LibGuides: Music Appreciation: American Vernacular Music

Featured Books

The Musical Artistry of Rap by Martin E. Connor
ISBN: 9780786498987
Publication Date: 2018-01-12
For years Rap artists have met with mixed reception - acclaimed by fans yet largely overlooked by scholars. Focusing on 135 tracks from 56 artists, this survey appraises the artistry of the genre with updates to the traditional methods and measures of musicology. Rap synthesizes rhythmic vocals with complex beats, intonational systems, song structures, orchestration and instrumentalism. The author advances a rethinking of musical notation and challenges the conventional understanding of Rap through analysis of such artists as Eminem, Kanye West and Jean Grae.
Nothing but Love in God's Water by Robert Darden
ISBN: 9780271075761
Publication Date: 2016-09-02
This…volume continues the journey, chronicling the role this music played in energizing and sustaining those most heavily involved in the civil rights movement. (Explaining) why black sacred music helped foster community within the civil rights movement and attract new adherents; shows how Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders used music to underscore and support their message; and reveals how the songs themselves traveled and changed as the fight for freedom for African Americans continued.
Americana Music by Lee Zimmerman
ISBN: 9781623497019
Publication Date: 2019-01-23
"Americana" covers a gamut of sounds and styles. In its strictest sense, it is a blanket term for bluegrass, country, mountain music, rockabilly, and the blues. Americana Music provides a history of how Americana originated, how it reached a broader audience in the '60s and '70s with the merging of rock and country, and how it evolved its overwhelmingly populist appeal as it entered the new millennium.

Websites Recommended by Your Instructor - Spirituals, Rock n' Roll and Hip-Hop/Rap

Spirituals

African American Gospel Music (Smithsonian Folkways)
The uplifting sounds of gospel from field recordings in small churches, to legends such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers and Mahalia Jackson, and modern interpreters like Sweet Honey in the Rock.
African American Music
Articles and artist bios about Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, and many more artists.
Fisk Jubilee Singers Sound Clip
"When I Was Sinkin' Down."
Freedom Sounds (Smithsonian Folkways)
A curated playlist created to celebrate the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. This playlist provides a glimpse of the breadth of influence and musical creativity of African Americans that will leave you wanting more.
The Fisk Jubilee Singers: Preserving African American Spirituals
A brief history of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. This a cappella group of nine students from Fisk University was organized in 1871 to raise money for their financially troubled institution. They succeeded magnificently and were instrumental in preserving traditional African American spirituals and bringing them to audiences in the U.S. and Europe.
Slave Songbook: Origin of the Negro Spiritual
17 minute introduction to the Spiritual, from the PBS program History Detectives.
Library of Congress Audio Collection - Spirituals, Blues, Gospel
Over 900 audio clips of African American blues, gospel, and spirituals.

Hip-Hop / Rap

7 Rap Mixtapes From 2022 That Deserve More Attention
Pitchfork magazine's list of 2022 rap mixtapes of note.
"Classic Crates" from the Hiphop Archive & Research Institute
Information about carefully selected hip-hop standards.
The Hip Hop Archive: Artists Page
Pictures, song lists and lyrics of Hip Hop artists from 2Pac to Wu-Tang Clan
Hip Hop Mixtapes
Sound files of over 13,000 thousand historic Hip Hop mix tapes.
Library of Congress Films - Hip Hop
27 videos on hip-hop, including Langston Wilkins discussing the development of Hip Hop in Houston Texas and Ed Piskor discussing his graphic novels on the history of Hip Hop.

Rock n' Roll

Billboard Charts
Wondering what the hot songs in the US or the world are this week? This site will tell you.
The Invention of the Electric Guitar
The invention of the electric guitar, by the Smithsonian.
Rock and Roll Gallery
Here you can find a picture of an artist, or learn the story behind a famous rock n' roll photo.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Performances
Visit YouTube for Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame performances.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees
Information on all of the musicians and groups inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Many film clips.
Rock Music Timeline
"Rock n' Roll in the order it happened."
Rolling Stone Greatest Albums list
A list of the best albums from Rolling Stone magazine.
Song Facts
Search by word, artist, years, categories, and more.
Pitchfork Lists & Guides
Pitchfork magazine's lists of notable albums and tracks, by year, from the 1960's to 2022.

