An Introduction To The American Negro Spiritual By Dr. François S. Clemmons, Alexander Twilight

1. An Introduction To The American Negro Spiritual By Dr. François S. Clemmons, Alexander Twilight Artist-In-Residence, Middlebury College

2. ......If you do not want your slave to speak freely, you should also forbid him to sing.!!!!!...........Against all odds, the slave opened his mouth and began to sing, and continued to sing, pouring forth new songs like magic apples from a heart bursting with love, faith, and adoration for the love of God. His efforts filled one of the grandest pages in musical history for all time: the glorious and unique American Negro Spiritual.

3. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst there of for there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying sing us one of the songs of Zion How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? Psalm 137:1—4

4. The American Negro Spiritual grew out of the life and extreme experiences of the pre-Civil War Black African Slave as a profound and often tortured expression of his/her need for meaning and spiritual succor during his/her suffering. According to James Weldon Johnson, the editor and arranger of the famous Book Of American Negro Spirituals, (pub. 1925 Viking Press), the first Dutch vessel landed in 1619 at Jamestown, Virginia with twenty African slaves aboard.

5. They were quickly bought up by the colonial settlers and the slave trade was officially underway. This practice was to continue and thrive up to 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln, with the Emancipation Proclamation, affirmed that ‘all persons held as slaves within any State of designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, henceforward, and forever free.’ In 1865 Congress added the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution, abolishing slavery in all the states

6. It is not known how many spirituals there are nor exactly when the slaves actually began to sing these songs. One can barely imagine the shock of being suddenly cut off from the moorings of their native African culture, thrown into enforced intimacy with total strangers possessing no common language or history, scattered without regard to their customary tribal relationships, having to adjust themselves to a completely alien civilization, being forced to learn a strange language, and be subject to all the elements of nature in the foul belly of the ship—all this after floating restlessly—pushed relentlessly through the rigors of the middle passage across the Atlantic Ocean for weeks at a time.

7. Erskine Peters, who wrote Lyrics of the Afro-American Spiritual states that ‘Afro-American spirituals are not only sorrow songs, but are also jubilee songs, shout songs, chants, homilies, mantras, affirmations and collective, personal, and historical allegories.’ I add that they are hauntingly beautiful and they draw from deep in the belly of the human existence the pain and joy we all experience.

8. To continue: ‘They are the heart of the text of traditional Afro-American Christian theology, and they contain in general, crucial aspects of the Afro-American world view.’ She further states: ‘As wisdom texts, they are instructional agents that functioned to the controvert, the distorted Christian catechesis that was created to indoctrinate the enslaved African into submission. To some extent, spirituals are allegories of experience, proverbs of understanding, and documents of quest.

9. Every spiritual, which is a lyric of tremendous philosophical, emotive, and dramatic import, testifies to the discomfort or unrest in the enslaved African’s state of being’. Frederick Douglas characterized the spiritual as ‘tones, loud, long and deep, breathing the prayer and complaint of souls. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.’ To further quote Melvin Dixon in Ride Out the Wilderness, the spiritual functioned to delineate the religious and secular elements of conversion.

10. This delineation of the religious and the secular elements provided for the enhancement of one’s inner mobility and for the transformation of one’s moral status.’ In these songs the slave found refuge. The aggressive theology that the enslaved developed on their own stands, therefore, in significant contrast to the prescribed instructions of the slave masters. In the creation of the spirituals, the enslaved were, in effect, creating a territory in which they had some dominion and autonomy.

11. And lastly, the musicologist Henry Edward Kerhbiel argues at length that the only considerable body of song which has come into existence in the territory now compassed by the United States….are the songs of the Black slaves of the South.’ Even in our time some 150 years later, with all our modern inventions and devices, I feel that this is still true. Spirituals have stood the test of time and are sung by many different races all over the world.

12. I’d like to add here that the creation/evolution of the American Negro Spiritual is/was an oral practice. Slaves were not permitted to learn to read or write. Usually a song leader would start the song and his/her peers or the congregation or gathering would respond. This was the most common method of singing these songs, but there are other simpler, melodic styles that we sing today, songs such as My Lord What A Mornin’, or Steal Away, and Deep River.

13. When the slave arrived on these shores he/she had already experienced a great deal of shock and trauma, therefore most of them were barely operating on the level of survival. It is estimated that 700,000 slaves died during the middle passage. I know that that’s on the high side, but I am prejudiced as there were so many cases of illegal ship-owners, pirates, and at the hands of all kinds of illegal folks, taking slaves and a variance of record keeping of this shameful activity during that era.

