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


Music Samples - Folk

1. The Dispute at the Crossroads/The Nine Pint Coggie
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 488Kb.   Short version, 39.2Kb.
This is an example of two Irish reels played on the uillean pipes. While it is not intended to represent the whole musical culture, it is perhaps typical of the kind of Scots-Irish music that would have been carried to the new world and inspired imitations, such as the next selection.

2. Devil's Dream
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 372Kb.   Short version, 25.4Kb.
According to the Lomax Collection liner notes, pious folk in the community believed that instrumental music, like Elvis in later years, was the spawn of the devil. It was necessary for a player to make a deal with the devil at the crossroads in order to become master fiddler. (15) A similar story is told about black Bluesman Robert Johnson in the film Crossroads. Perhaps the crossroads dispute in the previous selection is over something similar. This selection, recorded in Virginia, illustrates the fiddlers use of open strings to simulate the drone of the bagpipe. The repetition of a basic tune with variations is typical of a reel

3. Old Joe Clark
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 274Kb.   Short version, 29.1Kb.
This banjo instrumental, also recorded in Virginia, illustrates "frailing," a right hand strumming technique which consists of hammering the strings percussively with the fingernails. "This style reflects a heritage transmitted from black to white banjo players in the 19th century, and has probable roots in West African lute playing." (16) A concrete example of African influence. The high open fifth-string drone can also be heard. Though it lacks the sustaining quality present in the drone of the uillean pipe and fiddle examples, it is sustained through repetition.

4. The Lass of Loch Royale
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 478Kb.   Short version, 39.7Kb.
This selection, recorded in Arkansas, is said to be a well known ballad in the British Isles. (17) Its inclusion here, perhaps unnecessarily, is intended to show that European immigrants to America did indeed bring their music with them.

5. Ramblin' Man
Audio (wav) Files:    Long version, 446Kb.   Short version, 43.8Kb.
This selection, a commercial recording by Hank Williams Sr., has a similar feel to Lass of Loch Royale. Also notable is Williams' periodic yodel to falsetto voice. It certainly does not sound like the pristine Swiss alpine-type yodeling that one would expect to hear from such artists as Roy Rogers or Riders in the Sky. Could this other characteristic yodel of Country western music have been influenced by African music? Williams vocal style on this recording is certainly full of ". . . rhythmic-oral declamations, interjections and punctuations . . ." and ". . . timbral distortions of various kinds; . . ." (see "African Attributes"). The BaAka people employ a yodel similar to Williams'. Another possibility, one beyond the scope of this work, is that the Native American use of falsetto voice, such as practiced by Athabascan tribes, influenced the vocal technique employed by Williams.

Next: Music Samples - Sacred

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