Introduction

Music, over the years, has changed and evolved all over the world. The United States, a young country in comparison to many others, has developed its own type of music. American music, however, is not entirely original. Early American musicians were influenced by other countries’ music. Despite assistance from foreigners, the United States formed its own style of music as it grew. Though American music was originally greatly influenced by African and English music, it soon evolved into its own category.

Before the Revolutionary War, religious music was extremely popular. The violin and the flute were the most common instruments for a man to play, but many others were still well liked. For women, it was acceptable to play English guitars or harpsichords. Songs were commonly about love. Because, during this time, the United States belonged to England, they had a large influence on American music.

During the Revolutionary War, folk music was the most popular genre. Yankee Doodle was a well-liked song, and is still well known today. Other songs were mainly written about certain battles. William Billings, considered to be the first American composer, was actively writing during this period. Despite the fact the two countries were at war, England still remained a large influence on early American music.

Old-time and country music were the most popular genres of music after the Revolutionary War. America’s favorite songs were still from other countries, most still having a religious connotation. Most songs were still about love, but their topic was slowly changing to discuss their newly found independence. Slaves really began to embrace music, using what they had for instruments. They were very creative while composing. Religious, work, and recreational songs could be heard while those activities were taking place. During this time, “Amazing Grace” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” were written. “The Star-Spangled Banner,” America’s national anthem, was written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812. John Newton wrote “Amazing Grace” about his experiences on a slave ship. Between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, the United States grew not only in size, but also greatly expanded its musical repertoire. America began to create its own type of music, taking less lead from other countries and going for itself.

The Civil War was a war between the countries, but it was also a war involving music. Many songs discussed politics or military events. During this time, the genres diversified, from Mother Goose to gospel music to war music. Africans had a large influence on the music during this period. Also, Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” considered the Civil War anthem, gaining her much recognition despite the fact that she was a woman.

After the Civil War, new genres of music unique to America came about, with Scott Joplin creating ragtime music. Scott Joplin was a very important figure in United States’ history, since he was the first black man to write a grand opera. Also, he combined European styles with African harmony and rhythm, creating the first “true American” style. Popular songs included “Clementine” and “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” The phonograph, invented in 1877, was important to the expansion of music by allowing songs to be recorded in one place and heard in another.

What still needs work

-I still need more information on certain topics

-I don't know how everything will fit together

-I'm not sure if my thesis is very good

-I'm not sure if my paper will actually be interesting

Thesis+Outline

Thesis: Though American music was originally greatly influenced by African and English music, it soon evolved into its own category.

I. Revolutionary War Music

a. Pre-war:

i. Genres

ii. Types

iii. Songs

iv. Heavy influences

v. Popular songs then still known today

b. During war

i. Genres

ii. Types

iii. Songs

iv. Yankee Doodle

v. Instruments

vi. William Billings

vii. Heavy influences

viii. Popular songs then still known today

II. Post-Revolutionary War

a. Old-time music

b. Genres

c. Types

d. Songs

e. Slave’s music

f. Amazing Grace

g. Francis Scott Key

h. Influences

i. Popular songs then still known today

III. Civil War

a. Pre/During

i. Genres

ii. Types

iii. Songs

iv. Slave’s music

v. Julia Ward Howe

vi. Influences

vii. Popular songs then still known today

b. Post-War

i. Genres

ii. Types

iii. Songs

iv. Amazing Grace

v. Phonograph

vi. Influences

vii. Popular songs then still known today

IV. Conclusion

a. Heavy pre-Revolutionary War influences vs. heavy post-Civil War influences

i. What it shows

b. Evolution of genres/types of music from pre-Revolutionary War to post-Civil War

c. Importance of past music in today’s society-popular songs still known today

d. What all this shows about music today

e. What all this shows about influences and evolving into its own type of music

American music has evolved and has been influenced greatly over the years and shows the mood of the country as well.

Strengths:

-lots of different influences

-lots of examples of evolution

-lots of popular songs

-lots of popular artists

Weaknesses:

-random facts

-not connected yet

-broad

-maybe not the right information (?)

Popular Songs

Many popular songs in the 18^th and 19^th centuries were not written by Americans. Most came from Europe, especially from England, Scotland, and Ireland, and became well-known in the United States as people immigrated from these countries.

Most songs in the 18^th century are about love, similar to today. Most of the songs sung before the Revolutionary War are not still known today; however, many people do know the song Over the Hills and Far Away, which was popular during this time.

Songs from the Revolutionary War period were mainly about specific battles, gaining freedom, and defeating the British. One song, How Happy the Soldier, was all about how happy the soldiers were to be fighting and how strong they were. Most of these songs were lost in the years; however, Yankee Doodle did transcend the years.

