"Transformations" Reading Guide
In-Lesson Reading SelectionIn "Transformations" (one of this week's readings available via e-reserve), Samuel Floyd Jr. introduces the reader to some foundational aspects of African-American musical culture that are connected to the music and cultural memory of the African continent. He looks to these ideas and concepts as important influences of the development of African-American music in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this excerpt Floyd focuses particularly on the spiritual, the musical style that ultimately resulted from the combination of African ritual with Christian religion. He notes that it was a fairly easy fit, as many theological aspects of both Protestant and Catholic Christianity aligned with African religions, making it a comparatively easy task to replace the African deities (orishas) with God, Christ, saints, and/or angels without substantially changing the underlying ritual. Floyd also posits that the connection to these African rituals accounts in part for the lasting associations between African-American music, dance, and eroticism, given that these African rituals always involved dancing and usually were performed as fertility rites.
In particular, look for these terms and phrases to guide your reading:
The ring & the ring shout: This is an ecstatic religious ritual first documented in the 19th century. Floyd connects it back to various African religious rituals in which the dancers and singers would call upon gods and ancestors and would become possessed by their spirits. As noted, this tradition continued among enslaved African-Americans and ultimately became Christianized, with the Holy Spirit replacing the African deities who would possess the dancers.
Call and response: This refers to the interaction between a leader and a responding group in which they alternate phrases. In some cases, the group may literally repeat the words, or they might sing the same phrase each time.
Patting juba: This is a method of playing percussion upon one’s body. Floyd considers it a way to play percussion without drums (which were banned by most slave-owners).
Heterogeneous sound ideal: This refers to the fact that African and African-American musical traditions tend to favor ensembles made up of lots of different kinds of instruments which contrast with one another rather than blending together. Think back to our discussion of musical instruments and imagine a typical jazz band, which might include a saxophone, a trumpet, an upright bass, an electric guitar, a drummer, and a piano. Literally every family of musical instrument is represented. Contrast this with quintessential European ensembles such as the string quartet and vocal choir, which are concerned more with blending the sounds of the individual players together. The string quartet in particular literally consists of relatively larger and smaller versions of the same instrument!
Short melodic phrases: The African and African-American traditions favor shorter phrases that are layered and repeated. European traditions tend to cultivate longer melodies. For a prime example, compare the spiritual “Sheep, Sheep, Don’t You Know the Road” (link below) to “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair.”
Polyrhythm & Polyphony: This refers to the existence of multiple rhythmic and melodic “layers” in a single piece of music. Listen closely to James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and note how each instrument plays a short idea that isn’t much by itself but is an integral part of the larger layered whole.
Melisma: This is the use of a number of different notes under a single syllable. An excellent example of this occurs nearly every time someone sings the Star Spangled Banner. Once he or she gets to the phrase “land of the free,” many singers embark on an extended solo all on the word “free.” While this example is perhaps as much about showmanship as anything, melismas are an integral part of African-American musical styles.
Microtones: A “microtone” is a note that literally falls in between the notes available in European music (the notes on a piano). When singers and players “scoop” into musical pitches, they are using microtones. “Blue notes” are another word for this.
Metaphor: Floyd refers briefly to the idea of metaphor, in which a word is a symbol standing in for a different idea (“Her eyes were jewels,” etc.). It is worth noting that many African stories and African-American songs use metaphors to give songs and texts double meanings. The words may say one thing but mean another. In the case of enslaved or oppressed populations, this becomes a way to interact with, and even insult, those in power because they don’t know the hidden meaning behind what is being said.
As an example, check out this song from the Sea Island Singers, “Yonder Come Day." Note how the music is held together by call-and-response singing between the leader and the rest of the congregation. They are accompanied by hand claps that give way to more complicated “body percussion” (patting juba) at the end of the track. Note how repetitive this example is, but how it also seems to build in intensity…indeed, we could probably imagine this song continuing for a while yet!
To perhaps see a more modern example of what Floyd is referring to, consider this “praise break” in which the preacher seems to have a hard time reigning in the high spirits of her congregation after she sets them off. Although there isn’t a physical “ring” here, the ecstatic qualities of the tradition are clearly still in place! A number of important figures in African-American music, including Aretha Franklin and Little Richard, grew up among similar worship traditions and brought the energy and musical style into their secular music.
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