Recently, I attended a lecture and concert by Mr.Ray Kamalay at Warwick,RI public library. The subject was about the connection between slavery and American music. The writing below are some excerpts from his lecture and what I read about it further. I thought of sharing it with you here.
The slave trade brought Africans to the Americas to work in the plantations. In some states in the U.S., early European settlers and slaves shared some of their musical traditions and influenced each other’s world.The banjo, now central in American folk music, is an instrument brought over to the Americas by African slaves. In other states, the music of African slaves was banned unless it accompanied an approved religious activity. Drums were banned because they were seen as especially dangerous since drum sounds were linked to language and gave slaves a way to communicate that could not be controlled or understood by slave owners.To compensate for a lack of instruments, people who were enslaved relied on other forms of musical expression. “Hambone,” a style of body percussion, was used as a substitute for drums, as it served a rhythmic function for music. To play hambone, a person uses his or her hands to hit the chest and thighs to create different slapping sounds. Playing household objects also became necessary. Just as instruments were made in Africa from natural materials that were available to people when they were free, enslaved Africans used the resources available to them in their environments. An example of this is the playing of spoons, another type of body percussion. Vocal traditions also flourished among African people under slavery. Songs were used to soothe the heart and send messages of possible escape routes. Current music forms such as the Blues, Soul and Gospel grew out of the strong vocal traditions of early African Americans.
Music expression in Africa varied from one cultural group to the other, but most traditions commonly shared certain characteristics. African songs were intended to accompany religious ceremonies and dancing, to inspire hunters, to coordinate work, and to celebrate events such as the birth of a child. Music was woven into the culture, forming part of ordinary living, almost as commonplace as speech. In the Americas, enslaved Africans used music and dance for:
Black gospel music exhibits the African connection of gospel music to the continent and its people. This music draws from both white and black sources. The black influence can be traced to spirituals, which where sung in service meetings attended by slaves. This genre represents an adaptation of African ways of singing to hymnody. This can be noted in the use of syncopation and re-accentuation, flexible inflections and blue notes, and Call and Response delivery. Black gospel is one genre that coincided with the beginnings of Ragtime, Blues and Jazz and the rise of the Pentecostal churches at the end of the 19th century.
The African musical influences in Rock and Roll can be traced back to the plantation songs of Stephen Foster, the ragtime of Scott Joplin, the blues of Bessie Smith, the jazz of Count Basie, and the jump bands of Louis Jordan. The knowledge of the stream of American popular music allows one to understand that rock and roll was a natural result of the combined forces that affected the music.
The slave trade brought Africans to the Americas to work in the plantations. In some states in the U.S., early European settlers and slaves shared some of their musical traditions and influenced each other’s world.The banjo, now central in American folk music, is an instrument brought over to the Americas by African slaves. In other states, the music of African slaves was banned unless it accompanied an approved religious activity. Drums were banned because they were seen as especially dangerous since drum sounds were linked to language and gave slaves a way to communicate that could not be controlled or understood by slave owners.To compensate for a lack of instruments, people who were enslaved relied on other forms of musical expression. “Hambone,” a style of body percussion, was used as a substitute for drums, as it served a rhythmic function for music. To play hambone, a person uses his or her hands to hit the chest and thighs to create different slapping sounds. Playing household objects also became necessary. Just as instruments were made in Africa from natural materials that were available to people when they were free, enslaved Africans used the resources available to them in their environments. An example of this is the playing of spoons, another type of body percussion. Vocal traditions also flourished among African people under slavery. Songs were used to soothe the heart and send messages of possible escape routes. Current music forms such as the Blues, Soul and Gospel grew out of the strong vocal traditions of early African Americans.
Music expression in Africa varied from one cultural group to the other, but most traditions commonly shared certain characteristics. African songs were intended to accompany religious ceremonies and dancing, to inspire hunters, to coordinate work, and to celebrate events such as the birth of a child. Music was woven into the culture, forming part of ordinary living, almost as commonplace as speech. In the Americas, enslaved Africans used music and dance for:
| Purpose: | Diffusion Resulted in: |
| a) Easing pain of work | Works songs, the Blues |
| b) Worship | Gospel traditions |
| c) Communication | Drums and songs used to pass secrets messages |
| d) Entertainment | Minstrels |
Jazz
Jazz is one of the musical traditions that developed out of the interchange between Africa and European musical traditions in the Americas. Jazz is a musical genre created mainly by Africans living in the Americas who amalgamated elements drawn from African music and European-American music traditions. It developed in three stages:- First, the development in the 18th and 19th century of an indigenous black folk music from African and European –American elements.
- Second, the rise of instrumental music in urban areas after the abolition of slavery from other African-American traditions, notably plantation and minstrel songs, ragtime, and blues. Black Americans were becoming well versed on instruments that were brought from Europe, such as the piano and horns, applying an African rhythmic sensibility, percussiveness, and need for improvisation to the playing of these instruments.
- Third, the appearance of jazz itself, merging blues, ragtime and mainstream popular music.
Blues
Just after the civil war in the United States, a popular musical tradition known as The Blues developed out of field hollers and prison songs. Though African Americans were legally free at this time, the work that was available to them was hard, heavy work for which they were paid very little. Men labored in fields for farmers in exchange for a small plot to plant, or they helped with civic projects such as building levees to prevent rivers from flooding. It was common in those days for prisoners to be locked together with chains for labor projects such as pounding rocks into gravel. The rhythms of these types of labor served as backdrops for songs about suffering, poverty and women. The term “Blues” itself refers to a state of mind that suggests sadness, struggle and suffering. Many of the songs contain lamentations about life in the plantations and the suffering endured by the slaves. Blues instrumental styles show links with African music. Stringed instruments such as guitars and one-stringed bows are used with bottle necks to provide a singing-type sound on the instrument, and a Blues singer will utilize the Call and Response musical form to play a song with his instrument.Gospel
Gospel is a body of religious song that is prevalent in North America and has captured the attention of both the young and old audiences throughout the world. Gospel reflects aspects of the personal religious experiences of Protestant Evangelical groups, both black and white. If you remember Rev. Andrea Chrouch and Jimmy Swaggart, they both represent two streams of gospel in North America.Black gospel music exhibits the African connection of gospel music to the continent and its people. This music draws from both white and black sources. The black influence can be traced to spirituals, which where sung in service meetings attended by slaves. This genre represents an adaptation of African ways of singing to hymnody. This can be noted in the use of syncopation and re-accentuation, flexible inflections and blue notes, and Call and Response delivery. Black gospel is one genre that coincided with the beginnings of Ragtime, Blues and Jazz and the rise of the Pentecostal churches at the end of the 19th century.
Rock and Roll
Rock and Roll is another product of African musical traits brought here beginning with slavery which combined with European music brought here by the colonists. It is a musical genre that has been popularized by North America, Europe and Asia. It is often described as beginning with Bill Haley and His Comets and includes scant information about the blues and rhythm records that he, and others, used as a model. The most popular artist associated with this genre is Elvis Presley who had this hit song: "Good Rocking Tonight", originally Wyonnie Harris' 1947 song. African American Rock and Roller, Chuck Berry, was also very popular during Elvis’ time, but not as popular, many say because of his race. Elvis made Rock and Roll safer for white audiences, even though his dancing was controversial.The African musical influences in Rock and Roll can be traced back to the plantation songs of Stephen Foster, the ragtime of Scott Joplin, the blues of Bessie Smith, the jazz of Count Basie, and the jump bands of Louis Jordan. The knowledge of the stream of American popular music allows one to understand that rock and roll was a natural result of the combined forces that affected the music.
