Gullah Music Culture

As stated in the readings, the Gullah people have direct roots in Sierra Leone. Slaves were taken from that African coast more than a hundred years ago. Because of tropical diseases pushing away the slave owners and the isolation of the South Carolina and Georgia coast, the customs of those slaves have been preserved. They are still very similar to their African ancestors. This is very apparent within the music culture of the Gullah people.

The music culture is very similar to the traditional African music culture that we studied before. There is a lot of responsorial form in the music, so the musicians and the audience are constantly interacting. The musicians mainly play membranophones and other types of percussion instruments. Dance is also heavily used during the performances of the traditional songs. In one of the videos the musicians were encouraging audience members to go up and dance with them while they played. Singing along is also part of the participatory nature of this culture. In the video examples audience members not only clapped and danced to the music, but they sang with the musicians and vocalists as well. The Gullah music culture is very similar and matches many of the elements of traditional African music.