Fiddling Is My Joy : The Fiddle in African American Culture.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

DjeDje, Jacqueline Cogdell.

Series:

American Made Music Series

Language:

English

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (557 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2025.

Summary:

In Fiddling Is My Joy, Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje examines the history of fiddling among African Americans from the seventeenth to the mid-twentieth century. Although music historians acknowledge a prominent African American fiddle tradition during the era of slavery, only recently have researchers begun to closely examine the history and social implications of these musical practices. Research on African music reveals a highly developed tradition in West Africa, which dates to the eleventh or twelfth century and continues today. From these West African roots, fiddling was prominent in many African American communities between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and the fiddle became an important instrument in early twentieth-century blues, jazz, and jug bands. While less common in late twentieth-century African American jazz and popular music groups, the fiddle remained integral to the musicking of some Black musicians in the rural South. Featured in Fiddling Is My Joy is access to a comprehensive online eScholarship Companion that contains maps, photographs, audiovisual examples, and other materials to expand the work of this enlightening and significant study. To understand the immense history of fiddling, DjeDje uses geography to weave together a common thread by profiling the lives and contributions of Black fiddlers in various parts of the rural South and Midwest, including the mountains and along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In addition to exploring the extent that musical characteristics and aesthetics identified with African and European cultures were maintained or reinterpreted in Black fiddling, she also investigates how the sharing of musical ideas between Black and white fiddlers affected the development of both traditions. Most importantly, she considers the contradiction in representation. Historical evidence suggests that the fiddle may be one of the oldest uninterrupted instrumental traditions in African American culture, yet most people in the United States, including African Americans, do not identify it with Black music.

Contents:

Acknowledgments

About Fiddling Is My Joy Companion on eScholarship

Prologue

Section 1. Pre-Twentieth Century: The Beginnings and Rise in Popularity of Black Fiddling

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Earliest Evidence: Black Fiddling During the 1600s and 1700s

Chapter 2. A General Overview: Black Fiddling During the 1800s

Chapter 3. A Regional Perspective: Black Fiddling During the 1800s

Section 2. Early Twentieth Century: The Decline in Prominence of Black Fiddling

Chapter 4. Black Fiddling and Secular Music in the Rural South

Central Appalachian Mountains and Neighboring Regions

Chapter 5. Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia

Chapter 6. Kentucky

Chapter 7. Tennessee

Chapter 8. North Carolina

Southern Appalachian Mountains and Neighboring Regions

Chapter 9. South Carolina, Georgia,Alabama, Mississippi

The Ozark Mountains

Chapter 10. Missouri

South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and Neighboring Regions

Chapter 11. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,

Chapter 12. Louisiana, Texas

Epilogue

References Cited: Print Sources, Interviews, Personal/Email Communication

References Cited: Discography, Film and Video, Radio, Websites

Index of Subjects and Names

Index of Song Titles and Dance Tunes

About the Author.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 463-499) and indexes.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-4968-5701-1

1-4968-5702-X

1-4968-5664-3

OCLC:

1524058100

Access Restriction:

Open Access Unrestricted online access