Overview
"Music, a source of motivation, well-being, entertainment, and survival in diverse lives of African Americans, has afforded them experiences of signifying their humanity amidst horrific oppression, while engaging in creativity, worship, and rituals of celebration. Rooted within African traditions, where sacred and secular are one, some African American musical genres are more fluid, engaging a tension between how people label and use music. This music shares common traditions and attributes. Using themes of poetry, praise, power, protest, philosophy, and politics, this analysis of African American sacred and secular music: (1) introduces the socio-historical, cultural, cosmological origins and terminology of this music; (2) examines selected musical typologies, from antebellum Spirituals to hip-hop and contemporary classical African American music that foregrounds tenets of so-called sacred and secular music; (3) explores a religious/spiritual impact of these cultural artifacts; and (4) concludes with a literature review of scholarship regarding African American sacred and secular music."
From: Brown, Frank Burch, and Cheryl Kirk-Duggan. "Sacred and Secular in African American Music." The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the Arts. : Oxford University Press, February 03, 2014. Oxford Handbooks Online. Date Accessed 12 Feb. 2020 <https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195176674.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195176674-e-036>.
Finding Resources for Research
The pre-formulated searches below lead to works that are specifically about African-American music and musicians. Many more resources can be found by changing the context--for example, searching for materials by musical categories such as gospel, spirituals, jazz, blues, hip-hop, etc. Information about African-American music can also be found in works about social movements, politics, religion, and popular culture.
Recommended Databases
The research databases below mainly index articles in periodicals, but will contain citations for other types of literature too, such as dissertations and books. In cases where the full text is not provided in the database where the citation is found, use the BU InfoLinks buttons to check for access elsewhere.
- RILM abstracts of music literature This link opens in a new window
Indexes hundreds of thousands of publications on all aspects of music.
- Music index This link opens in a new window
Provides citations and abstracts for more than 475 periodicals in all areas of music, including articles, book reviews, recording reviews, first performances, and obituaries.
- Music periodicals database This link opens in a new window
Provides article citations and abstracts for all types of music, drawn from more than 600 publications that include scholarly and popular periodicals, books, and reference works.
To find articles in periodicals that have a different or a broader scope, use OneSearch or another research database. A general database such as Academic Search Complete (linked below) will provide broad access to both scholarly articles and the popular press. Ask your librarian if you would like additional recommendations.
- Academic search complete This link opens in a new windowProvides a great starting place for research, as it offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals in all academic subjects, including more than 8,500 full-text and 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Other types of publications included in this resource are books and book chapters, newspapers, magazines, conference proceedings, reports, etc.
Uniquely Baylor Resources
- Baylor Digital Collections: Black Gospel Music Restoration ProjectThis online collection contains black gospel recordings produced, in the United States and abroad, from the 1940s to the 1980s. NOTE: The audio player is not compatible with all web browsers. Chrome is recommended for streaming audio files from the collection.
- Baylor Digital Collections: Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Popular Sheet MusicThe Spencer Collection consists of approximately 30,000 titles, spanning from the late 1700s to the 1950s. The majority of the works are for voice and piano or for solo piano. Digitization is ongoing, and more than half of the collection is available online through the Baylor Digital Collections. Downloading and printing is free of charge. PLEASE NOTE: This historical collection contains words and images that may be offensive. Please see the User Note on the Collection's home page.
- Jules Bledsoe collectionArchival collection that documents the life and work of this Waco native, who was a well-known singer and actor during his lifetime (1898-1943). He also composed and arranged music.
- The Career and Music of Jules BledsoeMaster's thesis on this singer and actor who was born and buried in Waco. By Lynnette Goggans Geary.
Finding Recordings
To locate relevant audio or video recordings in any format, use OneSearch and apply your desired filters. For searching tips, see the Crouch Library Audiovisual Materials page.
To search or browse within an online database of recordings, select from one of the lists below.
Selected Reference Works
- Music online. African American music reference This link opens in a new window
Covers a wide range of African American musical expression, including blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrelsy, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other forms through essays, biographies, discographies, interviews, images, lyrics and scores
Black Music and Musicians in the New Grove Dictionary of American Music and the New Harvard Dictionary of Music by Call Number: Crouch Ref. ML128.B45 D45 1989ISBN: 0929911008Publication Date: 1989-01-01- Black music in America: a bibliography byCall Number: Crouch Ref. ML128.B45 S6ISBN: 0810814439Publication Date: 1981
Black Music in the United States by Call Number: ML128.B45 F6 1983ISBN: 0527301647Publication Date: 1983-05-01
Blacks in Classical Music by Call Number: Crouch Ref. ML128.B45 G7 1988ISBN: 0313260567Publication Date: 1988-06-20
A Catalog of Music Written in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr by Call Number: onlineISBN: 9780810881983Publication Date: 2011-12-16
A Century of Musicals in Black and White by Call Number: Crouch Ref. ML102.M88 P37 1993ISBN: 0313266573Publication Date: 1993-10-25
Choral Music by African-American Composers by Call Number: Crouch Ref. ML128.C48 W5 1996ISBN: 081083037XPublication Date: 1996-04-09
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History by Call Number: onlineISBN: 0028973453Publication Date: 1995-12-01
Encyclopedia of African American Music by Call Number: Crouch Ref. ML101.U6 E53 2011ISBN: 9780313342059Publication Date: 2011-01-01
