ipl-logo

African American Music Essay

862 Words4 Pages

African-American Music When one states that he or she has the blues they are usually referring to their emotional state of being. The blues is known as unhappy feelings that a person may be experiencing. The blues music as it was known in the late 1800’s came from depression, slavery, and the adversity that African Americans faced in their earlier days. Even though the music has African origins it was created in the United States.
The blues is a form of music that was brought about in the 19th century as a way for African Americans to verbally express how they felt. It was also a method that the slaves used amongst each other to communicate and only they understood what the other was talking about. They would sing aloud and work to the beat …show more content…

In the earlier times, the artists would make instruments out of just about anything that would make noise. They would use spoons, tie strings to different objects, and even blow into bottles just to get a musical effect. The urban blues gained its title as the players started moving towards the urban areas and due to the different styles of music bands played. By time the urban blues came into effect a lot of the musicians migrated from the southern area to the northern states. This was the era that is known for its electrical guitar and smaller sized bands that is also known as the electric blues. This type of blues was known to be loud and the bands played in night clubs or at private parties. Artists such as Muddy Waters (which was his stage name) or McKinley Morganfield was known for initially playing the acoustic guitar to later playing the electric guitar. He was known as the father of Chicago blues and for his songs “Mannish Boy” and “Baby Please Don’t Go.” B.B. King was another artist that played the electric guitar and the urban blues and he is known for songs such as “Rock Me Baby” and “Blues Boys Tune.” The urban blues was the cause for the development of rock and roll …show more content…

In some of the blues music the artist have clear vocals and you can understand everything they are saying, but some singers are not as clear as others. Other singers’ voices may be raspy and one may have trouble trying to understand what they are saying. It is common for the words in a blues song to be repeated several times in the song. This type of singing is known as the poetic form of the blues. Often the singer may sing the first versus twice before going to the second

Show More
Related
1093 Words | 5 Pages

James Baldwin, the author of "Sonny's Blues", grew up in Harlem. Baldwin was also a spokesperson for the American Civil Rights movement and racial issues of his time and so he incorporated these issues into his writing. "Sonny's Blues" gives an African American perspective set in 1960s Harlem. Baldwin grew up listening to sermons and reading the Bible. At the age of seventeen he became disillusioned with religion and left the church.

Read More
689 Words | 3 Pages

How did classic blues differ from country blues? Country blues were authentic songs that were song by actually African Americans. Some people that performed these songs are laborers . Classic blues were less authentic then country blues.

Read More
2221 Words | 9 Pages

A visible aspect of the Delta Blues in Rock n Roll is the lyrics and the extent at which artists use them to express deep emotion. The rolling Stones, sang “Paint it black” with the aim of allowing the audience to look into the life of a troubled fellow who wishes his life was all painted black just like his moods. The Alabama shakes, a modern rock band showcase the same emotion when they sing “Bless my heart, bless my soul. I didn’t think I’d make it to 22 years old.” in “Hold on” Similar sadness can be seen in Robert Johnson’s “Come on to my kitchen” who continuously asks his lover to come back to him.

Read More
521 Words | 3 Pages

As a matter of fact, the storyteller does not appreciate Sonny's motivations to play jazz music until the evening he socially joins Sonny to his stage show at a nightclub. Sitting in a dark corner at the nightclub, the storyteller listens to his brother play, considering the reminder of Sonny's friend, Creole, of what the Blues are about, "The tale, of the blues, how we live, and how we are delighted, how we suffer... and how we triumph... must be heard... it's the only light we've got in all this darkness." (Baldwin 139). For the narrator, he perceives that the Blues is the manifestation for Sonny's emotions, especially his suffering, because, as Creole would say, music is the only light in the

Read More
1417 Words | 6 Pages

James Baldwin, Sonny's Blues Lesson: Read 1. How does Baldwin's real-life experience connect to his short story, "Sonny's Blues"? Read Baldwin's biography for more background on his life. - James Baldwin’s real-life experience connects to his short story by demonstrating that in the story his father had passed away when he was a young age. In real life, he didn’t even know his father.

