2-4. “After listening to the two examples of Anglo American folk music, and the two examples of African American folk music, you can hear plenty of differences in the two different folk styles. The Anglo American had loud dynamics that complimented its high pitch accents. In The Cuckoo the timbres of the lap dulcimer are very distinct and have low dynamics that pair well with the high pitch tone qualities of Jean Ritchie's voice. I also feel that Anglo American folk music is very in touch with nature, and that is portrayed in the two songs that we listened to. Anglo American folk is what I think of when I think of folk music. African American folk music is very in touch with emotion. The singers in African American folk music have much deeper
Last week I was sent out on mission to discover what connections could be found between two unlikely genres of music. When beginning my investigation I was determined to pick two genres that, on the surface seemed to have little in common but once you looked a little closer you would see that they are not that different after all. After some research I decided on Hawaiian folk and bluegrass music. At first both genres sound very different but with some examination connections are easily made. Musically the two genres link through their chord progression as well as their simple melodies and rhythms which are paired with rich textures.In order to see these connections some background information on both of the genres will help to paint a clearer picture.
"Hillbilly music,” “the high, lonesome sound,” and “old-time string band music” have all been used to describe bluegrass, though none of these terms is quite right.
Black folk traditions like spirituals and “ragged music” evolve into the blues, ragtime, and jazz.
. . common among negroes, in a rich, clear voice, accompanying his singing with many comic evolutions of the hands, feet, and whole body, all in perfect time of the music” (5).
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
Thus the similarity between ragtime and blues is significant but there are numerous differences between the two music styles. First, their origin was different. Even though they both had African influence as mentioned, ragtime was more strongly influenced by European music style, and blues was heavily African music style. According to Durk Sutro in his book Jazz for Dummies, “Ragtime was European-influenced, in the sense that it was composed, not improvised, and featured carefully crafted melodies and harmonies…ragtime could sound concisely European” (ch.5). Although European-influenced, there is some African influence such as rhythm and African banjo music as mentioned during the lecture. Ragtime rhythm was “the rhythms of the black dancers who used their heels to make drum sounds, or to that of the black church singers who could vary the rhythms of a Christian hymn so much that a white Christian could not even recognize it”(Tirro, pp.37).
Within popular black music from the early 1900s there was often a duplicitous message, allowing the authors to both entertain their audiences and provide a social critique. In their song, She’s Getting More Like the White Folks Every Day, George Walker and Bert Williams tell the story of a young black girl who, after working in a hotel for a richer white woman, takes on the habits and affectations of white folk. While at first this song might appear to simply be making fun of a young girl whose mannerisms have changed, when examined closely it reveals a powerful commentary on the meaning of blackness, specifically in regards to race relations, social progress, and gender. Black performance in the early 1900s, whether it was minstrelsy, vaudevillian, or coon songs, all relied upon the perceived differences of the black lower class. They usually featured white or black actors parodying black persons, with blackface a common trend. However, in She’s Getting More Like the White Folks Every Day, this mimicry is reversed. Rather than a white man taking on black traits, they show a young black girl adopting the mannerisms of her rich, white boss. Instead of using blackness as the primary source of humour, they rely upon a satire of white culture. By showing how unusual the young woman is acting, Williams and Walker impress upon their audience ideas of contrast between lower class black culture, and upper class white culture. Unlike usual themes present in the black and white
Spirituals, a religious folk song of American origin, particularly associated with African-American Protestants of the southern United States. The African-American spiritual, characterized by syncopation, polyrhythmic structure, and the pentatonic scale of five whole tones, is, above all, a deeply emotional song. Spirituals are really the most characteristic product of the race genius as yet in America. But the very elements which make them uniquely expressive of the Negro make them at the same time deeply representative of the soil that produced them. Spirituals were long thought to be the only original folk music of the United States, and research into its origin centered mainly on the nature and extent of its African
“When first entering in America, British folk music was distinguished by three-chord tunes, sparse instrumentation (with some fiddlers), mostly male performers, improvisation, the singers’ sporadic shouts (Scottish “yips”), Christian themes served up in hundreds of hymns, and a secular collection of songs that told stories, generally about love and lost love, using metaphor and symbol to tell those stories” (Allen 101). By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, British music changed and became Americanized. Vocal harmonizing slowly evolved, and fiddlers were accompanied by those who played banjo, an African American opening. “Tambourines and “bones” (tapping out rhythms using pork rib bones) were a minstrel show contribution” (Allen 102). When African Americans were forced into slavery and brought to North America in the 1600s, they brought their own musical traditions and sounds. Slaves who were on the Mississippi River Valley delta soil developed what will later be introduced as blues music. On the plantations, slaves greatly changed British American hymn singing. They took non-religious British American songs and turned it into their own forms of music that followed their culture and taste of music. Blues emerged in the early twentieth century at the same time country music became settled from its folk roots. Blues music talked about the indifferences African American slaves were going through at that time. “The blues voiced human
The Zuni Lullaby illustrates a contrast with Plains singing to assist in confirming that there is not an individual style to Native American music. Through the Native American styles of music, repetition becomes a prominent feature. This is not because the Native Americans can’t find words to fit into the music, but because repetitions with slight variations are often too insignificant for outside listeners to notice.
