Chapter 2: American Popular Music in the Nineteenth Century Pt.1
The United States, from its earliest days, has been shaped by the cultural interplay of diverse peoples, particularly immigrants and the forcibly enslaved. From the moment the first permanent British colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, the seeds of American popular music were sown through the convergence of European and African traditions. The early colonial population largely consisted of British settlers who arrived voluntarily and West Africans who were brought against their will, beginning in 1619, through the transatlantic slave trade. This unequal dynamic between the colonists and enslaved Africans formed the foundation of a cultural dialogue, however coerced, that profoundly influenced the development of American music from the colonial era to the present day.
As this cultural exchange began to unfold, the musical contributions of European settlers helped establish the earliest frameworks of colonial soundscapes. European colonists brought with them a range of musical traditions from the Old World, including broadside ballads, fiddle tunes, formal ballroom dances, and military brass band music. Many colonists, though not all, came to North America for religious reasons, and religion played a significant role in shaping early musical life in the colonies. For example, the Puritans in New England sought to establish communities centered on strict religious principles, which included regulated worship practices involving congregational singing. Catholics in Maryland and Anglicans in Virginia developed musical traditions aligned with their respective liturgies. Meanwhile, groups like the Moravians in Pennsylvania brought with them highly developed sacred music practices, including choral singing and instrumental accompaniment, which they maintained as part of their religious and communal life. Congregational singing was a central part of worship, particularly in Puritan New England, where psalm singing formed the foundation of church music. Early hymnals, such as the Bay Psalm Book (first published in 1640), helped establish a tradition of simple, syllabic singing, often performed in a practice known as "lining out," in which a leader would sing a line and the congregation would repeat it. This practice was partly practical, since many people were illiterate and could not read music, but it also fostered a strong communal aspect to worship.
Over time, this tradition would evolve into the shape-note singing and gospel styles that would influence later American sacred and secular music. Shape-note singing, which emerged in the early 19th century, used a unique system of notation in which different shapes represented different solfège syllables (fa, sol, la, and mi). This simplified approach made it easier for people with little or no formal musical training to read music, and it became especially popular in rural and southern communities. Shape-note hymnals like The Sacred Harp (first published in 1844) allowed communities to come together in large gatherings called singing conventions, where musical literacy and spiritual expression were deeply intertwined. However, by the late 19th and early 20th centuries, shape-note singing began to decline in popularity. This was due in part to the rise of more standardized, European-style music education in schools and churches, which favored conventional notation and standard western choral styles. Additionally, the growth of the commercial sheet music industry and professionalized sacred music performance in urban centers contributed to the perception of shape-note singing as outdated or rustic, pushing it to the margins of mainstream American musical life.
