Concert: Christmas Carol
The concert that I chose to attend was the Spelman-Morehouse glee club Christmas Carol. Saturday nights showing was at Spelman College at 7:30pm. There were several instruments used throughout the concert such as the organ, drums, piano, and trumpet. Since both are historically black colleges traditional Negro Spirituals, traditional Christmas songs and Gospel were incorporated. […]
Minnie Riperton
Minnie Riperton Style and Inspiration More info is listed below Musical Development Musical Development more info is listed below Click Here Family and Upbringing Family and Upbringing Click Here Style and Inspiration Minnie Riperton possessed a five octave vocal range and sung as a coloratura soprano. This singing style is consistent with opera singers. Not […]
Hip Hop
Hip Hop originated in New York City starting in the 70’s. It was a new creative outlet for African Americans. Records, turntables, DJ’s and MC’s were vital to the creation of hip hop. The break beat allowed a particular section of a record to play on an endless loop. This made it easier for rappers […]
Musical Theater: A New Era
Black people throughout American history have faced discrimination in every aspect of their lives. Through social entertainment in the late 19th century and early 20th century called Menstrual shows, blacks were depicted as “creatures”. They were things to imitate, mock, and degrade for the simple pleasure of whites. There were no blacks that played prominent […]
Techno: A Derivative of Funk
Techno originated in Detroit in the 1980’s. Genres such as funk and electronic gave way to a new genre which was Techno. Techno music incorporates synthetic beats, and was used by DJ’s. It is a blend of music including jazz, electric, and funk. Repetitive instrumentation is used in techno making it easy to dance.Marginalized group […]
Disco: A New Way of Life
A new musical genre emerged in the 1980’s called Disco. Disco was brought on to the scene by DJ’s that were initially in New York. Fashion. music, dance trends, and a new culture emerged from disco. It was inclusive of all minorities but was specifically aimed at the Black, Latino ,and gay community. Through the […]
Gospel
Gospel music originated from hymns, call response, shouting, and negro spirituals. It became a genre after slavery which infused all of its predecessors. The genre is uplifting, and talks of a higher power.Thomas Dorsey is known as the father of Gospel. Gospel’s incorporation of Negro Spirituals reclaimed the stolen slave hymns that was taken from […]
Jazz and Black intellectualism
Jazz was the first art form that blacks were able to thrive under.Unlike Negro Spirituals, Blues, and Ragtime, Jazz depicted a classier version of African Americans. They typically played traditional instruments such as the piano, bass, trumpet and saxophone. Technique and capability was able to be depicted through instruments that were considered to be prestigious […]
Negro Spirituals
Negro spirituals are a staple in the black community. They are poly rhythmic and tend to reference religion. A prominent negro spiritual artist was Marian Anderson. She used music as a conduit for her activism. Early Negro Spirituals were not written down by slaves. They were stolen by Caucasians and written in a book called […]
Ragtime Post
Ragtime was the first African American music genre to be popularized in mainstream american culture. Although this genre was popular, in mainstream media it degraded black people. This was done through the use of cakewalks, blackface and minstrel shows. In order to perform black men had to dress in black face and clothes that portrayed […]
Women In Blues
Women in blues, specifically black women were prominent figures. They rose above the cards they were dealt with.Black women faced oppression, misogyny, racism, and poverty. Without black women the genre of blues would not have been popularized during its time. The first recorded blues singer was a black woman. Her name was Ma Rainey. Self […]
Jubilee Quartet Project
Marian Anderson
The article on Marianne Anderson and black sisterhood was very insightful. Throughout the article countless examples of the aesthetics of activism were given, particularly in reference to Marianne Anderson. Singing Negro Spirituals written by Florence Price and other black artist showed black pride. Negro Spirituals being included in her sets gave Caucasians a view […]
Folk Music Critique
Although, this post was very insightful on Folk music it could be improved upon. Stating that “selfishness” was the reason Africans were stripped of their identity is small scale. Africans specifically from West Africa were used for production and cheap labor. The inferiority of Africans that was used to justify slavery was created as a […]
Eva Kelly
