String band: Difference between revisions

Although African American old-time string bands recorded history is that of the early 20th century, the beginnings of the music started much earlier. Many people once believed that the role [[African Americans]] played in the upcoming of old-time string band music was either nonexistent or to interest the [[Middle Ages|middle ages]] or medieval times. The genre of African American [[folk music]] actually began with the use of [[Percussionpercussion instrument|percussion instruments]]s, which were used to create music in form of encouragement to keep the slaves exercising on [[Slaveslave ship|slave ships]]s. Furthermore, that then sparked the usage of percussionstringed instruments such as [[Banjo|banjosbanjo]]s and [[Violin|violinsviolin]]s that the slaves played as a way of entertainment.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Epstein|first=Dena|title=Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War|publisher=Urbana: University of Illinois Press|year=1977|pages=9-179–17; 34; 47; 80}}</ref>

Old-time string bands were mainly composed of [[String instrument|stringed instruments]]. Those instruments being the [[fiddle]], [[Banjo|5-string banjo]], acoustic guitar, and an upright bass/cello. Depending on the type of genre the old-time music is being accompanied by, the stringed instruments may also be joined by other instruments including spoons, washboards, jugs, [[harmonica]], [[Harp|harpsharp]]s and [[Piano|pianospiano]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/ensembles/old-time-string-band/|access-date=2021-04-21|website=UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music | title = Old-Time String Band | url-status = live}}</ref>

Artists began to combine and record string-band music in collaboration with other popular styles in the 1920s. [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]] and his brother, James “Steady Roll” Johnson were both proficient at [[banjo]], guitar, and [[violin]], and recorded with various string bands in a [[blues]] style. Lonnie Johnson also recorded duets with [[Eddie Lang]] during the late 1920s, and set the precedent for string band jazz, which included ''Bull Frog Moan/A Handful of Riffs'' from 1929. As influential as the Johnson/Lang duets were those by Lang and [[Joe Venuti]]. These works, completed in 1926, emphasized the rhythm of a chordal guitar with the melody in the swung violin line.

[[Red McKenzie]], who also recorded with Lang, recorded with an influential string band group during the 1930s, the [[Spirits of Rhythm]]. The group consisted of [[tiple]], guitar, homemade percussion, double bass, and often involved [[scat singing]]. The particular form of scat that was eventually associated with string band music was based on Harlem slang, and can be heard in McKenzie’sMcKenzie's recording ''My Old Man'', from 1933. Another string band from the 1930s, [[Slim and Slam]], continued this particular form of scat in their recording ''The Flat Foot Floogie''.<ref>Shipton, Alyn. "String band in Oxford Music Online." String Band. Oxford Music Online. Web.</ref> Strings in jazz continued with the standout duet album, "Blues and Ballads," recorded in 1960 with Lonnie Johnson and guitarist [[Elmer Snowden]], a renowned banjoist/guitarist from the 1920s.