1920s Music Vs 1930s Music

The Blues of The 1920s

Music has so much influence on the emotions that people have. In a movie the thing that causes emotions is the music. In a horror movie excitement is built as the music plays and all of a sudden something pops out and the music hits a shrilling note. Imagine an action movie where the hero is running for their life and all that was heard was the hero’s steps it would not be that exciting. The way music is played determines the way it is interpreted. While some believe “Echoes of Spring”, by Willie Smith, is set in the 1930s, in actuality, the piece creates the feelings of the 1920s through upbeat rhythms and carefree tones.

The upbeat rhythms throughout the piece create a feeling of a prosperous time in the 1920s. The

The 1930s was a more depressing time, due to the market crash and the start of the Great Depression. During the 1930s and into the 1940s some people were collecting overwhelming debt due to increased credit spending and increase risky investments. The mood of the prosperous 20s quickly changed to the depression of the 30s. In the piece “If We Never Meet Again” by Albert E. Brumley, it is apparent that the piece is different than “Echoes of Spring”. First off it has a slower tempo, it also uses lower notes throughout the song. One example of the songs difference is in lines one through four (Brumley). In this part of the music there is a decrescendo down to a low A flat that produces a melancholy note. These measures set up the bulk of the piece in how it will be played throughout. Although the piece was created in 1945 that was still in the time of the depression and still reflects the mood of the time. Blues musicians for example used blue notes to acquire the sadness of the time (Bruccoli 41). The blue notes are what make the listener aware of the mood, and it tells a message of what the piece is about. Some people get confused with the blues of the 1930s and the blues of the 1920s because of the way the music is played. In the blues specific instruments are used to create different sounds like the “Piano and saxophone add a controversial element”(Jenkins 1). The piano is different in many ways in how it can produce notes that can express different moods. Some instruments are inherently sad sounding, the piano on the other hand, has the ability to create sad and happy pieces. There are ways that notes can be turned from one tone to another. Some musicians use “tone bending to create a feeling of stress and fatigue”(Jenkins 1). This again shows musicians creating pieces that express and portray the time period. Musicians use notes and different styles