Colonial Music

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Colonial Music
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What was Colonial or Early American Music?

• It was not really written in America.
• There were ballads, dance tunes, folk songs,
  comic operas, drum signals, psalms, minuets, and
  sonatas.
• The music came mostly from England, Scotland,
  Ireland, Germany, Italy, France and Africa.

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Some important concepts

• Colonial music involved both the written and the
  oral/aural process
• Single tunes often served a variety of functions.

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Which instruments were used?
Most of the instruments we have today were around
by the Revolution.

• Violins were by far the most popular instrument
  and were played by men.
• Second in popularity were flutes, also played by
  men.
• Harpsichords were played by the wealthy women.
• The English guitar was also popular with women.

Drums and trumpets, trombones and french horns,
cellos, violas, clarinets, oboes and bassoons,
glass harmonicas, hammered dulcimers and organs
all appeared within the colonies over time.
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Theater Music

• Musical theater in the colonies was very popular.
• Most were ballad operas.
• The most famous of these was The Beggars Opera.

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Dance Music

• Dancing was a favorite pastime of the colonists.
• Favorite dances were English and Celtic reels,
  jigs and minuets.
• Dancing was usually accompanied by a single
  violin.

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Church Music

• The church music was greatly varied due to the
  many religious denominations.
• More organs graced private homes in the south
  than churches.
• The most musically sophisticated colonists were
  the settlers in Pennsylvania.

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Military Music

• A Band of Musick consisted of professional
  musicians hired by officers to play music at
  parades, during meals and for dancing.
• Field Music consisted of the fifers and
  drummers who played during the march, during
  battles, and for camp duty calls.

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