The Sound of Philadelphia an extremely characteristic song in the movement of the disco beat movement. This upbeat funky tune came in during the time of motown in the 1970’s, and started a new genre of music. This Disco beat is classified or known specifically by the subdivided 4/4 meter on the drum set, in this song keeping the underlying beat and flow of the song going. Songs that came about during this disco beat don’t hesitate to build up, evident from the flow established from the beginning stanza.

In the beginning of the song, We hear several main instruments that are responsible for beat, and others that classify the melody. We hear a keyboard and a drum set that are establishing the beat or flow of the song, on top of the brass instruments that come in immediately to start the melody of this song. This song establishes a melody that is very iconic of the disco period. The range and contour of the melody help make this unique. The phrasing is constantly moving up and down every other beat in the sub-division. Another quality of the drum set that establishes the flow, is the off beat phrasing. The high hat symbol of the set is played on the off beat during every phrase making it very distinguishable. On top of the off-beat phrasing that we see from the drums, we hear the syncopation from every other note played in each phrase. This is where we see the timbres of 2 layers coming together for one function. Each of the different layers has the same speed, as the music moves through time as one piece.

A large part of the timbres of each layer in this song is the dynamics of each layer. As the musical message builds in the melody of the song, the volume of the playing dramatically increases, and swings from low to a pronounced high sound with  a noticeable gap. Generally we dont notice the punched or separated nature of the tune, since for the most part the melody presents a smoother tune while the refrains and beat are more punched. The saxophone blends the notes together when we hear the melody, except for the  call and response between the saxophones and brass instruments. Here we hear the alternation between the Three and One note phrases. Each of the phrases that we hear in this song during the call and response are responding to one another musically. We don’t hear and text in the song until the end when a group of singers comes in to sing the main tune, displaying the same call and response. Towards the end when the singers come in, we hear the call and response within their layer, as one sings the rhythm and the other responds with a melody.

We hear scales being played constantly and chords heavily repeated in this song. There is a scale played repeatedly in this song, that every instrument plays. We see this scale come in with the playing of the saxophone, and the response of the brass instruments. In the background we also hear the playing of the electric guitar and bongos to establish the rhythm. This pattern with the melody accompanied by the response of another instrument is maintained, and then interchanged throughout with different instruments taking turns in this spot. The timbres of each of the switches makes it harder to realize they are playing the same tune, and the transition helps block it as well. The response we see lays on the off beat in between the scales that are played.

At the end of the song, we hear repeated scales as we do throughout, but this time leading up and building up to the vocals. We hear whole notes being held which have a crescendo to them. The music intensifies as the vocals are added. We hear the saxophone belting notes and holding them when the vocals are sung, still holding the same sub-division of notes as the vocals are added. The vocals parallel the music at first, by not only singing the scales that are played, but adding text on top of that. This layer that is added signifies almost the climax of the song, bringing it to a conclusion.

The development of Jazz music in the United States, like many forms of music, is derived from African American musical style. The Jazz music scene incorporated not only African American musical styles, but presented European characteristics during performances, and shows origins reaching as far back to ragtime music. As we see a progression of this musical genre, branches of Jazz such as the Bebop style begin to show popularity during the late 1930’s, only after obstacles surfaced. Artists such as Charlie Parker and Carmen McRae gained popularity through this new style of Jazz, which allowed for intricate expression through musical characteristics. Bebop allowed Parker and McRae to use their musical influences of previous successful artists they looked up to, as well as their own musical knowledge to relay messages of social stratification and feelings. Parker and McRae show parallels in their musical styles by displaying differences in melody, texture and harmony to  justify their messages through music, characterizing their identity as well as using music as a medium of expression.
Charlie Parker is seen as one of, if not the main pioneer of the bebop music style, helping shape the course of twentieth century music (Larkin, 415). This bebop music style sees its beginnings in the early 1940’s, and doesn’t become what we now refer to as ‘modern jazz’ until the 1960’s (“Jazz”). This twist of jazz music was driven by a younger generation of musical talent that parker was a part of, as the artists of the time were striving to make a version of jazz that showed great virtuosity. This new style shifted away from the swing of jazz music, and shifted towards the emphasis on improvisation, driving the tempo of music to be faster. This allowed for more variation within the tempo of the music, underlined by the characteristics of the melody that shapes the music being played. Parker and other performers played with the different speeds and functions of the layers as we see the dynamics and articulation within each layer become more pronounced, ultimately leading to the expression and identity of this playing style.

To start, let’s take a look at the piece, “Groovin’ High” by Charlie Parker. This is an iconic piece that Parker and Dizzie Gillespie collaborated on. Gillespie is heard playing the trumpet in this piece alongside Parkers saxophone playing, in one of the most iconic bebop pieces that came about right as bebop was seeing its origins. In this piece, Parker in particular steers away from the typical Jazz swing music. Parker speeds up the tempo of this song, which allows for distinctive improvisation alongside the bass pulse heard. In this piece, Parker is able to create a distinct harmony by altering the dynamics of the song, with the help of his punched articulation through scales. This is the main contributor in his virtuosity when he displays his emotion through his music. The melodic structure also contributes to this by his addition of motives, an extremely wide range of notes in his scales. These elements are driven by his improvisation and twist away from traditional jazz, characterizing bebop. Parker’s emotional expression in this song is a gateway to his creation of his identity in bebop. Not only did parker want to shape bebop so it expressed the artists musical talent, but he wanted to change the social stratification of African Americans in this genre. He saw this as a gateway for other African American music artists including himself, to display their musical talent, which drove their social status. Charlie Parkers musical style also paralleled that of Carmen McRae who flourished in this genre as well.

