Country Music’s Style and Sound

In this activity, students gain an understanding of the African American influences in country music by examining the genre's earliest instruments, its jazz and blues foundations, and Elvis Presley's "rockabilly" — a genre-shifting synthesis of blues, R&B, and country. To culminate, students research the recent controversy surrounding Billboard Music's decision to remove Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" from its Country chart, which raised questions about the purpose of musical genres and the historic exclusion of African Americans from country music narratives. Introductory Activity: Reviewing the Blues and Swing Country music has roots in African American jazz and blues of the south. Present a brief overview of jazz and the blues to students, introducing its basic structure and form through a listening exercise: The blues emerged from African American folk musical forms, which arose in the southern United States and became internationally popular in the 20th century. Blues styles have been used and adapted extensively throughout country music's recorded history. Jimmie Rodgers, sometimes called the father of country music, was known for combining the blues, gospel, jazz, cowboy, and folk styles in his songs. Music Theory: The most common structure of blues is called the 12-bar blues. The term "12-bar" refers to the number of measures (or musical bars) used to express the theme of a typical blues song. Nearly all blues music is played to a 4/4 time signature, which means that there are four beats in every measure or bar, and each quarter note equals one beat. In terms of lyrics, three phrases fit over four bars each, often following the pattern of AAB: the first line often presents an idea or subject, the second line repeats this (maybe with a small variation), and the third line develops or resolves the idea presented in these first two lines.  Swing music grew from jazz, a genre of music that originated in New Orleans during the 19th century, when slaves would congregate on Sundays to play music and dance. In swing, as in jazz, musicians were expected to improvise on their instrumental breaks. But instead of jazz's saxophones, clarinets, and horns, western swing featured the mainstays of a hillbilly band: fiddles and the guitar. Listen to examples of blues and big band swing and discuss the sounds and musical characteristics of each. Do you hear the roots of country music? Examples: Blues: Bessie Smith, “Back Water Blues” (vocal), Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five, “West End Blues” (instrumental) Swing: Glenn Miller Band, “In the Mood,” Duke Ellington, “Take the A-Train”

Country music is a dynamic form that has evolved to reflect changes in broader cultural trends and technology over time. In this activity, students experience the changing sound of country music across decades through the lens of one song recorded multiple times in the genre's history — Jimmie Rodgers' “Muleskinner Blues.” Students learn about the evolving style and instruments of country music and gain an understanding of a common occurrence in music — the cover song — to appreciate musicians’ inclination to re-record older music. Introductory Activity:  Listen to the Jimmie Rodgers version of “Muleskinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)”, following along with the lyrics. Lyrics can be found here. The term “muleskinner” is slang for a muleteer, or a person who drives mules. The muleteer might drive a pack of mules to transport goods or cargo across long distances. Depending on the size of the load, the muleskinner could be in charge of one single mule or a team of mules. Muleskinners might use a goad or a whip to move the animals forward. To “skin” a mule is to outsmart it or make it do what you want, and has nothing to do with removing the animal’s skin. Students can discuss what each verse of the lyrics mean to the story. Introduce the instruments commonly used in country music: guitar (electric and acoustic), violin/fiddle, banjo, mandolin, bass (upright and electric), drums. Show students pictures and/or videos of each instrument, or show/demonstrate the instruments, if available.

In this activity, students learn about a musical composition practice called contrafact by tracing the evolution of one melody through iterations across country music's history. Students gain knowledge of country music’s changing sound by examining different versions of the same melody, re-recorded time and again with new lyrics — from the Carter Family’s borrowed “Wildwood Flower” in 1929 through Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” in 1952. Intoductory Activity: Understanding 'Contrafact' Play the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” without any lyrics and ask students what words go with the melody. Twinkle might be the most common answer, but also the ABC’s or “Baa, Baa Black Sheep.” A contrafact (or contrafactum) is a melody or song whose original text or lyrics have been replaced with new text or lyrics. The practice dates back to European Medieval music (12th and 13th century) but can be found throughout music history. For example, the national anthem of the United States is a poem by Francis Scott Key set to the tune of a popular British song at the time. Parody songs, such as the type made popular by “Weird Al” Yankovic, also fall into this category. For jazz musicians, contrafacts usually refer to a new melody that uses the same chord or harmonic progression as a preexisting song. Listen to The Carter Family recording of “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes” to familiarize students with the melody.

Country music’s earliest instruments were the fiddle and the banjo. Early immigrants brought the fiddle to America, while the banjo was brought by enslaved Africans.

In the 1930s, the dance music called swing spread in ballrooms and theaters across the United States. A style of jazz, swing featured “big bands,” or ensembles including wind instruments and a rhythm section. In Oklahoma and Texas, “western swing” blended characteristics of blues, jazz, and country.

Elvis Presley might be remembered as the “King of Rock and Roll,” but his earliest recordings synthesized characteristics of the blues, country, and rhythm and blues.