Traditional and Modern music in the UK and the

USA

MUSIC

UNITED KINGDOM: EARLY MUSIC

• Diverse music: religious, popular, ballads, tavern songs

• lute, dulcimer, harpsicord, pipes, tabor, fiddle

• Music houses grew: people could see music in concert halls, not just in pubs

• New instruments: brass bands• With recordings, radio, etc, more people could

be exposed to more music: musicians’ careers changed

TRADITIONAL SONGS

• Jerusalem(England)• Bread of Heaven (Wales)• Danny Boy (Northern Ireland)• Flower of Scotland (Scotland)

USA: EARLY MUSIC

• African slave music: African style, songs about religion, freedom, hope

• American South developed own style, with fiddle and banjo

• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (≈1860s)• Oh, Susanna (1847)

MODERN MUSIC

(AND SUBCULTURES)

CONTENTS

• Common styles of music: jazz, blues, rock, hip-hop, electronic, etc.

• We will discuss the culture of different types of music:• Fashion• Social action• Politics• Attitudes

SWING

• gfhj

• Developed in USA, Time = 1930s, by African Amer-ican musicians

• Came from jazz, big ensemble bands• White Americans taking interest in African

American culture• Young people dancing in music halls: alcohol,

mixed race dancing, short skirts/touching• Fashion = short skirts, suits

• Politics = World War 2

FASHION

• Benny Goodman – Sing, Sing, Sing (1937)• Swing Dancing : A League of their Own

• Example – Brian Setzer

Orchestra – Jump, Jive, an’

Wail

ROCK AND ROLL

ROCK AND ROLL• Time - 1940s – today - still popular today

• Evolved from African American jazz, swing

• Topics of dating, cars, high school – sex, drugs, alco-hol, social rebellion, black and white race relations

• Grew popular in UK in 1950s

• Fashion – long hair, leather

jackets

FASHION

• Examples - Rolling Stones: Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1968)

• Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run (1975)

FOLK

• Folk - Time - 1960s-1970s: • politics – Vietnam War

• Folk of 1990s-present: return to traditional in-struments, styles, simple themes (love, loss, caring for family)

HIPPIE FASHION – LONG HAIR, COLORFUL CLOTHING• Hippie (1960s-today) • Hipster (today, NYC)

• Example - Bob Dylan – Blowin’ in the Wind (1963)

• Mumford and Sons – I Will Wait (2012)

DISCO

• Time - 1970s (New York City, Philadelphia)

• Reaction to Rock and Folk: simple, happy music for dancing

• Subcultures came together: poor people, African Americans, Hispanic immigrants, gay people, psy-chedelic (drug) subcultures

FASHION –BELL BOTTOMPANTS

• KC and the Sunshine Band – Keep it Comin’ Love (1977)

• Example – Staying Alive (Bee Gees) (1977)

PUNK

• Time - 1970s - present in USA and UK

• Rejected “tame” rock music, politics, hippie “myth” of 1960s and 1970s folk

• Politics - Unemployment, angry at government

• Fashion – Black clothing, Mohawk hairstyle

FASHION

• Example – Slipknot – Wait and Bleed

• Sex Pistols – Anarchy in the UK (1976)

• The Ramones – I Wanna be Sedated (1978)