Carmen McRae, much like Charlie parker, grew up for a heavy passion in jazz music. Since her childhood and teenage years, she was influenced by one of the all time jazz greats, Billie Holiday, who she considers to be her primary influence (Armstrong, 162-164). As Armstrong expressed in an excerpt from Contemporary Musicians, “Growing up in the culturally rich environment of Harlem in New york City gave McRae a strong background in blues”. Jazz music is derived, as many styles are, from the blues scene. McRae worked with influential artists throughout her early years as a pianist and jazz singer in New York City, and found herself linked up with Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie. McRae performed with Parker and Gillespie in a club called Minton’s, linking their musical talents in the jazz scene. In McRae’s musical style, we see similar elements to Parkers birth of bebop. Most notably, in the song “Dear Ruby (Ruby, My Dear)”, we see a slower version that resembles more of a jazz feel, compared to Parkers intense virtuosity. McRae not only sings in this piece, but also plays piano. Similar to elements heard in parkers playing, the saxophone solos present distort the melody, by expanding the range of the notes, and creating an unequal subdivision between the notes. A unique characteristic of this piece is the motives that create the melody. There are levels consisting of McRae’s piano playing, saxophone solos, and a string bass maintaining the pulse. This song shows characteristics of the jazz swing style, accompanied by the knowledge of musical range in the birth of bebop. The messages that we saw parker relay in his piece, were musically driven in the sense of using his saxophone as a medium of expression for his message. Comparatively, we see McRae use her singing and voice as her form of expression. The same musical qualities are present in both, as McRae distorts the notes by bending and blending them. McRae drives her emotional message through these elements, sending a message again, of her social status.

Similarities between parker and McRae are drawn by the characteristics in their musical styles. Charlie Parker and Carmen McRae, both African American artists, use music as a form of expression that drives their identity. Historically, African American artists weren’t always placed towards the top of the social stratification, however parker and McRae are using their musical abilities and unique style of expression to drive their status upward.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Robin, and Julia Rubiner.Contemporary Musicians – Profiles of the People in Music. Gale Research. 162-164. Print.

Larkin, Colin, ed. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 4th ed. Vol. 6. Oxford UP, 2006. 415-417. Print.

“Jazz.” African American Music. Ed. Mellonee Burnim and Portia Maultsby. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2015. 163-188. Print.

Shake, Rattle and Roll is a classic example of a twelve bar blues format song, that is now incorporated into early rock and roll. In the beginning of this song, we see the opening use of repeated piano scales and the pulse of the snare drum to maintain and establish the underlying rhythm of the song, found continuously throughout. This snare drum and repeated piano scales at the beginning before the text of the song begins is articulated more heavily than when the text begins. The piano and drum maintain a strong harmonic character as they are laying the foundation for this piece. The function of this layer typically does not change, as it is keeping the flow of the song going, while complimenting the singing and saxophone solos. It maintains a strong contour as the range only deviates slightly when the phrase shifts. The notes in the scale change pitch expanding the range in each phrase. The shift occurs in three motions in each phrase, but does not occur in every phrase. The snare drum, however, maintains a constant timbre in each phrase and does not change contour.

When the text of the song begins, the function of the piano and drum layer changes to a compliment of the text, but does not change speed only timbre. The scales and drums are not as pronounced and have decreased in volume to just simply compliment. In this piece, the text is often repeated. The repetition is usually seen on the fist line of each phrase, which is repeated once with a substance line following it that contains the main message of the song. There is heavy swing evident between the scales being played and the range of the singers voice. Each word in the phrases played have distinct characteristics. Most words are punched and contain bending of the notes to show emotion. Often, specifically in the opening of the song before the singer changes, the timbre undergoes a dynamic change for additional emotion and message.

We see an incorporation of a second singer, along with a consistent hand clap that goes along with the rhythmic structure of the song. Right before the musical shift of singers occurs, a saxophone is present, almost in a call and response fashion as it plays up scales on the off beats of the text after each phrase. It also compliments the singer right before the shift occurs, playing in the background functioning as a compliment to the singer and the pulse of the tune. The musical transition that occurs during this piece is present at the halfway point, symbolic of the climax of the song. As the transition is taking place, there is a heavy consonant harmonic quality of the tune while the overall timbre is adjusting. The drums in this tune play a plethora of notes and the saxophone begins playing its melody, sounding disjunct. This saxophone is playing the shake rattle and roll tune or beat by the saxophone. We also hear the incorporation of a  string bass that plays along with the melody created by the saxophone playing. The saxophone playing has several characteristics such as the blending and bending of notes that adds to the motives and rhythm in the melodic layer. After this shift in this song occurs, so does the text. The function of each layer maintains its integrity in regard to the musical structure, however the lyrics change and focuses on a different topic. The hand clapping is now a structured musical element and is continuous with the speed and function of the snare drum, just adding a separate timbre.

