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. .

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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. .

video link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ffyhSbX9U

This clip is a group, Dolcy Jones, playing music from the 19^th century. The group was formed in 2003, but they wear costumes and make sets so it appears as if they were from the 1800s. Dolcy Jones is playing in the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, which has black walnut paneling that was actually from the 1860s. The singers are Susan Hugelmeyer, soprano; Lisa Kelly, alto; Dan Entriken, tenor; and Arthur Kirmss, bass. The song sung in this clip was written in Brooklyn and New York City.

4 Bios

William Billings

William Billings is considered by many to have been the first American composer. He also wrote the first collection of songs written solely by an American composer. He influenced American folk music greatly. 4 Bios

Billings was born on October 7, 1746 in Boston. He became a tanner when he grew up, and was friends with Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. Billings then taught himself how to play and read music. He composed a variety music from different genres; he wrote hymns, anthems, psalms, and fuging tunes. A fuging tune is “a form of hymnody developed by American composers.” Not only were his genres varied, but he also could convey different emotions through his songs. From the feeling of glory to sadness to a comedic twist to the sobering feeling of a canon being shot, Billings easily maneuvered through the difficulties of being a musician. In addition to all this, Billings also supposedly was without an eye and a leg. Billings’ music was “noted for its rhythmic vitality, freshness, and straightforward harmonies.” Two of the hymns he wrote, “The Rose of Sharon” and “Anthem for Easter,” were two of the most popular early hymns in America. He published six songbooks, including The New-England Psalm-Singer, The Singing Master’s Assistant, and The Continental Harmony. The Singing Master’s Assistant was also known as “Billings’ Best.”

William Billings was an important figure in the past of American music. The first American composer, he led the way for everyone who would follow. Billings, despite teaching himself music as well as lacking an eye and a leg, persevered to write six books of songs. A large influence on the music of his time, Billings greatly helped to develop American music.

"William Billings." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 05 Dec. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/65419/William-Billings>.

John Knowles Paine

John Knowles Paine is considered to be one of the greatest composers of all time. He composed many symphonies that were played all over the world. Especially for his time, this is an impressive feat.

Born on January 9, 1839 in Portland Maine, Paine began to learn music. His teacher was Hermann Kotzchmar. Paine first performed as an organist in 1857. The following year, he moved to Germany to expand his studies. There, he learned about the organ, composition, instrumentation, and singing. Paine played many concerts in Germany, and then moved back to the United States. Upon his arrival, he earned the title of instructor of music at Harvard, and in 1872 was appointed full title professor of music. Paine was the first person to hold that position. Paine’s first symphony was introduced by Theodore Thomas on January 6, 1876 in Boston. Some of Paine’s compositions are “Edipus Tyrannus,” “The Centennial Hymn,” “Phoebus, arise,” “A Song of Promise,” “Spring symphony,” and an overture to Shakespeare’s “As you Like It.”

John Knowles Paine composed many famous songs and was an international composer. He had many different teachers, diversifying his music. Working in Germany, he helped to include a German twist to his music. John Knowles Paine was a large influence on American music and helped to expand the United States’ music repertoire.

"John Knowles Paine." Hall of North and South Americans. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

Francis Scott Key

Franis Scott Key was the author of our National Anthem. The only song he wrote, Key died a one-hit-wonder. However, his accomplishment still affects people today, and his song is probably played many times each day.

Key was born on August 1, 1779 in Maryland. At the age of ten, he was sent away to Annapolis to go to grammar school. After graduating, Key remained in Annapolis to study law and work with his uncle’s firm. By age 26, he had his own successful practice in Georgetown, Washington D.C. He soon gained the title of United States District Attorney. Key was extremely religious, one time stopping his law practice to join the clergy. His other great love was for his country. For this reason, despite the fact that he despised the War of 1812, he enlisted in the Georgetown field artillery. During the war, the British captured Key’s close friend, William Beanes. A great lawyer, Key was enlisted to assist Colonel John Skinner, who worked for prisoner exchanges, to free Beanes. The British agreed to release Beanes; however, the three could not return to the mainland until after the British had bombed Fort McHenry. The bombardment continued for 25 hours, and when the bombing ceased, Key glanced up to see if the American flag was still there. He then wrote a poem, called “Defence of Fort McHenry,” later to be renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It was a common patriotic song, and became the national anthem in 1931. Sadly, Key passed away on January 11, 1843 of pleurisy when he went to Baltimore to visit his daughter.

Francis Scott Key greatly affected this country. Thanks to him, the “Star-Spangled Banner” is our national anthem. All across the nation there are monuments to recognize what he did for the USA.

"Fort McHenry - Francis Scott Key." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

Julia Ward Howe

An activationist, a suffragist, and a poet, Julia Ward Howe gained fame by writing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Not only did she write what was considered to be the anthem for the Civil War, but she also fought for women’s rights, far ahead of her time.

Howe had six children, read and spoke seven languages, and had works of writing, including poems, published. She had a career as an activist, author, teacher, and preacher. Her most famous poem was “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” It was played to the tune of John Brown’s Body and made Howe a famous figure in America. Writing this song was not her only accomplishment, however. She also fought for women’s rights and led the struggle for abolition, Women’s Suffrage, and world peace. Far ahead of her time, people are still just realizing some of her ideas.

Julia Ward Howe certainly changed America. She fought for women’s rights and wrote what was considered to be an anthem for the United States. “Battle Hymn of the Republic” gained Howe fame, and with that fame she tried to help women everywhere. “Battle Hymn of the Republic was an extremely popular song, especially during the civil war, and many people still know the song today.

Julia Ward Howe - Home. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

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