African American Blues Tradition

     In order to trace the development of the African American slide guitar tradition, we need to examine the historical context of a few stringed instruments played by African Americans brought from West African areas with the slaves. According to Eileen Southern in "The Music of Black Americans", "Chordophones (stringed instruments) included lute or fiddle types, harp and lyre types, zither types, and a simple musical bow that apparently was unique to Africa." (Southern pg.12) The lute type most common may have been an instrument that evolved into the American banjo. The banjo, according to Robert Winans, was one of the more popular stringed instruments in use in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century by African Americans. (pg. 43)

     The banjo has often been linked by scholars as having an African prototype. Thomas Jefferson is frequently quoted from his book "Notes on the State of Virginia" saying the "banjur" as being "proper" to the slaves on his plantation and that they brought this instrument with them from Africa. Karen Linn cites Dena Epstein as having found many references to instruments such as the banza, banjil, banjer, etc. being found in Africa and areas such as the West Indies that the slaves were shipped to. (Linn pg. 1) Linn concludes "The North American banjo developed from an African prototype." (pg. 1) The early banjo was made from a gourd, covered with a skin head, and fitted with a neck containing, usually, four strings. As the banjo developed in North America African-Americans may have had contact with guitars owned by American colonists. Michael J. Morgan states "the predominance of music in black African culture made the assimilation of new and different musical styles nearly as natural as drawing breath." (pg. 657) By the nineteenth century the guitar had definitely landed in Africa. (Kaye pg. 353) Andrew L. Kaye states scholars "often assume playing techniques of traditional African plucked string instruments" were adapted on the guitar. (pg. 353) This may also be the case when African-Americans encountered the instrument.

     The music bow also came to the southern United States with the slaves. As was the case with the banjo, historical accounts exist of the musical bow in various places such as West Africa and areas where African slaves were shipped to such as Brazil. David Evans cites that "In many parts of Africa it is reported primarily as a children's instrument, though sometimes played by adults." (Evans pg. 237). There are various descriptions of African originated musical bows. The Brazilian Berimabau is most noteworthy for the fact that it is played "by stopping the string at one or more points with a finger, thimble, small stick, or the edge of a coin". (Grove pg. 721)

     The didley-bow, as the instrument is widely referred to now in Mississippi, is a homemade instrument that many slide players, old as well as current, claim to have first played as children. This instrument has many forms, but is usually a one-stringed instrument that is sometimes played with a slider. David Evans article "African One-Stringed Instruments" examines this instrument and its influence on the African-American slide guitar tradition.

     In his 1971 article Evans cites a number of players such as "One-String Sam", Eddie "One-String" Jones and Lewis Dotson as players who had recently recorded on these instruments. (pg. 230) Instruments ranged from "wooden 2" by 4" board about three feet long with a strand of broom wire running along its length attached to a nail at each end.", to "a broom wire strung vertically along a wall, the bridges at each end consist of a nail or bolt supported by a brick." (pg. 231) Evans suggests that all the recorded didley-bow pieces are songs that are traditionally played on the guitar with slide accompaniment. (Pg 234)

     Many of the Delta blues players still alive in the nineteen fifties and sixties remembered making there first instruments out of cigar boxes and broom string. Robert Pete Williams recalls his first homeade instrument in a film entitled "Out of the Black and into the Blues". His instrument had a number of strings made from hay balling and resembled the banjo. Jojo Williams, also cited in the movie, says that he used hay balling to make the one-stringed instrument he learned to play as a child growing up in the nineteen twenties and thirties. Bukkha White, however, tells David Evans he started playing the one-stringed instrument after he initially learned the guitar. He said the reason was because it was too expensive to buy guitar strings. It is hard to conclude whether the slide pieces actually were taken from the one-stringed repertoire or if the slide pieces were first composed on guitar and then played on the one stringed instrument.

     African-American music was also greatly influenced by the vocal music brought with them from Africa. In an article on West African music by Lazarus E.N. Ekwueme, he states, "An important factor in defining the shape of the African melody is the close relationship between the tune and the words of the language." (pg. 133) In order to establish the relationship between the tune and the words of the language in a musical context, vocal techniques such as the "slur, glide, or glissando that is common in spoken words refects itself in the sung words." (Ekwueme pg. 133) These features became integrated into the work songs and spirituals that the African-Americans sang in America. These work songs and spirituals became an influential part of the blues form as it developed. (Ferris pg. 122)

     Son House, an influential slide guitar player born in 1902, started singing in church choirs as a boy. Son told Julius Lester that he started playing guitar after witnessing someone playing with a slide. (Charters pg. 60) After a little instruction Son's vocal training helped him figure out how to tune the instrument. He told Lester "I used to be a leader in the choir and they were singing the old vocal music at the time, you know, like the "do-re-me's", so I got the idea to make the guitar go like that, and in a couple of weeks time I was able to play a little tune." (Charters pg. 60)

     The tuning Son refers to is one of two basic "open tunings" where the guitarist tunes to a triad of a chord. Open tunings are used by most slide players. Hoffman states, "It is well known that slide players have made extensive if not exclusive use of open tunings...". (pg. 26) Tuning the guitar in an open tuning enables the player to play full chords by simply laying the slide over three strings and strumming these strings. This tuning also enables the player to strum the strings without touching the fretboard in order to have a chordal accompaniment as well. This allows the player to alternate open string and single string slide lines which gives the music a drone-like quality, a feature of the style that Evans finds to be very prominent. (pg. 234)

     Open tunings, in combination with the slide playing, were combined with the influence from the vocal style of African-American music. The use of the slide made it easy for the instrumentalist to mimic the "call and response" form that is part of the work songs and spirituals that the music grew out of. Many players will answer a vocal line with slide lines, using the "vibrato" quality that the slide enables to mimic the human voice. Players also use the slide to "finish or anticipate a sung line" as well. (Hoffman pg. 28)