In Africa music was made for religious purposes. Their chants and dances were done in rituals to their spiritual ancestors and Gods. Wooden masks and drum instruments were essentials in their music rituals. During the slave trade Africans wanted to continue with their native customs, regardless of their distance. African Americans began incorporating the guitar and violin with the African instrument the banjo. This can be seen as the first fusion the African music had in the new African American music. They would find themselves singing and dancing during work and their free time with friends and family. African Americans wanted to maintain a connection with their roots, music made this possible. African Americans went through hard times and during the 18th century there were free slaves towns. Which gave lots of opportunities to the slaves in the urban North compared to those in the South. The artists and musicians of this time made art because of love. It was rare that they could gain wealth from doing any form of art. These artist were among the northern black elite. They often found themselves being compared to the spiritual African music. Which was different to their orchestra and vocal music. They did used their music to support the anti-slavery movement. In cities like New York, Boston, St. Louis just to name a few had circles of elite black artists. The "Black Swan" Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was one of the most famous singer of the time. She was also born a slave, which shows how in the north there were more opportunities for African Americans.
After so many years trying to end slavery it became a reality in 1860s, the Reconstruction time. African Americans began going to school and doing everything there was to do that they could not during slavery. There was still discrimination during this time, but African Americans were mind set to succeed. Migration to the south happened once again due to the massive violence in the South.
After the Civil War African Americans created new sounds known as jazz, ragtime and blues. These three new genres were influenced by the sounds of Africa. Scott Joplin was famous in the ragtime genre and he played the piano. Which adds the piano to the list of already used instruments. Jazz was influenced by African and European sounds. Ferdinand J. La Menthe was one of the first jazz artist. Blues was most famous in the south. W.C. Handy is known as the father of blues.
During the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1920s African American musicians began to be admired by the white audience. Music was the one in charge to make blacks and whites interact. Art became an important part in the growth of African artists during this time period. During the Harlem Renaissance many became involved in the night life and this gave music a popularity boost.
African Americans were in need to innovate to not loose the interest of the white audience. They wanted to stay true to their passion and at the same time make a living out of it. Everyone was going through hard time due to the Great Depression. Everyone was in need of a job and money.The result of this was Swing and bebop which became another great hit in the night clubs.
In the 1950s the conservative lives of the American families were changing. Racism and segregation became a huge problem and civil right leaders began strong movements to end the injustice. The new sounds of rock and roll were becoming popular. African American artists like James Brown and The Temptations were among the famous musicians of the time. James Brown later in the years created the genre Funk. In the mid 1960s the famous guitar player and singer Jimmy Hendrix left a huge influence in the popular music. His use of the wha wha pedal electrified anyone who saw him play live.
It is obvious African Americans have left and are still influencing many artists and music. In the 1980s hip hop and rap became and still is popular.In this case music became an important part in the lives of the African Americans. Music has helped and influenced in the interaction with whites. There was still tension, but music gave African Americans the freedom to create and express their ideas.