Slave Songs
Many slave songs such as the previous example were being called
spirituals even before the Civil War. The first print reference
to the religious folksongs of black Americans (both slaves and
freemen) as a distinct musical genre appeared early in the nineteenth
century, but when the term "spiritual" came to define
them is unknown. Slaves classified spirituals along the same lines
as secular tunes, and there developed spirituals for singing during
church ("invisible" or otherwise), during funerals,
accompanying the "shout" and for just sitting around.
The shout became another important predecessor of the blues. Purely
African in origin, the shout took place after regular service
when the congregation - often half the population of a plantation
- would be divided up into two sides, called singers and shouters.
Singers were composed of those with the best voices or those too
tired from shouting, and they sang the text of the song and clapped
in accompaniment. The shouters walked and shuffled in a large
circle, rarely removing their feet completely from the floor,
sometimes doing it in silence while at other times vocalizing
along with the singers.
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