Description and examples of Tin Pan Alley Song Form.

1. MUSC 1800: Popular Music
Dr. Matthew C. Saunders
Lakeland Community College
C-1078

2. The Rise of Broadway
• Prior to the 1920s,
Broadway shows were
similar to vaudeville and
minstrel shows
• “Golden Age” of Broadway
began with Kern &
Hammerstein’s Showboat
in 1927

3. The Great American Songbook
• Song writing still centered on Tin Pan Alley
– 1920s and 1930s
– Diverse group of composers and lyricists
– Songs written for vaudeville, Broadway, and
Hollywood

4. The Great American Songbook
• Bridge between high-brow and low-brow
entertainment
• “Standards”

5. Tin Pan Alley Song Form
• Derived from needs of Broadway shows—a smooth transition from spoken dialogue to
song
– Example: Ella Fitzgerald’s recording of George & Ira Gershwin’s, “I Got Rhythm” from
Girl Crazy
– Example: Frank Sinatra in Cole Porter’s, “Just One of Those Things” from Jubilee
– Example: Gene Autry in Johnny Marks’ “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”
Verse: Days can
be sunny…
A-section: I got
rhythm…
(8 measures)
A-section: I got
daisies…
(8 measures)
A-section: I got
starlight…
(8 measures)
B-section:
Old Man
Trouble…
(8 measures)
Bridge

6. More Practice with Tin Pan Alley Song
Form
• “Jingle-Bell Rock” (performed by Bobby Helms)
• “The Flintstones” (theme by Hoyt Curtin)
• “Heart and Soul” (Carmichael and Loesser)
• “This is the Life,” (“Weird Al” Yankovic)