Tuesday 11/7

Objectives: 
- Quiz
- Listening
- Intro to Blues
Assignments:
- DUE NEXT CLASS:  
  • Folk Art
  • Defining Genres 

Quiz


For the following examples, decide which of the options given best represents the song

1.   (A) Walking Bass   (B) Riffed Bass   (C)  Implicit Rhythm  (D) Explicit Rhythm (E) Sustained Bass

2.  (A) Walking Bass   (B) Riffed Bass   (C)  Implicit Rhythm  (D) Explicit Rhythm (E) Sustained Bass

3.   (A) Walking Bass   (B) Riffed Bass   (C)  Implicit Rhythm  (D) Explicit Rhythm (E) Sustained Bass

4.   (A) Walking Bass   (B) Riffed Bass   (C)  Implicit Rhythm  (D) Explicit Rhythm (E) Sustained Bass

5. (A) Walking Bass   (B) Riffed Bass   (C)  Implicit Rhythm  (D) Explicit Rhythm (E) Sustained Bass

6.  (A) Walking Bass   (B) Riffed Bass   (C)  Implicit Rhythm  (D) Explicit Rhythm (E) Sustained Bass

7.  (A) Walking Bass   (B) Riffed Bass   (C)  Implicit Rhythm  (D) Explicit Rhythm (E) Sustained Bass

8.  (A) Walking Bass   (B) Riffed Bass   (C)  Implicit Rhythm  (D) Explicit Rhythm (E) Sustained Bass

Listening Exercise:

Compare these examples on the basis of Artistic Merit:  

1.  Creative Skill: 
-Who sounds like a more refined / practiced musician? 
-Who is a 'better' singer / guitar player?
-Which was a 'better' musical performance

2.  Genuine Emotional Expression:
-What emotion do you think is being expressed / conveyed?  
-How can you tell if the artist is being genuine/honest? 
-Who is being 'more' emotionally expressive

3. Originality / Imagination:
- Who sounds more original ? who sounds like they did it first? 
-Which performance would be harder to recreate

Intro to the Blues

The Blues changed music forever because it made the emotional expression that had been present in music for hundreds of years accessible to all people
(**that could understand spoken language).

The Blues and the music that it evolved from was started in the late 1800's****,  and Although by this time a high level of emotional expression had been happening in music for a long time, most of this music had been happening in places like Church, High Class Instrumental concerts (orchestra, Opera, musical theatre etc).  

The difference with the blues is that it made this type of expression accessible to ALL people, even those who don't go to church/concerts etc.  - I.E. Common Folk

This has become the model for all popular music since !! 

The Blues: A Folk Music
​

What is Folk Music?
  • Not taught in school, or learned in any formal fashion 
    • Learned by rote*
    • Oral Tradition
  • Unwritten songs with no composers EX - Who came up with 'Mary Had a Little Lamb?'
  • Music Passed down through generations
    • Familial, or Communal 
  • Generally not considered High Art (aka found in museums)
    • not judged for it's aesthetic qualities (it's beauty )
  • Sometimes has Educational / Religious aspects , or just as a pass-time
  • Could have a functional purpose
Folk Music Today..........Characteristics of these things? 
  • Educational, Used to pass the time
  • Family or Community oriented

Think about how you learned these songs...
  • It wasn't out of a book!
  • You didn't teach yourself
  • SOMEONE SHOWED  YOU HOW TO DO IT

****** These songs are not about SOUNDING GOOD
****** These songs are not meant to be ART
****** These song are not meant to be JUDGED

They are meant to be... FUN   or    Educational

**** Folk Art :  Quilting,  Arts/Crafts
**** Folk Lore:  Folktales / Urban Legends
One defining characteristic of Folk Music , and all Folk Art, is that it is meant to be possible for anyone to do and enjoy it - Regardless of Skill Level -old/young, rich/poor, educated/uneducated etc. - it is art of the people  
(as apposed to art of an elite class)

Another Defining Characteristic or Folk Art/Music is that we  tend to associate different forms with different groups of people.  

