Assignment 1

Ragtime is music derived from European military band traditions. Because of this, the underlying pulse in this music is an even flow of pulses of equal duration (usually two pulses/beats per measure.) Musicians who played ragtime would gradually shift the emphasis (or accent) on the first beat -typical of military and European music in general- to the second beat. This shift away from the accent on the first beat gave the music a lively sense of lightness and spiritedness that would characterize jazz in the future and would captivate audiences and dancers around the world. But the “evenness” in the flow of beats would remain a staple of African influenced music from North America.

a) Listen to these examples of Ragtime great Scott Joplin and tap your foot to the music. Try to capture the sense that the pulses underneath the music are all of the same duration, and therefore create a flow of even beats. You'll be able to count quickly: One-two//one-two One-two//one-two Etc. Without getting into theoretical issues here, each “one-two” count equals one beat; therefore every line above equals two beats: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009PJSR/qid=1078080017/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-6729694-1547129?v=glance&s=music Other examples by another great composer, Jelly Roll Morton: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ B00009PJST/qid=1078080017/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/104-6729694-1547129 b)By contrast, although you’ll still be able to tap your foot to the music, you’ll notice in these coming examples that the underlying rhythmic motive is not longer an even set of beats but rather there seems to be a rhythmic cell where the first two beats are long while the third one is shorter. If you count quickly: One-two-three//one-two-three//one-two (do not pause in the word “two”) One-two-three//one-two-three//one-two Etc. While you listen to the excerpt, you’ll get a better sense of this rhythm. This rhythmic motive has an African origin. Listen to this excerpt of El Firulete and try to count the pattern above (it is quite fast): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008L3R0/ qid=1078079427/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-6729694-1547129 Now listen to this example from Tanganyika, Africa where this motive is also present, at a much slower speed (do the counting as well): http://aaas.myztek.com/music.php3 Lets go back to the One-two//one-two count of African-derived North American dance music Listen to these examples of Fox Trot and count One-two//one-two to the music: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000001VNR/qid=1078079025/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6729694-1547129?v=glance&s=music (Top Hat)