American black music can be roughly divided into three categories: labor music, religious music and pop music. The main variety of labor music is labor songs; The most influential religious music is the Negro spiritual and Gospel Music. There are different kinds of pop music, such as blues, jazz and disco. Among these varieties, labor music first appeared, while blues and jazz were the most influential.
The most important variety of labor music is the chant called "field holler", which is improvised and sung, mostly with function words as lyrics, only a few with real words as lyrics, mostly with pentatonic scale, and many notes are "bent pitches or flexible tones", which later became the unique blue notes in the blues. Most of the songs use the style of "one leader and many people", and the rhythm is more complicated.
Lingge is a religious song sung by black people who believe in Christianity in the church, and its content mostly expresses painful feelings, such as "Are you present? The lyrics are:
Were you there when my Lord was crucified?
were you there when my Lord was crucified?
Lord! The scene made me tremble
Were you there when my Lord was crucified?
were you there when he was nailed to a tree?
were you there when he was nailed to a tree?
Lord! The scene made me tremble
Were you there when he was nailed to a tree?
Soul songs are sung extemporaneously at first, and most of them are in the form of "leading the crowd", so they are easier to learn. Although its content is Christian, its singing form and creative way have preserved the tradition of West Africa.
Blues is a kind of solo with folk song style. It was originally a song for black people to entertain themselves, and later it became very popular, and it had a far-reaching influence on almost all kinds of American music, including jazz.
The blues came into being after the American Civil War. At that time, many freed slaves left their farms and hometowns to do unfamiliar jobs, such as building railways and digging ditches. Hard work and meager wages made them feel pain, so they improvised some songs to express their misfortune. This was the original blues. In the evening, black people amuse themselves by singing blues in places where they live together. This kind of blues is called "rural blues". Later, black singers went to bars and salons in the city to sing country blues, accompanied by guitars, harmonicas or pianos. These blues sung by professional singers were called "urban blues".
The main theme of blues lyrics is about love and working life. The original rhyme of the lyrics is one sentence per paragraph, which is repeated three times. Later, it evolved into two sentences per paragraph, and the first sentence is repeated, forming AAB form, such as:
How many years will you treat me like a dog?
how many years will you treat me like a dog?
I'd rather die quickly and sleep underground.
The scales used in the blues are basically the same as those in the major, but there are often third, seventh or even fifth tones that lower the semitone, and sometimes the vibrato is used on these tones. These sounds with cavities are called "blues tones".
The melody of blues is generally 12 bars, and each lyric sings 4 bars, and 3 sentences are exactly 12 bars. This form is called "twelve-bar blues". The 12-bar section obviously inherits the tradition of 12 beats as a unit in West African music. Blues are accompanied by dominant chords, dominant chords and subordinate chords. The general rule of harmonic progression is that the first sentence uses dominant chords, the first two bars of the second sentence use subordinate chords, the last two bars use dominant chords, and the first two bars of the third sentence use dominant chords. Chord progression is the basis of impromptu singing and performance. Singers can improvise and sing countless beautiful tunes based on this simple harmonic progression. It is precisely because of this 12-bar harmonic progression that singers and instrumentalists can cooperate with each other and create improvisedly.
The country blues singers are mostly men, while the city blues singers are mostly women. Blues singers and performers often cooperate with jazz musicians, and they have a close relationship. Because both blues and jazz are music created by blacks, the rhythm is complex and changeable, the melody is in blues, and both emphasize improvisation and performance.
When it comes to jazz, you can't help mentioning Ragtime music. In English, the word "ragtime" means playing a melody with syncopated rhythm. Ragtime appeared at the end of 19th century, which was a piano solo created by composers at that time. Although it adopted the harmony of European classical music, it was influenced by black music and full of syncopated rhythm.
After the American Civil War, black musicians could get or buy the instruments used by military bands during the Civil War at a cheaper price, and black musicians in New Orleans began to play these instruments in their own way. They played not only in celebration parades and concerts, but also for funerals. After the funeral, on the way back to the city from the cemetery, they often play pop songs in syncopated rhythm in ragtime music, and freely add flowers and show off their playing skills. After the black wind band gradually evolved from an outdoor ceremonial band to an indoor band focusing on dancing and entertaining people, musicians used Gotham music and syncopated rhythm to play European marches, dance music and even opera selections, and added improvised passages. In this way, black musicians in New Orleans gradually created a new way of playing-jazz.
"jazz" was born in the early 2th century. It was first written as "jass", "jasz" or "jazz", and later it was written as "Jazz". As to why this kind of music is called "jazz", there are different opinions, but most researchers believe that this name has something to do with New Orleans' red light district in Storyville, because many black musicians originally played in brothels and casinos in that area. (Ferris 1991：233) Some people think that the word "jazz" comes from "jasmine", because the prostitutes in Storyville often use jasmine perfume; Others think that "jazz" originated from "jezebel" (shameless slut), and at the end of 19th century, this word was almost synonymous with prostitutes in America.
