Chapter 4:
North America/Black America
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Music from Africa
Work Songs & Field Hollers
Spirituals
Ragtime
Blues
Jazz
Gospel
Homework:
Read Chapter Four– North America/Black America
• Religious Music
• Work Songs/Field Hollers
• Blues
Work on projects - update due Mon., Oct. 3
Project updates MUST include
• working thesis statement
• outline
• list of sources (in bibliographic format)
Work Songs & Field Hollers
• Work Song = accompanies work and makes
time pass more pleasantly; usually multiple
singers; regular pulse/beat that goes with
work. (ex.: “Ho Boys Cancha Line ‘Em”,
and “Rosie”)
• Field Holler = sung by solo worker; free or
flexible rhythm; no accompaniment; one of
the ancestors to the blues. (ex.: sung by
Baby Doo Caston)
Ho Boys, Cancha Line ‘Em
• Chain-gang Work Song
• Strophic (repetitive)
• Primary motor rhythm is strong and straight (work), syncopation
makes the melody lift and rise above the work.
• Call-and-response between song leader and group - with direct
repetition of sung line by the group.
Ho Boys, Cancha Line ‘Em
Intro:
Ho, boys, is you right?
I done got right
(repeat)
Verse 1:
If I could I surely would
Stand on that rock where Moses stood (response)
Chorus:
Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?
Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?
Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?
See Eloise go linin' rail.
Verse 2:
July the red bug, July the fly
If August ain’t a hot month, I sure hope to die
(response)
Chorus:
Ho boys, well they can’t wait
Ho boys, well they ain't time
Ho boys, well they can’t wait
See Eloise go linin' rail.
Verse 3:
I got a woman on Jennielee Square
If you wanna die easy, let me catch you there
(response)
Chorus:
Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?
Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?
Ho boys, cancha line ‘em?
See Eloise go linin' rail.
go linin' rail.
go linin' rail.
Elements of African-American Music
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Blue Notes
Motor Rhythm
Syncopation
Swing
Improvisation
Work Songs & Field Hollers
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Purpose
Themes
Tradition
Musical characteristics
Differences
Work Songs (cont.)
• Field Holler
– sung by Baby Doo Caston (CD 1:18)
• More Work Songs
– “Rosie” (CD 1: 19)
– “Kneebone Bend”
Religious Music
• Amazing Grace (CD 1:17)
• Differences between other traditions
• Influence on other music
Homework - due Monday, Oct. 10:
Part I: Online Quiz, Chapter 4
Part II:
1. What are Work Songs and Field Hollers? How
do they differ? Use examples.
2. What is a “spiritual,” and how is it different
from a European hymn?
3. Compose the lyrics for at least 2 stanzas
(strophes) of a 12-Bar Blues.
The Blues
• Originated in the Deep South
• Mississippi Delta Blues (Charley Patton,
Robert Johnson)
• Active throughout South, slightly different in
each region.
• A Feeling (“I’ve got the blues, but that’s ok”)
• A Form (12-bar blues)
The Blues (cont.)
• Commercialization
– cornet, voice, organ, piano, guitar, trombone, etc.
– Regular form
– W.C. Handy St. Louis Blues
• Folk Blues
– voice, guitar, harmonica
– Free sense of form and phrasing
– Robert Johnson, Hellhound on My Trail
• Urban Blues
– Electric blues (B.B. King).
– Chicago’s South Side & Electric Blues (Muddy Waters,
Hoochie Coochie Man)
– New Orleans (Louis Armstrong--West End Blues)
• Influenced Jazz, Rock n’Roll, and Country.
Strophic
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• same music repeated, different words.
• Ex. 1: Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, etc.
(most songs heard on radio today)
• Ex. 2: Succession of “verses” or “choruses”
(Hymns, Ballad Songs, and the 12-bar Blues form)
Blues Form
Combined the spiritual, field holler & work song, and the 3-line
ballad (as sung by songsters).
