African American vocal music Slaves not permitted to bring instruments Drumming specifically forbidden Playing of European instruments permitted Musicians also served as tribal historians and social commentators ID: 459983
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Slide1
The BluesSlide2
African American vocal music
Slaves not permitted to bring instruments
Drumming specifically forbiddenPlaying of European instruments permittedMusicians also served as tribal historians and social commentators
A vocal music unique to the African American experience is most direct, although not “perfect,” link to African heritageSlide3
Work Songs
Call and response
A “functional” musicCommon in plantation culture; after breakup of plantations they persisted in the Southern penitentiary system until the 1950sWork songs led to “field hollers” – solo calls free in form but similar in feeling to the blues; field hollers contributed to the vocal style of the blues
“Berta
Berta
”
“Work Song”Slide4
General characteristics of the
Blues
Appeal to senses rather than intellectGenerally highly personal – often focused on topics such as love, death, sexuality, life conditions, etc.
Country Blues” vs. “City Blues”Guitar accompaniment vs. piano or multiple instruments.“Free” form & rhythm vs. 12-bar structure.“Earthy” lyrics vs. more sophistication in content & melody.
Expressive but “undeveloped” vocals vs. refined & predetermined.Roots in work songs vs. minstrelsy & vaudeville shows.Male performers vs. female.
Informal atmosphere vs. formal (performer/audience clearly defined).
“St. Louis Blues”
“Hellhound On My Trail”Slide5
A State of Mind
“blue” describes a state of melancholy since the 16
th century; entered American vocabulary after the Civil WarMusic that portrays such a state of mindPerformance of or interaction with the music as a way of “ridding oneself of the blues”
Perception that one cannot “play” the blues unless they have “blues feeling”Slide6
Performance Practices
“playing the blues” as a measure of a particular
kind of qualityTechniques include:“rough” or “unrefined” timbre“blue notes”
ImprovisationSlide7
Form
Strophic/cyclical
Repetitions of a chorusAAB
“Sweet Home Chicago”