Old Time and Bluegrass Music

Old Time and Bluegrass Music ● Akonting, played by the Jola people of Senegambia region, west Africa ● Commonly used 400 years ago and during slave trade ● Living tradition continues today, though scarcely African Origins of Banjo Shared Design Features ● Frame drum body ● Top string begins at middle of neck Daniel Jatta of Gambia Plays Akonting ● ‘oo’teck’ technique nearly identical to some American banjo techniques ● strings struck with back of index finger (downstroke) or plucked with thumb “In the daytime they [slaves] were not allowed to remain in the place where they had slept, but were kept mostly upon the open deck, where they were made to exercise, and encouraged by the music of their beloved banjar, to dancing and cheerfulness.” George Pinckard, abolitionist, 1796 Describing transport of slaves from Africa to Jamaica “They [slaves] cut lengthwise through the middle of a calabash [gourd]...They stretch upon it the skin of a goat...then a piece of lath or flat wood makes the handle of the guitar; they then stretch three cords [strings]...They play on this instrument tunes composed of three of four notes which they repeat endlessly.” Richard Tussac, 1810 describing Banza instrument of slaves of French- controlled Saint Domaine (Haiti). Drawings published in 1707 showing African slave instruments in Jamaica “The Old Plantation” c. late 18th century, depicts slave dances to banjo-like instruments in North Carolina Slave Populations in 1860 High density down east coast, through deep south Low density in mountain regions of eastern Tennessee, Kentucky, and western North Carolina and Virginia Minstrel Shows ● Minstrel Shows: travelling variety shows. Most popular form of entertainment in America c.19th century ● Typically white entertainers performing for white audiences. ● Humor defined by racist stereotyping / parodying of black culture ○ performing in blackface “Blackness” and Minstrel Characters < Jim Crow - a happy simple-minded slave < Zip Coon - freed slave who tries (but fails) to pass as upper class, sophisticated, educated < Black Buck - strong, defiant, aggressive, hypersexual, attracted to white-women Excerpt from “Old Folks At Home” Popular minstrel show song by white composer Stephen Foster Banjos and Minstrel Shows ● Minstrel Bands ○ Banjo, fiddle, tambourine, and bones ● Early minstrel banjoists visited plantations to learn slave songs ● Shows travelled to all corners of country, including mountain regions The Virginia Minstrels ignited the Minstrel craze in America in the 1840s 19th century Banjo performances with percussion added by bones Banjo Craze ● 19th century instructional books detailed ‘Minstrel-style banjo’ techniques ● Nearly identical to Akonting technique of oo’teck ○ Involved only thumb and index finger ○ Used back of index finger in downstroke Scotch-Irish Settlers in the Mountains ● Scotch-Irish or Ulster Scots ethnic/ religious group from N. Ireland ● 18th century - immigration from Ulster to American colonies ○ Migrated to Appalachian mountains for cheap land ● Remoteness location preserved Ulster culture, promoted stereotypes of impoverished, backwards people. Scotch-Irish Music ● Ballads ○ e.g. Gypsy Laddie/ Gypsy Davy ● Fiddle-driven dance music of British Isles ○ Jigs/Gigues ○ Hornpipes ○ Reels “Ms. McLeod’s Reel” performed c.1930 for a rural dance The Banjo in Mountain Culture ● By 1880s Fiddle and banjo duos common ● Minstrel techniques develop into Clawhammer or Frailing techniques in mountains ● Other playing styles based in guitar- like fingerpicking ● 19th century banjo & fiddle played in unison style Dick Burnett (L) & Leonard Rutherford (R) of Kentucky perform ballad “Willie Moore” in 19th century unison style. Banjo uses guitar- like fingerpicking Old Time Fiddling Conventions ● 1913 annual Georgia Old Time Fiddlers’ Conventions begins in Atlanta ● Talent pool for early commercial recordings of rural music ● Furthered re-evaluation of mountain culture ○ “Appalachia became a living museum honoring white people” ‘Turkey in the Straw’ a popular reel accompanies some Flatfooting, a Scotch-Irish influenced dance, at a southern - Gavin Campbell. fiddle convention c.1930 African instrument, playing techniques, Ku Klux Clan sponsors repertoire fiddle competition in Johnson City Tennessee The Skillet Lickers ● Definitive Old Time Stringband assembled by OKeh Record ○ fiddles lead all the time ○ guitar accompaniment ○ sometimes banjo, mandolin ● The Hen Cackle (1928) ○ Features three favorite fiddlers of Georgia conventions ● Recorded repertoire influenced by ○ Scotch-Irish fiddle ○ Minstrel show ○ Popular Song (sheet music tunes) Gideon ‘Gid’ Tanner, perennial favorite of Georgia ○ Ragtime fiddle conventions, and leader of Skillet Lickers Ragtime Influences Scott Joplin, African-American composer pioneers ragtime music with distinctly African rhythms. “Maple Leaf Rag” of 1899 most popular piece of sheet music of the time Charles Johnson, white composer writing in Joplin-inspired ragtime style. “Dill Pickles Rag”, of 1906, the second most popular piece of sheet music. The Texas Nighthawks, a string band, records Dill Pickles Rag in 1929 with a band including fiddle, banjo, and guitar. They called it the “Crazy Rag” Strains of Old Time Music ● Scotch-Irish fiddle music ● Minstrel show ○ African techniques ○ African melodies ● Popular Song (sheet music tunes) ● Ragtime ○ African-American compositions Hillbilly Records ● ‘Hillbilly’ = southern, derogatory term for mountain people ● Urban, northern record execs use term as genre title for record catalogues ● Record companies shape image of musicians to maximize sales via stereotypes ○ Top: “The Hill Billies,” named by record exec, they wished to be photographed ○ Bottom: official press photo as posed by Peer Development of Bluegrass ● Named for style developed by Bill Monroe in 1940s ○ Mandolinist and bandleader from Kentucky, ‘The Bluegrass State’ ○ Called band ‘The Bluegrass Boys’ ● Distancing traditional music from ‘Hillbilly’ stereotypes ○ Increasingly virtuosic ■ Virtuosic soloists ■ Virtuosic ensemble: fast tempos ○ Increasingly arranged / stylized ○ Serious / sophisticated presentation Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys perform c. 1954 Notice their ‘no- nonsense’ presentation and carefully planned sequence of solos Study the studio recording of this tune in assigned listening Bluegrass Style ● Expanded instrumentation ○ Less fiddle-centric ○ Fiddle, Banjo, mandolin, guitar, dobro featured equally as soloists ● ‘Scruggs-Style’ Banjo playing ○ Named for Earl Scruggs of Monroe’s band ○ Highly syncopated, fingerpicking style (no Minstrel downstroke) ■ Influence of ragtime music ○ Played with metal fingerpicks for Earl Scruggs’ highly syncopated style and ‘ping’-y sound brighter, ‘ping’-ier sound might be Bluegrass music’s most distinctive sound Influence of Blues & Jazz ● Monroe held sincere appreciation of black music ○ Was taught as child by black fiddler Arnold Shultz ● Incorporated blues forms, lyrics, melodies into ● Improvisational approach of jazz becomes central to bluegrass musicianship Mule Skinner Blues: Modern bluegrass fiddling often incorporates a great deal of improvisation, taking influence from Jazz Vocal harmonies ● Indebted to protestant hymnody / singing school history covered in earlier lectures ● Stanley Brothers’ 1955 recording of hymn ‘Angel Band,’ composed in 1862 ○ Background image from shapenote tunebook popular in regions near Stanley’s native Virginia.

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