Music of the United States and Canada

Native American Music Thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas, Native Americans had developed a very strong musical tradition. Among Native Americans, music was a part of everyday life, and had strong ties to spirituality and reverence. Across the continent, different Native American groups used songs and dances for hunting, waging war, planting and harvesting, calling for rain, celebrating births and funerals, and for many other social activities.

Native American Music Throughout the region, there are several common characteristics of Native American music. Singers usually perform in groups, rather than sing solo fashion. The music usually consists of one or more drums and sometimes shakers, rattles, and bells. Songs often tell stories about animals, gods, and sacred places. The singing is often performed in “vocables,” or vowel sounds with no real meaning.

Native American Music Sadly, much traditional music was lost when the Europeans arrived, conquered Native American nations, and destroyed native cultures on the North American continent. In recent years, however, intertribal powwows have become very popular throughout the United States and Canada, and have helped to keep the ancient traditions alive. Powwows feature traditional singing and dancing, competitions, and native arts. Many are open to the general public.

European Influences When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they brought music and instruments from their homelands with them. The earliest settlers spread out to eastern Canada and to central and southern areas of the United States. Many arrived from England and Scotland, and brought with them folk songs that recounted tales of kingdoms and village life. Early American folk songs sprang up from this tradition and were based on stories of local events, adventures, conflicts, love, and other daily concerns. French people who settled in Quebec also had rich folk singing and fiddling traditions.

European Influences Frontier songs and fiddle tunes became very popular in rural communities, especially in the Cape Breton region of Nova Scotia. The French-speaking Acadian people found their way down to Louisiana, and took with them a distinct song tradition of waltzes and two-steps played on the fiddle and accordion. This gave way to the Cajun music of today, popular in Louisiana and at folk festivals and concert halls across America.

European Influences Farther west, along the Texas/Mexican border, another accordion-based style exists today, known as “Norteno” or Tex-Mex music. This lively music combines Spanish lyrics and song forms with bouncy German polka rhythms.

European Influences American country music also had its beginnings during this period. Country music has clear links to British ballads, Native American songs, and Scots-Irish fiddle tunes. Settlers in Appalachia originally sang in a tense, high-pitched style that can still be heard in some contemporary country music. All along, the fiddle continued to be very popular, and thanks to its portability and strong sound, it was the perfect instrument to accompany country dancing. A strong repertoire of country music developed over the years, using guitars, mandolins, and bass. These days, with electric instruments and modern innovations, country music continues to expand and is popular in many areas of the United States and Canada.

African Roots The first enslaved Africans brought to the United States a culture rich in music, song, and dance. Although plantation slaveholders attempted to ban and suppress this ritual music, enslaved Africans managed to keep their traditions alive. They also began to adapt their music to certain European instruments and music forms. This mixing of African and European/American styles is still evident in much of the folk music of the southern United States.

African Roots Gospel music is a type of religious singing that emerged in northern and midwestern urban areas of the United States around the turn of the twentieth century. Its roots can be traced back to the rural folk music of the American South. The moaning sound of old spirituals, the tight vocal harmonies of minstrel groups and quartets, and the rhythmic influence of early jazz and blues all contributed to the evolution of African American gospel music. Gospel music continues to flourish today, and it has become recognized as a major expression of African American culture.

African Roots Blues music, as we know it today, has also developed in African American communities around the turn of the century. Work songs, field hollers, country dances, and spirituals all influenced the earliest forms of the blues. The structure of European music’s sung verses and the use of guitar as accompaniment also played an important role.

African Roots Blues varies in form around the United States, and there are several important regions with different styles. “Delta Blues” is performed in the south-central United States, with the Mississippi delta as a focal point. The music here can often be percussive in nature, with dense rhythms and raspy vocals. “Piedmont” blues developed in the southeastern states, and is characterized by a finger-picking style strongly influenced by old-time or “hillbilly” music. “Chicago blues” has a pulsating, modern electric sound, and is often heard in midwestern areas.

African Roots Memphis, Tennessee was also an important early center for the development of blues. The world’s most famous blues artist, B.B. King, developed his style in the Memphis area by incorporating bits of jazz and using a singing style inspired by spirituals and gospel music.

African Roots In a similar way, jazz evolved from a mixture of early African American music and European styles and instruments. “Ragtime” was a popular music of the early 1900s with strong syncopated rhythms. Other types of jazz followed, with names like Swing, Bebop, Big Band, Dixieland, and more recently “Smooth Jazz”. No matter what type of jazz it is, improvisation (creating music spontaneously) is always central to the main theme.

African Roots In the early 1950s, the mixing of white country music with African American “rhythm and blues” produced the beginnings of a music that came to be known as “Rock and Roll”. Rock and roll evolved into modern-day rock, taking on more modern arrangements and utilizing louder, electric instruments. Other modern forms of music such as rap and hip-hop all have their roots in earlier forms of American music.

The Music of North America What is most significant about the music of North America is the mixing of different cultural styles and borrowing of elements from one type of music to another. This region has produced a dazzling array of music, drawn from diverse cultural influences and spanning many years.