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The Colonial Era

Music in the Colonies

Music in the Colonies 17th Century  Music primarily vocal music  Organized to the needs of the meeting

house or (church), home, and community

 Meetinghouse provided a religious guidance and social diversion

Music in the Colonies 18th Century  More variety of music  Fine arts was cultivated  Instruments for home use  Music and dance schools  Professional teachers

Primary Source of Information

 Blacks had to adjust to a new home and the traumatic experience of slavery

 The colonial newspaper » Source for information about slave musicians » Listed slaves for sale or hire » Slaves’ musical skills » Runaway listings

Congregational Singing: Psalmody and Hymnody  Singing in the meetinghouse

• Black separated from whites (BW, BM)

 Hymn lining

Congregational Singing: Psalmody and Hymnody  Psalm singing in the community

• Black servants sang with their masters on special occasions

• Psalm singing at wedding ceremony or funeral

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Congregational Singing: Psalmody and Hymnody  The Reform Movement

• Singing psalms without instrumental accompaniment or musical notations led to undesirable practices.

• Forgotten tunes, incorrect pitch • “Common Way” verses “Regular Singing”

The Growth of Hymnody

 The Great Awakening • Demand for livelier music in worship service • Hymns that employed religious poems instead

of scriptural psalms. • Dr. Isaac Watts

Religious Instruction and Psalmody  Patterns of Slavery in the North and

South • Quakers were more interested in the plight of

Black men and women. • Slaves being regarded as part of the family in

the north. • In the South masters had more control over

their slaves.

Religious Instruction and Psalmody  Conversion and Religious Instruction in

the North • Colonial clergymen were concerned with

converting the heathen (African American and Native American) of the New World to a Christian.

Religious Instruction and Psalmody  Missionary Activity in the South

• Like the North, the South was concerned with the souls of slaves.

• Hesitations to grant slaves with religious institute and baptism.

• The idea that slaves who were received into the church would automatically receive freedom.

• Slave conspiracies and uprising

Recreational Music

 Holiday Celebrations • North and South observed New Year’s Day,

Easter, Pentecost, Whitsunday, Election day, Militia, and Christmas

• Militia day (military day) » Salves could only play instruments

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Recreational Music

 Social Diversion of the Colonists • Whites and black participated in social activities

together. » House raisings, maple sugarings, cornhuskings,

ect. » Dancing and singing

Recreational Music

 Slave dance musicians • In north black musicians provided much of the

dance music for colonists. • Slaves played in some of the dance schools. • In south slaves played for their masters at balls,

assemblies, and special entertainments.

Recreational Music

 Social Singing • Ballads • Work songs

Recreational Music

 Other Salve Gatherings • Slave Festival