Transcript Music (Part 1)

Garrett Moler
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Music does not change from simple to complex
Native American music was once a way to communicate with the
spiritual realm and bringing aid of supernatural power
Music is a fundamental part of native American culture and can
be seen in almost everything they do
Songs from one region are very different from songs with another
region
The music is very different than the Europeans which led them to
believe it was absent of structure and melody
Indian music is not divided by genre but rather is accepted by
what part in your life it plays
Children were often taught through music with a repeated theme
in songs
In the Indian world songs are a tribes or single persons property
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As property songs can be given as gifts and the right to use a song
may be obtained by giving gifts to the owner
Songs rarely have titles in native American music
In Indian culture there are no professional artists or musicians
they weave art and music in their lives so well these are
unnecessary
The ability of thinking of songs and bringing them to the people
was seen as a spiritual gift rather than artistic
Use of harmony or polyphony is rare in native American music
Words in music are much less important than the actual music
Percussion instruments are the most common type in native
American music
Wind instruments are also used in native American music with
the most common being the flute
When Indian songs are written in European time signature they
change time almost every measure
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In the dark ages European music consisted of chants of
religious purpose
As the renaissance began the idea of harmony in Europe
was developed
The jump from chants to advanced polyphonies was a giant
leap for music of the era
Music became a structure of notes based on arithmetic
proportion
Composers such as Dowland, Murray, and Tomkins
produced wonderful melodies and poetry to accompany
them
A common theme of music in the 1500s was exploration of
form
The major chord as the basis for music was also developed
in this era
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From 1600-1750 music went into a baroque era
Baroque literally translates to bizarre
Italy was the center of these musical movements
Introduced more complicated melodies and polyphonies
Music now ran on the same basis major and minor scales
Great composers such as bach wrote in the baroque style
The new dominance of melody within harmony also led to
many new changes
The keyboard was extended in both directions and the
production of stringed instruments rapidly increased
Not until the 18th century did the classical music era begin
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Like Indian music it relied heavily on percussion instruments
Music was used in a religious sense and was often accompanied by
dancing
The use of the voice and chanting is widely used in west African music
Along with percussion instruments string and wind instruments are
used
Popular among traditional south African music is the harp such as the
kola
Wind instruments such as flutes are used for melody
Kosikas, rainsticks, bells, and whistles were all used to add to the music
Africans told childhood stories and lullabies in musical form like the
Indians did
Music was an integral part to the west Africans culture
West African music is slightly different than that of other areas in Africa
Wandering musicians and praise singers were found throughout west
Africa
African music eventually evolved in the Americas and gave us the
popular styles of jazz and the blues
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The revolution inspired only a handful of new musical
compositions
Jame’s Fulds book of world famous music only lists three songs to
come from the revolutionary period
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British Grenadiers
God Save the King
Yankee Doodle
Americans often changed the verses of well known music to fit
their own lyrics and not composing their own music
Music of the time
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The music of the time that was considered “popular” is difficult to the
twenty first century listener to understand
Unlike music of today music in eighteenth century America was not
written for concert performance
Concert music of the time had dynamics and was meant to make a paying
audience feel a certain way
Music of the revolution was more functional than artistic
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William Billings (1746-1800)
The New England Psalm Singer in 1770 was the first full collection of
American music written by Billings
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Contained 126 pieces
Billings was a Boston Tanner who cared about music of the period
Billings s aw psalmody as an art and himself as an artist and was one of the first
Americans to do so
American Psalmody
Took on a different style than British psalmody
Most European music and Billings of the time was accompanied with a
piano piece that set order and governess to the piece
Francis Hopkinson
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The only native born American musician in the colonies that we know of before the
revolution who can be called a composer of secular music
Began to study harpsichord at age 17
Could play popular European music of the time but wrote few pieces himself
Hopkinson attained a level of skill not matched by the Americans of his generation
The need to master complex tonal harmony and attain keyboard skill made very few
native born Americans capable of writing secular music comparable to their
European counterparts
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“Songsters”
Music of the time relied on text and tunes independent from one another
Songsters were books of the time with printed lyrics and the name of a
melody to which they were sung too
Most Americans knew popular melodies of British theatre and Psalmody
tunes
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The idea of musical creativity barely existed in the colonies
Instruments and instrumental music
Most instrumental music was for solo instruments
Popular instruments in the colonies’
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Words would simply be replaced and put into the same melody
Violin
Fife
Flute
No instrumental tutors existed in the colonies at the time
To play the instruments you had to be essentially self taught
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Military Field Music: The United States
European military instruments were brought to the
