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There are many examples of which European religious music have been borrowed by black Americans, the key characteristics of their African-heritage were never forgotten such as improvisation, vocal slides and shouts, call-and-response style singing can all be found even in modern day gospel. Many of the lyrics and texts are performed in a half sung, half spoken manner which became a signature vocal technique. Vowel sounds like “ah”, “oh”, “yeah” etc. are mixed within the melodies as prolongations and or ornamentations to the music. Some words could form an entire melody with such elongations on its own. (Roach 24) Musicians can often alter the melodies and improvised vocal riffs in addition to the main melody which is an extension of the purpose …show more content…
of emotion expression in African based music. Singing multiple notes over a single melody, melisma, also existed in Western Classical music. However, its main purpose acted as a part of the melody instead of the ornamentations presented in gospels. Gospels derives its content from the Christian bible, some songs are interpretations of existing hymns while other references stories within the scripture. Hymns usually have simple four part harmonies, while the melody is harmonized by other parts with the same words and rhythm; gospel re-arranges that configuration by giving melodies to multiple voice parts creating polyphony and adds multiple layers of rhythm within the sections. The Classical ideals of beauty within simplicity, within the contour of the melody, the structure of the harmonies were the main consideration while composing a hymn. Gospel music expands from it and re-anchor the music into focusing on emotion expression and delivering the message from its Biblical references. When different cultures meet, the dominant of the two would usually impose its traditions onto the underrepresented side and over time, its own cultural characteristics would decay.
Although White and Black Americans were very clearly segregated and European culture was oppressing the spread of African ideals, it is surprising to witness how neither culture assimilated into one another, as there were several conditions that allow this phenomenon to happen. Firstly, it was undeniable that a huge part of Europe’s economy relied on the production from the slaves to provide the necessary primary goods. Therefore a huge number of slaves were sent to American to meet this demand for labor. The African heritage was constantly refreshed in the peoples mind from the continuous waves of Africans capture and sent to America. Secondly, the multi-tribal composition the African-Americans turned American into a huge cultural furnace as the different traditions meet and interact closely. With limited historical/political/social constrain due to their enslaved status, African-Americans became very adaptive to their constantly changing environment. Thirdly, the introduction of Christianity established a pathway for the slaves to learn English which was forbidden by law as they got in touch with hymn singing. As African traditions heavily revolves around music, hymn singing was then merged with features of African music. These conditions “gives witness to a form out of which slaves sang the blues before there was a blues; where it has ceased, other forms have encased the function formerly served by lining out.” (Dargan 9) Its potential of unceasing adaptation resisted and endured the dominance of European culture, which prevented cultural assimilation where black slaves would be completely removed from their African
heritage.
African-American slaves may not have had the formal education that many of their white slave owners possessed, but they intuitively knew that the labor they toiled through each and every day was unjust. This dynamic of unfairness brought about a mindset in which slaves would critique the workings of slavery. To many people’s understanding, slavery was an invasively oppressive institution; Levine however, noted, “for all its horrors, slavery was never so complete a system of psychic assault that it prevented the slaves from carving out independent cultural forms” . Slave spirituals were a part of the independent cultural form that enslaved African-Americans produced; these songs had numerous functions and critiquing slavery served as one of
According to Albert Murray, the African-American musical tradition is “fundamentally stoical yet affirmative in spirit” (Star 3). Through the medium of the blues, African-Americans expressed a resilience of spirit which refused to be crippled by either poverty or racism. It is through music that the energies and dexterities of black American life are sounded and expressed (39). For the black culture in this country, the music of Basie or Ellington expressed a “wideawake, forward-tending” rhythm that one can not only dance to but live by (Star 39).
It must be noted that for the purpose of avoiding redundancy, the author has chosen to use the terms African-American and black synonymously to reference the culture, which...
Africanisms in America are a highly surveyed topic for the black community. Joseph E. Holloway describes Africanisms as “those elements of culture found in the New World that are traceable to an African origin” (Holloway 2). I believe, that africanisms are the traditions and cultural behaviors of African Americans that resemble the some of the same traditions and cultures in Africa. Which makes you ponder about what current elements does our culture use that ties back to Africa. Which in fact there are several africanisms that still exist. African Americans have retained an essence of Africa in their speech, hair care, clothing, preparation of foods, and music by over centuries of separation from the Dark Continent.
