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.