new world and used very similarly
As militias formed in towns drummers played an
important role of summoning men to take up arms
in rural areas
Revolutionary War drummers and fifers were
often used to signal to the soldiers when to fire
Drums
Were an important part to the military unit
 Often decorated with emblems signifying a company
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Ballads, operas, and musical evenings in the home
were frequent in the principal cities from 1750 on
Music in New England
At first the puritans allowed no musical instruments
 Only allowed music that was to praise god
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Quakers advised members not to dance or listen to
music
In New York and the South music division was
more welcome and accepted
To our knowledge there were no native born
composers until Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791)
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After the appearance of these three more native composers
appeared but none did something that could be considered great
Moravian Colony
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Settled in 1741 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Enjoyed music unknown to the rest of America
Germans who brought their love of music with them
Their orchestras and choruses reproduced music worthy of the masters
When Washington visited Bethlehem in 1782 he was serenaded by the
trombone choir
Sadly their culture had little effect on the rest of America
After the revolution
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Foreign musicians came to our shores
Especially during the time of the French revolution they came in mass
quantity
These immigrants took our musical life in their hands
They stifled attempts at native music because the more experienced
European musicians took American’s spots in concerts
Most of these musicians were English, French and German
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The first public concert in America was held in Boston
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It was held in 1731 when the new England ban of secular music was beginning to be lowered
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Named a “Concert of Music on sundry Instruments”
Was held in the “great room” at Mr. Pelhams
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by 1754 there was a concert hall at the corner of Hanover and Court Streets
After Boston Charleston South Carolina was the next city to see a concert venue built
Then came New York
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Philadelphia heard its first advertised concert in 1757
John Palma offered an affair "at the Assembly Room in Lodge Alley", January 25 th
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1736 there was advertised a "Consort of Musick, Vocal and Instrumental
for the benefit of Mr. Pachelbel, the Harpsichord Part performed by Himself
It seems there were concerts before this one in Philadelphia that weren’t on record
Philadelphia’s population, besides the Quakers were fond of entertainment
Dancing was taught in boarding schools as early as 1728
During the interval of the revolution congress passed a resolution to discourage “every
species of extravagance and dissipation” in 1774
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Concerts were offered regularly in the principal
cities after the revolution
Many pieces of the time have been lost
Handel, Haydn, and, in the closing years of the
century, Mozart, were well represented in concerts
of the era
the overtures of the London Bach - Johann
Christian (son of Johann Sebastian), were played
often
typical programs of the period offered a variety of
compositions
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Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) - An Italian
composer and violinist who exercised wide
influence on contemporaries. Born in Italy a
generation before Bach he studied in Bologna and
formed a distinguished musical career. He can be
seen as a teacher, violinist, and composer
John Dunstaple (1390-1453) – An English composer
of polyphonic music in the renaissance era. Unlike
many composers of the time he was not a cleric.
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James Lyon(1735-1794)- Compiled Urania, a large
collection of sacred music, and published it in 1761.
James Lyon was one of the First American musicians.
Urania is far larger than any previous American music
compilation. James Lyon helped develop American
Psalmody, one of the first styles of music manipulated
in America.
John Arnold(1741-1777)- Wrote Compleat Psalmodist
which dealt with distinguishing musical intervals as
consonant or dissonant. Americans took his work
literally and the hierarchical ordering of harmonies
was lost. This peeled away important layers of British
tradition and caused Americans to write music in their
own unique style.
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Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791)-America’s first
native composer
William Billings (1746-1800)-writer of the New
England Psalm singer and one of the first
original American composers
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Baroque- musical period following the
renaissance from 1600-1750
Kola- traditional West African harp
Harmony- a simultaneous combination of
notes
Polyphony- a piece utilizing many styles of
sound
Melody- musical sound in agreeable succession
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Psalmody- popular pre-revolution music which
merged music and psalms of the bible
Songsters- books in the 18th century that took
popular melodies and applied different lyrics to
them
Consonant- musical intervals deemed acceptable
in traditional British musical structure
Dissonant- Musical intervals deemed unacceptable
in traditional British musical verse and structure
Harpsichord- musical instrument played by means
of a keyboard that produces a sound by plucking a
string when a key is pressed
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Sonata- a composition of two or more
instruments, typically in three or four
movements
Suite- an ordered series of instrumental dances
generally in the same key
Minuet- a slow dance in triple meter, popular
in the 17th and 18th centuries
Overture- musical prelude to an opera, etc.
Finale- the last piece of an opera etc.
1. Why were the Europeans so perplexed by Native American music?
A. It lacked structure and melody
B. It possessed complex polyphony
C. The use of many instruments led them to misinterpret the music
D. Europeans possessed little musical knowledge
2.How were West African and Native American music similar?
