HISTORY

The genres of music inspired by the culture of Black America are all connected. The origin dates range from region to region but typically feature the same style of performance. You can hear the natural progression throughout the years.

SPIRITUALS

• Created roughly with the start of slavery in the U.S. in 1619 throughout plantations in the south

• Inspired by the mix of West African pentatonic melodies, European Christianity, and the struggles of slavery

• Mostly sung a capella (voice only) but sometimes featured stomps, pats, and claps (juba)

View the example video below:

BLUES

• Created roughly in the 1860s as slavery was becoming abolished in the south

• Inspired by spirituals but started to expand the form using call and response with instrumental accompaniment and usually the twelve-bar blues

• Mostly sung in minor mode and accompanied by acoustic guitar
  

View the example video below:

JAZZ

• Created roughly in the late 1800s to early 1900s at the turn of the century

• Inspired by spiritual and blues traditions fusing with classical traditions, adding new instrumentation and widening the tonal combination of notes sung and instrumental music with many sub genres, featuring instruments such as drumset, bass, piano, guitar, various horns for marching such as the tuba or trumpet, and many others

View the example video below:

R&B (RHYTHM & BLUES)

• Created roughly between the 1940s and 1950s going into the Civil Rights Era

• Inspired by newer jazz subgenres that had simple beats and bands that featured drumset, bass, piano, guitars, backup singers, and sometimes horn

• Sung music with instrumental accompaniment, with themes spanning from the Black American experience of hardships to romantic relationships

View the example video below:

ROCK (& ROLL)

• Created roughly around the time that R&B was but didn’t gain its name until the 1950s or popularity until the 1960s

• Inspired by new jazz bands but started to incorporate electronic instruments

• Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first to take an electric guitar and use it with gospel (spirituals), creating the style we know today

View the example video below:

FUNK

• Created roughly in the mid-1960s and gained popularity in the 1970s

• Inspired by more upbeat R&B and rock songs

• James Brown helped create the standard funk sound, emphasizing the down beat through songs, making this genre the ultimate music for dance

View the example video below:

HIP-HOP

• Created in the late 1970s and gained popularity in the 1980s.  It is now the most popular genre in America

• Inspired by combinations of Black American music, adding spoken-word in rhythm and rhyme on top of music, originally funk or disco but today having its own unique sound

• Mostly produced with virtual instruments but sometimes feature live instruments

View the example video below:

QUIZ

These genres connect in many ways through the Black American culture. Can you think of any genres we missed that also reflect spirituals?