Chapter 4: North America/Black America

• Music from Africa• Work Songs & Field Hollers• Spirituals• Ragtime• Blues• Jazz• Gospel

Homework:

Read Chapter Four– North America/Black America• Religious Music • Work Songs/Field Hollers • Blues

Work on projects - update due Mon., Oct. 3Project updates MUST include• working thesis statement• outline• list of sources (in bibliographic format)

Work Songs & Field Hollers

• Work Song = accompanies work and makes time pass more pleasantly; usually multiple singers; regular pulse/beat that goes with work. (ex.: “Ho Boys Cancha Line ‘Em”, and “Rosie”)

• Field Holler = sung by solo worker; free or flexible rhythm; no accompaniment; one of the ancestors to the blues. (ex.: sung by Baby Doo Caston)

Ho Boys, Cancha Line ‘Em• Chain-gang Work Song

• Strophic (repetitive)

• Primary motor rhythm is strong and straight (work), syncopation makes the melody lift and rise above the work.

• Call-and-response between song leader and group - with direct repetition of sung line by the group.

Ho Boys, Cancha Line ‘Em Intro:

Ho, boys, is you right?I done got right (repeat)

Verse 1:If I could I surely wouldStand on that rock where Moses stood (response)

Chorus:Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?See Eloise go linin' rail.

Verse 2:July the red bug, July the flyIf August ain’t a hot month, I sure hope to die

(response)

Chorus:Ho boys, well they can’t waitHo boys, well they ain't timeHo boys, well they can’t waitSee Eloise go linin' rail.

Verse 3:I got a woman on Jennielee SquareIf you wanna die easy, let me catch you there

(response)

Chorus:Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?See Eloise go linin' rail.go linin' rail.go linin' rail.

Elements of African-American Music

• Blue Notes• Motor Rhythm• Syncopation• Swing• Improvisation

Work Songs & Field Hollers

• Purpose• Themes• Tradition• Musical characteristics• Differences

Work Songs (cont.)

• Field Holler– sung by Baby Doo Caston (CD 1:18)

• More Work Songs– “Rosie” (CD 1: 19)

– “Kneebone Bend”

Religious Music

• Amazing Grace (CD 1:17)• Differences between other traditions• Influence on other music

Homework - due Monday, Oct. 10:Part I: Online Quiz, Chapter 4

Part II:1. What are Work Songs and Field Hollers? How

do they differ? Use examples.2. What is a “spiritual,” and how is it different

from a European hymn?3. Compose the lyrics for at least 2 stanzas

(strophes) of a 12-Bar Blues.

The Blues

• Originated in the Deep South• Mississippi Delta Blues (Charley Patton,

Robert Johnson)• Active throughout South, slightly different in

each region. • A Feeling (“I’ve got the blues, but that’s ok”)

• A Form (12-bar blues)

The Blues (cont.)• Commercialization

– cornet, voice, organ, piano, guitar, trombone, etc.– Regular form– W.C. Handy St. Louis Blues

• Folk Blues – voice, guitar, harmonica– Free sense of form and phrasing– Robert Johnson, Hellhound on My Trail

• Urban Blues – Electric blues (B.B. King).– Chicago’s South Side & Electric Blues (Muddy Waters,

Hoochie Coochie Man) – New Orleans (Louis Armstrong--West End Blues)

• Influenced Jazz, Rock n’Roll, and Country.

Strophic?

• same music repeated, different words.

• Ex. 1: Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, etc.(most songs heard on radio today)

• Ex. 2: Succession of “verses” or “choruses”(Hymns, Ballad Songs, and the 12-bar Blues form)

Blues FormCombined the spiritual, field holler & work song, and the 3-line ballad (as sung by songsters).

3-line vocal stanza (or “strophe”): • 2nd line repeats 1st, 3rd line rhymes with above.• Example:

I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line. I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line. And let that 5:15 train pacify my mind.

Musical phrases or sections:Folk-blues had no standard length for phrases or sections; their blues were flexible and varying, moving when they felt like it. Urban blues follows the following form:

Blues Form• Combined the spiritual, field holler & work song, and the 3-

line ballad (as sung by songsters).

• 3-Line Vocal Stanza (or “strophe”):– 2nd Line repeats 1st, 3rd line rhymes with above.– Example:

I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line. I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line. And let that 5:15 train pacify my mind.

• Musical Phrases or Sections:– Folk Blues had no standard length for phrases or sections; the

singers used a flexible approach to form, and moved to a different chord and line whey they felt like it.

– Urban blues and “commercial” blues uses the following form:

Diagram of Blues Form (12-bar Blues)

Voice Fill Voice Fill Voice Fill

Line 1 (4 measures) Line 2 (4 measures) Line 3 (4 measures)

I (2) I (2) IV (2) I (2) V (2) I (2)

Line 1 (4 measures)I (2) - I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line. I (2) - instrumental fill

Line 2 (4 measures)IV (2) - I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line. I (2) - instrumental fill

Line 3 (4 measures)V (2) - And let that 5:15 train pacify my mind.I (2) - instrumental fill

Tonic Subdominant Tonic Dominant Tonic

Blues Examples

• The Thrill is Gone - B.B. King

The thrill is gone, the thrill is gone away The thrill is gone baby, the thrill is gone away You know you done me wrong baby, and you'll be

sorry someday

1:2:3:

The thrill is gone, It's gone away from me The thrill is gone baby, The thrill is gone away from me Although I'll still live on. But so lonely I'll be

The thrill is gone, It's gone away for good Oh, the thrill is gone baby, Baby its gone away for good Someday I know I'll be over it all baby, Just like I know a

man should

You know I'm free, free now baby, I'm free from your spell I'm free, free now I'm free from your spell And now that it's over, All I can do is wish you well

Examples from Textbook• Lazy Bill Lucas

– Poor Boy Blues (CD 1: 20) -- 12-Bar Blues– She Got Me Walkin’ (CD 1: 21) -- 12-Bar &

Quatrain-Refrain (stop-time) Form

• Otis Rush– Ain’t Enough Comin’ In (CD 1: 22) -- 12-Bar

Blues with Bridge

Summary• Blues = feeling, form, expression• Folk, Urban and “commercial” blues• 12 - Bar Blues form• Music of North America, and now the world,

influencing many musical genres

• Discussion points:– Do the blues help you -- personally?– Is some blues music better than others?– Do you get bored with some blues music? – Does marketing diminish the blues?

Gospel Music

• African-American religious music based on large church choirs, featuring virtuoso soloists

• Started originally by Thomas A. Dorsey, it has always been influenced by contemporary pop music of the time.

• Includes many elements of African-American Music• Artists include Andrae Crouch and CeCe Winans

• White Gospel (Southern, Country, etc.) is not the same thing. Think Billy Graham and the Gaithers.

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QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Spirituals

• African-American song, usually with a religious text.

• Originally monophonic and a cappella, these songs are antecedents of the blues.

• Spirituals were primarily expressions of religious faith, sung by slaves on southern plantations.

• Examples: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; Were You There; Woke Up This Morning; Follow the Drinking Gourd; Go Tell it on the Mountain

Homework - due Monday, March 6:Part I: Online Quiz, Chapter 4

Part II:1. What are Work Songs and Field Hollers? How

do they differ? Use examples.2. What is a “spiritual,” and how is it different

from a European hymn?3. Compose the lyrics for at least 2 stanzas

(strophes) of a 12-Bar Blues.