Tin Pan Alley Music

A Popular Song Form

www.stefanwalcott.com

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• From the late nineteenth century to the

mid-twentieth century, "Tin Pan Alley"

was the centre of popular music in the

United States.

• Tin-Pan Alley was an area in New York

that housed many songwriters

composing on old pianos.

• These songwriters were full time

professionals.

• Tin-Pan Alley writers were mostly

Jewish.

• T.P.A. produced music for films, Broadway musicals and

music publishing.

• At first it was for music publishing but expanded as new

media came into existence.

• 32 Bars

• AABA

• Limited use of Blues notes.

• Many Jazz musicians recorded T.P.A songs.

• These songs eventually became Standards.

• Irving Berlin- Blue Skies, White Christmas.

• George Gershwin - Summertime, Porgy and Bess.

• Ira Gershwin – I got Rhythm, The Man I Love.

• Cole Porter – What is This Thing Called Love, Love for

Sale.

• Starr, Larry, and Christopher A. Waterman. American

Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to Mp3. New York: Oxford

University Press, 2007. Print.