The earliest jazz bands included clarinet, cornet, trombone, drums and other instruments. They were composed of three to eight players. Later, trumpets replaced cornets, and saxophone, guitar and cello were added to form a relatively complete jazz band.
After choosing a piece of music, jazz musicians decide what kind of harmony to match and how to repeat it, and then they begin to improvise. The music they chose at that time may be ragtime, blues, marches or pop songs. In improvisation, the cornet plays the melody, the clarinet plays the counterpoint melody around the main melody, the trombone plays the harmony foundation, and the drum plays various rhythms. In addition to accompaniment, each instrument usually has to improvise a passage. Therefore, jazz is not so much a unique music as a unique way of playing by combining improvisational solo and collective ensemble. This method can be practiced by musicians because it absorbs the essence of European music-harmony, and improvises under the restriction of harmony background, which makes the collective ensemble and individual play have a basis. The reason why this way is welcomed and loved by audiences all over the world is that its principles are different from those of western classical music, which can better reflect modern people's views on life and modern people's spiritual requirements.
In the 192s, many outstanding jazz musicians moved from New Orleans to Chicago, which replaced New Orleans as the center of jazz. White musicians in Chicago also like jazz, so they adapted some popular and classical tunes into jazz, but white musicians don't improvise. This kind of jazz played according to a pre-written score is called "sweet jazz". In 1924, in order to perform in Carnegie Hall, the advocates of "Sweet Jazz" included. Paul Whiteman asked the composer George Gershwin to write "Rhapsody in Blue" for the symphony orchestra in jazz style, which was warmly welcomed by the public after the performance and was called "symphonic jazz". Because "Sweet Jazz" and "Symphony Jazz" were not improvised but played by the score, many critics didn't think they were "jazz" at that time.
the influence of African-American music
Jazz led to the emergence of "sweet jazz" and "symphonic jazz", but the influence of African-American music was far more than that. Some critics think that jazz is one of the three most important contributions of Americans to world civilization, and I appreciate this view very much. Because American black music, including jazz, opened a new page in the history of world music at the beginning of the 2th century.
European classical music, which gradually developed from the Renaissance, reached its peak at the end of 19th century. Analyzing it from the perspective of ethnomusicology, it is not difficult to find that it has the following characteristics:
1) There is a detailed division of labor among musicians. Generally, composers are responsible for creating and writing music scores, while performers and singers are responsible for performing, singing and playing according to music scores, and there are few impromptu performances. What performing artists should express is the composer's feelings at that time and place, not their own feelings here and now.
2) This kind of music is usually performed in a concert hall. The responsibility of the audience is to sit there quietly and listen with their ears. Generally, the audience is not allowed to participate in the performance. During the music, the audience must listen attentively and are not allowed to make any noise.
3) Although this kind of music reflects life, it is not played in daily life, nor is it generally combined with activities such as labor, ceremonies, games and love. At the same time, classical music is highly technical and cannot be mastered without long-term special study and training; You can't understand it without long-term edification.
If we compare this music culture with other music cultures in the world, such as Indian, China, African and Middle Eastern music cultures, it is not difficult to find that other music cultures value improvisation, allow the audience to participate to some extent, are closely combined with daily life itself, have various practical functions, and have more * * * between them, so western classical music is very special compared with them. European classical music culture is indeed an outstanding music culture in human history, but it is also a special music culture.
According to Andrew Clarke, European classical music culture has become a "passive water, soilless wood" in the 2th century. "By the 192s, the creative side of classical music began to disappear along the dead end of modernization" and "only the most enthusiastic fans persisted".
America is the most economically and culturally developed country in the world. Early immigrants mainly came from Europe. Teaching European classical music is the main task of music teaching in American universities, primary and secondary schools. However, according to the statistics in 2, only 1% to 15% 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. That is to say, only 5% to 7% people in this country are interested in European classical music, and among these people, the people who listen to the radio are the most, followed by records, and the people who go to concerts are the least. Facts have proved that Clark's view is right, and the public is no longer interested in classical music.
African-American music, on the other hand, follows completely different principles to create music. It is mainly improvisation. Players and singers are composers. When performing, they pour out their own feelings, not others'. Performances can be performed in various occasions, and people are encouraged to participate, and listeners with low self-cultivation will not be rejected. In addition to auditory effects, visual effects of performances are also emphasized. Because they want music to be as close to life as possible, and it is best to be integrated with life. So their performances meet the needs of the public and are very popular.
The above principles of African-American music are so different from European classical music, so they can point out a new development direction for the whole world in the process of classical music becoming a cultural dinosaur. Many people of different nationalities are working hard in this direction, opening up a new era of multi-culture and emerging leisure culture. This is the influence of African-American music on the world music culture, and it is also the great contribution of African-American music to the world music history.