Ragtime, Popular song, jazz roots Flashcards
(19 cards)
What does the term ‘ragtime’ supposedly derive from?
The left-hand rhythm of piano rags, the time of day when publishers would give away their excess sheet music, the syncopation of a melody, which listeners heard as ‘ragged’, and the AABBACCDD form of piano rags.
What does the term ‘Tin Pan Alley’ refer to?
The street in New York where many music publishers were concentrated, a famous nightclub that George Gershwin and Harry von Tilzer frequented, the name of a popular vaudeville show, and the oral transmission of music.
Which instrument was NOT commonly found in a New Orleans jazz combo?
French horn.
Who was the famous leader of a swing jazz band?
Fletcher Henderson.
What is Swing?
A style of jazz that featured large instrumental ensembles (called big bands) playing high-energy dance music.
What is New Orleans Jazz?
An early type of jazz originating in New Orleans that consisted of a small combo of musicians playing syncopated melodies over relatively steady beats and rhythms.
What is Stride?
The steady left-hand rhythm of a piano rag; the left hand jumps between single notes in the low register and chords in the middle register.
What is Syncopation?
A rhythmic pattern in which accents fall on weak beats or on weak parts of the beat.
What is Oral tradition?
A means of teaching and learning music through rote memory without the use of written scores; also refers to the body of music that is transmitted through oral tradition.
What is 12-bar blues?
A popular genre of African American music that consisted of twelve-bar phrases arranged over a standardized harmonic progression.
What is a Piano rag?
A piano piece with a syncopated right-hand melody over a steady left-hand rhythm (called the stride).
What is Vaudeville?
A popular form of variety-show theater at the turn of the twentieth century that included singing, dancing, comedy sketches, acrobatics, and skits.
What is Verse-chorus form?
A song form that contains two contrasting musical sections, called verse and chorus, that alternate; the verse sections have the same music but different lyrics each time they are repeated while the chorus sections repeat both the music and melody.
What are Song pluggers?
Singers or pianists employed by publishing companies who would perform samples of the newest sheet music for interested patrons.
What is Bar song form?
The most popular form for Broadway songs, it consists of four sections of eight measures where the melody follows the form AABA.
What is Contrafact?
A composition where the composer borrows the harmonic structure from a popular song but writes an entirely new melody.
What is March form?
A series of 16-measure units following the form AABBACCDD, with the C section, called the ‘trio’ usually in a contrasting key.
