During the Colonial Era - Slaves

During the Colonial Era slaves were allowed to attend church Sundays. This brought congregational singing into their lives. Black men and women had their 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