Jacob Voisin
Dr. Darryl Jones
MUED 414
11/16/2021
Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir:
Chapter 3 Outline
Practical Performance Practice in the African American Slave Song

Originated in West Africa, where many of the slaves brought to the New
World came from
A.) West African Music
1.) The “heathen savage” concept of West African civilization is the result of
slave owners’ inability to understand the culture and their need to justify the
enslavement of their people.
2.) Music was an integral and functional part of African life
a.) Call-and-response singing
b.) Complex rhythmic patterns and uses a lot of percussion
c.) Dance
d.) Orally passing down history and lore
e.) Strong beats on two and four
f.) Melody built on four or seven step scales
B.) Evolution of the Spiritual
1.) Came about in response to the hardships of slave life
2.) Shows the relationship between song and the Holy Spirit; possesses a lyrical
quality and express a wide range of emotions, such as elation, hope, and
sorrow.
3.) Incorporated the characteristics of West African music melded with sounds of
the New World
C.) Slave Song Categories
1.) Religious spirituals: preaching and teaching; those that make very direct
reference to the message of Christianity,
i.e. King Jesus Is A-Listenin, My God is So High
2.) Freedom spirituals: talk about earthly freedom; make reference to Moses and
the people of Israel in the sense of deliverance
i.e Great Day, Go Down Moses
3.) Escaped or “coded” spirituals: make reference to planning for escape,
i.e. Keep Your Lamps, Wade in the Water, Steal Away
4.) Shout and holler: used for instruction, Ezekiel Saw the Wheel
5.) Work songs: used while working in the fields, John Henry, Goin Up to Glory
D.) Issues of Performance Practice

There is no one correct way of performing this form, but one must always
keep its integrity. There are three key issues:
1.) Dialect and the use of it, three schools of thought
a.) Use of standard English
b.) Hybrid
c.) Use of dialect:
i.)
Phonetic decay: i.e. Keep your lamps trimmed and burnin’ (vs.
burning)
ii.)
Consonants: some consonants the exist in English did not exist in
the slaves’ native language, for example voiced ‘th’ substituted
with ‘d’
iii.)
Diphthongs: elimination of diphthongs
iv.)
Schwa: more prevalent use of the schwa
v.)
Clipping words: i.e. “witness” to “wi’ness”
2.) Tempo and rhythm
a.) Always even eight notes; not jazz or swing
2a.) Understanding inflections and attitudes of the spiritual
a.) Use the inflections of their speech
b.) You’re telling a story.
i.)
Context?
ii.)
How is it expressed
3.) Timbre/ vocal color
a.) Color is attached to interpretation; must have integrity. One cannot treat a
spiritual with Western Renaissance performance practice
b.) Musical choices should be informed through research and much
consideration
c.) Music must be performed with respect and dignity