Music is everywhere in modern society and each period of history has its own unique sound and style. Music in the 19th century was diverse, just like may aspects of the american culture at that time.
African American Music:
African American music centered around drums that slave owners allowed there slaves to use. This caused African American music to be based on lively beats that slaves would dance to. In Louisiana, this became so common that eventually Africans were restricted to a square called the "Congo square" where they were allowed to dance. The great awakening also had an affect on African American music. During this period, many African Americans became swept up in religious fervor, causing many spiritual song traditions to form.
Blues:
In the same time period as the civil war, a type of music began to develop with distinctive characteristics. These songs consistently had three 4- bar phrases. The first to phrases described a problem and the last describes a reaction to the problem and drew off of African American music styles.
The Banjo:
The instrument known as the Banjo also became popular in the 19th century. The standard banjo of the time was five stringed and was descended from African and Asian instruments. The banjo was a common instrument in bands by the 1840s and has remained a popular instrument ever since.
Brass Bands:
The 1850s saw a growth in a type of music know as brass band music. Brass band consisted of brass and woodwinds, like sax-horns and cornets. These bands were often associated with military regiments or workers in a factory. They were formed by groups of people who shared a common interest and gave people a way to enjoy there lives.
Great post, Peter. All these elements of music that you discussed, especially blues and brass bands, will fuse together and form jazz at the advent of the 20th century, so it's great to see how the roots of jazz were already forming in 19th century America. Nice connection to the arts!
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that Blues originated from African American music, especially considering the conflicts going on at the time over slavery. They took a style of music from a group of people that they viewed as subhuman. Even the free-soil party that was anti-slavery were really only worried about lost jobs for working men! Its very counter-intuitive.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good observation, Rebecca. Although it is also true that white Americans did not really listen to blues in the 19th in beginning of the 20th century - it was only really prominent in the African American community. This is probably because, as you said, they did not view African Americans as equals and this prejudice carried into the music world. White Americans didn't really make up a large part of the blues audience until the mid 1900s, around the WWII era.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, Peter. It's kind of refreshing to hear about the arts, especially since our textbook does so little to cover it. An interesting fact about the music of the time was that it echoed into the Harlem Renaissance in the 1900's wherein SLAM poetry was a manifestation of the tight rhythm of African American music. Great work!
ReplyDeleteGood job Pete! I find it interesting to see how important music was in the emergence of a unique African-American culture in pre- civil war America.
ReplyDeleteWait I absolutely loved this post! Go Peter!
ReplyDelete@Peter Dyer
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post! I think it is amazing how African-Americans, despite their struggles with slavery, were able to develop a sense of culture and music. I think this post does an exemplary job on accenting one of the negative aspects of slavery; if African-Americans were allowed to be free and expand perhaps they could have created a common culture with white Americans at the time-perhaps through the medium of music.
@Maya Acharya
I think your opinion on the issue of why Blues wasn't preeminent during the 19th century is true. Blues music also has a very somber connotation, and perhaps that connotation was a result of its origination; maybe the white Americans did not understand or empathize with the messages in African-American music.