American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3

by Larry Starr, Christopher Waterman

The most complete, colorful, and authoritative package of its kind, American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3, Third Edition, examines popular music in the United States from its beginnings into the 21st century.
Highlighting the contributions of diverse groups, Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman trace the development of jazz, blues, country, rock, hip-hop, and other popular styles. They combine an in-depth treatment of the music itself--including discussions of stylistic elements and analyses of musical examples--with solid coverage of attendant historical, social, and cultural circumstances.
NEW TO THE THIRD EDITION
* Significantly expanded coverage of the Latin American stream of influence throughout, including Latin music in the big-band era, the mambo craze of the 1950s, bossa nova, and salsa
* Thoroughly updated discussions of online distribution models, technology, and new trends in popular music
* Exact timings included in the in-text listening guides to help students orient themselves as they use the two in-text
audio CDs
* New appendix--"Understanding Rhythm and Form"--illustrating the basic musical concepts of beat, tempo, rhythm, and form
* A FREE six-month subscription to the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Fourth Edition Online ($120.00 value )
Remarkably accessible and student-friendly, the third edition also offers:
* Detailed in-text listening charts that explain the most important elements of recordings discussed at length in the text
* Boxed inserts on significant individuals, recordings, and cultural issues, with an illustrated timeline at the back of the book
* An iMix (published at iTunes)
* An updated Companion Website (www.oup.com/us/popmusic) containing resources for both instructors (PowerPoint lecture slides, assignments and exercises, filmographies, and review/discussion questions) and students (chapter outlines, brief biographies, flashcards, and weblinks)
* A free Instructor's Manual and Computerized Test Bank on CD

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Textbooks, Read For School, College, School

560 pages, Paperback + CD

First published December 6, 2006

Reviews

[Corinne]

I had to read this for my *gasp* American Popular Music course. Except I had the second edition which I do believe had a lot more Latin music content.
It was a bit dry at times, but then again if you had to read the entire thing in two weeks you'd get pretty sick of it too. All in all it was pretty interesting and I learned alot from it. The CDs are also nice if you're open to expanding your music tastes.

[Chloe]

How does one write a textbook about popular music and not include One Direction?

[Tabitha]

I started this book last year as part of the American Popular Music MIT course. I took an extended break and then OpenLibrary started having issues when I came back to finish. This textbook provided deep insight into the history of American music over the decades with recommended listening. It occasionally got a bit too invested in the structure of songs to fully captivate a casual learner.

[Valerie]

I read most of this book for a music history class I was taking. It is well written, informative, and really interesting. I've actually gone back to it several times to look up specific topics. It is a great reference book!

[Michael]

I found it very well written and rather comprehensive. I believe that it is a textbook aimed toward those with some musical education; however, not being one, I still found it easy to follow.

[Laurel]

I read this for a History of Popular music class and I honestly really enjoyed it! It was really cool and fun to learn about so much history of music 🎵 🎶 ❤️

[Erika Schoeps]

I had to read a little book of this textbook for class, but then I ended up finishing it because it felt like a waste of money to buy a book and then not finish it.

A basic, helpful walk through of American Popular Music. Not always the most entertaining, but certainly useful. I really enjoyed the focus on race in relation to popular music trends. Recommended for anyone who wants to get serious about studying music, even if you're going into classical or jazz.

[Chantaal]

BOOM, done. Five week online music course, SEE YOU NEVER.

As someone who loves music but never really studied it, this was a very interesting text to read for my Appreciation of American Popular Music class.

Otherwise, it's a bit dry and if you're not really into the history (or aren't reading it for class) then it's tough to slog through. Interesting, but tough.

[Tiennie]

I read this for my History of American Music Class. It was very informative and interesting. Enjoyed learning more about music and musicians and the political/cultural/social issues surrounding each genre during their popularity.

[Toya Fish]

Interesting book about the broad spectrum of music that is out in the world. Gives a great basic understanding however, has very generational disconnection in the verbiage and how to relate to the targeted audience.

[Nichole]

Read this for an American Popular Music course. Informative text, but like most textbooks, too dry to be interesting.