American Music Exam #1

What is an arwhoolie?

a field holler

What is a ballad?

a narrative song in strophic form; tells stories, entertains, and teaches a moral lesson

What is the meaning of the words to "Yankee Doodle"?

a pre-revolution song sung by British soldiers; makes fun of the "Yankees" whom British fought during French and Indian war

What is a spiritual?

a sacred folk song; has a steady pulse, call and response, repetition and variation, and related to movement (the "shout"); often included encoded messages as a way to escape slavery

Barbara Allen

ballad from movement of independence

How does Benson J. Lossing describe the Shakers' music?

beautiful, sincere, solemn, etc.

Wondrous Love

classic folk hymn from Second Awakening

Ainsworth Psalm 100

from the Bay Psalm Book; early 18th century; Great Awakening

What were fundamental characteristics of Second Awakening?

fueled ideas of social equality: democratize religious practice, simplicity of doctrine and biblical authority, decisions made by congregations, both blacks and whites at camp meetings, education for women, uniting church and state

What tunes are included in the Southern Harmony?

fuged tunes and ancient music

What constitutes a "true song"?

given by the gods

Source of Native American Songs?

given to humans by spirits or gods, often in dreams or vision quests

How does the average person react to the Sacred Harp?

harshly because of shrill voices, strange harmonies, and absence of melody

Approximately when did the Second Great Awakening begin?

in the early 1800s

Only instrumental music that Sharp heard?

jig tunes on fiddle

What is the "Old Way"?

lining out

What is a "song?"

longer, more elaborate and emotional lines

What are folk songs that aren't hymns called?

love songs

What is unique about distribution of parts in Sacred Harp?

male sopranos and women tenors; women voices can stand out

What are vocables?

non-lexical texts that aren't literal words but are specific to a song

What are fuging tunes and how were they received?

open harmonies and similar to a round; deplored by "serious" musicians and congregations

What is Regular Singing?

reading music-singing schools created and a need for teachers, textbooks, and classrooms arose; related to Great Awakening in modernizing/rethinking religion

For what did slaves make music?

religious expression, work, recreation and dance, entertainment of master, boat and waterfront, code songs

What does Crawford think of music during the independence era?

says the music is "functional, not artistic"

What does "democratic music making" mean?

singers do what they want, not for the audience

What is a folk hymn?

sometimes referred to as spirituals; camp meeting had these songs; simple, repetitive, catchy, and for the purpose of praise

What does "context specific" mean and what are some contexts? (Native American)

songs only used for one purpose: Love Songs, butterfly dance, sun dance, songs of agriculture, healing ceremonies

Importance of secrecy in music?

songs orally transmitted from practitioner to apprentice

How were people of Laurel County, NC speaking language of a past day?

spoke with old-fashioned pronunciaiton and obsolete expressions

What was worship like at camp meetings?

stands erected with preachers, emotional dancing and "the jerks," music and hymn singing; hymns had verses with simple choruses

How are West African and African American music styles similar?

steady pulse, call and response

Shared characteristics of West Central African music?

steady pulse, call response, predominantly vocal but often with percussion accompaniment, accents/syncopation, polyrhythms, cross-rhythms, use of instruments to emulate human voice, oral transmission, improvisation, repetition and variation, communal

Characteristics of mountain folks' singing?

straightforward, even tone and clarity, dwell arbitrarily on certain notes

What is Symmes' final suggestion for promoting the singing of psalms?

that ministers teach it to the congregation: beneficial way to spend time, singing by note is melodious and ancient, most agreeable to scripture

What is a folksinger's aim when he or she sings?

to forget everyday life

What happened to the primarily written tradition and why?

turned into oral because of erosion of education and general push to the countryside

Consequence of misusing a song?

upsets the deities

General shared characteristics of Native American music

vocal; accompanied by drums, bells, rattles; drumming w/o singing non-existant; drums and voices can be at different tempos, melodies often descending

Why is the New England Psalm Singer important?

was the first published collection of entirely American music and the first tune book devoted to just one composer (William Billings)

What was the first known shape-note tunebook?

Bay Psalm Book

What special songs did Mitchell know?

Chief Songs-used for tying up Mountain Earth Bundle

Sherburne

Daniel Read; fuging tune from Great Awakening

Where did he learn Blessingway songs?

He Who Seeks War, Man Who Shouts, and his father

What has been called the first American music textbook and who wrote it?

Introduction to Singing of Psalm Tunes by John Tuft

The Liberty Song

John Dickinson; late 18th century, part of independence movement

What tribe was Frank Mitchell part of?

Navajo tribe

What situations might a Blessingway be used for?

Pregnancy, bad dreams, worry, etc.

On Jordan's Stormy Banks

Samuel Stennet; early 18th century; Second Awakening

First book printed in America?

The Bay Psalm Book

Who wrote the Reasonableness of Regular Singing and why?

Thomas Symmes; wrote so that ordinary people could understand it

Chester

William Billings; Great Awakening; pro-resistance and independence

What are the two most important collections of shape-note collections?

William Walker's Southern Harmony and Benjamin Franklin White/E.J. King's The Sacred Harp (still in print)

What made the Cane Ridge camp meeting so influential?

1000-2000 souls converted, news spread through KY and other states

Information on Liberty song?

American song of propaganda written by John Dickinson in 1768, appeared around time of the Townshend Acts, a "broadside" ballad