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The History of American Music from the Native American Flute to the Beginning of Hip-Hop, by Iris A.

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Iris Alaniz

on 2 May 2011

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The History of American Music
from the Native American Flute
to the Beginning of Hip-Hop
By Iris A. Native American Influence and the Flute No doubt that the history of American music started with the Native Americans.
When Europeans arrived in America the Native Americans already had instruments. When explorers arrived in Virginia, the Native American flute was noted. For example, John Smith (1580-1631) wrote of flutes made of reed. He also wrote in 1607 that "For their musicke they use a thicke cane, of which they pipe as a Recorder". However, even before this the flute was is use. In 1540-1542, a member of the exploration of what is now Arizona and New Mexico, wrote of the explorers being greeted "pipes something like a flute, of which they have a great many. Influences on American Music African Influence The influence of African music on American music is vast, many types of music have roots in African music. The influence Africans on mainstream America can be seen in blackface minstrelsy.The banjo, of African origin, became popular to use and the blackface performers adapted and exaggerated the style of music of the African Americans. By the late 1800s there was a rise in ragtime.Ragtime had a very syncopated, or ragged, melody, a feature that was prominent in African American music. As the 1900s went on blues and jazz, which have African roots, grew in popularity. This lead eventually led to the growth of swing music, which was based on jazz. Rock also became popular, with the popularity of an early rock star, Elvis Presley (1935-1977). However, Presley's music drew heavily from black rhythm and blues traditions. Other African AMerican artists and groups, such as B.B. King (1925-) and the Temptations, did not recieve as much attention as Presley did among white youths, but they did a recieve multiracial audience. Eventually the start of hip-hop came to be in the early 1970s. Celtic Influence The of Celtic Music on American styles can mostly be seen on the evolution of country music, which is described as "a style which blends Anglo-Celtic traditions with sacred hymns and African American spirituals". The roots of country music come from "Americanized interpretations of English, Scottish, Scots and Scots-Irish traditional music, shaped by African American rhythms." A Chicago police officer known as Francis O' Neill (1848- 1936) put together the single largest collection of of traditional Irish music published. He was referred to as "the greatest individual influence on the evolution of Irish traditional dance music in the twentieth century". Irish ballads such as "My Wild Irish Rose” (1899), "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" (1913), and “Danny Boy” (1913) became popular among those who were not Irish. Spanish Influence Musical Instruments Music Styles Drums Banjo The drum was brought to America when by African slaves. It was used inmany different kinds of music, such as work songs and spirituals. It does need to be noted, however that some slave owners did ban the drums, fearing that it strengthened slave society. Another instrument of slaves was the banjo. It was mentioned by Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), being referred to as a "banjar" and noted to have come from Africa. In the 1830s, the five string banjo became popularized by Joel Sweener (1810-1860), an American minstrel performer from Appomattox Court House. Accordion An instrument called the accordion was first patented in 1829 in Vienna, by 1831 it appeared in Britain, and by at least the mid-1840s, the accordion was popular among New Yorkers. The instrument was used in polkas. Cornet Saxhorn Band of 10th Veteran Reserve Corps, Washington, D.C., April, 1865 The cornet came to be in 1814. It was used in brass bands and old style jazz, but was replaced by the trumpet from the swing era onward. The reason for this is because of its limited volume. The saxhorn was patented in Paris in 1845. It was a common brass intrument in American Civil War bands. The over-the-shoulder variety of the instrument was used. With the bell pointing backwards, it allowed troops to hear the music. Tradtional American Religious Hymns Slave Songs Ragtime Scott Joplin (1868-1917), dubbed the "King of Ragtime." Swing Rock 'n' Roll Blues Jazz Hip-hop Folk Around the 1930s, Spanish and Latin rhythms started to become popular in America. Part of it was due to the development of portable music, another part was the blending of Spanish cultures into African and European folk songs and instruments. Instruments common in the early culture of America, such as the guitar, blended well with the basic rhythm and concept of Spanish music. The blend of corrido, mariachi, and the polka was central to the evolution of Tejano music. The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or the Shakers, moved to America with the leader Mother Ann Lee (1736-1784) in 1774. The first colony they established was in 1776, at Nikayuna, near Albany, New York. The Shakers believed in personal communication with God. They expressed themselves with hymns and work songs. The most popular of these songs is "Simple Gifts". "Simple Gifts"
