Chapter 3: American Popular Music in the Nineteenth Century Pt.2
The Industrial Revolution dramatically transformed the American music landscape. As mass production and expanded transportation networks made goods cheaper and more accessible, musical instruments, particularly the piano, became increasingly available to middle-class households. By the mid-19th century, it was common for families to own a piano as the instrument symbolized both cultural refinement and domestic respectability. Pianos became a central feature of middle-class parlor life because they were associated with education, morality, and upward mobility. Upright pianos, which took up less space and were more affordable than grand pianos, were invented in 1826 and came in various cabinet styles to suit home interiors. These included square uprights, console pianos, and spinet models that blended functionality with decorative appeal. In 1848, Heinrich Steinweg, a German piano maker, emigrated to New York to escape political unrest in Europe. Once in the United States, he anglicized his name to Henry Steinway and began producing high-quality pianos that quickly gained a reputation for superior craftsmanship and sound. He founded Steinway & Sons, a company that revolutionized piano construction and helped set new standards for durability, tone, and technical innovation. Steinway pianos became the preferred choice for concert halls, music conservatories, and affluent homes alike, and the company played a major role in establishing the piano as a central fixture of American musical life.
Playing music at home became an acceptable and encouraged pastime for women, aligning with contemporary gender norms that emphasized feminine leisure, morality, and artistic sensibility. The popularity of the piano gave rise to a booming sheet music industry. Publishers capitalized on the instrument’s versatility—serving both as a solo instrument and an accompaniment—by producing songs in multiple formats. To appeal to the widest possible market, popular songs were often released in a range of arrangements, such as:
Solo voice with piano
Solo piano
Solo voice with guitar
Four-part SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) chorus
Male chorus (TTBB) settings
This strategy ensured that no matter the performer’s skill level or available instrumentation, there was likely a version they could buy and play at home.
Songs designed for home use became known as parlor songs, named for the room in which they were typically performed. The parlor—a family’s formal sitting room—served as the central space for socializing and entertaining. Parlor songs generally featured simple piano accompaniments, making them accessible to amateur musicians. Importantly, their simplicity also made it easier for individuals to accompany themselves while singing, a common form of entertainment before the advent of recorded sound.
Though parlor songs were unified by their domestic setting, they reflected a wide range of musical genres and thematic content, including:
Sentimental ballads (love, loss, home)
Comic or novelty songs
Songs about current events
Songs tied to social reform movements (e.g., temperance, abolition)
Songs drawn from minstrel shows
As noted earlier, one major source of commercially successful songs was the blackface minstrel show. Audiences who heard catchy or humorous songs during minstrel performances could later purchase sheet music and re-create the experience at home—albeit in a more sanitized or domesticated format. For example, a raucous banjo-and-bones performance from the stage might be transformed into a singable tune with light piano accompaniment suitable for the parlor.
This interaction between live performance, commercial publishing, and domestic music-making laid the groundwork for an enduring feature of American popular music: the integration of public performance trends into everyday private life.