Gullah Music

This collection explores various genres of music from Africa. Flavors of these African music styles, such as Gullah music are prevalent in coastal regions through the southeastern United States.

Title:
Songs | Gullah Net
Songs | Gullah Net

Audio

Grades: 3 4

Music is another important part of life on the Sea Islands. Most of the Gullah music is found in religious practices. Although spirituals had a Christian message, they were heartfelt expressions of...
Gullah Traditions | Gullah Net
Gullah Traditions | Gullah Net

Document

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5

Gullah traditions are the customs, beliefs and ways of life that have been passed down among Sea Island families. Making sweetgrass baskets, quilting, and knitting fishing nets are a few of the crafts...
Praise House | Gullah Music
Praise House | Gullah Music

Interactive

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5

Students will understand how enslaved Africans created music for their worship experience. Religious meetings in “praise houses” provided the spiritual outlet for enslaved Africans on the plantation...
Secret Code | Gullah Music
Secret Code | Gullah Music

Interactive

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5

Students will understand that music and material culture became a mode of covert communication between slaves. Aunt Pearlie Sue is our guide as students uncover hidden messages in the work songs...
Got the Blues | Gullah Music
Got the Blues | Gullah Music

Interactive

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5

Students will understand traditional blues form that contains three four-measure phrases that follow the pattern AAB. Let Reverend Leroy show you how to express your sad feelings by composing a blues...
Rock and Roll | Gullah Music
Rock and Roll | Gullah Music
Episode 9

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Blues and country music contributed to a style called rhythm and blues. This was an early form of what we now call rock and roll. It appealed to a younger audience that liked to dance to the sounds of...
Work Song | Gullah Music
Work Song | Gullah Music
Episode 3

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Enslaved Africans sang songs as they worked to help keep the pace of the task they were doing. A leader called out a verse or yell and others responded. This is the call-and-response singing tradition...
Hip Hop/Rap | Gullah Music
Hip Hop/Rap | Gullah Music
Episode 12

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2

African call-and-response patterns and improvisation survived the Middle Passage and became two of the basic elements of one of today’s most popular forms of music. In the 1970s, rap music began in...
Middle Passage | Gullah Music
Middle Passage | Gullah Music
Episode 2

Audio

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

European slave traders brought Africans to the New World on ships as early as the 1400s. These voyages across the Atlantic Ocean are called the Middle Passage. It was a terrible experience for the...
Reggae | Gullah Music
Reggae | Gullah Music
Episode 11

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2

Reggae music is a Jamaican style of music that has roots in African music and rhythm and blues, or early rock and roll. Reggae songs are usually about social issues, politics and the Rastafarian...
Blues | Gullah Music
Blues | Gullah Music
Episode 5

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2

After the Civil War and emancipation, freed men and women struggled to find work and make a new life for their families. The songs about these difficult times were called the blues, a musical style...
Country | Gullah Music
Country | Gullah Music
Episode 8

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Country music as we know it today grew out of blues and folk music. In country music’s earliest form, southern musicians both white and black, created music for the working class that told stories...
Jazz | Gullah Music
Jazz | Gullah Music
Episode 7

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Jazz music was born out of the blues. The key element was syncopation (syn-co-pa-tion) that stressed the off beats of the rhythm. In the same way that Gullah language is a mixture of African and...
Spirituals | Gullah Music
Spirituals | Gullah Music
Episode 4

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Spirituals developed at the same time as work songs on the plantations. Although they were religious songs with a Christian message, spirituals were also heartfelt expressions of the slave experience...
Gospel | Gullah Music
Gospel | Gullah Music
Episode 6

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

After slavery ended, some African American churches shifted from traditional spirituals to a new kind of religious music called gospel. This style of music brought together the elements of the “shout”...
Pop & Soul | Gullah Music
Pop & Soul | Gullah Music
Episode 10

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2

Rhythm and blues was an early form of rock and roll but it also contributed to a smoother sounding musical style called soul. In 1960, Berry Gordy, Jr. began a recording label in Detroit, Michigan...
African Music | Gullah Music
African Music | Gullah Music
Episode 1

Audio

Grades: PreK Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Music was an important tradition in Africa centuries before Africans were brought to America. Singing was a part of everyday life when people were at work, worship or play. The drum was the most...