Once again, before the Civil War, most songs were about love. Many others, though, were about their newfound freedom, such as America (or My Country ‘Tis of Thee), The Patriotic Diggers, and The Star Spangled Banner, now the national anthem, was written during this time. Many other songs were about the singer’s past, having them reminisce on their childhood. Sons such as The Old Oaken Bucket; Woodman, Spare that Tree; and Van Diemen’s Land show this well.

During the Civil War, songs either “belonged” to the Confederates or the Union. One song, Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! originally belonged to the Union, but it got so popular that the Confederates stole it and changed the lyrics. Some songs still known today are Battle Hymn of the Republic, John Brown’s Body, and When Johnny Comes Marching Home.

Popular songs after the Civil War are now popular children’s songs. Grandfather’s Clock, Clementine, and I’ve Been Working on the Railroad are still sung today, especially by children.

"Yankee Doodle." Contemplations from the Marianas Trench/Folk Music of Britain, Ireland & America. Web. 21 Feb. 2010. .

Genres of Music from 1606-1900

Music can help interpret history. People write what they feel, and if others can relate to it, even better. “Music can offer a more accurate picture of people and events than any other method available.” This is a very true statement, especially when historians have little to base facts off.

In the Colonial Era, from about 1606-1776, religious music was popular, especially English hymns brought to America. Around 1667, Benjamin Franklin published a book of ballads and operas also came onto the scene. Religious music, nursery rhymes, ballads, and political songs were the most popular. Songs to represent this time period are A Mighty Fortress is Our God, The Eighth of January, and Yankee Doodle.

Printing single songs began during the Revolutionary War and the post-colonial era. African slaves began to write music, and folk music and ballads were very popular. Music was still very closely linked to England. In 1814, the Star Spangled Banner was written. Other representations of this period are Rock of Ages, America, Oh Shenandoah!, Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, and Johnny’s Gone For a Soldier. The most popular genres were fiddle tunes, negro spirituals and slave songs, and folk music.

During the Civil War and the Reconstruction era was all about political and military events. Some good examples are still well known today, such as Amazing Grace, Battle Hymn of the Republic, When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again, and Carry me Back to Old Virginny. The popular genres of music diversified, including Civil War music, gospel, Mother Goose, work songs (for railroads and western expansion), ragtime, Broadway musicals, old time music, Texas music, minstrelry, and jazz. Folklore music also began its roots there, including Indians’, negroes’, mountaineers’, cowboys’, lumberjacks’, and sailors’ music.

Types of Music

Most music from the early 19^th century had a religious connotation. Some examples are Amazing Grace and Coronation. The first music books printed were also religious, such as Episcopalian Harmony, Evangelical Harmony, and Plain Psalmody. To make it easier for Americans to sing hymns, Little and Smith wrote The Easy Instructor in 1801. It used shape notation, which is when the notes have different shapes, which helps people learn their parts of a song more quickly. Many religious musical groups also popped up, such as the Dartmouth Handel Society.

Country singers, which made up 95% of the American population, did not need books to tell them the tunes, just the words. The songs were sung to well-known melodies. Many also liked to visit others, dance, play and listen to music, walk, play games, and a variety of other activities. They also enjoyed going to camp meetings, or religious revivals, in which everyone would join together to sing and pray. At one meeting, more than 10,000 people showed up.

Popular songs were commonly from other countries, such as England and Scotland. Greensleeves and Froggy Went A-Courtin’ were two popular tunes to sing. The first orchestra in the United States was the Harvard College Orchestra, which was organized in 1809.

While on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, boatman Pierre Cruzatte would play his fiddle to entertain these explorers and the Indians. Indians believed that music was magical, and enjoyed it greatly. However, most of theirs was not written down until the late 1800s, so most was, sadly, lost.

Revolutionary War Instruments

A wide variety of instruments were used around the Revolutionary War time period. Most instruments that exist today were played during this time.

The most popular instrument during the Revolutionary War was the violin. All classes played this instrument: from Thomas Jefferson to indentured servants to slaves. The price could be extremely high or very cheap, mainly because most of the violins were imported. For the most part, the violin was reserved for men to play.

The next most popular instrument was the flute. There were many different kinds of flutes, such as the fife, the recorder (also called the common or English flute), and the transverse flute (also called the German flute). The flute was another instrument mainly played by males.

Women, on the other hand, had to keep up a reputation, so they had few instrumental options to play. The English guitar, which no longer exists, had a flat back and a teardrop shape. It had ten strings, and was similar to the Renaissance cittern. The English guitar was tuned to an open C chord.

Wealthy women had the opportunity to play the harpsichord. For many women, this was their instrument of choice, if they could afford to play it. They would practice frequently, and play only for family and friends.

