Black American music can be roughly divided into three categories: labor music, religious music and popular music. The main varieties of labor music are labor songs; the most influential of religious music is the Negro spiritual (the Negro spiritual), gospel songs (gospel music); and there are different varieties of popular music such as blues, jazz and disco. Of these varieties, the first to appear was labor music, while the most influential were blues and jazz.
The most important variety of labor music is known as the "field holler" horn, the horn is improvised and sung, most of the imaginary words for the lyrics, only a small part of the real words for the lyrics, most of the pentatonic scale, and a lot of sound "with the cavity" (bent pitches). Most of them used the pentatonic scale, and many of the tones were "bent pitches or flexible tones", which later became the unique blue notes of the blues. The horns are often played in a one-leader harmony style, and the rhythm is more complex.
Spirituals are religious songs sung in churches by black Christian believers, and their content mostly expresses painful emotions, such as "Are You There?
When my Lord was crucified, were you there?
Were you there when our Lord was crucified?
Lord! It made me tremble
Were you present when our Lord was crucified?
Were you there when he was nailed to the tree?
Were you present when He was nailed to the tree?
Lord! The sight made me tremble
Were you there when he was nailed to the tree?
The spiritual was originally sung improvisationally, and also mostly in the form of a leader and a congregation, so it was also relatively easy to learn. Although its content is Christian, it preserves West African traditions in both its singing form and composition.
The blues is a solo song in the style of a folk song, which began as a self-indulgent song for blacks, became very popular, and has had a profound influence on almost all varieties of American music, including jazz.
The blues arose after the American Civil War, when many emancipated black slaves left their farms and hometowns to do unfamiliar work, such as repairing railroads and digging ditches, etc., and the hard work and meager wages made them miserable, so they improvised and sang songs to express their misfortunes, and this was the original blues. At night, black people sang blues in the settlement to amuse themselves, this kind of blues is called "country blues" (rural blues). Later, black singers traveled to bars and saloons in cities to sing country blues, accompanied by guitar, harmonica, or piano, and the blues sung by professional singers became known as "urban blues" (urban blues).
The main themes of blues lyrics were about love and labor, and the original meter of the lyrics was one line per verse, repeated three times, which later evolved into two lines per verse, with the first line repeated to form the AAB form, such as:
How many more years are you going to treat me like a dog?
How many more years will you treat me like a dog?
I'd rather die quickly and sleep long underground.
The scale used in the blues is basically the same as that used in the major keys, but there are often third, seventh, and even fifth steps that are lowered by a semitone, and sometimes a swing is used on these steps, and these accented tones are called "blues tones".
The melody of the blues is generally 12 bars, each verse is sung in 4 bars, and the 3 verses are exactly 12 bars, which is called "twelve-bar blues". 12 bars is obviously the inheritance of the West African music tradition of 12 beats to a unit. The blues is accompanied by dominant, subordinate and dominant chords, and the general pattern of the chord progression is a dominant chord for the first phrase, a subordinate chord for the first two bars of the second phrase, a dominant chord for the last two bars, and a subordinate chord for the first two bars of the third phrase, a dominant chord for the last two bars. The chord progression is the basis for improvisation, and singers are able to improvise countless beautiful tunes based on this simple chord progression. It is also because of this 12-bar chord progression that singers and instrumentalists are able to work together and improvise.
BluesCountry blues singers are mostly men, while urban blues singers are mostly women, and blues singers and players often collaborate with jazz musicians, who have a close relationship with each other. Because both blues and jazz are music created by blacks, the rhythms are complex and varied, the melodies are in blues tones, and both also emphasize improvisation and playing.
When it comes to jazz, you can't help but mention ragtime, which in English means to play a melody with syncopated rhythms. Ragtime appeared at the end of the 19th century as a form of solo piano music created by composers of the time, and although it utilizes the harmonies of European classical music, it is full of syncopated rhythms influenced by Negro music.
After the end of the American Civil War, when instruments used by Civil War marching bands became available to black musicians or could be purchased relatively cheaply, black musicians in New Orleans began to play them in their own way. They played not only during celebratory parades and concerts, but also for funerals. On the way back to the city from the cemetery after a funeral, they often played popular songs in syncopated rhythms from ragtime music, freely adding flowers and showing off their virtuosity. As black pipe bands evolved from outdoor ceremonial bands to chamber ensembles that danced and entertained, musicians used ragtime with syncopated rhythms to play European marches, dances, and even operatic selections, with improvised passages. In this way, black musicians in New Orleans gradually created a new way of playing jazz.
The word "jazz" was born in the early 20th century and was first written as "jass," "jasz," or "jazz," but later became standardized. "and only later was it standardized as "jazz". There are different theories as to why the music was called "jazz," but most researchers agree that the name was related to New Orleans' location in the red light district of Storyville, where many of the black musicians first played in brothels and casinos (Ferris 1991:233). (Ferris 1991: 233) Some believe that the word "jazz" is derived from the word "jasmine" because of the jasmine-scented perfume used by the women in the brothels of Storyville; others believe that the word "jazz" is derived from the word "jasmine" because the women in the brothels of Storyville wore jasmine-scented perfume; others believe that the word "jazz" is derived from the word "jasmine. Others believe that "jazz" is derived from "jezebel" (shameless slut), a word that in the late 19th century was almost synonymous with prostitution in the United States.