14. Compared to the knowledge of what we know today, the slaves barely knew—knew nothing of what they were going to get. Sadly, it was more of what had originally brought them to these shores for financial gain and greed: pain, suffering, and humiliation!!! Many of those enslaved were being sold to traders in Africa because of political affiliations, economic rivalries, wars, bribes and payment, as well as local raids within the region where they were caught—a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You cannot understand slavery, if you cannot understand this ‘African’ collusion in the slave trade. Black Africans sold their compatriots and enemies to Arab slave traders for money and often personal gain. It hurts, and it’s the truth.

15. Once on the Westside of the Atlantic the slaves were washed up, oiled, barely clothed, fed, medically attended to only when necessary for financial gain, and prepared for sale again. This time they were sold mostly to southern plantation owners or overseers who marched them forthwith out of the city square and ‘home’!!! It was common for them to walk several hundred miles behind mule-riding wagons from coastal cities to the inland plantations.

16. On the plantation they were immediately assigned someone to show them the ropes and given a place to sleep in the slave quarters. Frequently they did not speak the same language, much less English, were not familiar with any of the food, knew no person, and were expected to respond to and obey their newly assigned leader for their survival on the plantation. Add to this survival condition: shock and stress! Nothing can bring down a healthy person sooner/easier than continual stress and the shock of being brutalized and even maimed. The Middle passage alone could last up to 6 weeks at a time.

17. In spite of all these life-threatening distracting it was soon apparent that music was a far more important element in the daily lives of African peoples than their white counterparts. These diverse, fecund/vital peoples brought with them to the New World many ancient musical traditions that they did not forget on their painful journey through the middle passage. Primarily the slaves/Africans used music to commemorate and teach their special holy days, births, deaths, marriages, war victories, planting days and seasons to name a few occasions.

18. Over a period of time after they were introduced to Christianity, it was apparent that they particularly seemed to lean towards Catholicism with its cults dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the adoration of saints, the veneration of relics, and its use of candles, incense, holy waters, rosaries, vestments, and add to that the particular role of the priest. Medicine men and those practiced in the healing arts among the slaves served the same function among native Africans.

19. These elements in addition to the use of the drum and dance moved the African-American worshipper further and further away from the New England Protestant orientation with its sparse, rigid theology, bare buildings, clean crosses and no dancing and rarely if ever singing. Who could serve a God which didn’t sing…..who didn’t dance????? Further evidence of this are the modern voodoo, Obeah and Santeria traditions that still survive from New Orleans, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and numerous other Caribbean islands.

20. However, one must not totally exclude the influence of the New England churches, especially the Congregationalists, the Lutherans, the Episcopalians, the Quakers, and the Baptists on slave ‘culture’! Many of these European denominations, especially the Lutherans had venerable singing traditions and the standard hymnals served as fertile seeds to the development of the unique American Negro Spirituals we now sing. Likewise in my observationthe slaves took more to the traditional Lutheran hymn than to the Catholic chants.

21. At first the slaves tried to imitate their religious tutors in manner and meaning as they sang the words of the old European hymns. It didn’t take long for the new worshipers to begin to improvise more verses and to comment musically and lyrically on the ones they had trouble remembering. Over time new melodies developed, new rhythms emerged and the drum was added. At first the parsons and slave-masters resisted these changes, especially the drum which they couldn’t understand but knew messages could be conveyed over.

22. They wanted full control of their rigid theology and cultural development among their captives. So the slave was forced to take his creativity to the ‘invisible church:’ often far away from the center of the plantation and the control and ear of the interfering slave-master. There he could express himself without limitations: singing, improvising, dancing, speaking in tongues, trance expression, and experience a true sense of freedom and transcendence.

23. The most common spirituals were ‘call and response.’ In this style the leader would sing out a biblical or lyrical message and the slaves would respond to him or her. Examples are: Leader: Swing Low Sweet Chariot Congregation: Coming for to carry me home: Repeat V. 1 Leader: I looked over Jordan and what did I see Congregation: Coming for to carry me home. Leader: A band of angels coming after me Congregation: Coming for to carry me home.

24. Another form prevalent among the American Negro Spirituals was the hymn-like style. In this style we sing a long-phrased melody in which the tempo is slow and the phrase line is long and sustained. In concert these phrases require a major sense of breath control and the awareness of an expansive vocal line. Examples are Deep River, Mary Had A Baby and Go Down Moses.

25. The third very popular style is the syncopated, up-style. In these songs we have syncopated, short melodic lines in which the musical line is often made up of short melodies, motifs, or short rhythmic patterns with a short syncopated figure instead of a complete sustained phrase. Some of the most popular songs in this genre are Joshua Fit Duh battle Of Jericho,Do Lawd, Remember Me, Rockamamumba, His Name So Sweet, and Ride De Chariot.

