The start of Folk Music originated from Negro Spirituals. Negro spirituals were developed from the vocalizations and spiritual music of Africans during slavery. With that, Africans were brought to America along with their own spiritual beliefs. In 1740, slaves were then introduced to christianity. Negro spirituals were used as communication amongst the slaves when wanting to move from one place to another, in retaliation, or just motivation to get through working in the fields. In relation to music genres, negro spirituals were used as a foundation for how the common, black initiated genres such as Hip Hop, Rock n Roll, Jazz, and Blues. The most important one that is usually forgotten is Folk Music.
Folk Music
Folk Music is the branch of music which has the closest tie to the music from our African roots. Beginning with the similarities in instruments to those from Africa, the kora, conga, djembo, banja. Folk music became popular in 1900s during the Great Migration in the process of African Americans moving from the south to the north. Folk music had various elements such as storytelling and call and response. Folk music was the original genre of music that brought African Americans closer to one another.
