The Birth of American Popular Music

    I. America’s Emerging Identity                Back to Pop Music 101

        A. Stephen Foster

            1. Industrial revolution brought about increase in manufacturing of pianos.
            2. Stephen Foster - A New American Style
                a. The most important songwriter of 19th century American popular music
                b. Composed both parlor music and for the minstrel stage
                c. Create the new genre “plantation songs” - 1st instance of cross-pollination Ex. 4.4 [I-28] Old Folks at Home
                d. Parlor songs - intended for home use
                Ex. 4.1 [I-25] Jeannie with the  Light Brown Hair


        B. Minstrelsy

            1. Black faced entertainers impersonating African-American stereotypes
                a. City Slicker - Zip Coon & Country Bumpkin - Jim Crow were crude parodies of African-American life
                b. Minstrel shows grew in popularity
                Ex. 4.2 [I-26] De Boatman’s Dance
                c. Style profile of a Minstrel Show

            2. Positive Contributions
                a. Entertainment for the masses
                b. Made use of vernacular (everyday) speech and music
                c. Developed out of synthesis of European classical and Folk music
                d. 1st instance of pattern of periodic invigoration of the popular mainstream through energetic, often danceable music.
                Ex. 4.3 [I-27] Oh Susanna

            3. Negative contributions
                a. Race relations
                b. Crude stereotypes and parodies of African-American life


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