Features of Race Music and Hillbilly Music - Essay Example

 For a song to be regarded as a standard, it has to retain an enduring appeal “that surpasses nostalgia” (Starr and Waterman 62). Moreover, it should be of very high popularity among listeners and performed by various artists over the years.

 What are some important common features between race music and hillbilly music?

            Race music refers to all recordings produced and performed by African American musicians for African American spectators while hillbilly is old-time music presented by and for southern whites (Starr and Waterman 109). According to them, both terms are used to distinguish and promote the music of the south. These are used by the music industry to provide “racially segregated markets” because racial isolation was still not considered to be illegal during 1954 in the United States (Frith, Straw and Street 259). Race records and hillbilly both incorporated popular music in their respective genre. Music was even used to separate the whites from the black. Although some would take it negatively, the blacks used the term race to refer to the African-American people.

What are the common musical features of the twelve-bar blues?

            Twelve-bar blues progression is a very common form of blues.  It is twelve-measure long. It is a standard rhythm with three four-measure segments (Vincent). This progression uses three cords: “the Tonic (I), Dominant (V) and Subdominant (IV)” (Bennett-Lovsey n. pag.). It commonly has a three-line pattern of lyrics, the AAB pattern, with the first two lines repeated or almost the same, and the other one is a response to the previous lines.

What instruments can be found in the rhythm section of a big band?

            Austin defined a big band as a musical group presenting and performing jazz, which came out to be famous from the 1930s to 1940s. It normally has brass, woodwind, and rhythm instruments with almost twenty-five musicians. The rhythm section of the big band is composed of keyboards or piano, synth, guitar, bass, and drums. Oftentimes, percussion instruments are also added such as tumbadora or congas and bongo drum or a pair of smaller and larger Afro-Cuban drums, guiros, and vibraphone (Austin). Austin further added that the rhythm section serves as the band’s stimulus and is very important to the band and to the audience, as well.

 What made Harlem important to the development of swing music during the 1930s?

Harlem was very popular during the 1920s because of its several “nightclubs and dance hall” (Starr and Waterman 125). This period was referred to as the Harlem Renaissance or others called it the New Negro Movement. During this era, the place was denominated by the socially elite blacks and their music was famous to the whites. Because dance halls and nightclubs became known, many people had been going there for parties. In Savoy Ballroom, one of the dance halls in Harlem, Lindy Hop was born during the Swing Era as people danced to the music of Big Bands. Lindy hop is a member of the swing dance category. Basically, the majority of swing dances originated in African American communities, one of which is Harlem.