2. Ragtime
• Most popular between 1895
and 1918
• Characterized by its
syncopated rhythms
• “the placement of rhythmic
stresses where they wouldn’t
normally occur” – what does
that mean?
• Let’s try…
• The Entertainer
• Almost always associated
with piano
• A tune could be “ragged” –
syncopate
3.
4. Background
• Origins
• St. Louis, MO and New Orleans, LA
• African American Red light Districts
• Dance Music
• Marches + African American Rhythms = birth of ragtime
• What is ragtime?
• Development
• Publishing
• Popular Entertainment
• Dance Example
5. Ernest Hogan
1865-1909
• First African American man to
produce and star in a Broadway
musical (The Oyster Man, 1907)
• The creator of ragtime (?)
• Coined the term ‘ragtime’
• From Bowling Green, KY
• Considered to be one of the
most talented performers and
comedians of his day
• (In)famous for writing the song
“All Coons Look Alike To Me”
• Hogan is an example of the
transition from Minstrelsy to
Ragtime as being the most
popular popular music.
6.
7. Scott Joplin
1868-1917
• By far, the most famous
composer and pianist in the
genre of ragtime
• From working family in Texas
• Went to the Chicago World
Fair in 1893
• Big role in ragtime craze by
1897
• Two most famous pieces:
• Maple Leaf Rag (1899)
• The Entertainer (1902)
• Also composed an opera:
• Treemonisha
8. Jelly Roll Morton
1890-1941
• Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe
• A pivotal figure in early jazz
• Saw the transition from
ragtime into jazz
• Evolution from ragtime into
stride piano
• Tiger Rag
9. Player Piano
• http://youtu.be/ydcRAMZl0l0
• Popular from the late 1800s to
the late 1920s
• Rose in popularity along side
the standard upright piano
• If you were middle class or
higher, it was expected that
you have a piano in your home
• Player pianos were more
expensive; functional; no need
to hire someone to play all
night
• Paper roll with perforations
10. Leading up to Tin Pan Alley
• Music publishing after Civil War
• Variety shows (vaudeville); musical theatre; piano rolls;
home entertainment
• Big cities are publishing centers
• Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc
• New York City
• Harms brothers, 1881 – publishing firm, E. 14 th St.
• Others followed after their success
11. Tin Pan Alley
• c. 1885 to 1930-1950
• Rise of the radio and phonograph
= fall of T.P.A.
• Centered around W. 28th St,
between 5th and 6th Ave in NYC
• What is Tin Pan Alley?
• Commercial music
• Name possibly refers to the “tinny”
sound of low-quality upright
pianos; many pianos being played
• iTunes in 1915
• Song Pluggers: demonstrated
songs on the piano for buyers;
sometimes are also composers
12. How did popular songs become popular?
• Prior to 1920s/30s
• Theatre (musical theatre, vaudeville)
• Publishing
• Advertising
• 1920s/30s
• Phonographs
• Radio
• 1940s
• Radio
• 1950s
• Television
• Radio
13. Tin Pan Alley Songs
• Always
• Intro
• Verse(s)
• Chorus (repeated)
• Sometimes
• Outro
• Short Interludes
• Bridge (rare)
• Focus on the chorus
• How does the chorus function?
• Recording’s influence on production of songs
• Time limit
14. Hello! Ma Baby
• Joseph Howard, Ida Emerson;
1899
• A “Coon Song”
• Cover Depiction
• African American references in
lyrics
• First reference to the telephone
in popular music
• About a relationship that takes
place over the phone
15. Hello! My Baby (cont’d)
• Example 1
• Example 2
CHORUS
Hello! ma baby
Hello! ma honey
Hello! ma ragtime gal
Send me a kiss by wire
Baby, ma heart's on fire!
If you refuse me
Honey, you'll lose me
Then you'll be left alone
Oh, baby, telephone
And tell me I'm your own!
16. Take Me Out To The Ball Game
• Jack Norsworth, Albert von
Tilzer; 1908
• Unofficial “anthem” of
baseball
• Neither composer had ever
been to a baseball game
• Example 1
• Example 2
17. Irving Berlin
1888-1989
• Born in what is present day
Belarus
• Father moved family to America
• Very poor home life; difficult
childhood; very little education
• First job with music publisher at
age 18
• Wrote an estimated 1,500 songs
over the course of a 60 year
career
• Excellent ear for music, but not
‘trained;’ very little piano skills;
music in his head, not his hands
• Advised not to take composition
lessons later in life; worried that it
would “cramp his style”
18. Irving Berlin (cont’d)
• Went on to write 19 Broadway
musicals, 18 Hollywood films,
nominated 8 times for Academy
Awards
• Oscar for “Best Music in an Original
Song” – White Christmas
• Top Berlin Songs
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Blue Skies
White Christmas
You Can’t Get A Man With A Gun
Cheek to Cheek
There’s No Business Like Show Business
God Bless America
19. God Bless America
• Written in 1918
• Yip Yip Yaphank – not included
• Revised and popularized in 1938
• Kate Smith
• A “peace song” – what is happening
in 1938?
• Criticism from Woodie Guthrie
• Jingoistic?
• Response: This Land Is Your Land
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Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5
20. Opinion Short Response
• Do you think that the meaning
and/or function of “God Bless
America” is inherently good or
bad? Explain why.
• Things to consider:
Unrealistic portrayal?
What do the lyrics imply?
How was the song used?
How is the song used in present
day?
• What message does the song
send?
• Is it something everyone can
relate to?
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While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.
God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her, and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home
God bless America, My home sweet home*
*last two lines original: God bless America, my
own sweet home
21. Jerome Kern
1885-1945
• Got his start in Tin Pan Alley,
but mostly recognized for his
contributions to Musical
Theatre
• More on him later…
22. Cole Porter
1892-1964
• Family and upbringing
• Distant father
• Spoiled mother
• Overbearing grandfather
• Disapproval of Music
• Worcester Academy and Yale
• Valedictorian
• Founding member of the
Whiffenpoofs
• President of the Yale Glee Club
• Harvard Law
• Change of heart
• But more on him later…
23. George Gershwin
1898-1937
From New York
Worked as a song plugger
Got his start in Tin Pan Alley
Primarily a musical theatre
composer
• Considered by many as a
‘hybrid’ between musical
theatre and classical
• More on him later…
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