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'Tis the gift to be free,'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed, To turn, turn will be our delight, 'Till by turning, turning we come round right. Slaves in America often sang when working in the plantations. Different chracteristics of slave songs include call and response, in which the leader sings a verse and the chorus responds to it, clapping and foot stomping, since most of them could not have instruments, rhythmic music, and syncopated beats. The African singing and dancing helped slaves "retain continuity with their past through music". When the Second Great Awakening (late 1820s and 1830s) occurred, it led to a rise of Christianity. Slaves drew from their traditional work songs and performed adapted versions of spirituals and hymns in Christian music. These were called Negro Spirituals. Many of these songs were messages about suppression from the slaveholders or that signaled escape. "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) by Scott Joplin (1868-1917) "The Entertainer" (1902) by Scott Joplin (1868-1917) Ragtime enjoyed its peak popularity from 1897 to 1918. This type of music was mixed in background, the rhythm being "black" and the harmony/melody being "white". The popularity of ragtime is due to Scott Joplin (1868-1917). Ragtime was all about the piano. In 1899 Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" brought him great popularity and he quickly established himself as the "King of Ragtime." The blues has roots in the work songs of African slaves. The call and response style of the songs served as a basis for the blues. It is difficult to pin down, one of the first documented blues to be written down was "Memphis Blues" (1912) by W.C. Handy (1873-1958). Handy is known as the "Father of the Blues".The lyrics of the blues reflect daily life, from hard labor to drinking to poverty and more. The influence that the blues had on jazz brought it into the mainstream. Jazz came to be in the 1900s. It was a new style of music mixed with blues, ragtime, and marching band. In the 1920s, when African Americans began migrating to the north, they brought with the blues and jazz. Young Americans began to embrace the new style of music and it was a sense of rebellion. Young women bobbed the hair and wore shorter dresses, they were known as flappers. Radios encouraged the popularity of jazz. Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was an important figure in jazz and was the first to use the scat. Swing, a new form of jazz, became popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Fletcher Henderson (1897-1952) was experimenting with swing in Harlem in the 1920s. In 1934 Henderson began working with Benny Goodman (1909-1986), arranging numbers for Goodman's band. In 1935 Goodman played several of Henderson's arrangements marking the beginning of the swing era. Goodman was considered to be the "King of Swing". Swing seemed to be made for dancing. The music was highly energetic and it brought people to dance halls every night. Despite the fact that swing had its origins in the African American musical world, it was very popular middle-class whites. Folk music drew from black musical traditions and white country music. In the 1930s folk music started to become popular, with the Great Depression (1929-1941) and the Dust Bowl (1930-1936/1940, depending on the area) taking place. Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) began his career singing in the Popular Front and in union rallies during the Great Depression. Folk music remained alive during the 1940s and 1950s, but it wasn't until the 1960s that it became popular once more. Folk music refelected the values that the youth of the 1960s was searching for. Rock 'n' roll became popular among the youth of the 1950s. The fast popularity of rock was greatly due to the radio and television prgramming. The music had roots traditional African American music, along with country western music, gospel music, and jazz, but its most important influence was from rhythm and blues. Elvis Presley's (1935-1977) "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956) made him a national phenomenon. Other names in rock 'n' roll include Buddy Holly (1936-1959) and Bill Haley (1925-2981). By the 1960s the influence of rock began to spread. For a time, rock musicians concentrated on uncontroversial themes, such as romance, but by the late 1960s and early 1970s that changed. Themes of anger, frustration, and rebellion were more common along with styles that reflected the fascination of drug use. Rock was also used as a way to express political radicalism. The Woodstock music festival in New York of 1969 was a powerful symbol of the fusion of rock and the counterculture of the 1960s. The origins of hip-hop is believed to be in the Bronx by the Jamaican DJ Kool Herc (1955-). Herc's style of deejaying involved reciting rhymes over instrumentals, which he did at house parties. Others began mimicking Herc and with that the message of hip-hop spread, as did the followers. More about the history of ragtime can be found here: W.C. Handy (1873-1958) Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) Benny Goodman and His Orchestra play "Sing, Sing, Sing" (1937) Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) Elvis Presley (1935-1977) More about the Native American flute can be found here: More about the history of hip-hop can be found here: DJ Kool Herc (1955-) Works Cited

"About Celtic Music!" Web. 19 Apr. 2011.

"American Popular Song: A Brief History." History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.

"BBC - A History of the World - Object : Akan Drum." BBC - Homepage. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.

Birnbaum, Mark. "A Brief History Of Ragtime." Ragtime Mark Birnbaum. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.

Brinkley, Alan. A Survey: American History. 12th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print.

"Demian's Accordion Patent." Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.

"History of Blues." UofS Academic Web Server. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.

"The History Of Hip Hop." Davey D's Hip Hop Corner-Where Hip Hop & Politics Meet. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.

"History of the Native American Flute, Native American Flutes." Wind Dancer Flutes. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.

"The History of the Native American Flute." Native American Music by Scott August. Native American Flute Music by Scott August. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.
<>. Native American Flute Music "Oh Freedom" Bessie Smith (1894-1937) singing the "St. Louis Blues" (1929) "Heebie Jeebies" (1926) performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) singing "This Land is Your Land" (1944) Elvis Presley (1935-1977) singing "Hound Dog" (1956) Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" (1969) "Londonderry Air" which is the tune "Danny Boy" (1913) is set to
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