Read on Twitter
1/ Since I know most of u follow me bc you love #acappella, I want to add this to what I tweeted abt White musicians speaking up:
Virtually everything in #acappella grew from Black music/culture. If you love aca, you owe that love to Black culture & you can’t look away now.
Ex:
Virtually everything in #acappella grew from Black music/culture. If you love aca, you owe that love to Black culture & you can’t look away now.
Ex:
2/ Barbershop
Barbershop has its roots in African-American community singing of the late 1800s. Groups of Black singers would get together recreationally to improvise #acappella spirituals and folks songs.
Barbershop has its roots in African-American community singing of the late 1800s. Groups of Black singers would get together recreationally to improvise #acappella spirituals and folks songs.
3/ They did this in part because they were barred from enjoying many other forms of entertainment by White ppl. The specific sound that came from this recreational singing formed the foundation of what we now know as Barbershop. https://www.barbershop.org/about/history-of-barbershop/roots-of-barbershop-harmony
4/ Beatboxing
Beatboxing as we know it started in the 1980s as part of the growing hip-hop scene of the time. It was originally a vocal imitation of the drum machines (“beat boxes”) that MCs would rap over. Ppl couldn’t afford the gear, so they did it #acappella!
Beatboxing as we know it started in the 1980s as part of the growing hip-hop scene of the time. It was originally a vocal imitation of the drum machines (“beat boxes”) that MCs would rap over. Ppl couldn’t afford the gear, so they did it #acappella!
5/ The early pioneers of beatboxing were Black including Darren 'Buffy' Robinson, Doug E Fresh and Biz Markie. The style that they developed has since been folded into #acappella and is foundational to virtually every vocal percussionist’s kit. https://www.humanbeatbox.com/articles/history-of-beatboxing-part-2/
6/ Jazz and jazz harmony
Jazz is an African-American art form, and the extended harmony that grew from the tradition of jazz has become foundational to contemporary #acappella as we know it.
Jazz is an African-American art form, and the extended harmony that grew from the tradition of jazz has become foundational to contemporary #acappella as we know it.
7/ Many groups have been directly influenced by jazz harmony, but even the ones that are more contemporary still employ reharms & extensions that come straight from the tradition of jazz.
Jazz harmony was all over #TheSingOff - my arranging has certainly been influenced by it!
Jazz harmony was all over #TheSingOff - my arranging has certainly been influenced by it!
8/ And on the topic of jazz harmony, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention @Take6official - one of the most influential groups in the history of #acappella. We owe a huge portion of what contemporary #acappella is to them alone.
9/ 90s R&B
Before the aca-boom of the 2010s, #acappella experienced a period of popularity in the 90s driven by the R&B harmony of groups like @BoyzIIMen. That harmony, which influenced virtually all pop aca-groups of today, grew from doo-wop (also largely African American)...
Before the aca-boom of the 2010s, #acappella experienced a period of popularity in the 90s driven by the R&B harmony of groups like @BoyzIIMen. That harmony, which influenced virtually all pop aca-groups of today, grew from doo-wop (also largely African American)...
10/ ...which itself grew out of the Black gospel tradition. Quartets, call and response, close harmony - these were all elements taken from these African-American musical forms that are foundational to #acappella today.
11/ These are just a few examples.
Point is: #acappella owes its foundation and the majority of its development to Black musical traditions.
If you didn’t know, now you do. I would encourage you to learn more, and to repay your love of this art w/your support of this movement.
Point is: #acappella owes its foundation and the majority of its development to Black musical traditions.
If you didn’t know, now you do. I would encourage you to learn more, and to repay your love of this art w/your support of this movement.