26. However there was another notable and powerful tradition of lining out songs that survived all through slavery For those who don’t know, lining out had been commonplace throughout European churches during the 16th, 17th and 18th century (Gaelic and Scottish). At a time of low literacy rates and high costs of prayer books it had become an easy way to teach and distribute the word of God. The lead singer would line a psalm out by loudly speaking or almost chanting the first phrase just before the congregation would begin singing it.

27. There are scholars who believe that this practice originated in seventeenth century Scotland, for the benefit of members of the congregation who did not have hymnals or could not read. Nevertheless, this practice was further developed by slaves during the camp meetings/revivals of the early nineteenth century. 

28. Another factor which played a role in the development of the Negro Spiritual was the fervor and intensity of the full-immersion, baptismal tradition found in Nigeria and Dahomey. P. 57 Slave Religion by Albert J. Raboteau. Slaves sang their songs and made up verses and added dance to their secret worship while they indulged in the practice of throwing themselves into bodies of water when they were sufficiently obsessed by the ‘spirit’.

29. This exaggerated and sometimes dangerous practice seemed to bring the slaves closer to his innate and deep feeling of the presence of God. Slaves needed to feel cared for and not forgotten by the gods of their ancestors and now they were summoning this new God Jehovah which they had/were prepared to add to their pantheon of divinity

30. In exposing the slave to the specific, peace-seeking theology of the Bible and urging them to become good Christians, the slave-master was not necessarily loving and nurturing. Yes, he said publicly that he wanted to save the soul of the heathen slave but among themselves and with the assistance of the parsons/priests/preachers, however, the slave-masters and overseers agreed to push a theology that called for the slave to be docile and servile, to be humble like Jesus, and obedient to his master.

31. If necessary the slave would have his ‘spirit’ broken as was attempted on Frederick Douglas, by extreme cruelty and maiming. Consequently, agreeable slaves were praised for their simplicity and passivity. According to some scriptures the master as well as the ‘Master’ rewarded a slave who was all of these things in light of his incessant and abusive treatment at the hands of the earthly slavemaster. Time and again the slave was exhorted that the meek, not the warrior would inherit the earth.

32. Over a period of time there arose natural rivalries between house-slaves, and field-slaves. Obedient slaves were rewarded with food, second-hand clothing, easier tasks, perhaps refuge in the big house, or maybe, frequent intimacy in the master’s bedroom, money, identification passes which enabled them to travel to other plantations and into ‘town’. Complicity also supplied freer access to horses and mules since there was little or no fear of his/her running away, as well as being allowed to grow his/her own garden.

33. In many instances slaves were required to sing as they went about their work in distant fields and around the barns and water holes on the plantation. This was one way the master and overseer had of knowing that the slaves had not taken advantage of being so far away from the big house and fled to freedom. The slaves used this requirement to develop a sure fire communication with one another under the direct watchfulness of the slavemaster

34. They sang their need and responses in full daylight. Only the alert, inventive slaves had enough sense to translate ‘Meeting Tonight’ or Down By The Riverside, or Steal Away into a meaning political statement. Even romances and daily commentary about the slave owners could go on fully unbridled/unabridged since they were not listened to for content. Judy Bentley in her biography of Harriet Tubman writes that on the morning Harriet fled slavery to the north she was singing When that old’ chariot comes

35. When that old’ chariot comes, I’m going to leave you, I’m bound for the promised land, Friends I’m going to leave you. I’m sorry, I’m going to leave you. Farewell, Oh farewell. But I’ll meet you in the morning, Farewell, Oh farewell. I’ll meet you in the morning. I’m bound for the promised land. On the other side of Jordan, Bound for the promised land

36. She used songs and their double meaning all through her future successful, escape attempts. Ms Bentley further states that a ‘safe’ song was: Hail, oh hail ye happy spirits, Death no more shall make you fear. An unsafe song was: Moses, go down in Egypt, Tell old Pharoah, let me go. Hadn’t been for Adam’s fall Shouldn’t have to have died at all. Pg. 52 Harriet Tubman—Judith Bentley All of these elements contributed to the development of what we now call the American Negro Spirituals.

37. Chapter Two How To Sing American Negro Spirituals

38. The singular most frequently asked questions about American Negro Spirituals during my 30-plus years of traveling and singing is ‘How do you sing Spirituals?’ and ‘Who should sing ‘spirituals?’ Black people never ask me this 2nd question. However, at this point it is important that I comment on how to sing spirituals. First and foremost it is important to become familiar with the repertoire and its origins. It is also important to differentiate between Spirituals and gospel music.

39. . Both of these questions have simple, honest answers and I’ll try to be brief. You sing Spirituals from the heart and anyone who ‘feels’ from his/her heart can/should sing Spirituals. Of course none of this ignores musical preparation and the development of a healthy, highly accessible singing technique.

