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American Music History in the First Half of the 20th Century
Most music throughout this time was from black America. When they were still slaves they were made to perform for their owners and other white people. This is the music that became popular and when the slaves were freed, the music was still popular and continued to grow in popularity. -
Symphony Hall
In 1900 the Symphony Hall was built in Boston, just 20 years prior the first symphony in America was written, and it had attracted massive attention. To feed this attention, halls started to pop up around the country and many are still there today. The emphasis put on classical music at that time has made it one of the styles of the music that has lasted over a century keeping its popularity. -
Jazz Music begins
Jazz was a mixture of many styles from the African American people, with ties to blues and ragtime, Jazz (Often viewed as "Devil music") is heavily believed to have originated in New Orleans and it quickly developed and spread throughout the country. Jazz music was a style of Black people, however, its popularity skyrocketed (Later WW1 would also send many people up to the North) and it made its way into white culture and would eventually lead to the integration of the two's music styles. -
Ragtime Craze
Although the Ragtime craze began in the late 1800's it continued into the early 1900's, with "Alexander's Ragtime Band" by Irving Berlin being one of the final hits and the culmination of the craze. Ragtime was one the original African American styles of music that gained popularity in white America. It created a fascination in white people seeing music that wasn't what they knew of. This helped grow styles of music across America and helped integration of many types. -
The Blues
William Christopher Handy helps start a new genre of music in the United States called "Blues" with his publishing of songs titled Memphis Blues. The Blues developed not too long after African Americans gained freedom from slavery, it was a music that really conveyed genuine emotion about adversity that was being faced. This assisted in communicating the hardships that black people faced in America on a medium that everyone would see. -
Star Spangled Banner becomes national anthem
President Woodrow Wilson makes the song Star Spangled Banner the national anthem. This song is still the anthem to this day and is known as one of the most patriotic national anthems, it was one of the earliest steps (via music) to the patriotism in America we see today. -
Gospel Music
In 1916 Charles Albert Tindley released "New Songs of Paradise", a collection of 37 gospel works. He was the first black gospel composer to be published. Gospel music is traditionally written and sung by African Americans. During the time and even now "black churches" hold some of the most religious people and the music they performed held great meaning. The popularity of gospel music affirmed the root in Christianity in America and showed that both races shared the beliefs. -
Jazz Music Popularized
As Jazz music made its way from New Orleans to what would be the Jazz capital, Chicago, performers like Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton swept the nation greatly increasing the growth of jazz. These two jazz musicians, although not alone, played a huge part in bringing black culture into white America, although not huge, it was a small step in bringing the battling races together. -
Country Music gains popularity
Originally referred to as Hillbilly music, country music began gaining popularity as immigration started to increase. Country music was seen as authentic American music, this grew its appeal, as immigrants tried to assimilate it allowed a commodity of American identity for people to buy into. Country music helped form an early ideal for what an American should be. -
Phonographs and Gramophones
Phonographs and gramophones become more readily accessible for families to purchase and use in their homes. This allows for a greater mass use of the product. Many people (Opposed to just those with the money) being able to listen to music at home was a great step as it meant people could now develop a taste in music because they didn't just have to listen to what was in the jukebox they could buy what they liked. -
Julliard School for Performing Arts
In 1924 the Juilliard School for performing arts opened in New York. The school opens in New York City and becomes a prestigious academy of music that helps young Americans further their talents. The school soon became regarded as one of the best schools in the country for learning the more classical styles of music. In an ever changing musical society, the school sealed and kept the popularity of learning classical music. The Juilliard school remains open today. -
Big Bands
Associated with the Swing era, Big Bands became popular in the mid-1920's. They are and an ensemble of anywhere from 12-25 musicians. Big Bands became very popular and for a while dominated the movie and radio scene. Unlike other styles, Big Bands evolved with the times and are still present today. Big Bands play with little improvisation and are very exact, which was very different to some of the styles that would incorporate random solos. -
Electric Recording and Amplifiers
When music recording first started out the artist would have to play directly into the recording horn, electric microphones, and amplifiers replaced the process just after 1925. This, of course, leads to highly improved recordings, with more than just the sound of the lead singer but an emphasis on singing and the instruments. The process had a huge effect on how music would be recorded, and it would sound and be listened to. -
Swing Music
Duke Ellington began performing at the Cotton Club (A whites only club, with prodominately black performers), here he played some music, with an 11 piece band, written by composers. However, he did get to play original music like "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" which was a completely new style and created a new chapter in a dance era in addition to the music. -
Orchestras
In 1928 the N.Y. Symphony Orchestra merged with Philharmonic Society of N.Y. to form New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. People have been arranging musical instruments to play together for centuries, but in the early 20th century the limits were really pushed employing huge forces to see what kind of scale they could go to. Expanding to new limits with things that already existed lead to many new developments. Orchestras would be used in musicals, films, and even ballets. -
Electric Guitar Introduced
In 1935, T-Bone Walker began experimenting with a prototype electric guitar and was one of the first guitarists anywhere to play the instrument in public. The electric guitar brought a completely new sound to the music world and is the backbone too much of the music that would follow its invention. Charlie Christian's (1938) lively, inventive single-note playing helped popularize the electric guitar as a solo instrument and ushered in the era of bop. -
Jukeboxes hit a high
By 1939 around two hundred and twenty-five thousand jukeboxes were in operation and were said to be responsible for the sale of thirteen million records a year. This was massive as it was the largest sales had ever been with jukeboxes and meant that the music craze was as high as ever. Jukeboxes allowed people of all walks of life to listen to the newest and best music for no more than a nickel. -
WW2 Music
Music during war times included jazz and big band styles which were popular during the time. Artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Count Basie, and Artie Shaw created a new era of music through their new and creative ways of entertaining crowds, which was very needed in a hurt country, in addition many musical acts wrote music in an effort to reflect the pain that the country was going through. -
The Golden Age of Musicals
From the 1940's stretching all the way until the mid to late 60's, musical theater gained popularity, with a storyline being added to the song and dance. Playwrights like Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Weill and Gershwin created many of the popular musicals of the time, some being performed around 500 times. Many of the musicals during this time were made to reflect an American ideal. As time passed musicals started to portray social issues in America. -
FM Radio introduced
FM radio was proposed in a scientific paper written by Edwin Armstrong in 1922. He demonstrated later how FM was unaffected by static like AM was. FM had a lower range but a much higher quality than AM. In 1941 the first FM radio station went on air in Nashville. Although people already had access to music on the radio this simply improved the quality and would make people actually want to listen to music on the radio. -
Long Playing Vinyl Record
The LP Record was introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. This record was able to play for up to 20 minutes on each side. Although it was slower to become to best way to sell records it would usher in the album, which we see still used today.
