African American Influence On Music

The author starts out by describing the harsh situation slaves were put in and how the black experience in America is a history of servitude and resistance, of survival in the land of death. The spirituals are the historical songs which tell us what the slaves did to hold themselves together and to fight back against their oppressors. In both Africa and America, music was directly related to daily life and was an expression of the community’s view of the world and its existence in it. The central theological concept, which is the prime religious factor, in the black spirituals is the divine liberation of the oppressed from slavery. Further, the theological assumption of black slave religion as expressed in the spirituals was that slavery contradicts God, and therefore, God will liberate black people. This factor came from the fact that many blacks believed in Jesus, and therefore, believed that He could save them from the oppression of slavery because of his death and resurrection. The fact that the theme of divine liberation was present in the slave songs is supported by three main assertions: the biblical literalism of the blacks forced them to accept the white viewpoints that implied God’s approval of slavery, the black songs were derived from white meeting songs and reflected the "white" meaning of divine liberation as freeing one from sin (not slavery), and that the spirituals do not contain "clear references to the desire for freedom". The extent of

The Negro Spirituals in antebellum America were packed full of theological significance and taught adults and children about living a life of faith (Massey 426). Also, the songs gave incredible encouragement to people who were being unjustly treated in deplorable conditions. As one author states, “The songs nurtured a sense of faith and hope in an oppressed people, which were passed on to subsequent generations” (Massey 427). Furthermore, there was a deep connection with the Old Testament nation of Israel and the African slaves in America; meaning, they identified “with Israel in bondage, and the idealization of Moses as the divine agent of liberation” (Newman 700). Also, as they longed for freedom, “The spirituals gave them a sense of identity

The roots of modern american rock and roll music, are firmly planted in Africa. As the native Africans were torn apart from their family’s and brought to the new world their lives were immediately and drastically changed forever. Finding themselves immersed in a completely new environment with a foreign culture, they thankfully persevered and carried on with their own traditions and most importantly to this paper, musical ones. Most American slaves originated from Western and Central Africa. The West Africans carried a musical tradition rich with long melody lines, complicated rhythms (poly rhythmics) and stringed instruments CITATION. The West Africans music was also strongly integrated into their everyday lives. Songs were preformed for religious ceremonies and dances and music was often a

America has had a longstanding problematic relationship with black people. Not only, have they been subjected to the atrocious lifestyle of slavery, they have been the subject of constant ridicule and injustice. The history of minstrel shows and minstrelsy reflect one of the many ways black people have been exploited. Though the practice or tradition of minstrelsy no longer exists in the way it did in the past, its long term effects are still present in today’s music culture and society.

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.

While hymns and Negro spirituals have become staples in predominantly Black churches, gospel music or music based on the gospel of Jesus Christ has taken a decidedly contemporary slant. Gospel music in many white churches was interpreted in a folksy, southern way. Gospel music in Black churches was expressed with the same passion and soul that the slaves had expressed before them. Though slavery had ended, Jim Crow had begun and the struggle that segregation, poverty, and oppression had brought was expressed in these churches and in song. For a community seeking “deliverance”, singing the gospel brought them one step closer to feeling free even when their lives were anything but.

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.

Point of fact, the music the African American society produce, does not speak to our way of life in general. Every one of the an entire, we as a whole don't do likewise things, for example, smoke weed and posse blast that some of our musical representors depict that we do. The make our way of life look repulsive from numerous points of view, however for the most part it gives us an awful out look towards different societies. In spite of the fact that we may give out a great deal of good motivational music, for example, Andrea Day 'Ascend,' the wrong exceed the great. The African American people group been through a ton however that is not a reason to give in and produce subliminal messages to the group that influence whatever is left of the African American people group that is attempting to live right.

A small weakness in this article is that the author does not give a lot of information on what might have caused the Afro-Americans to not bring a lot of their knowledge in their cultures over to America and how it affects society today. I think this author is very reliable because they used examples and talked a lot about the different topics throughout the article. The motivation of this author was to talk about how people are now looking at African and Afro-American music to gain more knowledge in the music world. Also, another motivation was to talk about the different types of music from

Rhythm and blues, also known today as “R & B”, has been one of the most influential genres of music within the African American Culture, and has evolved over many decades in style and sound. Emerging in the late 1940's rhythm and blues, sometimes called jump blues, became dominant black popular music during and after WWII. Rhythm and blues artists often sung about love, relationships, life troubles, and sometimes focused on segregation and race struggles. Rhythm and blues helped embody what was unique about black American culture and validate it as something distinctive and valuable.

Music always played an important role in African American culture, especially Jazz. Being one of the oldest musical genres in North America, it gained a lot of popularity. There were many popular styles, one being New Orleans Jazz dating back to the 19th century. When Jazz is mentioned, years of partying of the Charleston and Jazz bands came to mind. The Jazz age was an outburst of music, art, and culture in America.

For centuries, Gospel music has influenced and promoted African-American social, moral and ethical values, playing an imperative role in modelling their past and future. Originating from the hardships of slavery and the strength of Christian worship, Gospel music has adapted to musical tastes through the development of a number of sub-genres, while retaining its moral and spiritual framework. Throughout its musical history, Gospel music has had a profound and predominant influence on its devotees and followers. During the turbulent years of the American Civil Rights Movement, Gospel music played a vital role in building the foundations of stability and

creating their own brand and although the target audience may not be African-American consumers, there has been a correlation established between the two. This has decreased the affluence gap that never seemed to shorten between whites and blacks. With there not being any African-Americans in any of the professional sport teams available in America, only the white players received the financial benefits of participating in sports.

African Americans had influence on every genre in the world today. As stated during my presentation African American weren’t allowed to perform with whites. Many genre’s appeared while slavery was still allowed. One fact I found very odd is how African Americans weren’t allowed to do everything with whites and how we were looked down upon, but so many things were taken from our culture and put or combined with what the whites had “started”. Clearly our culture was very entertaining more than that of what the whites were doing; being that they had to portray us and where blackface.

Our cultures are what makes us who we are today, and one of the biggest things culture has provided us with is music.With the help of venues, artists, and schools jazz music is becoming a more popular genre. Jazz was once a popular way to express yourself and it greatly impacted many cultures. It also has greatly impacted the music we listen to today. There is an infinite amount of music genres, and jazz music is a very crucial one to our history.