BA person who advocated the end of slavery in the United States in the nineteenth century.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBaccordion
BA portable musical instrument with bellows that force air over metal reeds to produce tones. The pitch is changed by playing a small attached keyboard.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAinsworth Psalter
BA cherished book of psalms brought to America aboard the Mayflower in 1620.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAppalachian Mountains
BThe major mountain system of eastern North America extending parallel to the east coast for 1600 miles from Canada to Alabama.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBautoharp
BA multi-stringed instrument, similar to a zither, on which chords can be played by depressing an assortment of dampers.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBbagpipes
BA musical instrument having a flexible bag inflated by a tube with valves, a melody pipe with double reeds, and from one to four drone pipes.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBballad
BA narrative poem consisting of simple stanzas and a recurrent refrain, often of folk origin and intended to be sung.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBbanjo
BA fretted, stringed instrument of African origins with a circular hollow body and a long narrow neck, invented in the United States.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBessie Smith
BThe most famous African-American female blues singer who became popular with Black and White audiences in the 1920s.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBill Monroe
BAn extraordinary mandolin player credited with being the father of bluegrass music.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBblacklisting
BThe compiling of a list of persons or organizations to be boycotted.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBbluegrass
BA style of Southern country music incorporating jazz influences.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBblues
BA style of music rooted in native African melodic patterns and rhythms created by Southern African-Americans.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBbodhran
BA hand-held drum used by folk musicians of the British Isles.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBboogie-woogie
BA style of jazz piano playing using repeating rhythmic and melodic patterns, especially in the bass.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBbottleneck blues
BA style of slide guitar music created by moving a glass tube or bottleneck along the strings of an open-chord tuning. Ec[000000]f[16]LBbouzoukie
BA Greek stringed instrument resembling a guitar or mandolin, with a long neck and often a triangular-shaped body.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBboycott
BTo refuse to buy or use something as an act of protest and discontent.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBbroadsides
BSongs of satire, protest, and criticism made popular in England and then by the revolutionary colonists of America.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCajuns
BPeople of Louisiana descended from the French exiles of Acadia (Eastern Canada).
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcall-and-response
BA vocal style of music where a leader sings a line which is then answered by others.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcalypso
BA style of rhythmic music from the West Indies often with humorous lyrics.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcantorial melodies
BSongs based on melodies from Jewish religious services sung by cantors in a synagogue.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBchord
BA combination of three or more musical notes, usually concordant tones sounded simultaneously.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBclawhammer
BA style of banjo playing where the strumming and picking of strings alternates and produces a unique rhythmic and melodic sound.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBclipper ships
BThe beautiful, square-rigged sailing ships of the nineteenth century that carried cargo and passengers around the world.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBconcertina
BA small hexagonal accordion with bellows and buttons instead of a keyboard.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcontra-dancesB
A contra-dance is similar to the Quadrille, a French dance of the early nineteenth century that was performed by two or more couples moving in a square.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcorridosB
Ballads of Spanish and Mexican Indian heritage that tell of topical events and heroic legends.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCreole
BA mix of Cajun and Black cultures of the South--especially in Louisiana--and often still French-speaking.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCumberland Gap
BA pass through the Cumberland Mountains at the borders of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdecimaB
A verse form, commonly sung, comprised of ten lines which develops a theme.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdobro
BA guitar-like instrument built with a metal resonator and raised strings to accommodate slide-style playing.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdouble stopping
BA technique for playing two strings at once--especially used with fiddle and all instruments of the violin family.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdrone
BMusically, a single, long, sustained note or tone used as an accompaniment to a melody.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdulcimer
BA lap-held stringed instrument played by strumming and barring the notes with a sliding stick. A common instrument of the mountain people of rural America.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBEarl Scruggs
BA famous bluegrass-style banjo player whose technique and popularity revived national interest in the instrument.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBElvis Presley
BA country boy who sang an early combination of rhythm and blues and country, and who became the "king" and biggest solo star of rock 'n roll.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBensemble
BA musical group of two or more playing or singing separate parts which contribute to a single effect.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBevangelical preachers
BMinisters who preached from the IHoly BibleI and spread the word or teachings of Christianity.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfado songs
BPlaintive and usually sentimental Portuguese folk songs often sung by those involved in sailing.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfeminist
BOne who advocates equal rights for women--especially in a social and political sense.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfiddle
BThe term used to describe a traditional violin when playing folk rather than classical music.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfife-and-drum
BAn ensemble made up of fifes, wind instruments like flutes but higher in range, and drums. Usually played for military marching.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfinger-picking
BA style of playing guitar and banjo which uses alternating fingers to pluck the strings instead of a single plectrum or pick.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfolk music
BMusic of the ordinary people of a nation or region characterized by the aural tradition and usually of anonymous composition.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBFrancis Scott Key
BWriter of the United States' national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner," on the occasion of the British bombarding Baltimore on September 14, 1814.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfret
BThe metal ridges set across the finger board of stringed instruments like guitars and banjos to separate the area in which each distinct note is sounded.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBGene Autry
BA singing cowboy and movie star of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, who popularized a syrupy style of commercial western music.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBgospelB
Refers to a type of folk music in which a religious text is sung in a blues style.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBGrand Ole Opry
BThe Nashville, Tennessee theater, home to country music, where radio shows have been broadcast since the early days, popularizing individual performers and country music in general.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBHank Williams
BA country singer famous in the 1950s whose popularity crossed over all categories of American music for the first time.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBharmonica
BA small rectangular musical instrument containing a row of free reeds set into air holes, played by exhaling or inhaling.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBhomesteaders
BThose early settlers who cleared and improved a tract of public land and lived on it for five years gained ownership according to the Homestead Act of 1862.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBhonky-tonk
BA term for the style of ragtime and country piano music developed in noisy bars and saloons.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBhymnsB
Sacred songs found in most cultures that praise gods or heroes.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBimmigrants
BThose people who leave one country to settle permanently in another.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBimprovisation
BA technique in jazz when a musician plays a spontaneous and inventive solo within the written chord changes of a piece of music.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBindigenous
BOccurring or living naturally in an area, or native to a country.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBjazz
BA musical style created by Southern Black bands at the turn of the century emphasizing complex rhythms with solo and ensemble improvisations.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBJew's harps
BMusical instruments with a lyre-shaped metal frame and a projecting steel tongue that is held between the teeth when played.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBjigsB
Popular sixteenth-century English dancing songs of lively and comic character. In the seventeenth century they became associated with the famous clowns in English comedies.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBJimmie RodgersB
The "Singing Brakeman," Jimmie Rodgers was one of a long line of country musicians influenced by southern Black music. His combination of blues with a unique high-pitched yodel earned him the name "Blue Yodeler."
Ec[000000]f[16]LBJohn Brown
BA leader of the antislavery fight who was hanged in 1859 and memorialized in the song, IJohn Brown's BodyI.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBJoseph McCarthy
BThe Wisconsin Senator (1946-1957) who accused many people of disloyalty or subversion without regard for proper evidence. This practice is now known as McCarthyism.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBjuba chant
BThe singing to accompany a group dance of West Africa, characterized by complex rhythmic clapping.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBJulia Ward Howe
BThe abolitionist and feminist who wrote a poem to the tune of "John Brown's Body" which became known as the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Ec[000000]f[16]LBmandolin
BA musical instrument, usually with a pear-shaped body, strung with pairs of metal strings tuned like a violin.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBmariachi
BA sophisticated style of Mexican music characterized by large ensembles including trumpets, guitars, percussion, and often violins.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBMaybelle Carter
BThe influential lead guitar player and one of the singing Carter Family, who significantly impacted the style of contemporary country music.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBmelody
BA sequence of single musical tones or notes related to each other to make a particular phrase or identity.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBminstrel show
BA variety show, popular in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, which often ridiculed African-American life by having its singers, dancers, and comedians perform in blackface.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBmoonshining
BThe act of distilling illegal whiskey popular in the hill country of the South during Prohibition (1920-33).
