The origins of American music

From the first Amerindians to 1852

In this publication we are going to talk about the origins of music in the USA.

AMERINDIAN MUSIC

First of all, I should talk about Amerindian people. They had a lot of instruments like maracas, flutes and a lot
of types of drums (bass drum, calling drum, merry drum, etc.) Singing and percussion are the most important aspects of traditional Native American music.

Localisation takes many forms, ranging from solo and choral song to responsorial, unison and multipart singing. Percussion, especially drums and rattles, are common accompaniment to keep the rhythm steady for the singers, who generally use their native language or non-lexical vocables (nonsense syllables). Traditional music usually begins with slow and steady beats that grow gradually faster and more emphatic.

Native American song texts include both public pieces and secret songs, said to be "ancient and unchanging", which are used only for sacred and ceremonial purposes. There are also public sacred songs, as well as ritual speeches that are sometimes perceived as musical because of their use of rhythm and melody. These ritual speeches often directly describe the events of a ceremony.

Native American music plays a vital role in history and education, with ceremonies and stories orally passing on ancestral customs to new generations. Native American ceremonial music is traditionally said to originate from deities or spirits, or from particularly respected individuals. Rituals are shaped by every aspect of song, dance and costuming, and each aspect informs about the "makers, wearers and symbols important to the nation, tribe, village, clan, family, or individual".

If you like relaxing yourself listening music, Amerindian music can be the better option!
Here, I give you an example of Amerindian traditional song.

AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC

The New World was growing with a mix of cultures, people, traditions, etc. The Irish, Scottish, English,
French and Spanish immigrants, many living in the Appalachian Mountains, started hanging
out with African former slaves, whose polyrhythmic spiritual music was already gaining popularity after the civil war.

The Afro American slaves brought with them their own culture, traditions and music. When they were working in the fields, they sing some songs a capella.

Negro Christian Spiritual hymns gained popularity in the late 1800's, which were essentially old European hymns sung in an African call-and-response polyrhythmic style.

This is a scene from the film 12 years a slave in which you can see a group of slaves singing a song.

12 years a slave - Choir song - ''Roll jordan roll'', 2013

Then near the end of the century, a peculiar African American dance gained popularity; an over-the-top parody of ballroom dancing called the Cakewalk, often accompanied by goofy costumes.

                                     
The Cake-Walk or Cakewalk was a dance developed from the "Prize Walks" held in the late 19th century, generally at get-togethers on slave plantations in the Southern United States.

It was performed in minstrel shows, exclusively by men until the 1890s. The inclusion of women in the cast "made possible all sorts of improvisations in the Walk, and the original was soon changed into a grotesque dance" which became very popular across the country.

             

IRISH INFLUENCES

The traditions of the Celtic peoples together constitute the single most dynamic ethnic influence on
Appalachian music. An estimated 70 percent of the early settlers on the Appalachian frontier emigrated from historically Celtic countries (Scotland, Ireland, and Wales). Many of these settlers intermarried with people from different ethnicities, thus exchanging cultural traditions and widely influencing Appalachian music. Scottish and Irish settlers brought the baroque fiddle to Appalachia. The recently designed instrument had become widely popular in Celtic countries because it was easily carried and well suited for performing at dances.

Irish-Appalachian jig
The Irish influence on Appalachian music became more prominent after people escaping the potato
blight in Ireland immigrated to the United States in the 1840s. Soon many Appalachian musicians began playing variations of traditional Irish hornpipes, reels, and jigs.

                                       This is a short demo of Irish-Appalachian music.

Finally, I would like to show a little bit of information of two important men in the American history and also in the New World's music: Francis Hopkinson and John Phillip Sousa.

Francis Hopkinson (September 21, 1737 – May 9, 1791) was an American author and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey. He later served as a federal judge in Pennsylvania. He played a key role in the design of the first American Flag.

                       




                       

John Phillip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic Era, known primarily for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition he is known as "The March King" or "The American March King". He wrote more than a hundred of marches.




I hope you have enjoyed this part of American music history!

Best regards.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://makeshiftmusician.blogspot.com.es/2008/04/origins-of-american-music.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_music
http://utpress.org/Appalachia/EntryDisplay.php?EntryID=003