See also a discussion of our kickoff song.
The course will have two components: weekly listening, reading and discussion assignments, and an ongoing public-facing writing project.
You and your classmates will assemble a public-facing annotated playlist of key songs from across the 20th century. For the midterm, you will choose a song released between 1900 and 1950. For the final, you will choose a song released between 1950 and 2000. Choose songs that you consider to be emblematic of a particular style, era, or historical turning point. Your annotations will include:
-
A brief biography of the artist(s)
-
A brief musicological analysis of the song
-
A discussion of the song’s context: what influences are audible in it? What was happening in the artist’s life and in the larger world at the time? What did it mean to listeners?
-
A discussion of the song’s impact: who did it influence and in what way?
You will need to support your annotations with credible sources, using APA-formatted citations.
Each annotation project will consist of five distinct assignments.
-
Choose your song and create a “lo-fi prototype”: a first draft in your own words, unconcerned about grammar or formatting. Verbally present it to the class for feedback.
-
Gather sources and write an annotated bibliography.
-
Write an outline.
-
Write a polished draft and submit it for peer review.
-
Edit your draft for final posting on the web site.
Weekly listening and reading
Introduction and Foundations of Popular Music
Listen:
-
Jessie Broughton – “Old Folks at Home” (1910)
-
Al Jolson – “Swanee” (1920)
Read/listen:
-
Andrew Hickey (2024) – A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs – Song 177: “Never Learn Not to Love” by the Beach Boys, Part One, Old Folks at Home (the section about Stephen Foster)
Minstrelsy and Black Identity
Watch:
-
The Jazz Singer (1927) – Final dress rehearsal sequence – content warning: blackface
-
Black and Tan (1929)
Read:
-
Matthew Morrison (2024) – Blacksound: Making Race and Popular Music in the United States – “The Origins of Blacksound”
Ragtime, Early Jazz, and Swing
Listen:
-
Scott Joplin – “Maple Leaf Rag” (1899)
-
Louis Armstrong – “West End Blues” (1928)
-
Elizabeth Cotten – “Freight Train” (1958)
Read:
-
Charles Hiroshi Garrett (2008) – Struggling to Define a Nation: American Music and the Twentieth Century – “Louis Armstrong and the Great Migration”
The Swing Era and Big Bands
Listen:
-
Count Basie – “One O’ Clock Jump” (1937)
-
Duke Ellington – “The New East St Louis Toodle-oo” (1937)
-
Benny Goodman Sextet – “Flying Home” (1939)
Read/listen:
-
Andrew Hickey (2018) – A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs – Episode 1: “Flying Home” by the Benny Goodman Sextet
Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and the Birth of Standards
Listen:
-
Music Imperial Dance Orchestra – “Blue Skies” (1926)
-
Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds – “Blue Skies” (1939)
-
Bing Crosby – “Blue Skies” (1946)
-
Ella Fitzgerald – “Blue Skies” (1958) – How many quotations can you identify in her scat solo?
Read:
-
Ethan Iverson (2022) – “Core Repertoire Part 2: Standards”
Early Music of the American South
Listen:
-
Ma Rainey – “See See Rider Blues” (1924)
-
Jimmie Rodgers – “Standing on the Corner (Blue Yodel No. 9)” (1930)
-
Skip James – “Devil Got My Woman” (1931)
Read:
-
Amiri Baraka (1963) – Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music that Developed from It – “Primitive Blues and Primitive Jazz“
Rhythm & Blues
Listen:
-
Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five – “Saturday Night Fish Fry” (1949)
-
Bo Diddley – “Bo Diddley” (1955)
-
Fats Domino – “Ain’t That a Shame” (1955)
-
Ray Charles – “What’d I Say” (1959)
Read:
-
Richard Ripani (2006) – The New Blue Music: Changes in Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999 – “Blues with a Beat: 1950–1959”
The Beginnings of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Listen:
-
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys – “Ida Red” (1939)
-
Chuck Berry – “Maybelline” (1955)
-
Big Mama Thornton – “Hound Dog” (1952)
-
Elvis Presley – “Hound Dog” (1956)
-
Wanda Jackson – “I Gotta Know” (1956)
Read/listen:
-
Andrew Hickey (2018) – A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs – Episode 3: “Ida Red” by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys
Rock ‘n’ Roll continued
Listen:
-
Little Richard – “Lucille” (1957)
-
The Isley Brothers – “Twist and Shout” (1962)
-
The Beatles – “Twist and Shout” (1964)
-
The Valentinos – “It’s All Over Now” (1964)
-
The Rolling Stones – “It’s All Over Now” (1964)
Read:
-
Tyina Steptoe (2018) – “Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, and the Queer Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll” – American Quarterly, Volume 70, Number 1
The Business of Music
Listen/watch:
-
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
-
The Beatles – Yellow Submarine (1968)
-
The Monkees – “Daydream Believer” (1968)
-
The Archies – “Sugar Sugar” (1969)
Read:
-
Katie Kapurch (2021) – “The Beatles, Gender, and Sexuality” in Fandom and the Beatles, edited by Kenneth Womack and Kit O’Toole
Music Technology and the Digital Age
Listen:
-
Laurie Anderson – “O Superman” (1981)
-
Herbie Hancock – “Rockit” (1983)
-
De La Soul – “Eye Know” (1989)
Read:
-
Joseph Schloss (2013) – Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop – “Elements of Style: Aesthetics of Hip-Hop Composition”
Hip-Hop
Listen:
-
Gil Scott-Heron – “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” (1970)
-
Run-DMC – “Peter Piper” (1986)
-
Salt-N-Pepa – “Push It” (1986)
-
Public Enemy – “Fight The Power” (1989)
Read:
-
Ethan Hein & Toni Blackman (2024) – “Building Hip-Hop Music Educators: Personal Reflections on Rap Songwriting in the Classroom” in It’s How You Flip It: Multiple Perspectives On Hip-Hop And Music Education edited by Linus Eusterbrock, Chris Kattenbeck & Oliver Kautny
World Influence and Turn of the Century
Listen:
-
Manu Dibango – “Soul Makossa” (1972)
-
Michael Jackson – “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (1982)
-
Paul Simon – “You Can Call Me Al” (1986)
-
Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On” (2001)
Read:
-
Dale Chapman (2008) – “That Ill, Tight Sound: Telepresence and Biopolitics in Post-Timbaland Rap Production” – Journal of the Society for American Music, Volume 2, Number 2