3-line vocal stanza (or “strophe”):
• 2nd line repeats 1st, 3rd line rhymes with above.
• Example:
I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line.
I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line.
And let that 5:15 train pacify my mind.
Musical phrases or sections:
Folk-blues had no standard length for phrases or sections; their
blues were flexible and varying, moving when they felt like it.
Urban blues follows the following form:
Blues Form
• Combined the spiritual, field holler & work song, and the
3-line ballad (as sung by songsters).
• 3-Line Vocal Stanza (or “strophe”):
– 2nd Line repeats 1st, 3rd line rhymes with above.
– Example:
I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line.
I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line.
And let that 5:15 train pacify my mind.
• Musical Phrases or Sections:
– Folk Blues had no standard length for phrases or sections; the
singers used a flexible approach to form, and moved to a
different chord and line whey they felt like it.
– Urban blues and “commercial” blues uses the following form:
Diagram of Blues Form (12-bar Blues)
Line 1 (4 measures)
Line 2 (4 measures)
Line 3 (4 measures)
Voice
Fill
Voice
Fill
Voice
Fill
I
I (2)
IV (2)
I (2)
V (2)
I (2)
Dominant
Tonic
(2)
Tonic
Subdominant
Tonic
Line 1 (4 measures)
I (2) - I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line.
I (2) - instrumental fill
Line 2 (4 measures)
IV (2) - I’m gonna lay down my head on some lonesome railroad line.
I (2) - instrumental fill
Line 3 (4 measures)
V (2) - And let that 5:15 train pacify my mind.
I (2) - instrumental fill
Blues Examples
• The Thrill is Gone - B.B. King
1: The thrill is gone, the thrill is gone away
2: The thrill is gone baby, the thrill is gone away
3: You know you done me wrong baby, and you'll be
sorry someday
The thrill is gone, It's gone away from me
The thrill is gone baby, The thrill is gone away from me
Although I'll still live on. But so lonely I'll be
The thrill is gone, It's gone away for good
Oh, the thrill is gone baby, Baby its gone away for good
Someday I know I'll be over it all baby, Just like I know a
man should
You know I'm free, free now baby, I'm free from your spell
I'm free, free now I'm free from your spell
And now that it's over, All I can do is wish you well
Examples from Textbook
• Lazy Bill Lucas
– Poor Boy Blues (CD 1: 20) -- 12-Bar Blues
– She Got Me Walkin’ (CD 1: 21) -- 12-Bar &
Quatrain-Refrain (stop-time) Form
• Otis Rush
– Ain’t Enough Comin’ In (CD 1: 22) -- 12-Bar
Blues with Bridge
Summary
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Blues = feeling, form, expression
Folk, Urban and “commercial” blues
12 - Bar Blues form
Music of North America, and now the world,
influencing many musical genres
• Discussion points:
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Do the blues help you -- personally?
Is some blues music better than others?
Do you get bored with some blues music?
Does marketing diminish the blues?
Gospel Music
• African-American religious music based on large church
choirs, featuring virtuoso soloists
• Started originally by Thomas A. Dorsey, it has always been
influenced by contemporary pop music of the time.
• Includes many elements of African-American Music
• Artists include Andrae Crouch and CeCe Winans
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• White Gospel (Southern, Country, etc.) is not the same thing.
Think Billy Graham and the Gaithers.
Spirituals
• African-American song, usually with a religious
text.
• Originally monophonic and a cappella, these
songs are antecedents of the blues.
• Spirituals were primarily expressions of religious
faith, sung by slaves on southern plantations.
• Examples: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; Were You
There; Woke Up This Morning; Follow the
Drinking Gourd; Go Tell it on the Mountain
Homework - due Monday, March
6:
Part I: Online Quiz, Chapter 4
Part II:
1. What are Work Songs and Field Hollers? How
do they differ? Use examples.
2. What is a “spiritual,” and how is it different
from a European hymn?
3. Compose the lyrics for at least 2 stanzas
(strophes) of a 12-Bar Blues.