The spirituals and the blues: how they are similar

             When one hears the word spiritual, religion and faith come to mind. When one hears the word blues, naturally one thinks of depression and sadness. As words, spiritual and blues are almost entirely opposite from one another. However, when looked at in a musical standpoint the true definitions, going beyond just words, are actually more similar than they are different. The Spirituals and the Blues may even appear as two totally different genres of music, however these two types of music stem from the same experiences, feeling, and thoughts of the African American civilization.
             The Spirituals came before the Blue (Spirituals as pre-Civil War; Blues as post-Civil War), the Blues being a result of the Spirituals. Therefore it is true that both the style and sound of the Spirituals and the Blues came from West African Music. The way the music was formed was through the time of slavery. Slavery is the historical background of which the Spirituals and the Blues were created. The Spirituals and the Blues are a musical expression of slaves' determinations and strengths of survival while living in cruel time of negation. These two genera's of music are part of a huge piece of history, a portrayal of 300 years of suffering and anguish of the life of slaves. This history, this music, depicts a rich image of the powerful and influential people who helped build America.
             For one to sing and mean or listen and understand fully, the true meanings and feelings of the Spirituals and the Blues, it is said that it is better to have experiences of the historical truth as background. The relationship of body and mind to the performance of a Spiritual or the Blues is vital. One can only fully appreciate the effects of song when the song is felt. This feeling is the understanding and the appreciation of history; an understanding of a time when black people only had music as an expression of struggle, and the struggle was something extremely harsh ...

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The spirituals and the blues: how they are similar. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 05:03, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/4703.html