AFRICAN-AMERICAN'S MUSIC: WORK SONGS, GOSPEL, BLUES, RAGTIME and JAZZ

Africa-American people need to express themselves through the music. They are a very musical culture. From African roots they conserved a powerful rhythm, meanwhile they learned from the Western culture the traditional harmony. In music class we will study different examples of African-American music: work songs, gospel, blues, ragtime and jazz.

WORK SONGS

The work songs were the songs that the African-American slaves sang in their jobs. 

Golspel

African-American people are also very religious people. In their churches they sing spirituals or gospel songs. In these songs they express their joy to believe in God.

Blues is a word that means sadness, nostalgia or melancholy. In African-American music, a blues is a sad, nostalgic and melancholic song. These songs are profanes, not religious, and they talk about life and problem of African-American people.

Ragtime is a music piece for piano solo. It is a characterised by his particular rhythm (a "rag" rhythm). Ragtime music was played by African-American pianist called "entertainers". They played this music in cafes, bars, restaurant and also in cinemas. In the movies without sound.

PAGE 6. AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY

In music class, we are studying African-American music. We will listen work songs, spirituals, blues, ragtime and jazz. To understand them we have to know the terrible history of African-American people.
From 1500 to 1800 a lot of African people were kidnapped and forced to be slaves. African slaves were sold in American countries like Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, and United States.

Slaves were obligated to work in the worst hobs, mainly in the cotton and sugar fields. They were treated like animals, how if they were not human beings. African slaves had to forget their names, their religions and their culture.

During the 19 century, slavery was forbidden in American countries. In United States, Abraham Lincoln was the president that freed the slaves. From then, African-American are free.

But they did not have the same rights, and suffered episodes of racism. It was necessary the fight of more people, like Malcolm X or Martin Luther King, to realise the civil equality