According to Eileen, there have been immense improvements that have been made in the black American music. This has been exhibited by the studies focused on spirituals, jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, popular music, and classic black American music. All these ranges of music fall under the umbrella of the African-American music genres. Their origin is traced back to the involuntary servitude that exhibited the nature of black Americans’ life approaching the American Civil War. These modern genres got into development during the 19th century. They involved the fusion of European musical styles with African originated styles that always used the natural harmonic series. The European styles had diatonic harmony that was embedded in the equal temperament framework. Hip hop was exempted since its emergence was in the late 20th century. Its formation was derived from earlier music forms like blues and jazz.
Owing to the civil war, black Americans came up with new musical styles like ragtime that were late known as jazz. This is because they were employment in military bands where they played European music. Due to the development of the latter musical form, other African Americans made contributions to the knowledge of the complex polyrhythmic dance structure and the folk songs of the sub-Saharan and western African inhabitants. These forms of music had a great impact on the existent forms of music and their development in the United states of America and also around the globe during the 20th century.
The very first blues and jazz date back to as early as in the 1920s. There was considerable change and innovation as time went by. It is evident that the African-American music genres have impacted heavily on the racial and socio-economic groupings in various nations in the world. They have also become very popular and acceptable globally. In the February of every year, African-American music and culture is celebrated in the United States. The earlier musical forms include; work song, call and response, improvisation, blue notes, among others.
During the 19th century, African Americans’ influence on the American music kicked off with a blackface minstrelsy advent. The African banjo became a popular instrument. Stephen Foster and other songwriters incorporated rhythms that were African derived. African American people that were enslaved composed Christian music and a wide range of Spirituals. A good number of these songs carried coded messages that either evoked escape or were against slave masters.
The Fisk University Jubilee Singers’ artists like Jack Delaney and Morris Hill revolutionalised post-war African-American music within the heart of United States in the central-East in 1871. Hence by the 19th century, African-American had been integrated into the American mainstream culture.
George Walker and Bert Williams made the first ever black recording in 1901. This set borrowed from Broadway musicals. Through Theodore Druly, the blacks were able to emerge in the opera field. The early part of the 20th century recorded a consistent rise in African-American music popularity. However, tit was given a classification of “race music.” In October 1942, the Billboard with Harlem Hit Parade started making a separate playlist of African-American music hits. In 1945, the name was changed to “race records”, then to “Rhythm and Blues records” in 1949. Scott Joplin and other ragtime artists gained popularity that some of them got an association with the Harlem Renaissance.
African-American songs’ cover version became common in the 1940s and they topped the charts frequently. Thurman Ruth in 1955 coaxed a group of gospel singers to perform in a secular context, the Apollo Theatre. In the meantime, jazz started pushing retracting from the popular danceable music to more advanced arrangements that saw them through the cool sounds of Miles Davis’ modal jazz.
The commonality of Rhythm and blues gave rise to Rock and Roll that employed a robust backbeat and whose outspoken exponents included Wyonie Harris and Louis Jordan. Rock music hence became more accepted by the whites as it gained blacks like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry popularity and recognizable success.
In 1970, funk music evolved into pop-soul-jazz. Spoken word arists like Melvin Van Peebles and Gil Scott started citing renowned innovators in hip-hop. DJs spun funk records whilst MCs released tracks to the dancers.
During the 1980s Michael Jackson succeeded in his tracks like Bad, Off the Wall and Thriller. These transformed well known music hence succeded in uniting al races, ages and genders. Due to the spread of hip-hop across the country, Techno, Miami bass, Dance and Chicago house among other genres developed with Miami bass registering the highest success. In campuses and colleges, Chicago house made strong headways.
In 1986, rap kicked off with Beastie Boys’ Licensed to III and Run-D.M.C’ Raising hell. The latter emerged to be the pioneer rap album to appear in the first spot on the Billboard 200. Hip-hop was very popular in America in the late 1990s when it also became popular worldwide.
Works Cited
The Music of Black Americans: A History. Eileen Southern. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition (1997).
Robert Nicholson; Mississippi Blues Today! Da Capo Press (1999).
