Black American music is popular today. We have rap, RnB and more. But from where did this type of music come from. And how did it develop. In this article I am going to write about the origins of black music and the development. At the end I am going to compare modern music whit older music.
The first Africans transported to America brought with them a long history of distinct and cultivated musical traditions Some of them were able to bring with them instruments or make new ones. An example is the “banja” now known as the banjo. The Africans also made drums of whatever material they could find. But the slaveholders eventually discovered that African slaves were using drums to communicate with each other, and by the 1700s, the drum had been banned on many plantations. African American slaves in the south developed their own musical style, which later developed into gospel and blues. Most slaves were not allowed to
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They started to bring together “shout” songs from praise houses and blues. This form of music was called gospel. The rhythms were upbeat and optimistic. Mahalia Jackson was considered the “mother of gospel” and Thomas Dorsey “Father of gospel”. Jazz was born from blues. No one can say for sure were jazz originated, but it combines the traditions of black New Orleans with the creative limberness of the blues. The basis of Jazz is syncopation. Which is the stress of beats that are off of the rhythm. Jazz is a combination between Both African and European music.
Country grew out of blues and folk music. country involved both whites and blacks in the south. Were they told stories of the working class. The instruments that were used in country music included the harmonica, fiddle and the banjo. The banjo was an instrument that grew out of the banjar, an African drum with strings across the drum. An Example of a famous black country music