Folk is a musical style that is very lyrical and meaningful to the listener. Folk music is meant to be shared with a community and bring people together which is exactly what this program aims to do with our American Music Series. Folk music is set apart from other genres because it is not written for a profit but instead it is written to make the audience think about the life experience. Folk music often has very lyrical phrases that can sometimes
Throughout the history of this country, the music of African-Americans has remained a strong influence upon our society and culture. Beginning with the music carried over from Africa with the slaves, up until now, with the new styles created by urban youth today, African-Americans have retained certain elements within their music which makes it unique from any other musical form. Some of the musical forms which were created from, and/or were strongly influenced by afro-centric musical characteristics are: Hymnals, Gospel, Spirituals, Ragtime, the blues, and R&B. While many of these musical forms are still popular today amongst Blacks and Non-Blacks, jazz and hip-hop are arguably the two most widespread and
The history of American music begins with a fundamental process of exchange through all different social lines, where diverse cultures meet, and mix. Music has and always will be defined as sounds that are arranged in a particular pattern that are played to be meaningful and pleasurable. The chronology of music began in the Medieval period, when chanting was introduced into the Church. Music has then moved its way through many stages: renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and leading up to 20th century American music. American 20th century music is made up of a diverse number of styles that are reflected by cultural traditions and the era’s of the past. Immigrants from Spain, France, England, Germany and Ireland all contributed and brought their own unique styles to the forefront, hence creating American music. African Americans created influential musical traditions that include rhythm and improvisation that were later combined with European traditions and other indigenous music.
Firstly, the film made use of patois from the start to the end. Thelwell became concerned with the language as he wanted to retain the “Jamaican-ness” that played a massive role in Henzell’s film. Consequently, he did a mixture of patois and English throughout the novel. Both the Henzell and Thelwell increased the level of patois used in the film and novel as they progressed. This gave the reader and the audience time to assimilate the language and as such it was much easier to understand. This was an important part of the adaptation process. Perry Henzell utilized the element of music throughout the film. Thelwell, in his novelization of the film also maintained music throughout the novel. Thelwell also added a greater level of dimension to the music because of the historical element that he added. The music used, especially in Book one provided some evidence of African retention in the Blue Bay community. It could, therefore, be said that Thelwell used the music to his advantage, showing the remnants of colonialism and the oral history passed down through work songs. This, therefore, contradicts another fallacy of Leitch (2003) regarding novels and films being purely
Country music is constantly changing, an example of this is how women are now viewed in country music. The American form of music became popular in the 1920’s, and continued to grow, artists of this era include the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and Vernon Dalhart. One of country’s most well-known female singers is Dolly Parton, becoming a major country star in the 1970’s. Dolly was one of the first female artists to challenge the gender stereotypes in country music, this major success led to her long career. She has contributed over 35 hits to country and popular music, including her album Coat of Colors released in 1971, by RCA records was the album that changed her career. The 8th solo album made it onto Time Magazine 's 100 Greatest