Re: Blues, Stomps, & Rags #12
Originally Posted by
Jim Nollman
can someone please define a stomp.
Hi, Jim.
Considering what's come up in different threads, that the people who created the music generally made neither rules nor definitions for genres of music, here are three attempts to explain the stomp. Otherwise, as with many types of music, it's a matter of listening to stomps (e.g., Blues, Stomps, & Rags #1) till we reach the point where we can say, "Oh, that's what they mean." Perhaps someone on this Forum can provide a more sophisticated and exacting definition.
Ranald
From the Oxford Canadian Dictionary:
stomp
n. 1. any lively dance involving a heavy stamping step.
2.(also a stomper) a tune or song with a percussive rhythm and upbeat tempo suitable for such a dance.
3. a heavy stamping step to the rhythm of such a dance.
From Rich DelGrosso's Mandolin Blues:
The "stomp" is just like it sounds. It grew out of the "thump, thump, thump" of the blues described by W.C.Handy. Spirited music invites tapping or stomping feet, so the "stomp," often syncopated like the rag, is accented and driven by heavy feet… Some of the early jazz band leaders would call for a "stomp chorus" lifting the energy of the final chorus of a piece ( p.19).
For the musically sophisticated, here's an explanation of how stomp is used in jazz:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomp_progression
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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