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Title
Preface
Introduction
Early America
European Elements
African Attributes
Instruments
MusicSamples-Folk
Music Samples - Sacred
MusicSamples-Blues
Conclusion


Music Samples - Sacred

6. Guide Me O Great Jehovah
Audio (wav) Files:     Long version, 317Kb.   Short version, 42.4Kb.
This selection, recorded in Kentucky, is an example of ". . . early American psalm-singing in a virtually unchanged form." (18) The hymn is said to be a favorite in Wales and certainly came to America with European immigrants. This is an example of the lining out technique that would have been transmitted to African immigrants in 17th century America (see "European Elements").

Lining hymns typically are slow and infused with an intense beauty. This is an opportunity for hardworking people following a strict, often harsh, morality to give voice to their feelings, hopes, and faith. Surrounded by their peers, the heterophony of the lining hymn provides both a personal release and the comfort of fellowship. (19)
Escaping from a harsh reality through spiritual singing sounds curiously like an attribute often applied to African-Americans, but here it is applied to whites suffering under the bonds of their religion.

7. Sheep Sheep Don'tcha Know The Road
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 346Kb.   Short version, 24.3Kb.
This recording, made by Alan Lomax, features The Sea Island Singers. The Georgia Sea Islands were relatively isolated. As a result, much slave culture that was lost elsewhere has survived there. (20) This recording is an example of the African foundational element known as "call-and-response." Call and response differs from lining out in that it is literally question and answer. "Don'tcha know the road?" "Yes Lord, I know the road." Conversely, lining out is singing out the verse solo and having the group repeat it word for word. The most striking difference between the previous selection and this one is the difference in rhythmic treatment. The previous lining out selection is slow and free flowing, the spirit of the moment dictating the duration of the notes. It does not seem to have any set meter. In contrast, Sheep, Sheep Don'tcha Know The Road has a prominent rhythm that is clapped out. The "metronomic pulse." The clapping is done on beats 2 and 4 (1 2 3 4), the characteristic backbeat of African-American Music. Lomax describes the clapping at the end of the song as following "polyrhythms," another of the African foundational elements. (21) (See "African Attributes"). There is a palpable sense of joy and of movement in this hymn.

8. I'm On My Journey Home
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 216Kb.   Short version, 28.5Kb.
Identified under the heading of Southern White Spirituals, this selection features the Alabama Sacred Harp Singers. Though not as old as lining out, Sacred Harp singing is an old tradition that was developed in 18th century New England. It uses "shape-note" musical notation, that is, each pitch has a unique shape assigned to its written note head, which was presumably easier to read than standard notation. Sacred Harp singing is polyphonic, using three or four part harmony. (22) The striking feature of this selection is the rhythm, it is closer to Sheep, Sheep than to Guide Me O Great Jehovah. While it does not emphasize beats 2 and 4 as the African-American example did, it is certainly much more strident rhythmically that the lining out hymn. (23)

Next: Music Samples - Blues

[Preface]   [Introduction]   [Life in EarlyAmerica]   [EuropeanElements]   [AfricanAttributes]   [Instruments]   [MusicSamples-Folk]   [MusicSamples-Sacred]   [MusicSamples-Blues]   [Conclusion]