A. They used string instruments
B. They used complex lyrics
C. Both used many percussion instruments
D. West African and Native American music was not similar
3. Name one traditional West African instrument
A. Guitar
B. The rattle
C. The violin
D. The kola
4. In Native American culture who owned music?
A. The chief
B. The person who paid the musician
C. The child of the musician
D. The tribe or inventor of the song
5. When was the Baroque era?
A. 1300-1400
B. 1400-1500
C. 1500-1600
D. 1600-1750
6. How were West African and Native American music different?
A. One used string instruments more than the other
B. The use of drums was only applied in West African music
C. Only native American music used the flute
D. West African music and Native American music was similar in every way
7. What often accompanied traditional West Africa Music?
A. Poetry
B. Complex lyrics
C. Dance
D. A celebration
8. In Europe when did music become structured based on arithmetic proportion?
A. In the medieval era
B. During the renaissance
C. The period between the renaissance and baroque era
D. The classical era
9. In what ways did music affect Native American life?
A. Religion
B. Agriculture
C. Teaching children
D. All of the above
10. What styles emerged from West African music
in the Americas?
A. Classical
B. Jazz
C. Blues
D. Both B and C
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1. A
2. C
3. D
4. D
5. D
6. C
7. C
8. C
9. D
10. D
1. Music of the Revolution
A. Produced prolific creativity and new composers
B. Did not veer away from British music at all
C. Produced a handful of original American tunes
D. Music was not important to the lives of Americans at the time
2. Three original revolutionary songs include
A. British Grenadiers
B. God Save the King
C. Yankee Doodle
D. All of the above
3. Music of the pre- revolutionary time period was written to
A. Serve as functional
B. Be listened to
C. Be performed at a concert
D. Music was not present in America at the time
4. How was music passed on during this time period?
A. Oral tradition
B. Few printed books
C. Sheet music
D. Both A and B
5. William Billings Wrote
A. Symphony 40 in B minor
B. The New England Psalm Singer
C. Handbook for the Modern American Psalmody Composer
D. Compilation of Modern American music
6. American Psalmody
A. Was identical to that of British psalmody
B. Possessed random note structure
C. Was taken from British psalmody but possessed different qualities
D. Was all written to be played on a keyboard
7. The only native born American musician in the colonies that we know of before the revolution who can be called a composer
of secular music was?
A. William Billings
B. James Lyon
C. John Arnold
D. Francis Hopkinson
8. Songsters applied the use of the same structure with different lyrics
A. Melodic
B. Note
C. Time
D. Instrumental
9. A popular musical instrument of the time was
A. Violin
B. Fife
C. Flute
D. All of the above
10. Each regiment in the British and American
Army possessed
A. Two fifers and two drummers
B. 200 soldiers
C. Only one drummer
D. An officer for every 10 soldiers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C
D
A
D
B
C
D
A
D
A
1. Military drummers were used to
A. Call soldiers to arms
B. Signal troops to fire
C. Amuse soldiers
D. Both A and B
2. The following were popular in the home from 1750 on
A. Ballads
B. Operas
C. Musical evening
D. All of the above
3. Quakers
A. Supported musical creativity
B. Had a wide variety of composers
C. Did not support their followers listening to music
D. Never heard music
4. The first manuscript of Hopkinson’s bears the date
A. 1756
B. 1759
C. 1761
D. 1764
5.
The Moravian colony was made up of
A. English
B. Germans
C. French
D. Spanish
6. After the revolution
A. Musical creativity went stagnant
B. Many European composers came to America
C. American composers were greatly influential
D. Continental congressed banned concerts for 3 years
7. The first public American concert was held in
A. Philadelphia
B. New York
C. Boston
D. Charleston
8. The first public concert was held in the year
A. 1731
B. 1733
C. 1735
D. 1737
9. During the interval of the revolution continental congress passed a law
A. Encouraging people to write music
B. Discouraging dance and music
C. Banning all music in the colonies
D. that destroyed all instruments in the colonies
10. A composer popular in concerts of the time
A. Handel
B. Haydn
C. Mozart
D. All of the above
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
D
D
C
B
B
B
A
A
B
D
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Crawford, Richard. (1996). The birth of liberty:
music of the revolution. Retrieved from
http://www.dramonline.org/content/notes/n
wr/80276.
Tasker, J. (n.d.). Music of washingtons time.
Retrieved from
http://www.americanrevolution.org/washing
tonsmusic.html
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Native american music. (2000). Retrieved from
http://nativeamericancultures.com/music.htm
Charry, E. (n.d.). West african music. Retrieved
from
http://echarry.web.wesleyan.edu/Afmus.html