CHAPTER 3: The Roots of Jazz
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. W. C. Handy’s initial appreciation of the blues was based on its:
a.
virtuosity
b.
connection to African traditions
c.
commercial appeal
d.
artistic merit
e.
high-class status
2. In “polishing” the rural blues that he heard in Mississippi, W. C. Handy did which of the
following?
a.
He notated the music.
b.
He composed his own lyrics.
c.
He rehearsed it with his ensemble.
d.
He published sheet music.
e.
All of the above
3. The specific combinations of musical characteristics at the heart of jazz style—including
polyrhythm, blue notes, timbre variation, and call and response—are the products of which cultural
group?
a.
Nigerian
b.
French
c.
South African
d.
African American
e.
Cuban
4. Which African American musical genre involved the retelling of local history in song?
a.
field holler
b.
ballad
c.
work song
d.
classic blues
e.
rhythm & blues
5. The culturally isolated slaves of the Georgia sea islands were known as:
a.
Gullahs
b.
Buzzards
c.
Pelicans
d.
Nightingales
e.
Quakers
6. Which best describes the poetic form of blues lyrics?
a.
two-line stanza
b.
two-line couplet with first line repeated
c.
four-line stanza
d.
ten-line stanza
e.
two-line couplet with second line repeated
7. The authors cite scholar Lawrence Levine in support of an interpretation of the blues as an
expression of:
a.
communal slave culture
b.
communal urban culture
c.
egalitarianism
d.
individualism
e.
socialism
8. Which instrument was most important in accompanying country blues?
a.
piano
b.
trumpet
c.
guitar
d.
drums
e.
saxophone
9. All of the following are true of “race records” EXCEPT:
a.
They were recordings of black music for black listeners.
b.
Singers did not receive copyright royalty, just a modest performer’s fee.
c.
Many of the original recordings have been preserved.
d.
They did not sell many copies.
e.
Singers were pressured by executives to record only the blues.
10. In her fourteen-year recording career, Bessie Smith recorded approximately how many songs?
a.
20
b.
50
c.
100
d.
200
e.
250
11. On Bessie Smith’s “Reckless Blues,” which household item does Louis Armstrong use to modify
the timbre of his trumpet?
a.
dishrag
b.
plunger
c.
mop
d.
bucket
e.
scrub brush
12. Which is NOT true of blackface minstrelsy?
a.
In the mid-nineteenth century it was the most popular form of theater in the
country.
b.
It was originally performed by white performers in heavy black makeup.
c.
Its music used African-derived instruments including the banjo.
d.
It generated negative racial stereotypes.
e.
It was only performed in the American South.
13. In what year did the racial dialect of Stephen Foster’s “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” lead to the
song’s removal as the official state song of Virginia?
a.
1947
b.
1957
c.
1967
d.
1987
e.
1997
14. How did the “animal dance” crazes differ from popular dances of earlier eras?
a.
They were uninhibited in their lower body movements.
b.
They were solo dances.
c.
They were difficult to learn at home.
d.
They were only available to upper class audiences.
e.
They required formal dress.
15. When James Reese Europe’s Hellfighters performed in ballrooms for social dances, what type of
instrumentation did they use?
a.
symphonic orchestra
b.
large military-style band
c.
small jazz combo
d.
string ensemble
e.
piano with banjo accompaniment
16. In what setting did brass bands perform?
a.
military processions
b.
dances
c.
parades
d.
municipal concerts
e.
all of the above
17. A typical diagram outlining march form is:
a.
AABBAACC
b.
ABACADA
c.
AABBACCDD
d.
ABCDCBA
e.
AABBCD
18. A single sixteen-bar unit within a march is known as a:
a.
strain
b.
trio
c.
phrase
d.
riff
e.
break
19. What does it mean to “rag” a piece of music?
a.
to improvise a march
b.
to perform it poorly
c.
to dance to it
d.
to subject it to a process of rhythmic complication
e.
to extend a short piece by repeating sections
20. How did Scott Joplin make most of the money to support his compositional career?
a.
by playing concerts
b.
by conducting a brass band
c.
by licensing his music for use in films
d.
through record sales
e.
through publishing royalties
21. Why is Wilbur Sweatman’s “Down Home Rag” significant?
a.
It’s one of the fastest recorded performances of syncopated music.
b.
It provides crucial evidence for the transition between ragtime and jazz.
c.
It avoids blue notes and other blues inflections.
d.
It’s an early example of ragtime drumming.
e.
All of the above
TRUE/FALSE
1. Jazz is considered African American music because its folk origins are most commonly traced to
black American roots.
2. The Fisk Jubilee Singers were best known for their polished renditions of field hollers.
3. Country blues artists used musical form more flexibly than vaudeville or classic blues
artists did.
4. Recordings of black music and marketed to black audiences were referred to as “race records”
until the 1940s.
5. Blackface minstrelsy involved only white performers.
6. In large part because of the legacy of minstrelsy, white audiences expected black jazz performers
to enact characteristics of the performing fool.
7. Nineteenth-century dance styles were primarily intimate and casual.
8. Vernon and Irene Castle popularized many dance styles by performing elegant interpretations of
raucous dances.
9. In the early twentieth century, classically trained black musicians went into jazz because
of racial discrimination in the classical music world.
10. All strains of a march are consistently the same length.
11. Ragtime is an entirely improvised style.
12. Ragtime compositions share many formal elements with the march.
SHORT ANSWER
1. When referring to culture rather than skin tone, the term “African American” describes a particular
____________.
2. ___________ were African American heroes of resistance who shrugged off society’s constraints
through their violent behavior.
3. _______________ was known as the “Father of the Blues.”
4. __________ was a minstrel show character whose name later became a symbol of racial
segregation.
5. Black musicians hired to play dances in the early twentieth century were expected to wear
_______ as a symbol of their role as servants.
6. The common formal structure of brass band compositions, known as ___________, became an
important inspiration for ragtime and early jazz compositions.
7. ____________________ is a polyrhythm in which patterns of three notes are played over a duple
meter.
MATCHING
Match each person to the correct description below.
a.
Ma Rainey
d.
John Philip Sousa
b.
Bessie Smith
e.
Scott Joplin
c.
James Reese Europe
1. Leader of the “Hellfighters”
2. Empress of the Blues
3. Brass band leader
4. Composer of piano rags
5. Mother of the Blues
ESSAY
1. The authors argue that jazz, from its very beginning, has been understood simultaneously as “art
music,” “popular music,” and “folk music.” Explain these three cultural categories, and describe
specific ways in which jazz can be understood through “art,” “pop,” and “folk” lenses.
2. Describe the main musical differences between “country” blues and “classic” blues performance.