Ec[000000]f[16]LBmouth bow
BA primitive Native American musical instrument, like a small-strung hunting bow, held against the cheek and plucked to create a rhythm and melody.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBMuddy WatersB
Mississippi-born blues singer and guitarist credited with returning Chicago blues to its folk roots in the mid1940s. His band set the style of blues music for a decade to come.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBNashville
BThe Tennessee city which became and continues to be the heart and center of the country music recording industry.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBPete SeegerB
Folk singer; member of the Weavers, who sparked a 1950s revival of folk music.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBphonograph
BA machine which mechanically reproduces sounds from the tubes and discs usually meant to play musical records.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBpolka
BA lively round dance which originated in Bohemia and is performed by couples in duple/double meter; and, the name of the genre of music to accompany it.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBprospectors
BThose who explored areas looking for natural deposits of gold or other valuable materials like those in the Gold Rush of California in 1849.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBpsalms
BSacred songs and hymns based on the text of the "Book of Psalms" from the IOld TestamentI which contained 150 songs.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBragtime
BA style of jazz characterized by elaborately syncopated rhythms in the melody and a steadily accented accompaniment.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBrattles
BMusical instruments made of anything hollow, which can contain small items that, when shaken, create a sharp percussive sound.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBreelsB
Dances performed by two or more couples, who stand face to face and execute a variety of moves, each move consisting of eight measures. The American variety is known as the Virginia Reel.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBreggae
BThe musical style developed in Jamaica of the West Indies which emphasized a syncopated rhythm.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBrepertoire
BThe stock of all music known by and prepared to be played by any ensemble or group of people.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBrhythm
BThe movement or beat in music which is marked by recurring patterns of strong and weak elements over time.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBrhythm and blues
BA style of music rooted in native African melodic patterns and rhythms created by Southern African-Americans.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBSacred Harp
BMusic from hymn books which used different shaped musical notes to make it easier for people who didn't read traditional music notation to learn harmony parts.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBsalsa
BHot Puerto Rican sounds rooted in their folk music used primarily for dancing.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBsatire
BA literary work or song which in irony, derision or wit is used to expose folly or wickedness.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBscale
BIn music, an ascending or descending series of tones proceeded by a specific pattern of intervals and varying in pitch.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBScott Joplin
BThe most popular composer in the 1890s of syncopated parlor-type piano pieces called rags or ragtime.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBShakers
BA religious group originating in England in 1747 who believed in the Second Coming of Christ, practiced communal living, and observed celibacy.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBsharecroppers
BTenant farmers who give part of their crop harvest to the owner of the land instead of paying rent.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBspirituals
BIn music, those religious folk songs based on Scripture, originally sung by the early African-Americans.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBsteel guitar
BAn electric guitar, played slide-style, used very often in country and country and western music.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBsyncopated
BIn music, a modified rhythm which shifts accents or beats and time sequence.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBthree-line lyric
BThe typical repeating phrase or lines in a blues song which start each verse.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBTin Pan AlleyB
B
BA generic term for the song-publishing industry, or the song-publishing district of a city.B
Ec[000000]f[16]BLtwelve-bar verse
BThe typical blues song pattern which follows a 1-4-5 chord progression in twelve measures.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBUncle Dave Macon
BA very colorful performer who sang everything from traditional folk songs to political satire to medicine show novelty songs, and who was the first big star of the Grand Ole Opry.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBWeavers
BA popular folk group in the 1940s and 1950s which included Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBWilderness Road
BA trail blazed by Daniel Boone which passed through the Cumberland Gap.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBWoody Guthrie
BOne of the most prolific American songwriters and folk singers who championed the causes of civil rights and the working class; 1912-1967.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBYiddish
BA language, derived from High German dialects with additional vocabulary from Hebrew and Slavic languages, spoken chiefly by European Jews.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBzydeco
BA style of music developed by a mix of Black and Cajun elements and played in the bayous of Louisiana by French-speaking Creoles.
