The Function of Music in Reservation Blues

The Function of Music in Reservation Blues

Definition Popular Music:

Popular music is music belonging to any of a number

of musical styles that are accessible to the

general public and are disseminated by one or more

of the mass media.

Popular Music In General:

- the music since industrialization in the 1800's that is most in line with the tastes and interests of people

Ðo extremely wide range of music from vaudeville

and minstrel shows to heavy metal

- abbreviated to pop music

Ðooften used for a narrower branch of popular music

Popular Music and the Business:

- product of the modern business enterprise

- try to select and cultivate the music that will have the greatest success with the public

Ðomaximize their profits

- the big companies manipulate the audiences and sell them products with no intrinsic value

- Outlet for sense of expression and creativity

- playing for enjoyment

Genres:

- popular music is subdivided into genres

- different genres often addresse different age groups

- the average age of a big band music audience is probably higher then the listeners of rap music

What is Blues?

- a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes

- the word blue is often associtaed with melancholy, depression and sadness

Origin of the Blues:

- early form of blues-like music was a call-and-response shouts

- a form of this pre-blues was heard in slave field shouts and hollers

- expression of suffering and depression

- at the end of the 19th century the blues was diffused in rural areas of the south

Prewar Blues:

- the blues became popular between 1911-1914

- W. C. Handy popularized the blues by realeasing a composition called "Memphis Blues"

ÐoFather of the blues

- 1920s became a major element of African American American popular music

- the blues evolved from informal performances in bars to entertainment in theaters

- In the 30s and 40s the blues went north

- famous bluesmen (Muddy Waters/Willie Dixon) played in Chicago or Detroit

Impact of the blues:

- in the early 60s many young American or European discovered the blues

ÐoThe Rolling Stones, Cream, Fleetwood Mac

Ðofamiliarized a young white audience with the blues

- inspired Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton or Led Zeppelin

Robert Johnson:

- born Robert Leroy Johnson

- May 8, 1911 - August

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