From Slave Fields to Rap Skills
...n to continental Europe. Performers imitated slaves in singing and dancing to what was called "Negro music", though it had little in common with authentic African American folk styles. An African American variety of dance music called the cakewalk also became popular, evolving into ragtime by the turn of the century. The use of the spiritual reflects the African ideal that while sacred songs allow one to communicate with the other world, it may also address matters of the present world. Early in the twentieth century, Cecil Sharp explored the extent of American folk-song literature, much of which he demonstrated to be of British ancestry. But after Sharp’s exploration, G.P. Jackson traced the considerable influence of revivalist and evangelist songs from the early nineteenth century of the Southern white spirituals. He believed that many black spirituals were adapted from or inspired by the white spirituals. With the religious songs of the white South, which had many sources, African Americans produced a form of folk music that was distinctly black in character. Although spirituals were very popular, gospel was a sacred folk music with origins in field hollers, work songs, slave songs, Baptist lining hymns, and Negro spirituals. Altogether, spirituals have not only had an impact on African Americans, but other cultures and races as well. In general, folk music was viewed as a window into the cultural life of these groups. Folk songs communicated the hopes, sorrows and convictions of ordinary people's everyday lives. Increasingly, music made by other groups of Americans such as Native Americans, Mexican- Americans, and Cajuns came under the umbrella of "folk music." It was sung in churches, on front porches, in the fields and other workplaces, while rocking children to sleep, and at parties. The melodies and words were passed down from parent to child, though songs - and their meanings - often changed to reflect changing times. The particular instruments in African American folk music are the same as they are in Africa. Drums hold the dominant position among African musical instruments. The mbira, or thumb piano, is a feature of African music. It usually has about eighteen short strips of metal or cane. Simple flutes are also found in African music, as is a single-string instrument called a gonje, which is played with a bow. Other African instruments include a gourd with beads strung around it. It is shaken in performance, often by a woman. Other instruments used would be a double bell, as are various rattles, hand claps, and whistles. Most of these features of African American music are the polyrhythms, instruments, drumming, call-and-response patterns can be heard in many of the African American spirituals. The African American spiritual has been characterized as deeply emotional songs. Spirituals influence the content of gospel and jazz, used daily as joyous spirituals to take field workers and slaves minds off all the trials they were going through. The African...