MUSC 200 Lecture 6 Outline of Last Lecture I Blue Notes II Call Response III Early Blues IV Country Roots of Rock Roll Outline of Current Lecture V The Carter Family Mountain Style ECM a Thumb Brush Style b Can the Circle Be Unbroken musical analysis VI Jimmie Rodgers Country Style ECM a Several musical analyses VII 1930 s VIII Honky Tonk Country Music IX TPA in the 1940 s Big Band Jazz a Decline of Big Band Jazz New TPA Sound Current Lecture Carter Family A P Carter fiddle bass Sara Carter vocals Mother Maybelle Carter sang harmonies played guitar among other instruments Attended the Bristol Sessions but otherwise did not tour much o Gained fame through RADIO cylinder recordings Folk musicians at the time were mostly local o Carter Family was NATIONALLY FAMOUS Old Musical Elements o Borrowed from earlier music o Lyrics had a nostalgic view of rural family life o Themes of unrequited love such New Musical Elements o Verse Chorus Form in TPA CF o Thumb Brush Style a k a Carter Scratch brought in by Mother Maybelle Play chords on upper strings higher pitches a melody on the lower chords single notes in bass Produce a much fuller sound by doing this This technique set the tone for ECM guitar style Can the Circle Be Unbroken by the Carter Family Mountain Style ECM Nostalgic cut out guitar still have a full rich feel In spaces between the melody notes play the upper notes rich sound o Time share here is smooth effective Playing the rhythm with authority big deal Alternating bass accompaniment scaled down version of thumb brush style during vocals o Musician plays a bass note then a chord then a note from the chord then back forth Some fragmentation of scales Follows the way TPA artists would follow verse chorus form o Lyric song w theme of loss mother each verse reveals different facets of the loss while the chorus ties all the pieces together Reaction v social changes in the South Traditional elements o High range sung by vocalist o Clear tambour o Harmony vocals big focus of the track Tight blend of harmony beautifully sculpted dynamics Chorus gets a little softer then booms Perfectly timed intervals of fast slow singing playing through the chorus Jimmie Rodgers Country Style ECM Image of easygoing guy next door or a rambling man hardworking guy o Working Man was one nickname of his he used to work on the railroad Range of instruments is very broad JR musical signature yodeling a vocal technique where you sing with your full voice switch to your falsetto voice o Quickly shift between hard to do this Distinctive striking effect both techniques within yodeling are hard in themselves much less together Blue Yodel No 8 by Jimmie Rodgers Country Style ECM Displays JR s signature yodel at various degrees throughout the song Blue Yodel No 11 by Jimmie Rodgers Country Style ECM 12 Bar Blues Form Yodeling in this song as well Waiting for a Train by Jimmie Rodgers Country Style ECM Siren like vocals at the start Yodeling Bass double bass the bass is different than the traditional kind because the bass is BOWED NOT PLUCKED Hawaiian steel guitar o Melds perfectly with acoustic guitar traditional ECM Tempo feel so laid back relaxed vocals o Make all the new elements blend together seamlessly Working class image modern image new instruments Hornet clarinet trumpet used o Previously used by New Orleans jazz bands 1930 s Country music o Country style ECM became dominant No drums used until 1950 s Steel guitars several other new instruments Western Music Cowboy Song o Western Music was a major movie genre in the 1930 s Singing cowboys in the movie sang updated folk songs Cowboy song got lumped into Country genre Honky Tonk Country Music Represented a different image o Honky tonk type of rough bar that catered to oil industry men Began in the 1930 s took off after WWII supplanted other country styles More gritty intense songs masculine view of social life in industrial world o Focuses on drinking loneliness emotion Vocal quality bright sound with high pitch a little roughness Instrumentation broadens electric guitar piano bass eventually drums o Had to play somewhat loudly to be heard over the clamor of honky tonk bars Rhythm guitar emphasis on 2nd 4th beats o Triplet feel how the beats are subdivided into units of 3 Musicians play w lift on 2nd 4th beats triplet feel Distinctive feel in Honky Tonk Hank Williams best known Honky Tonk artist Your Cheatin Heart by Hank Williams Honky Tonk Country Style Lift on 2nd 4th beats Each beat divided into 3 In same bright nasal tradition as the Carter Family Large instrumentation with a little percussion Theme loneliness I m So Lonesome I Could Cry by Hank Williams Honky Tonk Country Style Electric guitar part is CRITICAL in this song o Older Mountain Style bass notes electric guitar Produced a new sound familiar but not the same Hank Williams signature vocals cry breaks flip to a yodel briefly sounds like a voice cracking evoke the sound of crying without actually crying less interruptive than yodeling Much Too Young to Die by Ray Price Honky Tonk Country Style 1950 s Honky Tonk while Rock music is emerging Theme love RIGHT NOW Fiddle cry breaks nasal vocals Aggressive rhythm a little lift with guitar on 2nd 4th beats o Briefly hear a snare drum TPA in the 1940 s Big Band Jazz Mid 1930 s end WWII big band music was the popular music style o Development of the rhythm section Jazz o Emerged as the dominant form of music in South African American origin o TPA drew from jazz 1930 s 1945 almost indistinguishable Swing jazz Combination of pop jazz bands were mainstream at the time Big band instrumentation o So many instruments divided into 3 sections Rhythm piano bass drums keep time articulate the harmony Reed play melodies add richness play backgrounds pads that accompany melody to give a full sound Brass play melodies add richness play backgrounds pads that accompany melody to give a full sound same purpose as reed section o Walking bass bass player plays one note on every beat ear is able to hear implied chords because of this NOT a continuous sound Don t confuse this style with thumb brush style o Took 2nd 4th beats more emphasis Dance music o Most songs were instrumental numbers Pennsylvania 6 5 000 1930 s telephone by Glenn Miller Instruments Big Band Jazz Instrumental swingy Drums giving time walking bass melody carried by brass reed sections alternating Decline of Big Band Jazz After WWII BBJ declined in popularity died o Musicians were on strike