The saxophone now almost plays the roll of a back up singer for the lead singer. The saxophone responds to the text of the song with four punched notes at the end of each stanza, however this is only maintained through the main melody of the second half, before the main tune of shake, rattle and roll is repeated. When the shake, rattle and roll is repeated the saxophone begins to play more intricate musical patterns that expand the range and add to the phrasing of the rhythm. The articulation of the towards the end of the song becomes smooth for the saxophone playing, and falls on the off beat of the main tune consisting of an unequal subdivision for the saxophone. This playing of the saxophone really compliments the timbre and function of the text, as the bending and blending of notes are parallel to each other.

At the conclusion of the song after the phrasing of shake, rattle and roll is repeated for the last time, all elements that were incorporated in to the song, such as the hand clapping and saxophones that were added all come together and function as a strong melodic tune. The dynamics increase, and the contour parallels the undertones found in the song such as the blending and bending of the notes. The layers function together as there are two main layers, the text and instrumentals as the instruments play together. This is the point when the harmonic character is the most structured, and the range expands one last time as a progressive scale is played by the instruments, coming to a climactic conclusion with a punched note to end the song.

This piece by Edwin Hawkins Singers is an iconic piece for its time period. This piece was a driving force behind the movement of Contemporary Gospel music seen in the late 1960’s. Edwin Hawkins singers moved to the scene of contemporary gospel by including instruments like horns, bongos and the fender bass to blend all popular genres of the time period. The beginning of this song sets the tone for the message being relayed. This song titled “Oh Happy Day” most likely referred to a good day, which is inferred before the song begins. The use of piano and bongos that come in during the very beginning of this piece establish a melody that is present throughout the whole song. The bongos and percussion play the pulse for the piano that is playing the melody. This melody rolls on as the beat builds through the first stanza, through melodic phrasing. several phrases are added before the opening text of the song, shaping the melody in an upward motion, like it is building for the text. The motive of the the bongos on the offbeat of this melodic phrase help the rolling of the basic melody, expressed by the articulation of the bongo. The piano notes are punched as each phrase is built along the melody so the change is evident.

The text that comes in right after the basic melody and pulse are established, is filled with emotion. Through the timbre of the lead vocalist, you can pick up a distinct “happy” tone to her voice. Not only is she singing about it being a happy day, she starts off with a softer tune where she uses blending and bending of the notes to show emotion. A call and response between the lead vocalist and the choir also help express the emotion being conveyed. Here we see another layer added to the song. The choir responds to the lead vocalist as they are preaching about the lord washing their sins away. Now there are 3 layers. One being the instrumental melody and another being the lead vocalist accompanied by the choir of the song. Throughout the song we see these 3 layers functioning differently. As the choir responds to the call of the lead singer, a progression of range is present. The song builds, and the timbre of the layers develops, the choir being the most prominent, particularly when they take over most of the singing while the lead vocalist responds to them in a shift. When this shift takes place, There is a distinct change in the function of the layers. The choir takes over the singing, becoming extremely dynamically inclined as as the singers move through time together. A call and response with heavy swing is seen within the choir now, as they take over the vocals. This rhythm established seems to be functioning on two layers. One where the lead vocalist sings with the choir as it builds, then another when the expression of the choir is pronounced singing the main refrain of the song. Dynamically, as the function of the layers change, we see an increase in speed and volume as a consonant quality of the song. When the choir of the song takes over, the bass of the song is more pronounced and the articulation is more harsh. We see a separation of pause in between the phrases of the choir. At the beginning of the phrase, the notes of both the text and the instruments in punched. The instruments are delayed behind the singing of the choir, as they are the main tune now.

The text of this piece drives the emotional playing of the instruments and especially the choir that compliments. When the speed and function of the layers changes from the refrain to the chorus, the text changes, and matches the function of the layers. This function of the layer seems to be powerful expression. As they sing the chorus of the song, they describe how jesus taught them how to do things like fight and pray, which is why this section is sped up and the character of the notes is dramatically changed. The Range of the vocals along with the dynamics and articulation specifically correlate with the speed of each layer. As the layer speeds up, these elements increase in strength. Since the father figure in this song is jesus, and they are preaching to him especially during the parts of the song when the choir is pronounced, it functionally makes sense these are more powerful. As the song concludes, it is evident that this song came during the time period and help progress the “urban” style of gospel music by adding a funk/rock twist. First evident by the instrumentation with the string bass, as well as the overall timbre and flow of the piece, from start to end, the song has 2 faces. Either the lead vocalist singing with a response from the choir, or the choir preaching with heavy emotion and louder vocals, still with a less pronounced response in the background. Each face of the song was repeated twice before the song was over, as the structure wasn’t hidden. Each part respectively had their own emotional feel through the speed and function of the layers.