Essay on History of African American Music - 1267 Words

Yasmin Gonzalez Mrs. Herrera Junior English 1 March 2012 History of African American Music â€Å"In less than a minute, the death wail went up out of every cabin in the Quarters, and Brother Ezekial began the death chant: Soon one morning, Death come knocking at my door†¦. Oh, my lord, What shall I do† (Walker 17)? Death was common for slaves. They routinely died from disease, beatings and accidents on the plantation, and they expressed their sorrow in the form of song. â€Å"I see death around the corner, gotta stay high while I survive, †¦ Keep my finger on the trigger, no mercy in my eyes† (â€Å"Death Around†). Death is still common in the African American society. â€Å"Black males ages 15-19 die from homicide at 46 times the rate of their white†¦show more content†¦During this time period, music began to evolve. Woog says, â€Å"These immigrants, naturally, brought their music. During the next decades, black popular music flourished, developing into several key genres and moving steadily into mainstream American culture† (20). As they did, music began to grow into three obvious styles: ragtime, blues, and jazz. Starting this new era was ragtime. As pianos became common in saloons, clubs, brothels and middle-class homes (Woog 22), ragtime became very popular. Pianos were one of the main instruments, although a piano could have also been accompanied by bongo drums or an acoustic guitar. The ambiance of this genre is generally expressed in a fluent and joyful way. Another type of music of this exquisite age was blues and it wasn’t a secret. Blue and Naden agree when saying: Ragtime wasnt the only music to come from gospel. Around the turn of the 20th century, a different sound was drifting out of the Mississippi Valley and out of Tin Pan Alley. It would overtake rag in popularity and endurance, †¦it was associated with the haunting heartaches of life and thus came to be called the blues. Ragtime and blues were alike in many ways but different in many others. Blues was genuinely emotional ; it had a darker side to it. Singing was the key tool to blues; it wasn’t so much the type of instruments that were used but more of theShow MoreRelatedAfrican Music And Its Impact On The World1051 Words   |  5 Pagesmost music we hear today is profanity such as rap or pop or basically any music in the united states. But there is one culture that hasn t changed that much but has stayed to their roots and is still popular today. That is African American music. Because of the rise of modern day music in America such as rap and pop I want to show how African music has impacted the world today and stayed in their roots. African music or better known as black music brought a lot of different types of music to AmericaRead MoreWorld Music: The Emotional Effect of Music Essays846 Words   |  4 Pagesthe communication that is experienced when listening to instrumental music. This will cover the intrapersonal and intercultural connection that the music communicates. The paper will discuss both of these points by focusing on 4 different cultures and show the differences in the music styles by showing what emotions the music is communicating by way of instrument, voice, tone and tempo. While many cultures use all forms of music to communicate their beliefs and emotion I could only pick a few toRead MoreHistory of the Blues Essay1018 Words   |  5 Pages In one way shape or form Blues music has influenced almost every music artist and their work. Jazz and Blues gave way to such artists as Elvis Presley and Chuck Barry. The history and origins of Blues traces back many generations. 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