Shout band
Encyclopedia
A shout band is a traditional, soul based musical style that arose in some predominantly African American Protestant churches in the 1920s.
originated from the exuberant church music
of North Carolina
. African American
brass
players formed bands, predominantly trombone-based, inspired by jazz
, blues
and Dixieland
, gospel
and old-time spirituals: a more soulful version of a New Orleans Brass Band. The United House of Prayer For All People, a Holiness denomination founded in 1919 in Massachusetts
, is particularly known for its shout bands.
, which develops the melody
and tempo
; and the shout, the ending call-and-response. As the song progresses, the sound intensifies from a whisper at the beginning to an exuberant crescendo
during the shout.
While shout bands became prevalent during the 1920s and 1930s, by the 1960s the trombone
, which allows for a wide range of emotive expression, emerged as the lead instrument within the shout band. Large groups of trombones are treated almost as a vocal choir, each with its own part.
s, baritone(s)
, a snare drum
and bass drum
combination (or a basic drum kit
), cymbal
s, and a sousaphone
. Just like any band, all instruments are used in their specific range to keep harmony
amongst the melody
. Unlike most bands, all instruments are commonly pushed beyond the limits for which they were originally created i.e. pushing notes into the 5th octave
.
Though they are not usually seen, other instruments are also utilized in shout bands such as trumpet
s, flugelhorn
s, saxophone
s, clarinet
s, flute
s, washboard
s and more.
Shout bands vs. Jazz bands
Shout bands and jazz bands are normally confused with one another due to similarities in style. But the differences in them are just as great. The first and most noticeable difference is the lack of sheet music. Jazz bands have a structured style of music where a single selection varies in length and time only slightly and is also limited to the one song. Shout band have little confinement with music as sheet music is not used. A selection in shout bands can vary anywhere in time from 30 seconds to as much as over 1 hour and span many different songs.
The second noticeable difference lies within the leaders. In a jazz band, there is usually one leader, known as the conductor
who controls every "move" (for lack of better terminology) that the band will make. In a shout band, there are as many as eight different leaders controlling different aspects of the band during a performance. There is, however, a conductor that does control everything that happens but he or she is normally listening to the band as a whole where the other leaders are listening to specific parts that they are assigned to.
The third noticeable difference lies within the sound of the band and predominately in the chord structure
. The chord structure in shout bands, in major keys, are typically the major triad with the diminished 7th i.e. Fdim7. However, in larger shout bands that have more members, chords have been know to go as far as to the major or minor 11 dimor double dim7th +2 and +8.
History
The shout band tradition of the southeastern United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
originated from the exuberant church music
Church music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
players formed bands, predominantly trombone-based, inspired by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and old-time spirituals: a more soulful version of a New Orleans Brass Band. The United House of Prayer For All People, a Holiness denomination founded in 1919 in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, is particularly known for its shout bands.
Sound
Upbeat and engaging, shout band music consists of three sections: the recitive and call, which involves a musical statement from the trombones; the ariaAria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
, which develops the melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
; and the shout, the ending call-and-response. As the song progresses, the sound intensifies from a whisper at the beginning to an exuberant crescendo
Crescendo
-In music:*Crescendo, a passage of music during which the volume gradually increases, see Dynamics * Crescendo , a Liverpool-based electronic pop band* "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", one of Duke Ellington's longer-form compositions...
during the shout.
While shout bands became prevalent during the 1920s and 1930s, by the 1960s the trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, which allows for a wide range of emotive expression, emerged as the lead instrument within the shout band. Large groups of trombones are treated almost as a vocal choir, each with its own part.
Technique
The technique of playing the shout band style of music is much different than that of its original musical roots being that there is no uniformed method of playing an instrument, predominantly at the mouthpiece. However, the actual sound that is produced by playing is much different whereas in most music the sound is more strict and predesignated. In contrast, shout band music is made to closely emulate the exact sound and techniques utilized by the voices of singers and choirs, including but not limited to, vibratos, slurs, and glissandos. This is the primary reason that a trombone is typically found as the lead instrument.Structure
The structure of shout bands varies greatly, but all typically have a few basic instruments in common: tromboneTrombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, baritone(s)
Baritone horn
The baritone horn is a member of the brass instrument family. The baritone horn has a predominantly cylindrical bore as do the trumpet and trombone. A baritone horn uses a large mouthpiece much like those of a trombone or euphonium, although it is a bit smaller. Some baritone mouthpieces will sink...
, a snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
and bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
combination (or a basic drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, and a sousaphone
Sousaphone
The sousaphone is a type of tuba that is widely employed in marching bands. Designed so that it fits around the body of the musician and is supported by the left shoulder, the sousaphone may be readily played while being carried...
. Just like any band, all instruments are used in their specific range to keep harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
amongst the melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
. Unlike most bands, all instruments are commonly pushed beyond the limits for which they were originally created i.e. pushing notes into the 5th octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
.
Though they are not usually seen, other instruments are also utilized in shout bands such as trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, flugelhorn
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
s, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, washboard
Washboard
A washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its originally subsidiary use as a musical instrument....
s and more.
Shout bands vs. Jazz bandsJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
Shout bands and jazz bands are normally confused with one another due to similarities in style. But the differences in them are just as great. The first and most noticeable difference is the lack of sheet music. Jazz bands have a structured style of music where a single selection varies in length and time only slightly and is also limited to the one song. Shout band have little confinement with music as sheet music is not used. A selection in shout bands can vary anywhere in time from 30 seconds to as much as over 1 hour and span many different songs.The second noticeable difference lies within the leaders. In a jazz band, there is usually one leader, known as the conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
who controls every "move" (for lack of better terminology) that the band will make. In a shout band, there are as many as eight different leaders controlling different aspects of the band during a performance. There is, however, a conductor that does control everything that happens but he or she is normally listening to the band as a whole where the other leaders are listening to specific parts that they are assigned to.
The third noticeable difference lies within the sound of the band and predominately in the chord structure
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
. The chord structure in shout bands, in major keys, are typically the major triad with the diminished 7th i.e. Fdim7. However, in larger shout bands that have more members, chords have been know to go as far as to the major or minor 11 dimor double dim7th +2 and +8.
External links
- xtrax
- Shout band to raise roof at Celebration of Teachers
- 76 Trombones in the Big Paradise
- Sweet Heaven Kings Brass Band - United House of Prayer for All People - Anacostia, DC (The Kennedy Center)
- United House of Prayer Trombone Shout Bands - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
- Madison Clouds of Heaven a trombone Shout Band - June 7, 2006 (IndyWeek)
- Saints Paradise Trombone Shouts Bands from the United House Of Prayer Liner Notes