-By Julie Hromcik: Big Band and Swing Music During the Great Depression Overview

By: Julie Hromcik

   

The Great Depression was a very dark time that first began in the United States but was experienced worldwide.  The world’s economy hit an all time low during the late 1930s all the way to the early 1940s.  The cause of the Great Depression is said to be due to the "fall in stock prices that began around September 4, 1929, and became worldwide news with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929.” Luckily, there was upbeat music to keep the American people a little more optimistic!      

     During the Great Depression, people turned to music as a way to forget about their worries.  Some people would turn to swing music and the music of Big Bands as a temporary escape from the constant financial worries.  Big Band music and Swing Music was a very “danceable” music.  And this music was music that almost “everyone could afford” due to the fact that it came on the radio.  Big Band was a new kind of beat that developed during the Great Depression with the help from artists such as Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire, and Billie Holiday and of course, Benny Goodman. Big Band music is said to be “positive and optimistic music and an inspiration to millions during one of the more difficult periods of American History”. It was upbeat and it helped make people feel more uplifted and lively. Swing music was said to be “appreciated at many levels.” One source said “It fulfilled the yearning for a sentimental, romantic escape from the mundane and at the same time was appreciated for its excitement and even as fine art.”  Big Band and Swing music had a variety of rhythm instruments such as drums, piano, ect.  It also had the usual woodwind and brass instruments but an abundance of saxophones and trumpets. Some popular songs emerging during this time of economic slump are 'We're In the Money', 'Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?' 'Body and Soul', 'Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?'.  But of course, lots more.  The artists during this period could be very expressive, sometimes writing directly about the Great Depression and other artists straying away from topics of the Great Depression.  Big Band music and Swing Music was so influential that it even left an impact on American Popular Music today.  It was the kind of music that was easy to relate to.

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Ponce, Pedro. "Jazz An American Elixir." Humanities 21.4 (2000): 16. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

 

Weinstock, Len. "The Big Band Era". Red Hot Jazz. 1991. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.

http://www.redhotjazz.com/bigbandessay.html

 

Wikipedia contributors. "Great Depression." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclodpedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 11 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.

 

Zehr, Mary Ann. "Great Depression A Timely Class Topic." Education Week 28.24 (2009): 1. ERIC. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.