Black Instrumental Music Traditions in the Ex-Slave Narratives

Abstract

the Virginia narratives, edited separately by Purdue, Barden, and Phillips (1976). For non-controversial matters of slave life, such as their musical traditions, the narratives are a rich source of quite reliable information. Unfortunately, not all interviewers asked questions that brought out information about instrumental music traditions in the pre-war period. But enough did ask appropriate questions so that there is quite a bit of data on these traditions, which I will summarize. These data refer to the 1840s through the 1860s; the ex-slaves interviewed had been born from 1830 to 1860. I have excluded references