1930s & 1940s

Music is and always has been influenced by what else is happening in the world.  The Great Depression started in America  towards the end of 1929 and then spread throughout the world.  The effect on music and the music industry was significant.  


Scroll through the slides on the left for an overview of what caused this financial crash.

TASK 1 (20-40 mins)


After reading the slides above and seeing the impact that the Great Depression had on the music industry, think about the situation the world is in now and complete the Google Form on the left.

Listen to BOTH YouTube playlists BELOW...... 

1930s Playlist


1940s Playlist


TASK 2 (30-40 mins)

As part of your written exam, you have to be able to identify which decade a piece of music was recorded in.  

As you listen to the music in each clip from the playlists above, note down on the Google Form below, what features make this music from the 1930s and 1940s identifiable.  

Focus on the style of music, the instruments used, how the instruments are played and the recording quality.

To help prompt your response, look up the concepts below in the concepts page:


The 1940's were dominated by World War II.

European artists and intellectuals fled to the United States from Hitler and the Holocaust, bringing new ideas created in disillusionment.

War production pulled the world out of the Great Depression.

Women were needed to replace men who had gone off to war, and so the first great exodus of women from the home to the workplace began.

Rationing affected the food people ate, the clothes they wore and the toys with which children played.

After the war, the men returned, having seen the rest of the world. No longer was the family farm an ideal and no longer would blacks accept lesser status.

In America, The GI Bill allowed more men than ever before to get a college education.

Click on the button on the right to explore Jazz a little further