The other acceptable instruments during the Revolutionary War period were the harp and the Baroque guitar. The Baroque guitar is similar to today’s guitars, only smaller, and with only ten strings.

Drums, trumpets, trombones, French horns, cellos, violas de gamba, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, glass harmonicas, hammered dulcimers, and organs were also popular instruments in the colonies for men during the Revolutionary War.

Slave's Music

There were three distinct types of music in a slave’s life: religious, work, and recreational. They combined parts of African and European music to form many different genres, such as gospel, jazz, and blues.

Since slaves were typically not given instruments, they had to make do with what they had. Slaves would use their voices and switch it up by singing together, alone, or in call-and-response. Lots of improvisation occurred to make different songs sound very different depending upon who sung it. Slaves would also use their hands and feet by clapping and stomping to make the beat like traditional African music. One instrument that was sometimes available was the banjo. It had many other names, such as the banjar, banger, bangelo, strum strum, and the merrwang. The banjo combined the rhythmic African music with melodious European music. The fiddle was also a popular instrument, especially for dancing. Drums used to be available to slaves until whites began to surmise (correctly) that they were sending messages through the drums, since they could practically sound like voices. Drums would accompany voices and dances. Everyday objects were also used. They could make a variety of rhythms and tones with different objects.

Religious songs were typically a cappella with clapping and stomping to keep the beat. They were inspired not only by African traditions, but also by Christianity. Some typical religious songs were “Look Down That Long, Lonesome Road,” “Run Old Jeremiah,” “Do, Lord, Remember Me,” “House Done Built Without Hands,” and “Meet Me in Jerusalem.”

Work songs would help slaves synchronize their tasks and take their minds off their labor. Also called “field hollers,” they often were call-and-response. Some examples of work songs were “Arwhoolie,” “Quittin’ Time Song 2,” “Mealtime Call,” “Hammer, Ring,” and “It Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad.” Instruments were typically not used, since they were in the fields.

Recreational songs allowed slaves to relax, dance, or just enjoy music typically performed on string instruments. Some songs were “Shortnin’ Bread,” “Bile Them Cabbage Down,” “Rosey,” “Soldier’s Joy,” and “Go to Sleep.”

"Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience: Education, Arts, & Culture |." PBS. Web. 14 Jan. 2010. .

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace is a song that many people know today. It has touching lyrics that speak of God, and how a man found God. However, the lyrics are really talking about John Newton’s life.

John Newton, born in 1725, worked as a ship captain on a slave ship until the 1750s. Over the years he tad this job, he took about six million people from Africa to be slaves in the United States. He would trade them for alcohol, weapons, and other objects. Over his tenure as a slave trader, he never freed a slave. One day, Newton had a close call with his life. His ship got caught in a storm, and he just got out alive. Because of this tragedy, he became a Christian.

Upon his return, Newton became a priest. While in this profession, Newton composed Amazing Grace. The date of composition is unsure, however people believe it was around 1772. The melody is believed to come from a song slaves sung while on the ship, awaiting their fate in the United States. The lyrics show how regretful Newton was for his first lifestyle.

Through the years, the song had many different titles as well as some changes. Today, the song is an uplifting tune that few would believe originated from the slave trade. It is used today as an inspirational song that will give hope to those who need it. Amazing Grace shows how a man, John Newton, changed, felt remorse for his actions, and changed.

Blog Ideas

-Different instruments used

-what the National Anthem used to be

-genres of music

-what came before the phonograph

-slave's music

-Indian's music

-different influences (black, Indian, European, etc.) and how they affected music

-music as entertainment

-similarities to music today

-adaptation of instruments/popular music

-music written in America/original to the US vs. music from foreign countries

-Amazing Grace

-concerts

5 IDs

Phonograph

The phonograph, invented by Thomas Edison, made it possible for people to record sounds and replay them for anyone hear. Because of this invention, people tried to make talking dolls, which were originally a disaster. It changed the way people were able to listen to music.

Edison was not the first person to come up with this idea. In April 1877, Frenchman Charles Cros described an invention that could record and replay sounds. Just months later, in July 1877, Edison went to patent the machine in Britain. The patent was for a sound recording and replaying that sound.

While waiting for the patent, John Krusei, Edison’s assistant, created a device that looked like the phonautograph, a machine that could record sound. The phonograph went a step further, being able to then reproduce that sound. The phonograph had a handle and a horn, and to record sound, one would turn the handle and speak into the horn. It recorded the noise by making spiral indentations on the tinfoil. If the stylus was placed back into the groove where the recording began and the handle was turned, the sound would be replayed.

Edison asked for about 600 tinfoil phonographs to be made. The phonograph did not gain popularity until about ten years later. Though originally designed as an office dictation machine, people soon began to use it for amusement, playing music in arcades. Edison then began to make improvements to his invention so that there could be a cheap home record player.

