Applied English for American Society and Culture through Music
Reading Comprehension, Chapter 8, Pages 127-150
Try not to copy sentences from the book that you do not understand.

Optional: no due date

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p. 127

1 Chapter Title: What does "urban" mean? _____________________ What is "Urban Folk Music" ________________________

2. Why was the old music in the "eastern hills" of the U.S. preserved until after the end of the Civil War (1865)? What kind of music was this old music?

3. What two things happened after the Civil War that affected the music and life in the mountain areas of the eastern U.S.?

4. One important instrument during this time was the five-string banjo. One string was used to play a repeated pitch called a _____________ .

5. What was hillbilly music?

pp. 128-131

6. Hill musicians often sang about emotional topics in a "semi-detached, impersonal way" (paragraph 1, p. 128). What do you think this means?

7. Jimmie __________________ , an early country singer, often accompanied himself on the ________________ and also yodeled. What is yodeling?

8. What topics did Jimmie Rodgers, also called the "singing brakeman" (brakeman = one job on a train), sing about?

9. The Carter family recorded hundreds of American traditional, spiritual and folk songs, they often accompanied themselves on two instruments, which were the ___________________ and the _____________________ . The autoharp was a simple folk instrument. The strings are plucked or strummed with one hand while buttons are pressed with the other hand to make chords.

pp. 132-137 middle

10. Is "bluegrass" primarily instrumental or vocal music? _____________________

11. Is an acoustic instrument the same as an electric instrument? Explain.

12. Who was the first "bluegrass" music performer? ___________ ________________

pp. 137-138

13. Cajun music evolved in a remote ( = far from the cities) area in what southern U.S. state? __________________

14. The Cajuns played a small instrument called a "concertina". Is this instrument similar to a guitar or accordion? __________________________

15. A newer type of Cajun music called Zydeco uses which instruments?

pp. 138-140

16. When rock and roll became popular, the country-western music industry was in danger of collapsing. In response to this new rock and roll sound, a new sound called___________________________ developed (in Nashville in the state of Tennessee). Also in Nashville, country themes were combined with pop instrumentation resulting in the " ____________________ Sound".

pp. 140-144 top

17. Western swing, which was influenced by jazz, was a dance-band style of music that developed in what state? _______________

18. Is "honky-tonk" best described as a dance, concert, mountain or vocal style of music? ______________________

19. Three famous cowboy singers were Tex ________________,Gene _________________ and Roy ___________________ .

pp. 144-147

20. Woody Guthrie was a famous singer, songwriter and p _ _ _ , who, like other writers of country lyrics, included social commentary in his poems and songs.

pp. 147-148

21. By the 1990s, women played an important role in country music. Was this also true in the first half of the 20th century? ________