Sprouted from slavery, the African American culture struggled to ground itself steadily into the American soils over the course of centuries. Imprisoned and transported to the New World, the African slaves suffered various physical afflictions, mental distress and social discrimination from their owners; their descendants confronted comparable predicaments from the society. The disparity in the treatment towards the African slaves forged their role as outliers of society, thus shaping a dual identity within the African American culture. As W. E. B. DuBois eloquently defines in The Souls of Black Folk, “[the African American] simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and
African American religious music is the foundation of all contemporary forms of so called “black music.” African American religious music has been a fundamental part of the black experience in this country. This common staple of the African American experience can be traced back to the cruel system of slavery. It then evolved into what we refer to today as gospel music. The goal of this paper is to answer three main questions. What are the origins of African American religious music? How did this musical expression develop into a secular form of music? What is the future of African American religious music? These questions will be answered through factual research of African American traditions, artists, and various other sources.
Black culture is the epitome of what defines America’s understanding of cool. It is difficult to define what it means to be cool without stating the influence or impact of the culture. The idea of cool developed as a social attitude implemented by black men during slavery which they used as a defense mechanism in order to cope with exploitation and injustice. It is now spread by hip hop culture which has integrated itself into mainstream society. As a result, black culture continues to play a vital role in America due to its innovative and creature nature.
Slave’s masters consistently tried to erase African culture from their slave’s memories. They insisted that slavery had rescued blacks form the barbarians from Africa and introduced them to the “superior” white civilization. Some slaves came to believe this propaganda, but the continued influence of African culture in the slave community added slave resistance to the modification of African culture. Some slaves, for example, answered to English name in the fields but use African names in their quarters. The slave’s lives were filled with surviving traits of African culture, and their artwork, music, and other differences reflected this influence.
Humans from the coast of West Africa arrived to the New World as slaves. Stripped of everything familiar, they brought with them their traditional ways of using music to record historic events, expressions, and to accompany rituals. While toiling in the tobacco fields of Virginia, slaves were not permitted to speak to each other. So, they resorted to their African tradition. They sang!
African Americans started to go to school and became accustomed to American culture, so church became a regular thing. In the church they would sing, clap, stomp, and have a call and response way of singing, called Negro Spiritual. Soon Negro Spiritual became well known and some choruses went abroad to Europe or Africa to sing.
The United States of America has always had a problems with cohesive cultural values. Due to the fact that it 's a country where cultural values don 't always mean the same for people. It 's a melting pot, no one culture is the same so therefore there is no set cultural value. More than that, it 's a symbol of overcoming and perseverance through times where people were under represented and unequal in the eyes of those who surrounded them. Struggle is no stranger to the African American culture, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments aided in the equality among blacks in whites. Historically, even with these amendments in place, blacks had a long way to go. The black fist, cannot be mentioned without accounting for the black power movement and
Music nurtured the African American tradition and their struggle towards equality in the same century.... ... middle of paper ... ... Greensboro, N.C.: Morgan Reynolds Pub. Carter, D. (2009).
Throughout the nineteenth century, the relationship between Africans and White settlers had never been exactly pleasant, most Africans were slaves who were usually treated badly and therefore never did respect their white owners. However, over time, these slaves began to revolutionize their culture, language, and points of view based on their environment. Many changes were occurring in this period of time, thus creating countless opportunities for the African Americans to fabricate their new culture.
Music played a very important role in the lives of people is diaspora communities. It served as a reminder for the immigrants of their homeland, which allowed them to proudly express their national and cultural identities. Diaspora refers to an international network of communities linked together by the identification of a common ancestral homeland and culture. People in these communities are no longer living in their homelands, with no guarantee of a return either. (Bakan, 19). Music played a large role in African diaspora communities. This was first started by the slave trades many years ago when slave traders traveled to the coast of West Africa to capture Africans and brought them back to the United States to be slaves on plantations. Slaves were more prone to loose a sense of their own culture because every new aspect of their lives was forced upon them, therefore they were undoubtedly forced to abandon their n...
Small, Christopher. Music of the Common Tongue: Survival and Celebration in African American Music. Hanover, NH: U of New England, 1998. Print