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    This document discusses challenges in learning about African American music from the past. Specifically, it notes that before sound recordings, historians had to rely on written accounts, most of which came from white writers who may have been indifferent or hostile to black music. As a result, these accounts must be read critically with an understanding of the writer's potential biases. The document emphasizes that to understand early African American music history, one must consider the limitations and biases of the primary sources, as very few written traces came directly from black writers during this time period.

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    Week 1 Lecture 1 Summer 2021

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    This document discusses challenges in learning about African American music from the past. Specifically, it notes that before sound recordings, historians had to rely on written accounts, most of which came from white writers who may have been indifferent or hostile to black music. As a result, these accounts must be read critically with an understanding of the writer's potential biases. The document emphasizes that to understand early African American music history, one must consider the limitations and biases of the primary sources, as very few written traces came directly from black writers during this time period.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    5 views8 pages

    African American Music: Prof. Meyers

    Uploaded by

    dianson zhang
    This document discusses challenges in learning about African American music from the past. Specifically, it notes that before sound recordings, historians had to rely on written accounts, most of which came from white writers who may have been indifferent or hostile to black music. As a result, these accounts must be read critically with an understanding of the writer's potential biases. The document emphasizes that to understand early African American music history, one must consider the limitations and biases of the primary sources, as very few written traces came directly from black writers during this time period.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 8

    African American Music

    Lecture 1
    Prof. Meyers
    How do we find out about music from the
    past?
     How do we find out about music in the present
    day? Where and how do we get this
    knowledge?

     Come up with at least 3 ways, including one


    way that you think your classmates might
    overlook.
    Possible ways to find out about music today
     Hear song on the radio
     Watch video on youtube (or other internet-
    based service)
     Go to a record store
     Read about in a newspaper, online article,
    magazine
     See a live performance
     Talk to someone about music
     Learn to play a song from sheet music
    Are those applicable to learning about music from the
    17th, 18th, and 19th centuries?

     No sound recordings
     Can’t talk in person to anyone
     Can’t see a live performance

     How are we (or other historians) going to find


    out about this music?
     Our main source is going to be writings from
    people who had the time, inclination, and
    ability to write about this music.

     What are the possible problems with that?


    (Specifically dealing with African American
    music)
     Newspapers, letters, diaries, books
     . . . by white writers, some of whom were
    indifferent to black people and black music,
    some were actively hostile.

     Relatively few written traces about music from


    black writers
    What’s the takeaway?
     Read critically – but what does that mean?

     Consider the source. Where did this


    information come from? Who is this writer?
    What is their motivation for writing this and
    interpreting what they saw and heard in a
    particular way?
    So what do we know?
     The transatlantic slave trade. Brought roughly
    10 million Africans to the “New World”—
    North America, Central America, South
    America, and the Caribbean

     What percentage ended up in what is now the


    United States?

     About 5%

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