Old World Traditions.

The European settlers of North America brought with them their own instruments, music, and musical traditions. Except in the Spanish Southwest, where there was some crossover in both directions, colonists were little influenced by the music of Native Americans. Little is known about the early music of the Louisiana Territory. In the British colonies, as with the other arts the prevailing trends in music came from England.

African American Music.

While the music of African Americans eventually had a widespread and deep-seated impact on the evolution of American music, during the colonial period its influence seemed minimal. African Americans preserved their musical traditions in the slave quarters of the great plantations, singing and playing homemade African-style drums and reed and string instruments. One such instrument was a banjer or banjar, brought from West Africa as early as the seventeenth century. A gourd...