The earliest jazz bands consisted of three to eight players, including a cornet, cornet, trombone, and drums. The cornet was replaced by a trumpet, and saxophones, guitars, and double cellos were added to make a complete jazz band.
Jazz musicians began to improvise after choosing a piece of music and deciding what kind of harmony and repetition they wanted for it. The piece they chose at the time might be a ragtime, blues, march, or popular song. In improvisation, the melody is usually played by the cornet, the black horn plays a counter melody around the main melody, the trombone plays the harmonic base, and the drums play various rhythms. Each instrument, in addition to the accompaniment, usually improvises a section as well. So, rather than being a unique type of music, jazz is a unique way of playing with a combination of improvised solos and group ensemble playing. This approach is practiced by musicians because it draws on the essence of European music - harmony - and improvisation within a harmonic context provides a basis for both collective ensemble playing and individual playing. The reason why this approach has become so popular and loved by audiences all over the world is that its principles are different from those of Western classical music, and it better reflects the modern view of life and the spiritual requirements of modern people.
In the 1920s, many prominent jazz musicians moved from New Orleans to Chicago, which replaced New Orleans as the center of jazz. White musicians in Chicago, who also liked jazz, adapted popular and classical tunes to jazz, but the white musicians did not improvise. This type of jazz, which was based on pre-written scores, became known as "sweet jazz," and in 1924, for a performance at Carnegie Hall, Paul Whiteman, a proponent of "sweet jazz," was invited to perform. Paul Whiteman (Paul Whiteman) asked composer George Gershwin (George Gershwin) according to the style of jazz for the symphony orchestra wrote a "Rhapsody in Blue" (Rhapsody in Blue), this music after the performance by the public warmly welcomed, was called to become a "symphonic jazz The piece was very well received by the public and became known as "symphonic jazz" (交响爵士). Because both "sweet jazz" and "symphonic jazz" were not improvised but played according to the score, many critics at the time did not consider them "jazz".
The influence of African American music
Jazz led to the creation of "sweet jazz" and "symphonic jazz," but the influence of African American music went far beyond that. Some critics consider jazz to be one of the three most important American contributions to world civilization, and I applaud that. Because black American music, including jazz, opened a new page in the history of world music at the beginning of the 20th century.
European classical music, which began to develop gradually from the Renaissance era, reached its peak at the end of the 19th century. Analyzing it from the point of view of ethnomusicology, it is not difficult to find that it has the following characteristics:
1) There is a careful division of labor within the musicians, generally the composer is responsible for the creation of the composition and the writing of the music score, and the musicians and singers are responsible for the performance and sing and play in accordance with the music score, and there are very few improvisation performances. What the performing artists should express should be the composer's feelings of the time and place, not their own feelings of the here and now.
2) This kind of music is usually performed in the concert hall, the listener's duty is to sit quietly and listen with their ears, the listener is generally not allowed to participate in the performance, the listener must wash their ears during the music, and are not allowed to make any noise.
3) Although this kind of music reflects life, it is not played in daily life, and it is generally not combined with activities such as labor, rituals, games, and love. At the same time, classical music has a high degree of technicality, and it cannot be mastered without long-term specialized study and training; nor can it be understood without long-term inculcation.
If this music culture and other music cultures in the world, such as India, China, Africa, the Middle East music culture to be compared, it is not difficult to find that other music cultures are valued improvisation, allow the audience to have a certain degree of participation, and the daily life itself is closely integrated, there are a variety of different practical functions, there are more **** between them, Western classical music and they compared to the Western classical music is very special compared to them. European classical music culture is indeed an outstanding, but also more special music culture in the history of mankind.
According to Andrew Clarke, European classical music culture in the 20th century has become "water without a source, wood without soil", "by the 1920s the creative side of classical music began to disappear along the dead-end street of modernization", "only the creative side of classical music began to disappear along the dead-end street of modernization", "only the creative side of classical music began to disappear along the dead-end street of modernization". "and "only the most ardent enthusiasts persisted".
The United States is the most economically and culturally developed country in the world, and with early immigrants coming mainly from Europe, teaching European classical music was the main task of music teaching in American schools, large, medium and small. However, according to the 2000 statistics, only 10% to 15% of the people in the United States have contact with European classical music, and only half of these people are really interested in classical music, while the other half only listen to it occasionally. In other words, only 5 to 7 percent of the people in this country are interested in European classical music, and of those people, the most listen to the radio, the second most listen to records, and the least go to concerts. It turns out that Clark was right; the public is no longer interested in classical music.
Black American music, on the other hand, follows a completely different principle of creating music, which is based on improvisation, and the performers and singers, who are also the composers, pour out their own, not others', feelings in their performances; the performances can be carried out in a variety of occasions, and advocate people's participation, and the less cultivated listeners will not be turned away, and in addition to the auditory effect, they also emphasize the visual effect of the performances; for They want the music to be as close to life as possible, and preferably to be integrated with life. That's why their performances meet the needs of the public and are very popular.
Because the above principles of American black music are so different from the European classical music, it can point out a new development direction for the whole world in the process of classical music gradually becoming a cultural dinosaur, and many people of different nationalities have been working hard in this direction, which opens up a new era of multiculturalism and leisure culture in the ascendant. This is where the influence of black American music on the world's musical culture lies, but also black Americans have made great contributions to the history of world music.