Genres
African American music evolved as the Civil Rights Movement progressed. Music unified African Americans as they fought for equal rights. The changes that occurred in African American music as the Civil Rights Movement progressed tells the African American experience through a creative outlet. Let's take a look at the three main genres of African American music throughout history that served as the base for the rest of black musical history.
Blues
Blues is a special genre of music in black history because it originated from African Americans during slavery. The blues gets its name from lyrics that tell stories of heartbreak and sorrow due to the unfortunate conditions African Americans endured during this time period. Blues was meant to speak the truths of the African American experience. Lyrics were often about the Great Migration, sexual freedom, city life in the North, and other aspects of black culture that made these songs universally appealing to African Americans.
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Typical Elements of Classic/Urban Blues:
AAB form
6, 8, or 12-bar form
I, IV, V chord progression
Vocals influenced by Vaudeville
Guitar, piano, drums, horn section
Photograph of Bessie Smith, also known as "Empress of the Blues." She was the most popular female blues singer in the 1920s and 1930s.
Photograph of Louis Armstrong, one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. Nicknamed "Satchmo," he played from the 1920s to 1960s and evolved alongside jazz.
Jazz
Jazz was developed in New Orleans from its African American communities. Jazz takes its roots from blues and ragtime. This genre is heavily based on featuring improvisation as the main element. In Jazz, the timbre of brass and reed instruments is used to mimic vocals. Jazz focuses more on the instrumentals than the lyrical content of the song. The freedom of expression through improvisation gave black jazz musicians encaptivating power over their music.
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Typical Elements of Jazz:​
AABA form
Swing notes
Horn sections
Guitar, piano, bass, drums
Orchestrations of horn lines
Syncopation (accenting the non-dominant beat)
Gospel
Gospel is a genre deeply associated with the church. Unlike the blues, the lyrics in gospel focused on hope and perseverance rather than sorrow. Gospel allows singers to show off their vocal ability and take the spotlight from the instrumentals. Gospel's three main elements are the moan, masking, and call and response. The moan is unique to gospel because it evokes emotion relating to the African American experience and political importance of the Civil Rights Movement. Masking subtextually implies a hidden message of religion, which often includes hope, salvation, optimism. Lastly, call and response is a back and forth between the singer and the audience, instruments, or other vocalists that is meant to engage and emphasize through repetition to form a community identity.
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Other Typical Musical Elements of Gospel:
Complex rhythms
Harmonized vocals
Piano, organ, drums, guitar
Photograph of Aretha Franklin, a talented musician, actress, and activist. Although she began her singing career with gospel music, Franklin later became known as "The Queen of Soul."