Overview
Negro Spirituals, termed by Dr. Everett McCorvey, created the foundation for the commercialized success of modern music. The condition in which Negro Spirituals were created introduced a new philosophy into music unbeknown to the western and middle eastern world. The Foundational Black Americans' faith, struggle, and knowledge allowed the users to construct hymns that would help ease their suffering and path to freedom.
History
Negro spirituals came about sometime during the transatlantic slave trade. The enslaved Black Americans were allowed to meet for "Christian services" to praise and dance in what was known as "Praise houses." These Foundational Black Americans, however, were not allowed under any circumstances to sing, dance, or play the drums as typically done before their enslavement. Banning drums, singing, and dancing was primarily due to the Stono Rebellion (1739). The enslaved people in a British South Carolinian colony rebelled on the banks of the Stono river. As they marched down the eastern coastline of the United States, demanding liberty, they used drums to signal to other enslaved people that they were coming to liberate them. The rebellion was eventually quelled, and in response, enslavers decided to indoctrinate the enslaved people into Christianity. Foundational Black Americans started holding secret meetings to commune and worship, typically after the workday. "Corn Ditties," as they were called then, were the precursor to Negro Spirituals and were performed at these meetings in the traditional way of worship. After a period of indoctrination, enslavers relaxed their restrictions on public singing. The condition was that the songs could not appear to be "against the slaveholder." Thus, Spirituals became the version of the corn ditties allowed to be sung "quietly" during working times.
Characteristics of Negro Spirituals
Negro Spirituals are hymns created by Foundational Black Americans characterized by their spiritual nature, improvisation, and rhythm. Spirituals can be categorized in several ways, including Field hollers, Sorrow songs, and Freedom songs. These categories are further disseminated in a call-and-response, fast and rhythmic, or slow and melodic fashion. Negro Spirituals also utilized a concept called a double entendre that is still widely used in the various genres of music today.
Field hollers were songs that employed falsetto, portamento, and sudden changes in pitch. Mostly sung as a solo, these songs often contained moans and extended vocals on certain words. These hymns were sung to uplift spirits and ease the suffering during the enslavement of Foundational Black Americans due to camaraderie among the enslaved. The improvisations and contents of these hymns led to the genre known as blues.
Sorrow songs is a name given by W.E.B Dubois in his book "Souls of Black Folks" to describe the melancholy and soulful nature of the hymns. These hymns specifically spoke to the suffering of the Foundational Black Americans as they witnessed and underwent grievous atrocities during their enslavement. They intended to allow the poet to express their feelings about their grief. The hymn's melodies were in a minor key and conveyed an atmosphere of sadness and melancholy; the lyrics were directly about what it is like to be enslaved.
Freedom songs were songs associated with being liberated from enslavement. These hymns served two purposes. They uplifted spirits while declaring what was to come and as a guide to escape the plantation. The hymn's lyrics clung to messages of God which uplifted the spirits. The foundational black composer's ingenuity also introduced double entendres into these hymns. The double entendre often signaled to other enslaved people how to reach freedom using the underground railroad hidden in biblical scripture references. For example, "Ev'ry time I feel the spirit" talks about the Jordan river running to Heaven and back, which corresponds to the Mississippi river running from North to South.