The birth of Negro spiritual songs dates back to eras of slavery. During that time, men and women were captured from Africa and taken to work in the United Stated. They traveled ashore to go work in farms, different factories, and even as house helps. Their detachment from their homes, presence in a different continent, and the life to which they got resigned to, brought about immense emotions.
This kind of music can be described using a number of characteristics. They were considered to be very religious. Most of them came to the continent practicing different forms of religions. Upon arrival they got introduced to Christianity. Some embraced it out of will, others without choice. The messages in their songs were based on the teachings from this religion, in relation to their state.
These themes included: freedom, spiritual salvation, and bondage. They also sang about hope and restoration of peace. They longed for the well being of their spirits and happiness. All this came about due to their state of slavery. They were torn apart from their families to come work in a foreign place without great rewards. They turned to religion as a form of consolation.
The songs were also characterized by a lot of dancing, jumping and shouting. There were sayings that sprung, claiming that these slaves were the most content and joyful people due to this factor. They would sing out loud, clap, shout interjections randomly, and jump all around as if possessed when singing.
There were different types of these songs as well. Some were somber and slow. They expressed bitterness, hurt, anguish and despair. This was due to the situation they were in. Some of them were underpaid, worked in harsh conditions and got mistreated: hence the necessity of these compositions to which comforted these men and women. The upbeat music was fast and included a lot of dancing, for the purpose of entertainment.
A look at the lyrics of a song can also distinguish its nature. The words that were in the music the slaves sung depicted how they felt. The expressions described their emotions which were characterized by despair and hope for freedom. The songs done in favor of mockery still had an aspect of the sorrow they felt within.
They also hummed these songs as a way to kill time. All the work and daily routine would get them tired and bored. Having that they were restricted to their work areas, they lacked sources of entertainment. These songs provided an avenue to kill the boredom.
Most songs take time in the composition stage. This time gives the composer room to work on the song and lyrics. As opposed to this, the compositions done by these workers were more of spontaneous than structured. Composition was a group affair. An individual would start a song, and another on freely join in and build on it.
As time progressed the world experienced an end to the era of slavery. These people become part of the normal population without discrimination. The Negro spiritual music also saw growth. It became the foundation of other core genres like blues, hip hop, jazz and gospel music that is very popular.
This kind of music can be described using a number of characteristics. They were considered to be very religious. Most of them came to the continent practicing different forms of religions. Upon arrival they got introduced to Christianity. Some embraced it out of will, others without choice. The messages in their songs were based on the teachings from this religion, in relation to their state.
These themes included: freedom, spiritual salvation, and bondage. They also sang about hope and restoration of peace. They longed for the well being of their spirits and happiness. All this came about due to their state of slavery. They were torn apart from their families to come work in a foreign place without great rewards. They turned to religion as a form of consolation.
The songs were also characterized by a lot of dancing, jumping and shouting. There were sayings that sprung, claiming that these slaves were the most content and joyful people due to this factor. They would sing out loud, clap, shout interjections randomly, and jump all around as if possessed when singing.
There were different types of these songs as well. Some were somber and slow. They expressed bitterness, hurt, anguish and despair. This was due to the situation they were in. Some of them were underpaid, worked in harsh conditions and got mistreated: hence the necessity of these compositions to which comforted these men and women. The upbeat music was fast and included a lot of dancing, for the purpose of entertainment.
A look at the lyrics of a song can also distinguish its nature. The words that were in the music the slaves sung depicted how they felt. The expressions described their emotions which were characterized by despair and hope for freedom. The songs done in favor of mockery still had an aspect of the sorrow they felt within.
They also hummed these songs as a way to kill time. All the work and daily routine would get them tired and bored. Having that they were restricted to their work areas, they lacked sources of entertainment. These songs provided an avenue to kill the boredom.
Most songs take time in the composition stage. This time gives the composer room to work on the song and lyrics. As opposed to this, the compositions done by these workers were more of spontaneous than structured. Composition was a group affair. An individual would start a song, and another on freely join in and build on it.
As time progressed the world experienced an end to the era of slavery. These people become part of the normal population without discrimination. The Negro spiritual music also saw growth. It became the foundation of other core genres like blues, hip hop, jazz and gospel music that is very popular.
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