40. Because spirituals are so ‘emotional’ you can burn out easily and early if you do not have a reliable, solid technique. I would advise anyone seeking a professional singing career to spend lots of time on breathing and enunciation. It is not fun listening to a concert wondering what pitches the singer is singing and what words go with this or that verse. It is enormously important to set your audience at ease.

41. When I say ‘enunciate’ I do not mean making words fit into formal, ‘King’s’ English. Spirituals were created by everyday, ‘unlearned’ individuals who were taught survival English. My Lawd what a moanin’ is never right sung as; My Lord, What a morning. It violates the inner core of the piece to try to update it in this manner. I frequently find that those wishing to sing spirituals in this manner are far more concerned with showing me how ‘intelligent’ they are rather than how deeply they understand and identify with the ‘nature’ of the song.

42. It is my firm belief that this commitment to the vernacular puts the artist in closer sync with the spiritual, overcoming power of the song. This language helps me to identify not only artistically but racially with the colony of folks who first sang this pious, daring repertoire. It also brings up in a safe and very expressive way the tension between slavery and freedom.

43. These things happen almost naturally when the performer’s ego does not impede the intense magnetism between art and artist. When singing spirituals (when performing) I often imagine that I’m at home in my living room singing for a treasured gathering of dear friends. The more relaxed atmosphere one can imagine or establish the greater will be the communication. I am saying this because I advise the artist to do likewise. I urge the artist to allow himself/herself to slip easily and effortless into the mystical, trancelike world of the transcendent.

44. In like manner the question of textures and harmony always come up when trying to analyze the nature and characteristics of Spiritual. It is easy to think that in the atmosphere of such utter simplicity; it appears that little is going on. Quite to the contrary, Spirituals have much in common with composers like Mozart and Bach. It seems that the less music which is obvious on the written page, and the more transparent and simple it seems to the eye; contrarily, the more difficult these songs are to perform successfully. It goes without saying that with each successive verse the performer must improvise and add something that is of substance and new. No two verses would be identical! What was at first a necessity because of lack of memory has/had become a integral element of the style and presentation.

45. Clearly defined scales and keys are the norm in most spirituals, which use the pentatonic scale and frequently are either major or minor. (Test this on the black keys of your piano. You’ll be surprised by the results.) The most common chords are the standard I, IV, V, I progression. Dissonances are very sparingly used, and when they are, they serve a specific dramatic or emotional purpose. Also, the third in a chord is flatted along with its natural and the flatted 6th and 7th of the scale

46. The chief vehicle for the performance of the Negro Spiritual was and is the human voice. Historically, quite a bit of the repertoire was and still is performed a capella whether as solos or in choral groups. Later and particularly when slaves were alone among themselves, the drums were added and considerable dancing ensued. Rhythm was maintained with other makeshift instruments that might include those made out of wood, bones, gourds, and any other material found around the plantation

47. When I sing I hear the voice of my ‘fabled’ great-grandmother singing. I fashion many of my grunts and emotional howls after the sounds I heard as a child in the fundamentalist Christian church I belonged to. During slavery times the ‘performers’ were required through the force of the feeling within the music to move their bodies and physically insinuate the music as well as sing it. It is very difficult to get modern singers to use their bodies like this when singing spirituals. But that’s the way it was by all historical accounts I have read, especially my authority Eileen Southern (The Music Of Black Americans).

48. Often within the context of local events and celebrations, the singers were required to improvise on the spot about someone or something important in the lives of its inhabitants. Listeners frequently spoke of hearing the same melody within a short period of time and hearing completely different words. There was a great deal of secular musical activities going on during the 1700’s at the same time that the Spiritual was developing. Slaves were making and playing fiddles and other stringed instruments for the purpose of entertaining friends and relatives of their owners from neighboring plantations

49. The most jarring aspect of this repertoire for the modern, formally trained singer is the dancing. By all accounts there was as much dancing and drumming going on, especially in the ‘invisible church’, as there was singing. The slaves not only sang, played, and danced for the enjoyment of their masters but they participated regularly in secular festivals such as the Pinkster Celebration. The Pinkster Day was the name given to Pentecost Sunday (or Whitsunday, in the Anglican Church). This holiday which started out sacred and became secular was characterized by much ‘Congo dancing’.

50. After the church services and acknowledgements were finished, the slaves took over completely, usually at some agreed upon location or outside of the churches. There they danced in an abandoned, liberating manner, frequently to the curious observation of its white citizenry. Instrumental accompaniments include drums, fiddles, fifes, banjos, and other make-shift instruments, including clapping of hands, stamping feet, and beating of their chests and thighs in tempo. More often than not, friendly contest were held with rival plantations.. often with monetary prizes to inspire the participants.