Listening Journal # 3

For listening journal #3, we had an opportunity to listen to a variety of music from the 1920-s and deep into the 1930's. During this time frame, music had really began to flourish throughout America. I feel that the term "vernacular music" really came into play during this era. This is due to the spread of jazz and blues music among people of different ages and races. Jazz and blues also lead to the development of "swing music" and music of WWII.

As I continued my reading process through chapters 5 and 6, I was able to get an enhanced knowledge about music as well as musicians of the jazz, blues and swing era. I am a huge fan of jazz and blues music. As I listened to the music selections for listening journal #3 I was quickly brought back to memories of the music that my grandfather would play as I was a child. Chapter 5 is entitled "St. Louis Blues" however, due to the widespread popularity of blues , there were many geographical references to the sound of blues. As I listened to St. Louis Blues, I was trying to distinguish the Bessie Smith version and the W.C. Handy version. I feel that both selections are distinctive in their own way. W.C Handy's version is more upbeat and has a different instrumental feel to it where as the Bessie Smith version is slower yet emotional and was still appealing to listeners. The textbook says that Bessie Smith's version of the St. Louis Blues helped to bridge the racial gap of blues as well as introduced this type of blues to white America.

As I am still training my ear to listen critically, I cant help but to think about the close relationship of jazz and blues. It seems as if jazz and blues music feeds of one another yet they are able to hold their own place in music as separate genres. For example, As I listened to "Caravan", it has the jazz feel and flow to it from an instrumental standpoint yet it also has the feel of blues deeply rooted within the song. Again, this is just my thoughts and opinion to what I personally felt through the song. As I continue this course I will definitely continue to train my ear to listen critically to music for analytical purposes. Another aspect that I noticed from the blues selections of the listening journal is the form of twelve bar blues. The twelve bar blues served as a basis for blues music to be written or sung. The textbook even refers to twelve bar blues form as to be an important concept to American popular music.

The catch phrase "race music" was used during this time period. However, in the music world, "race music" was a phrase that was used in a more positive manner. It was used as an example of black nationalism and was meant for blacks to express pride. "Race music" was applied to musical styles such as jazz, blues,  and gospel music. As for the phrase "Hillbilly music", it was describing the music that was more so generated for southern whites. Even though the style of music had two different names, the root of blues still could not be broken or destroyed. Both styles had common instrumental and lyrical features as well as origin and pride of the music itself. The enjoyment of music makes music universal and brings all people together.