Slaves had no way of verbal communication, so they turned to musical tactics. The use of drums, vocal sounds, and call-and-response (I.e., cries, moans, and slurs) were their means of communication. With the use of these different demonstrations, they were able to bring these styles into the Ring Shout as a form of a religious community. The Ring Shout was not only a religious ritual but the molding of African American cultural attributes.
