Music in the blood (Part 1)

I've often heard, as I'm sure you have, that black people have "music in their blood." The idea is that they sing more often, sing better, listen to music more often, and jive better. The natural question arises, they do these things more often, and better, than who? If it is indeed the case, how and why is it so? And while we're at it, exactly what kind of music are we talking about? Does the saying hold true with reference to both hard-metal rock and hip-hop?

Mind you, I'm not interested in whether or not non-black people can or cannot sing and dance. I'm interested in finding out whether black people can, and if so, why? After all, the saying does refer to black people having music in their blood. So what conditions would favour such an ability? If non-blacks underwent the same conditions, could they too sing and dance (well)? In reality, do such conditions exist more for blacks and less for non-blacks?

The Center for Music Therapy Philosophy says that, "Music influences human behavior by affecting the brain and subsequently other bodily structures in ways that are observable, identifiable, measurable, and predictable, thereby providing the necessary foundation for therapeutic applications [Source]." For instance we know that

   
1. In South Africa, black people sing and dance at (politically sensitive) funerals. You may have actually witnessed this on the telly, whenever a prominent South African politician is laid to rest (Steve Biko, for example). But they also belt out songs at political rallies, using the question and response style in which the lead singer sings a teaser, and the rest grab it. If you've ever listened to Ladysmith Black Mambazo you know the style I'm referring to;
   
2. In southern Africa and elsewhere, workers sing or chant to coordinate effort and thus improve the yield. I was about twelve or so when I attended my first letsema (or communal labour), which means people helping each other out to get the job done faster. A house to build? The community pitches in. Harvest in? The community comes over to help. You provide the food and the beer. My first letsema concerned threshing sorghum. All the men, each with a knob-kerrie, gathered round the harvest. Chanting and singing in unison, we raised our knob-kerries to the rhythm of the chant and brought them crashing onto the plants, before raising them again to carry out the movement anew;
   
3. Musicians played an important role as griots and historians in 10th-20th century kingdoms in different parts of Africa. In Lesotho that job belongs more to poets than to anybody else. But of course there's a lot of music in poetry. The performer may or may not scribble reminders (dates, order of events, names, etc) somewhere on their hand. They use the same poetic techniques as other poets: alliteration, consonance, stress, intonation and rhyme, and may go on for quite some time, praising a warrior, a king, a clan or themselves;
   
4. In southern Africa, shepherds sometimes use flutes and other musical instruments to control the movement of cattle. I was a shepherd once, and I remain grateful for it. I learned how to stick-fight, for one, and I learned what wild roots to eat. Stick-fighting (lekallo) involves a lot of moves that are tantamount to dancing, as the fighters circle each other, or thrust stylishly, or block in a certain, imposing way. To see what I mean, think of the dance moves inherent in capoeira, or even in bull-fighting. Herd-people also play very simple musical instruments, like the lekolulo (Sotho flute), composed of a stick, a cord and a reed;
   
5. An African's life span is marked with musical events, from lullabies through play songs, initiation rite songs, weddings, to funerals. Every wedding in Lesotho sees two competing choirs, one from each of the partner's village. They actually wear distinguishing uniforms and just raise hell and dust to sing the other side down. [Some of the above comes from MSN Encarta]
 

Music, then, is serious matter in Africa. By extension, it is also serious matter to African-Americans, whose fore-parents brought it over as slaves, and maintained enough of it for future generations to "have it in their blood." In her 1899 article called The Survival of African Music in America, Jeanette Murphy says that

During my childhood my observations were centered upon a few very old negroes who came directly from Africa, and upon many others whose parents were African born, and I early came to the conclusion, based upon negro authority, that the greater part of the music, their methods, their scale, their type of thought, their dancing, their patting of feet, their clapping of hands, their grimaces and pantomime, and their gross superstitions came straight from Africa [Source]."

This is as far as I could get for now. I will continue to explore the question in parts 2 and 3 of this post, which will probably be less than a week apart (my fingers and my toes are crossed). There are many more angles to consider than I could have ever imagined. I'll try to dig into as many of them as I can.

Comments

[Elles]

Dear Mzansi,

I read you weblog! I am the editor of AfricaNews. AfricaNews is a digital newsletter and website that aims at giving a more balanced view of Africa. For our newsletter and website in English (which we are launching next week) we are looking for contributors to write the so-called AfricaDiary. The AfricaDiary must tell something about your daily live: it can be very broad: a conversation you had, a party you went to where something happened you were shocked /surprised about, an event you visited. Make it vivid and bring your own emotions/ideas into the story (use I).

The AfricaDiary has a prominent spot in the newsletter. We can include a link to your weblog.

Per day about 6.000 people visit our website and a couple of thousand people have a subscription to our weekly digital newsletter (which is for free). Till now we only published in Dutch, from the end of this month we will publish in English as well, which will make to readership far bigger.

Please have a look at the following links the see our website. The website is still very much under construction.
http://www.afrikanieuws.nl/ and www.africa-news.net
Link to two of the newsletters:
http://www.veritate.net/edm/viewer.jsp?m=xQVh&s=s7RFC
http://www.veritate.net/edm/viewer.jsp?m=NZ7V&s=s7RFC

Please let me know if you are interested in contributing,

Hope to hear from you,

Kind regards,

Elles van Gelder

Editor AfricaNews

[Rachel]

Fascinating analysis, Ret - and two comments on that:

1.) Isn't communication by music an intrinsic part of humanity? The jumping-off point to me is good ol' Willy S - "If music be the food of love ..." Consider troubadours in Europe during the Middle Ages - didn't they serve a similar purpose, to communicate and to educate to mostly illiterate populations by linking words and meanings with rhythm and melody?

2.) Your post here does remind me of one of the most profound concerts I've ever attended, a few years back. A performance called We Must Eat Our Suckers With The Wrappers On, which, of course, communicates stories of AIDS in South Africa.

[Rethabile]

"Isn't communication by music an intrinsic part of humanity."
--------------------
Yes, it is, and since the first person stood up on two legs and said, "where the hell am I?" humanity as a whole has been enamoured with this sound we call music.

When Carter and NASA wanted to talk to aliens, they sent The Beatles and Mozart into space.

It is the extent and the style that are different (naturally so) across the colour line. But that colour line isn't in chalk (unfortunately).

Good to see you out here, my friend.

[Rachel]

My friend, I will always visit the sites you write for!