More Websites Recommended by Your Instructor - Native American Music, Folk Music, and Bluegrass

Native American Music

Choctaw Arts & Music Festival 2016
Clips include songs, flute playing, and dances. From the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) YouTube channel.
Hawaiian Music Highlights (from the Smithsonian NMAI)
Hawaiian songs about Maui and water, from the Smithsonian NMAI YouTube channel.
Inuit Throat Singing Demonstration (Smithsonian Folkways)
Examples of Inuit Throat Singing, from the 2004 First Americans Festival.
Inuit Style Throat Singing Concert
A 30 minute concert by the Inuit style throat singing duo, PIQSIQ. The music begins at 5:05 minutes.
Kevin Locke: Native Hoop Dance
Song and hoop dance by Kevin Locke of the Lakota Sioux and Anishinabe tribes. (From the 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival)
Music & Native American Heritage Month
See the list of webcasts on this Library of Congress page for 12 diverse examples of Native American music.
Native American Music Awards (YouTube Channel)
The Native American Music Awards & Association (NAMA) promotes cultural preservation and renewal on a national level through new music initiatives. The NAMA YouTube Channel includes many performances from contemporary Native American artists.
Native American Music Awards
Honoring the best in music and entertainment by Native North American Indigenous peoples;
this NAMA website presents many contemporary Native American Musicians and entertainers.
R. Carlos Nakai: American Indian Flute Music from Arizona
R. Carlos Nakai is of Navajo and Ute heritage. This nearly hour-long concert was recorded in 2010.
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Channel on YouTube.
Music and more.
Traditional Seminole Song - Rev. Josie Billie
Traditional song sung by Josie Billie, born in 1887.
Wabanaki Performance (Passamaquoddy Wabanaki tribe)
Canoe Family Song from the Passamaquoddy Wabanaki Indians of northern Maine, with accompanying dance. Performed by Wayne Newell.
White Dog Song
Glacier Park Indians - Blackfoot Tribe. Recorded in 1914.

Folk Music

American Folk Music
Explore a selection of articles, blog posts, and artist biographies shared by Smithsonian museums, cultural centers, and research centers on the topic of American folk music.
Anthology of American Folk Music
Dozens of folk songs, by Buell Kazee, the Carter family, and more.
California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties
Audio Clips from the Library of Congress collection. Clips include "The Drunkard's Child", "Barbara Allen" and more.
Folk America: Birth Of A Nation (Episode 1)
First of a three-part series on the origins of folk music.
The Folk File
From the website: A collection of terms related to folk music, plus some mini-biographies, musicology terms, trivia, and miscellaneous facts and figures.
Library of Congress Audio Collection - Folk Music
Listen to recordings of over 1700 audio clips, songs, and more.
Women and Folk Music (Smithsonian Folkways)
Listen to a small sample of Smithsonian Folkways folk music created by and about brave and daring women singer/songwriters.

Appalachian Mountain Music (aka early Bluegrass)

Appalachian Mountain Bluegrass 24 vintage classics
Bluegrass classics, with the original artists. Includes "The Girl I Love the Best", Fire on the Mountain, and more. Click the channel name for much more early Bluegrass music.
Appalachian Mountain Music Documentary
Short - less than 5 minutes - introduction to Appalachian mountain music. Origins, common themes, and more.
Bluegrass Lyrics
Find the lyrics to hundreds of bluegrass songs. Search by song title or by word.
Classic Bluegrass from Smithsonian Folkways
25 songs and soundclips from artists like Roger Sprung, Snuffy Jenkins, and more.
Classic Bluegrass From Smithsonian Folkways (Volume 2)
28 songs and sound clips.
Song of the Mountains Bluegrass Concerts
Eight full-length concerts, featuring artists such as Lonesome Pine Bluegrass Band, Lightnin' Charlie, and more.
Sounds from Appalachia from Smithsonian Folkways
"Coal Miner's Blues", "Across the Blue Ridge Mountains", and more.
Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour Show Archives
Over 600 hours of Roots music, including bluegrass. Scroll through the Show Archives for the MP3 or YouTube link to a show.

Finding Articles, Books and Videos on Music Topics

Finding Magazine and Journal Articles:

The best RTC database for finding journal and magazine articles on music is ProQuest. Try some of these searches: (You'll have to log in using your RTC student email address and password.)

Possible ProQuest searches:

Bluegrass and Appalachia

Hip Hop Music

You can also try searching for articles in JSTOR. The RTC Library does not carry all of the JSTOR articles. If you find something we do not carry, ask us about Interlibrary Loaning books and articles.

Finding eBooks on music:

Try EBSCOhost Community College eBook Collection for ebooks on music. Two sample searches:

eBooks on Folk Music .

eBooks on Rap and Hip Hop.

Finding Videos:

Kanopy Streaming offer many videos music. (Tip: Kanopy requires that you make a second personal account to use their videos. Need help? Check out this page.)