Across
- 1. Nonsense syllables used in various types of songs, such as Native American songs and doo-wop.
- 3. Minstrel performer and composer of such standards as “I Wish I Was In Dixie’s Land”; his Virginia Minstrels became the model for other minstrel troupes
- 4. The simultaneous sounding of two or more pitches
- 8. A 19th-century African-American folk song with Biblical references, expressing sorrow and hope and combining African and European musical elements
- 10. The way in which the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements of music are woven together
- 12. Best-known gospel singer in the United States, who popularized Dorsey’s music and also became a supporter and spokesperson for the Civil Rights Movement
- 15. A highly influential blues singer who came to prominence partly as a result of recordings made by ethnographers John and Alan Lomax
- 21. African American pastor and composer whose hymns and songs became gospel standards
- 23. Composer and minstrel performer who was the first well-known African American songwriter
- 26. ______ show: 19th-century variety show featuring white (and later, black) performers in blackface makeup; in spite of their overt racism, these shows can be said to be the first nationwide popular culture phenomenon and provided professional opportunities for African American performers
- 28. A highly influential blues singer, known as the link between the early Mississippi blues and the modern Chicago blues; legend has it he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar skills
- 30. Narrative, strophic folk song usually sung by a solo voice with or without accompaniment, dealing with dramatic or tragic events
- 36. The way that music is disseminated from person to person
- 37. _____ music, a term describing musics that are traditional, primarily disseminated through oral transmission, and usually associated with a specific rural setting or ethnic group
- 39. Founder of the Christy Minstrels, who premiered many of Stephen Foster’s songs
- 40. Literary scholar who collected and classified English-language folk songs and ballads, which are now known under his name
- 44. First England School composer, whose New England Psalm Singer was the first entirely American-composed tunebook to be published.
- 47. Composer and performer, considered to be the father of American minstrelsy.
- 48. Saxophonist, singer, and bandleader who with his Tympany Five pioneered rhythm and blues, producing over 50 crossover hits
- 49. Native American intertribal gathering that allows participants to preserve important cultural practices, such as music and dance
- 51. The arrangement of time durations in music
- 52. Detroit-based record company, founded in 1959 by Berry Gordy Jr., known for its roster of prominent African American performers and songwriters, polished production, and hundreds of hit songs that appealed across class, ethnic, and regional boundaries
- 54. The musical texture resulting of the simultaneous combination of two or more melodic lines
- 56. Rhythm and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter who wrote many hit songs that became rock and roll standards, like “School Days”
- 58. Pianist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the architects of soul, becoming a musician in spite of losing his eyesight at age 6
Down
- 2. Influential singer known as the Queen of Soul
- 5. The musical texture consisting of a single melodic line
- 6. African American choral group founded at Fisk University in Tennessee in 1871, important for introducing, popularizing, and preserving spirituals
- 7. A type of performance in which the music is created as it is being performed
- 9. Rhythm and blues singer, songwriter and pianist who was one of the most successful artists of the 1950s
- 11. A term that emerged in 1949 to refer to all black popular music, but specifically refers to a danceable style of the 1940s and 50s pioneered by artists like Louis Jordan; it influenced many styles such as rock n roll, soul, gospel, and jazz.
- 13. Folklorists who recorded blues and folk musicians in the field for the Library of Congress archives, helping them achieve wide exposure
- 14. _____ music, a term describing musics that emerged in European courts, disseminated through written notation, considered “high art” and usually associated with the upper class
- 16. A practice in which a solo alternates with a chorus or ensemble; it is a feature of African and African American musics
- 17. Drummer, singer, and songwriter who was one of the most influential performers of the Motown label, with hits such as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You”, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” and “Let’s Get It On”
- 18. The first book printed in British North America, printed in Cambridge in 1640 for use in psalm singing
- 19. African American composer who arranged spirituals for voice and piano, helping to preserve them.
- 20. _____ music, a term describing musics that are disseminated through media such as radio, records, TV, film or electronic files, subject to an aesthetic of innovation and mass appeal, and associated with the urban middle and lower classes
- 22. A widely used harmonic pattern consisting of 4 measures on the tonic, 2 measures on the subdominant, 2 measures on the tonic, 2 measures on the dominant and 2 measures on the tonic, used as a basis for improvisation
- 24. Vocal African American folk music that can be said to be the foundation of much of American popular music
- 25. 19th-century composer of popular songs who sought to raise the status of minstrel songs; he was the first American composer to live solely from his compositions.
- 27. Term that replaced rhythm and blues on Billboard in 1964, also used to describe an African American popular music style that rejected the Motown sound in favor of a return to blues and gospel and was associated with the Civil Rights Movement
- 29. Female blues and jazz singer who was the most successful black performing artist of her time but alcoholism and the depression damaged her career; her duet with Louis Armstrong in "St. Louis Blues" is one of her most famous performances
- 31. The system of harmony based on the major and minor scales, in which harmonies move away from and then return to the tonic
- 32. A membranophone unique to North America, used by several Native American groups
- 33. Category used by the recording industry for its blues, jazz and gospel records; it was replaced in 1949 by Rhythm and Blues.
- 34. The first and most important note of a scale, often indicated by the Roman numeral I
- 35. The musical texture consisting of a melody combined with chords
- 36. African American organist and composer whose compositions combine elements of the folk spiritual and secular popular music, known as the Father of Gospel
- 38. Flute player and composer who revitalized the Navajo flute repertoire
- 41. _________ school: 18th-century practice in which a singing master would teach singing and note reading; it signals the beginning of professional musicianship and music education in the U.S.
- 42. Popular music of the 1950s and 60s featuring 4-5 singers in close vocal harmonies; the use of vocables for the backup singers gives this style its name
- 43. _______ song: 19th-century sentimental popular song, meant for middle-class consumers; Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer” is an example.
- 45. African American songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur, who founded the Motown label in 1959
- 46. A meaningful or memorable succession of pitches
- 50. Song form in which multiple verses are set to the same music
- 53. British scholar who discovered Child ballads in the United States in the early 20th century.
- 55. A social construct distinguishing one group of humans from another on the basis of shared cultural heritage, ancestry, language, history, and or culture; it has largely replaced the now outdated concept of race
- 57. American religious music including both white and black types that emerged from the 19th century evangelical revival movements; the African American form combines religious expression with secular musical styles, and profoundly influenced later popular music, such as rhythm and blues and soul.