High Brown Songs

Did you know there were black folksongs in aural tradition? Slavery lasted from 1619 to 1863. Black musicians would sometimes improvise lyrics. Over time some of the favorite verses were committed to memory. These were likely used as early ragtime content in the 1880s.

Continue reading “Black Folksongs”

Success by black athletes and black musicians is obvious and widespread on the pages of history. Lesser known are accomplishments in many other areas.

The songs on this site trace many of the influences of blacks starting with African folk songs and spirituals. Through these rare resources you may acquire greater knowledge and appreciation of this subject. This is a goal of sheet music singer.

Modern use of the term “woke” started in black churches. The ministers noticed an alarming percentage of black men were dying. These deaths were due to a variety of causes.

We should keep in mind that the meaning here is awareness of the unprecedented and disproportionate number of black deaths.

Here it is:

This is a long story to tell. Many of us are curious about it.

There were traces of minstrelsy before 1843. I speculate that these grew out of plays where black characters were played by white actors. When plays were musical, this required the white performer to imitate black music and dance. It was fairly easy access to encounter black music in those days.

Continue reading “The Minstrel Show”

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What would you like to have here?

Banned on YouTube. We have received strikes for hate speech which endangers our channel. Thus, we’ve had to delete many of the videos which contain epithets in title or lyrics. You will find audio mp3s for them here on this website. This is a very important collection musically. We pledge to grow it much bigger over the next few years.

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African music and European music combined most notably in the Caribbean. Black slaves performed the music on plantations for The Minuet, cotillion, and quadrille. I believe African-Americans started the practice of quadrille prompting around 1820 which later became square dance calling.

Continue reading “Something uniquely American”

When did blackface clowns first appear with banjos? This instrument was needed for the act. But where could one acquire a banjo in the 1830s? Did they make them? How did they learn how to play and what would the playing style have been? A great deal of assistance would be needed by good banjo makers and players.

Continue reading “White Men with Banjos”

The creation of American jazz, blues, swing, rap, and hip hop started long ago when African song and dance was combined with European styles. In the West Indies and throughout the Americas wherever slaves were kept, there was an interaction between white and black. I think of it as understudy. Two films show blacks in charge of plantation music, Gone With the Wind and Twelve Years a Slave.

Continue reading “Behind Every Star”