Examples: 
​Nursery Rhymes >>> Young people 
Quilting >>>>> Elderly people 

BUT  - Anybody COULD do it in theory...

Where / When were Early Blues happening? 

​Early Blues 
Mississippi Delta   
Late 1800's-1930

1500-1860 
Transatlantic Slave Trade

1861
Civil War

1865
After 4 Years Confederate/South Surrenders
13th Amendment makes slavery Illegal
 ***** With small exception: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States, except in punishment of a crime" ******

1890
Jim Crow Laws legally mandate segregation - 


With slavery (**involuntary servitude**) as a punishment for crime, and segregated prisons, There is still culture of enslaved people, even though slavery has been 'abolished'  
Mississippi Delta

  • Area of Mississippi between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. 


  • ​Because of incomplete or non existent historical records, it is hard to say where exactly in this timeline The Blues as we know it was being played.   

  • There is also a lack of recordings to reference. 


****This is similar to secular music in the early middle ages, where we only know about sacred music because the church we there only people keeping historical documents******

Early Blues Predecessors :
​1800's/early 1900's
*** These were examples of  folk song***
(just like our modern 'twinkle twinkle' etc..)

Spirituals,  Work Songs,  and Field Hollers 
Although these have subtle differences and are classified into 3 categories, you will notice they are all very similar stylistically.  They all have a share a common unrefined and rough quality.
Work Songs, Prison Songs
  • Serve functional purpose, sung by groups of slaves working in fields and later chain gangs
  • Meant to keep the Rhythm/Beat of the work going on 
  • Used as entertainment/pass-time
Musical Aspects:
  • Call and Response​
  • ​Rough/Harsh Vocals
  • Rhythmic
  • Formless (no verses chorus etc...)
Spirituals
  • Were sung solo or in groups
  • Has a religious aspect - an expression of faith
  • Many known today by their modern choral arrangements (ex. wade in the water, swing low sweet chariot etc.)
  • Were sometimes used to talk in code and have hidden messsages
Field Hollers, Chants, Shouts
  • Formless (i.e. no verse/chorus)
  • Always sung while doing work, thus were vocal and A Capella (no instruments)
  • Could be sung either solo, or in a group
  • May times there is an aspect of call and response

Characteristics of Blues Predecessors ​

  • Raw, Unrefined
  • Unrehearsed
  • Not meant to be art, or even listened to
  • Pure, Heavy emotion
  • Almost more like actual moaning that singing
  • Back and Forth or Call and Response aspect.  Often between two groups, or a soloist and a separate group. ​
We can see that these earlier folk song predecessors share more characteristics with the early blues examples (Robert Johnson)  

[ and have less in common with the more modern examples ]

Timeline
1800's***-----------------1900's----------------2000's
Folk predecessors:                                              Early Blues:                                                Modern Blues:
Work Songs, Field Hollers, Etc.                                                Delta Blues                                                                           John Mayer

Delta Blues
(Down Home Blues / Country Blues)
- This is the style of blues that is closest to it's folk song predecessors, both chronologically AND stylistically (how they sound)
Named for its prominence in the "Delta" region

  • First, most raw form of what we call 'The Blues' today
  • Shares many characteristics with Work Songs and Prison Songs
  • Raw and Pure emotion
  • Subject matter is generally about Hardship, Sorrow, and Oppression ("Drinkin' Water Out of a Hollow Log")
  • Loose form 
  • Generally is a man and his guitar

Homework:

Folk Art
(1) Find 5 different types of Folk Art, and (2) What group of people they are associated with

Defining Genres
For the Following Genres/Categories of music, Find a song that you think exemplifies the genre.  (1)  Search for a song that best represents what would be considered 'Genuine' within that genre.  (2)  For each example, tell why you think your song is a good example for that style of music.  This explanation should mention things like :  Instrumentation,  Melody Delivery,  Bass/Rhythm Delivery,  Subject Matter, Persona of the Artist ETC.  (3)  Give a release date for each song.  

If you are unsure of any of these genres, start with a search like this

Genre List :
 
Country
Hip-Hop
Jazz 
Rock
Pop