Read More
1441 Words | 6 Pages

From the very beginning of the tale, the sorrow is palpable through the unnamed narrator 's discovery of Sonny 's incarceration, and moreover through the atmosphere created by Mr. Baldwin. The most prominent message that can be deciphered and recognized in Sonny 's Blues is that the sadness and sorrow that one experiences in their life can bring about many obstacles but it can be countered and used for something greater by a search for understanding and acceptance. James Baldwin establishes this implication through the use of his characters; the narrator, Sonny, and the singer seen on the street. All these characters experience sorrow and sadness in their

Read More
692 Words | 3 Pages

There are many ways that symbolism is used to show things that are unique to each story that James Baldwin writes including “Sonny’s Blues”. The main symbolism surround music. One thing that it symbolizes is hope. Music gives Sonny hope that he can travel away from Harlem and those who doubt what he can do using blues music and his piano skills. This is not just used as symbolism in the story, but in what was really happening during this time.

Read More
934 Words | 4 Pages

Sonny's Blues was written in 1957, 37 years after the roaring twenties had come to an end. Long after the great Migration, where millions of blacks moved to northern cities to escape Jim Crow, and embrace the new found possibilities offered. During this period African-Americans in New York, collectively gathered in Harlem mainly, it was usually alluded to as the black capital. There blacks shared culturally and also, influenced music greatly. This is also where the "new negro" persona was crafted, blacks were no longer going to be referred to as someone's mammies or boy.

Read More
707 Words | 3 Pages

The brothers represent not only Baldwin himself, but their entire culture as well. Moreover, the blues express the battles, the condition and the rage that comes with being a black man in American society (Fares 72). The blues are a mutual understanding of suffering between every single person in the community; they are symbolic of the love that lets them bear the weight of the world in their shoulders with confidence because they know they are not alone. Baldwin wrote “Sonny’s Blues” to show that only an individual holds the power to accept their own suffering, and only when they come to terms with their pain, will they begin to understand the pain of those before them like the narrator did during his epiphany. In unison, they will set a framework for the generations that follow as they try to find a solution to their overall role in

Read More
1140 Words | 5 Pages

In the story, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin insists, that music is a universal language that speaks life into a dead soul. Stereotypical notion of music arouses emotions that are disregarded. The story demonstrates the significance of music and the components that communicates needs and wants. Sonny’s character was not very talkative, but his music spoke with volume. This paper will analyze the elements of music told in “Sonny’s Blues” that connects and bonds the characters emotionally, physically and socially.

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

Yet, the ideals that were shown in the book and found in blues music are best shown through the author’s own words. Bluestein cites Ellison’s definition of blues as, “an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in one's aching consciousness . . . As a form, the blues is an autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe expressed lyrically” (Bluestein). In making this comment, Bluestein is showing through Ellison’s words the similarity between the novel and the genre that it is a piece that shows someone’s own

Read More
1005 Words | 5 Pages

Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, most music was work music or spirituals which were sung without musical instruments. While students of history know the musical classes that moves the blues, there isn 't much data regarding why the class was made. Modest and convenient instruments including the harmonica and guitar was effortlessly acquired and added to the spirituals as of now made by African Americans. The expansion of instruments could be the making of the blues. The blues rapidly got to be prominent among the African American audience members and the sound would in the long run be perfected bringing about sub-classifications including the Delta blues which started in the Mississippi Delta.

Read More
947 Words | 4 Pages

Close your eyes and try to imagine a melding the history of the Irish and Scottish tunes, of the twang of country music, and the reverence of a gospel message. Enter a touch of the blues and the spirit of generations who played music to express themselves with this unique genre of music. Each of these components brought with it instruments steeped with tradition. Country music built the foundation with the guitar and bass guitar, the Scottish and Irish influences added the mandolin. The Africa American 2/4 beat contributes the banjo and the washboard adds the finishing folk music touch.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

Blues music as a genre and form was developed by African Americans in the south of the United States at the end of the 19th century. The genre has origins in many cultures such as in African music, African-American work songs and European-American folk music. Blues music incorporates field hollers, shouts, chants, etc. The blues form, found in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll, is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, and also the twelve-bar blues structure, which is the most common feature. Early traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times.

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

In this case repetition is used to regularly insinuate a sense of desperation and isolation. In addition to this, the first two lines of the stanza rhyme. Blues music was created and first sung by the African slaves who would sing to convey their hardship and isolation from others. Blues music to the African slaves was a strategy to explain their feelings and help them cope with their suffering.

Read More

More about African American Music Essay

Related Topics

Open Document