1890 songs like Oh! Susanna (in which the chorus is sung by a quartet) to After the Ball, in which the chorus is sung by a soloist. Secondly, the chorus has by 1900 become almost completely independent of
4 the verse. (Consider by contrast Foster s minstrel songs, in which the chorus consists of the last two phrases of the melody, and is not substantial enough to stand on its own). 3. Dance Rhythms Most dance rhythms in the popular music of this era were European in origin (the waltz and the polka were predominant). Minstrel songs, despite their purported portrayal of African-Americans, showed no African-American influence in this regard at least in their sheet music form. Moreover, songs with dance rhythms were not songs for social dancing, as were, for example, the foxtrots of the 1920s. In addition, the use of dance rhythms in popular song accompaniments was an intermediate stage on the way to the merger of song and dance during the foxtrot era. Finally, not all songs from the period had dance rhythms slow, sentimental ballads were also popular. 4. Stage-entertainment genres after the civil war Perhaps the first order of business in presenting popular stage entertainment after the Civil War is to sort out the different genres; in addition to the minstrel show, prominent forms included vaudeville, musical theater, and in the early 1900s the revue. It is important to explain the differences between and within the various genres: not only specific distinctions (between, for example, vaudeville and musical theater), but also broader differences, such as the differences between white and African-American minstrel shows after the Civil War, or the musical and dramatic differences between musical comedy and operetta. Another useful point of departure is the dramatic function of popular song within a show. Possibilities ranged from the vaudeville show, where popular song served no dramatic purpose, to operetta, where the songs were often an integral part of the story. In connection with this discussion, it s worth discussing the common practice of interpolation the insertion of a song into a show just because it was a hit, without regard to the musical or dramatic consequences.
5 5. Late-nineteenth century musical theater Unlike later examples of musical theater, the shows whose songs are discussed in the text have not survived as theater works. Thus, there is no easy way to see how this music worked dramatically in the show. The only musical theater works from the period that remain popular are the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance, which are today widely available on video. 6. The concert band and the march. Like the discussion on musical theater, the discussion of the concert band and the march should serve two purposes: to impart basic information about the genre, and to discuss the influence of the march and the concert band on subsequent styles. Many features of the march show up in other styles. Rags take their form and basic beat from the march (e.g., Maple Leaf Rag on CD 1:15). Early jazz bands (e.g., King Oliver s Dippermouth Blues on CD 1:18) are made up of the main band instruments plus chord instruments (piano and banjo). Modern dance orchestras of the 1920s and 1930s (i.e. without violins) are certainly cousins of the concert band; the main differences are the complete rhythm section and the substitution of saxophone for clarinet. 7. Class project If the topics discussed in this chapter lead to lively class discussions, you might want to stage a vaudeville show for at least part of a class period. Recruit an emcee, a comedian, a specialty act or two, someone to sing After The Ball, and another to play the Maple Leaf Rag. Doing the show yourself instead of relying on a video is certainly in keeping with the spirit of the period, during which Americans more often than not made their own entertainment. Recruit acts at the beginning of the semester (perhaps offering extra credit for those who perform). If possible, you might even consider simulated gaslights (to illustrate life in pre-electric times), costumes (check with your theater department), and some of the other conventions of a vaudeville show.
6 Testing/Quiz Questions PART ONE: Listening and Identification (correct answers italicized) 1. Play De Boatman s Dance A. What is the title? Correct answer: De Boatman s Dance B. Who is the songwriter? Correct answer: Dan Emmett C. For what type of stage performance was this song intended? Correct answer: Minstrel Show 2. Play Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair. A. What is the title? Correct answer: Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair B. Who is the songwriter? Correct answer: Stephen Foster 3. Play Take Me Out To The Ballgame. Question: Rhythmically, this song is an example of which of the following? Correct answer: A Waltz A. A Waltz B. A March C. A Plantation Lullabye D. A Breakdown PART TWO: Matching 1. Tin Pan Alley 2. aria 3. melisma 4. cakewalk 5. call-and-response 6. interlocutor 7. interpolation 8. jig 9. lowbrow 10. minstrel show 11. olio 12. parlor song 13. songster 14. vaudeville 1. Entertainment for rural, less educated audiences which used the vernacular.
7 2. An 1800s variety show consisting of thematically unrelated musical acts and skits. 3. A dance fad of the 1890s. 4. Musical exchanges between a leader and the group. 5. A dance from the British Isles. 6. Songs written with the intention of being performed in someone's living room. 7. The nickname for the "street" in New York City where music publishing was headquartered. 8. The mid-1800 entertainment form which gave rise to American musical theater. 9. A section of an opera featuring a solo singer. 10. A book containing the lyrics of a popular song. 11. A section in a minstrel show that featured a wide range of acts. 12. The insertion of a song into a musical comedy simply because it was a popular piece. 13. Several notes sung to a single syllable. 14. The straight man in a minstrel show who would ask questions of the endman and invite comical responses. Correct answers for matching questions 1. 9 2. 14 3. 4 4. 5 5. 8 6. 12 7. 1 8. 10 9. 2 10. 13 11. 11 12. 7
8 13. 3 14. 6 PART THREE: Multiple-Choice (correct answer italicized). 1. What is the primary significance of the minstrel show in America? A. Gave Northerners their first true insight into black plantation life. B. Represented the first attempt at any kind of musical theater in America. C. Introduced the concept of blackface to de-emphasize black ethnic features. 2. What are the three cultural/musical sources of popular music in America? A. Western European classical music, Anglo-American folk music, and African rhythm. B. Western European rhythms, Anglo-American use of the vernacular, and African instruments. C. Western European vernacular speech, Anglo-American folk instruments, and African blues. D. Minstrelsy, spirituals, and ragtime. 3. In describing American popular music, we say that it has a beat. This term beat refers to A. The European influence in American music. B. The Anglo-American folk influence in American music. C. The African influence in American music. 4. During the late 1800 s, the success of a song was determined by A. Radio play. B. The number of 78 r.p.m. recordings sold. C. Amount of sheet music sold. D. Tin Pan Alley. 5. The plantation song A. Merged elements in the songs of the minstrel show with more formal parlor songs. B. Was composed for rural audiences. C. Was a popular fiddle tune in the mid-nineteenth century. D. None of the above. 6. The John Philip Sousa Band was best known for performing a style of music known as A. The waltz. B. The march. C. The turkey trot.
9 D. The fox trot. E. The goose step. 7. Sousa was known as a writer and performer of a certain type of song that gained popularity after the Civil War. That type of song was A. The plantation song. B. The patriotic song. C. The spiritual. D. The operetta. 8. Which of the following statements is true of the community orchestra of the post-civil War era? A. The community orchestra brought American music to families with little or no access to major metropolitan areas like New York. B. The community orchestra brought American music to vaudeville. C. The community orchestra brought American music to the minstrel stage. D. The community orchestra brought American music to Tin Pan Alley. 9. Stephen Foster wrote songs for both minstrel shows and A. the parlor. B. the musical theater. C. the black church. D. the white church. 10. In the 1800's, the music of Stephen Foster became most readily available to the widest possible audience as a result of A. the advent of modern recording. B. the availability of sheet music. C. broadcast radio. Essay questions 1. Why was Stephen Foster one of the most important songwriters in nineteenthcentury America? What were his innovations? What styles did he master? 2. Why was the music of the minstrel show different from other kinds of popular song? How did it help create a distinct popular style? What new elements did it introduce into popular music?
10 3. What was the major difference in form between pre-civil-war and post-civil- War popular song? 4. How did music during the nineteenth century reflect class differences? 5. What was the role of the concert band in American life in the decades around 1900?