Riding on a Blue Note

Project Introduction

Riding on a Blue Note studied the role of popular music in American history and its relevance to American society and culture from the late-19 to late-20th century. Students focused on the cultural, social, political, and economic dimensions (the “context”) of genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to blues, jazz, RnB, country, folk, soul, rock, funk, grunge, and hip-hop.

While the course discussed the stylistic evolution of American popular music, the main focus was on reading, or listening to, music as a historical text as a key to understanding the major themes of American history in the 20th century. We will focus on a number of themes: popular music as a mode of dissent, the influence of mass media and technology and the emergence of the music industry, as well as race, class and gender.