Musical Strains in Black American Music

Attitudes of the past towards African culture

Actual contribution of African culture

Black music of today and African music

Characteristics that have been retained

Comparison with other black music in the new World

Increases in knowledge of black music

Call and response of congregational singing

V. Professional nature of African music

B. Result of this professional class

C. Principal characteristics of African music

2. Melodic structure and spoken word

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d French origin before the harmonies and melodies of early jazz emerged. Drumming seems to have been at the very heart of African music, and initially the music of the slaves used as its main instrument the drum. As a rule, slaves were not allowed to take possessions with them to America, so the slave musician had to make instruments that were similar to those they had used in their homeland. In addition to the many types of drums, slaves would also have been aware of many types of African stringed instruments—instruments similar to primitive banjos, single-stringed lyres, harps, and many varieties of gong, marimba, and xylophone as well. There were also flutes, horns, pipes, and one-stringed violins, but the sound most commonly heard in African music, in addition to the drum and hand-clapping, was the human voice (Chilton 6). The prime purpose of African music was to recite the history of the people, and whenever African Negroes assembled, they accompanied their songs and dances with percussion, wind, and stringed instruments. They used their voices and their bodies as well as the instruments to make music, and instrumental expression was employed to celebrate all the various life situations, both ritualistic and festival.
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Approximate Word count = 3102
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)