"History of Phonograph Record Technology - Introduction of the Graphophone." The History of Sound Recording Technology. Web. 03 Jan. 2010. .

Yankee Doodle

A popular American song, Yankee Doodle is still well known today. Today, however, it is a children’s song. The song was known all around the colonies.

Yankee Doodle was composed during the French and Indian War. New England colonists joined Braddock’s troops at Niagara, and were the opposite of the flawless British force. The colonists, on the other hand, wore buckskins and furs and were not well organized. A British army surgeon, Dr. Richard Schuckburg, wrote the song making fun of the colonists living in the 1750s. Some surmise it to be a takeoff of the nursery rhyme Lucy Locket. Upon hearing the song, the colonists made the song theirs. When the colonists won the war at Yorktown, they played Yankee Doodle. Many different versions of the song arose, not all of them kind. Some made fun of George Washington and other officers. It is believed that there are at least 190 verses of Yankee Doodle.

This song was very popular. It is widely known even today, proving that it is a classic song that was extremely important to the colonists when they were fighting the war. Yankee Doodle probably lifted the troops’ morale, especially since they probably came up with the verses themselves. Yankee Doodle was a very important song to the 18^th century and the Revolutionary War, and is still popular among children today.

"Yankee Doodle." Contemplations from the Marianas Trench/Folk Music of Britain, Ireland & America. Web. 03 Jan. 2010. .

adlkf

Old-Time Music

Old-time music is the type of music traditional to the Southern Appalachian Mountains. It was valuable to the area, but it was not widespread, since the radio and records had not yet been invented. However, in the 1960s brought back the folk music. Now, there are not many fans of this type of music, but it is still important to music’s history.

Old-time music was inspired by the fiddle music from the British Isles and black musicians’ influences, both free and enslaved. It really combined the banjo and the fiddle, from Africa and Europe, respectively. Old-time music was for all occasions: dancing, parlors, and ballads. However, there were never any concerts.

Good fiddlers were highly respected in town. The banjo adapted in American cities before the Civil War. This war helped to spread banjos and minstrel tunes popular in the Appalachian Mountains. The guitar came later, but was used in old-time music once it was invented.

Every state, region, and county had a very distinct style. Since there were no recordings or radio at this time, songs were passed down orally; only people who lived near each other knew those songs. Old-time music was vital to the Appalachian Mountains, and is a perfect example of the combining of cultures in American music.

"Old-Time Music." Welcome to my Web Site. Web. 03 Jan. 2010. .

Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin was the “King of Ragtime” music. His music was very popular during his time. He was an extremely talented artist who persevered in his music despite the fact that he was black. His music was in the movie The Sting, and Joplin won a Pulitzer Prize for his opera Treemonisha. Sadly, both of these occurrences happened after his death in 1917.

Scott Joplin grew up in Texarkana, Texas. At only seven years old, he was already showing his proficiency for music, beginning on the banjo and continuing on to master the piano. He then moved to St. Louis and combined European classical music with African harmony and rhythm to form ragtime music. This was his specialty. He joined with seven other people to form his Texas Medley Quartette. The group became popular and would tour around the country, as far east as Syracuse, New York.

Joplin’s most popular compositions were Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer. By 1911, he had composed about 60 pieces of music. His opera, Treemonisha, was the first time an African American had composed a grand opera. It failed at first, but then went on to win a Pulitzer Prize. Today, Joplin is respected as a musician, and was the first black man to write a grand opera.

"Scott Joplin (1868-1917)." Lone Star Junction: A Texas and Texas History Resource. Web. 03 Jan. 2010. .

The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance was an opera written by Gilbert, Sullivan, and Carte. It was an immediate hit among audiences in the United States. Sullivan described it as, “a great success, for it is exquisitely funny, and the music is strikingly tuneful and catching.” Today, it is “one of the most popular and enduring works of musical theatre.”

Before The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore had many unauthorized productions. Gilbert, Sullivan, and Carte were angry about this, so they decided to have official presentations of the following opera. The premiere of The Pirates of Penzance took place on December 31, 1879 at the Fifth Avenue Theater in New York. Sullivan conducted the performance. To copyright the opera in England, one performance was given in the Royal Bijou Theatre in Paignton, England. It ran successfully for more than three months in New York.

The Pirates of Penzance is about a man named Frederic who was apprenticed to some pirates as a boy. His nurse could not hear well, so she thought his father said “pirates,” not “pilots.” He turns 21, and cannot wait to return to civility on the mainland. However, he was born on leap day, so he is not free until his 21^st birthday. This opera was extremely popular in the United States, and is still well known today.

"The Pirates of Penzance by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan." Boise State University Department of Mathematics. Web. 03 Jan. 2010. .