What is American Popular Music? For the purposes of this class, it
means any music that was intended for mass consumption via sheet music
or recordings in the United States. Popular music of this sort was born
in the late 1800s and early 1900s, though it has its roots in both
traditional music and classical music. Over the course of this semester, we'll be investigating everything from ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, blues, and jazz up to Rock and Roll, punk, funk, metal, hip-hop, and electronic music. Remember the shape of this course - an hourglass - because we'll be starting with a number of different strands of music and then weaving them together until they meet in 1955 to create Rock and Roll, then fragment out once again. Here is the course syllabus:  Week 2 – Jan 14-18 – Ragtime - Reading – Weeks 1-2 – Ragtime – Chapter 3 Week 3 – Jan 22-25 - Tin Pan Alley Week 4 – Jan 28-Feb 1 – Blues and Boogie-woogie Week 5 – Feb 4-8 – Jazz - Reading – Weeks 3-4 – Deep Blues – Chapter 2
Week 6 – Feb 11-15 – Rock and Roll – 1945-1960 – Part I Week 7 – Feb 19-22 – Rock and Roll – 1945-1960 – Part II
Week 8 – Feb 25-Mar 1 – Country / British Invasion Week 9 – Mar 4-8 – Vietnam, Psychedelics, and Woodstock Week 10 – Mar 18-22 – Funk: the Music of the One
Week 11 – Mar 25-29 – Music of the People: Punk Rock Week 12 – Apr 1-5 – Alternative Rock
Week 13 – Apr 8-12 – Musical Noise: Heavy Metal Week 14 – Apr 15-19 – Birth of Hip Hop Week 15 – Apr 22-26 – Electronica and the Rave Assignment 1 – From Traditional to Popular – Select two or three pieces of music from before WWII. Analyze each tune as well as the circumstances from which it was produced and use them as examples to explain how history has both influenced Popular music and is reflected within it. Write at least 3 pages about the relationship and historical context between these pieces. Outline due Feb 1st, rough draft due Feb 15th, final draft due Mar 1th
Assignment 2 – Create a 10-20 minute radio broadcast based on the old “jive-talking” broadcasts of the 1950s. Include clips of music from that era, commercial endorsements, and lots of slang. Due Feb 22th. Assignment 3 – Create a compilation album of Rock, Soul,
Funk, or Punk and write your own original liner notes for the album. Be sure to include the graphics, history,
commentary, and mood. Rough Draft due Apr 9th. Final Draft is due on April 19th. Assignment 4 – Create a 3-5 minute music video showing your take on 80-90s Rock, Metal, Hip-Hop, or Electronica. Due May 3rd.
Email – pswanson@harmonyschool.org Phone – 812-391-3335 |