The Four Elements Of American Popular Music

Musicology

Before I delve into what I truly believe to be the four basic elements – or ‘ingredients’ – that make up the recipe for not just American popular music, but the popular music around the world for over a century, we must first define the term ‘popular music.’

Dictionary.com defines the term as ‘any genre of music having wide appeal (but usually only for a short time).’  Certainly this is ‘a’ definition, and although quite simple it is fairly accurate.  Unfortunately, when referring to music, it is also important to acknowledge the platform that allows music to become popular… widely popular.  At the core of widely popular music is the quest for the almighty dollar, as they both have gone hand in hand since the late 1800′s.  The first platform was sheet music, synonymous with what is known as the Tin Pan Alley era.  In a nutshell, ‘sheet music’ began to be more widely published… meaning ‘sold for money’  as the demand for specific songs became greater. Music had become an industry, and the more popular a song became the more money the publisher would make.  Simple really.

As history crept on, we found new ways to sell music.  We recorded it on phonograph, played it on Gramophones, broadcast it on radio waves to listen while at home or driving, tapes, television programs, compact digital discs and today on computers, MP3s and portable MP3 players. Each step of the way broadening both the audience, and subsequently the customer base.

Essentially, what makes music popular is the ability or opportunity to get lots of people to hear it.  The ‘wide appeal’ referred to in the textbook definition is only an end result.

But what about Classical music?  Well, certainly the great composers had wide appeal but how wide could the appeal really be?  It was limited both regionally and socio-economically.  Think about it… tickets to the orchestra (or opera) weren’t cheap, and were usually limited to the rich and upper class.  Since Beethoven didn’t play at the local pub, the ‘commoners’ didn’t get much exposure and, well you get the picture.

So imagine yourself in America around the turn of the century… America the ethnic melting pot, the ‘experiment’ if you will.  Although it is arguable that there are many forms of music that influenced the popular music of the Twentieth Century, some having more weight than others (certainly there was a Classical influence on Jazz for instance), there are really four major elements – or genres – that had the most impact on American popular music. From Do Wop to Hip Hop, it is my belief that the direct roots lie in these four basic ingredients.

Folk Music:  The music of the common man, the American immigrant, the songs of the poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free.  The English, Irish, Germans, Italians, Jews, etcetera.  Wave after wave pouring into both The United States and Canada bringing with them the ballads and ditties of their homeland passed down – in most cases – orally.  The convergence of these styles and their influence on American popular music is reflected all over the Twentieth Century, from The Andrews Sisters rendition of ‘Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen’ (yiddish) to Dean Martin’s recording of ‘That’s Amore’ the traditional music of every ethnic background has directly and indirectly influenced much of the music we listen to today.  Genres like Country, Country/Western, Old-Timey and more modern Folk (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie) couldn’t exist without this basic element.

March Music: It is written that the march tempo of 120 beats or steps per minute was adapted by Napoleon Bonaparte so that his army could move faster.  March music is the greatest infusion of rhythm in American popular music.  Ironically, March music is likely the most ‘widely popular’ (there we go with that definition again) of the four elements simply because Armies marched the farthest and widest therefore giving the greatest exposure to the varied forms and styles of the genre.  Marches have very strong ties to Classical music, and also clear and definitive time signatures.  March Music, and the Military Band is one of the most profound influences on Dixieland, Rag, and later Jazz.  In many cases, Jazz artists simply took a March and ‘Jazzed it up.’

Gospel: God seems to get his hands into everything, and popular music is no exception.  Gospel’s beginnings can be traced to Europe, but in the United Stated (particularly the South) developed into its own unique American style.  In many ways Gospel influenced each of the other three elements independently, while at the same time Gospel retains its own identity going on to later directly influence popular styles like Country, R&B and Soul.

Blues: I save the best for last. Tracing its beginnings to the mid Nineteenth Century, ‘The Blues’ are/is the greatest – and without a doubt most significant – element of American popular music.  Blues exists in Rag, Jazz (some consider Jazz a form of Blues, sometimes called ‘happy blues’), Country, Rhythm & Blues (obviously), Rock & Roll (and all of its sub-genres), Funk, Soul and Hip Hop.  In my opinion, Blues is the single most important component of all popular music today.  Personally I prefer Jazz to Blues, but giving credit where credit is due Jazz, along with every other popular style of music in the last on hundred years could not exist without this invaluable contribution.  The roots of Blues originate in African-American culture and have their roots in the ‘old negro spirituals’ sang in the fields while they worked, and were used to express an emotion.  The term ‘blues,’ meaning ‘melancholy and sadness’ reflects the mood of the African-American community of the late 1800′s to the early 1900′s.  Like Gospel and Folk, Blues is a living breathing genre still existing today in a more modern form.

It is my strong belief that traces of these four basic music genres – or ‘elements’- exist not only in every popular music style of the Twentieth Century, but in the music we listen to today.

-Craig Sumsky

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

Cutting Edge @ March 29, 2009