UNIT II - HISTORY OF AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC AND A SURVEY OF JAZZ STYLES A. AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS: RECORDINGS USED IN UNIT II AND FILMSTRIPS B. LESSONS 1. Music of West Africa 2. The Caribbean and the Deep South 3. POP Music in America, 1890-1930 (Filmstrip) 4. Ragtime Piano Styles 5. Vocal Blues Styles 6. Instrumental Blues Styles 7. George Gershwin 8. Pop Music in Alnerica, 1930-1945 (Filmstrip) 9. The Big Band Royalty: the "King," the "Count," and the "Duke" 10. Bop and Cool J clZZ 11. Progressive and Avant-Garde Jazz 12. Review 13. Exam Doc. 0535B, p. 1 37 RECORDINGS AND FIL.\1STRlPS USED IN UNIT II Lessons 1-2 African Music Folkways 8852 Best of Herbie Hancock Columbia JC' 36309 Negro Folk Music of Africa Folkways FE 4500 and America Sound of the Sun-Steel Band Nonesuch H- 2016 The Gospel Sound Columbia G 31086 Lesson 3 Pop Music in America EAV Filmstrips ~ 1 and 2 Lesson 4 Piano Rags by Scott Joplin Nonesuch H- 71248 Classic Jazz Piano Styles RCA Vintage Series LPV 543 Lesson 5. Take This Hammer - Leadbel1y Folkways SLP l7A The Bessie Smith Story - Volume 1 Columbia CL 855 Crying Time - Ray Charles ABC-Paramount 544 Lesson 6 The Original Dixieland Jazz Band RCA Vintasge Series LPV 547 Classic Jazz Piano Stvles RCA Vintasge Series LPV 543 An Anthology of British Blues Immediate Z12 52006 Lesson 7 George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue Mercury SR 90002 Porgy and Bess Columbia OL 5410 Lesson 8 pop Music in America EAV Filmstrip #3 Lesson 9 The Great Benny Goodman Columbia CL 820 The Best of Basie Roulette SR 52081 The Best of Duke Ellington Historia H 621 Lesson 10 Dizzy Gillespie RCA Vintage Series LPV 530 Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool Capi tal DT 1974 The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever prestige PR 24024 (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Max Roach) Lesson 11 Time OUt- Dave Brubeck Quartet Columbia CL 8192 The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra ESP- 1014 Doc. 0 5 3 5B, P • 2 38 UNIT II - LESSON 1 AIM How does West Afr.ican music differ from traditional American folk music? PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES Students will be able to: 1. define and identify the following a-spects of West Afr ican music: responsorial singing, melodic and rhythmic ostinato patterns, metronomic sense of tempo, polyrhythmic use of percussion instruments, melismatic and quarter tone singing style f shouting tone quali ty, ethnomus j,cologist. 2. contrast and compare differences between European style of melody and accompaniment to traditional African approach. MOTIVATION Refer to a map and ask students to name regions of Africa from where most Afro-Americans can trace their ancestry. Ask class which book and TV serial told the story of a man who was able to trace his family history using the folk legends he heard from his grandparents?" (Roots by Alex Haley) Point out that the black ciyil rights movement stimulated a great interest in the study of African culture in the 1960s and 70s. Explain that the musical examples which follow have great importance because of their influence on the entire development of jazz and rock and that American popular music now has world-wide influence due to advances in record ing-, TV and mov ies. PROCEDURES 1. Terms and Definitions Write these terms and their definitions on the board and have students copy them into their notes. Reiterate when mentioned in discussion. ethnomusicologis~ - scholar who studies the music of a given region improvisation - making up music as you go along • responsorial singing (call and response) - leader answered by a chorus melodic ostinato - repeated melody • rhythmic ostinato - repeated rhythm tempo - speed of beats • metronome - a clock-like device for producing beats at a variety of speeds • melisma and quarter tones - singing styles • polyrhythms - many different rhythms played at the same time Doc. 0535B, p. 3 39 2 (Play African Music, Band 4 (second half of band).] This is ceremonial music of a chieftain and his tribe. It was recorded by an ethnomusicologist. Ask: Which are the main stylistic characteristics? Responsorial singing - leader answered 0y a chorus Choral singing in harmony Short phrases repeated constantly (ostinato) although the leader tends to vary his part slightly each time and improvise changes. The chorus tends to repeat the same phrase. Multiple percussion instruments in the accompaniment - drums, rattles, sticks. Metronomic sense of tempo and pulse ~ - speed of beats Metronome - a clock-like device for producing beats at a variety of speeds from 40 to 208 per minute Singing tends to feature melismas and quarter tones Harsh, forced timbre in singing 3. (Play African Music, Band 6, Side 2.] This is an example of polyrhythms, the chief characteristic of African music. European music stresses harmony. Each drum plays this pattern separately. Drums have varying sizes and pitc~es. 4. [Play African Music, Band 5, Side 2.] This is a secret