Chapter Three
1. Define the following Predecessors of the Blues
A) Field hollers – Field song that followed “call and response” mechanism. When leaders in the field work started the song, others would follow in rhythmic tone of the call.
B) Work songs – The immediate predecessors of blues that was sung while working at the field. Work song by the slaves was different from that of native Africans because the slaves were not farming their own lands. Also, mentioning of African Gods was prohibited by their masters.
C) Spirituals – Form of music developed by African Americans. Spirituals have heavy rhythmic patterns and Christian beliefs. This genre contains themes of oppression, hope, community, and Christianity.
D) Street cries – Short lyrical calls of merchants hawking their products and services in open-air markets.
E) Ring shouts – Ecstatic, transcendent religious ritual, in which worshippers move in a circle while shuffling and stomping their feet and clapping their hands.
2. Work songs formed a link between pure African music and the music which developed after the African slave in the United States had a chance to become exposed to some degree of Euro-American culture. Work songs contained the greatest number of Africanisms and yet were foreign to Africa.
3. African work songs narrowed down in scale. Works songs were for various purposes: fishing, farming, hunting, etc. However, in the new continent work song was only limited to that of farming. Over time, forbidden context in the song were eliminated and eventually forgotten to the descendants because it was forbidden to be sung. Works songs changed linguistically when a little bit of French, Spanish, and English were added.
Chapter Four
1. A) African religious practices were prohibited.
B) Growing social awareness – the realization that the slaves are living under the conqueror’s principles and religious belief.
C) Christianity was attractive because it was something that both