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llowed to attend church Sundays. This brought congregational singing into their lives. Black men and women had there own special pews and they would chant one or two lines at a time ending on a definite pitch and then the congregation would follow singing with the same line. This was called 'lining out' which still lingers on in black churches today. They learned to sing psalms by hearing them and then ach time they were sung, the tune would change a little. Singing schools eventually started appearing so people could receive 'correct singing'. Organs were brought into churches. During the 1730's a more upbeat singing pattern came to the churches called Hymnody. They were religious poems rather then psalms which became vastly popular through the colonies.

 

In the colonies, black musicians were entertainment for the colonists performing dance music. They would play for balls, country-dances, and sometimes in dance schools. Slaves played this music because they were consistent, experienced, and inexpensive. Many slaves were sold expensively because they had a musical talent. Slave musicians were mostly flute or violin players, which made them more valuable to the white colonists because dancers preferred these instruments.

 

Slaves, who weren't allowed to read or write, were able to play instruments so well because, according to Eileen Southern in the book The Music of Black Americans, 'It is thus logical to accept the notion that colonial slaves also might have taught themselves, especially since they were closer to the African tradition, and would have remembered the musical activities they pursed before coming to the New World.' (49) For slaves, the musical instruments favored were usually easy to learn, the instrument had easy access so they could practice at anytime, and their instrument had to be useful so that when they finally learned to play it, they could perform it well. Learning to play instruments and singing fell into to place when they had celebrations for example ''Lection Day'. This was when the black slaves would get together and vote for a 'governors'. Slaves were given Wednesday to Sunday to elect their 'governors'. During this celebration slave sang and danced to fiddles they played.

 

One piece that I listened to was Amazing Grace by Aretha Franklin. She has such a powerful voice that the song struck me as a prefect song to go along with the slavery era. The slaves kept their mind off the work they were doing by singing. Singing a song like Amazing Grace is a way to keep your emotions fixated on the song rather then the work. Listening to Aretha Franklin sing this song was such a joy because, although they play this song mainly at funerals, listening to her sing it just put a smile on my face.

 

The second piece I listened to was Fix Me Jesus sung by the University of Mississippi Concert Singers with conductor Jerry Jordon. What struck me in this song was I heard it in the Alvin Ailey Company video in class we watched. I liked this song because it reminded me of the songs the slaves sang during their o本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。