society dance song using the five drums heard in the last example. Ask: - >'ihichAfrican elements do you recognize? - What is the psychological state induced by the drums played over a lo~g period of time to the listener or dance.r in ::he' ceremony? (trance, , frenzy, ecstasy, fainting) 5. [Play an appropriate example to demonstrate improvising.] Improvisation is a main stylistic ingredient of West African nusic. Since there was_no written music, they had to make it up as they went along. European music has, since the Middle Agjjes, come to rely on written transcription of music. Contemporary example: fusion-disco-jazz. write this on the board and play Herbie Hancock's, d"Tell Everybody," listening for improvisation. Ask: How does disco use some of these elements?" (responsorial singing, melodic/rhythmic ostinato and a steady tempo) POINTS FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION How do these recordings differ from th·e traditional American and British folksongs heard in unit I? Doc. 053 5B, p. 4 40 UNIT II - LESSON 2 AI~ How did West African music influence L~e music of the Caribbean and southern united States? PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES Students will be able to: identify similarities between West African examples heard in previous lesson and New world examples. name Cariobean instruments which have African origins: maracas, c1aves, bongos, congas, marimba. discuss reasons why African music developed differently in the Caribbean from the Deep South in North America. MGrIVATION ,Hold up maracas, claves, guiro and demonstrate. Ask class to name each instrument. use pictures if the instruments are not available. In the Caribbean, African istruments received new names. write these notes on the board and have students copy them into their notebooks. a) rattles became maracas b) sticks became claves c) drums became bongos, cOIlgas d) xylophone became marimba Music sung and played by persons of African descent in the islands of the Caribbean_and parts of Central and South America is often virtually indis~inguishable from West African music with the exception of the language used, whic.'lcoul& be a mixture of African dialect with Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, or Englis'h (patois). Some of the reasons for the retention of African culture: - Isolation of the islands _ Africans formed the majority of the population on many islands; tribal and family units remained together, often working on large plantations under a few European overseers. _ The predominantly Catholic religion allowed for the inclusion of tribal gods as new saints. Many African religious customs, such as voodoo and other cults, continued to survive. PROCEDURES write on the board all terms, definitions and recording$. Add descriptions. 1. [Play Example I - "Lucumi Songn - sung in Eastern Cuba by descendants of Yorubas from Nigeria. Play Side 2, Band 18 of Negro Folk Music of Africa and America.] Notice the po1ycythmic and responsorial elements. The refrain features two words very clearly - Buena Noce (Good 'Night - pronounced as Booehnah Nocheh from the Spanish). Doc. 0535B, p. 5 41 2. (play Example 2 - "Steel Drums of Trinidad" (see back of record jacket) Side 2, Band 6 (sounds like a stroshic lolksong).J In Trinidad (an island off the coast of Venezuela which has large oil refineries), island natives in search of rhythmic instruments (After drums and stick bands had been outlawed by the colonial government.) discovered that oil drums of various sizes and indentations made fine musical instruments when struck by rubber mallets. The soprano drum is dented to produce 32 different pitches. In addition, there are also alto, tenor and bass drums. 3. Why in general did black music in America not retain its Africanisms in as pure a form as in the Caribbean? (think of Roots) a) family and tribal units were systematically broken up; small plantations needed fewer workers b) blacks formed a minority of the population in many areas c) protestant missionaries introduced hymn tunes that were incorporated into black church service d) much closer relationship between black and white culture in the south and more repression 4. Example 3 - Spiritual - "Mississippi" [Play: Negro Folk Music of Africa and America Side 2, Band 23. (6)] This was recorded in an isolated country church in 1949 sung by old parishioners whose parents still remembered the times of slavery. Spiritual - early religious hymns sung by southern blacks. [Play: "My Name Has Been written Down" from Negro Folk Music of Africa and Amer ica.] a) Notice the responsorial singing. b) Since drums were not allowed by the authorities, the polyrhythmic accompaniment is created by hand clapping, footstamping, and fingersnapping. In this example, however, only hand clapping and foots~amping occurs. 5. Gospel style - (play: "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody" from the Gospel Sound Side 3, Band 7 recorded 1960 by the Abyssinian Baptist Gospel Choir in New Yor k City (Har lem) .J a) Elicit similarities to African style.