America’s Musical Heritage

Build an epic playlist of more than 200 years of musical sounds and styles drawn from all four corners of the United States of America.

Overview

Course No. 7244

America is an undeniably musical nation. From vaudeville and jazz to country music and blues, hearing the sounds of the American spirit is a truly unique way to appreciate centuries of American history in all its complexity.

Produced in collaboration with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, these 12 lectures explore more than 200 years of music that will open your ears to a different side of the American experience. Professor Seeger reveals the origins of the American music industry, the impact of instruments like the piano and banjo, and how music shaped wars, dances, elections, and protests.

Key Highlights:

• Discover secret histories of songs like “The President’s March,” “Amazing Grace,” and “We Shall Overcome.”
• Explore interviews, performances, and original recordings showcasing America’s musical richness.
• Gain new ways to experience music and social history—with fresh rhythms, tunes, and avenues to explore.

Video Lectures

01: Inheriting America’s Musical Traditions

Duration: 29 min
Explore children’s music—jump rope rhymes, lullabies—as a window into America’s traditions and Smithsonian Folkways treasures.

02: American Revolutionary and Wartime Music

Duration: 25 min
From “The President’s March” to Civil War anthems and anti-war songs like “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier.”

03: European Empires and American Music

Duration: 33 min
Survey British, French, Spanish, and Indigenous musical legacies that shaped the nation.

04: Minstrel Shows and Variety Shows

Duration: 30 min
The complex origins of minstrelsy and its influence on circuses, medicine shows, and vaudeville.

05: Music of American Movement and Dance

Duration: 29 min
Square dances, waltzes, and the science of rhythmic entrainment.

06: Hymns, Spirituals, and Chants in America

Duration: 32 min
From “Amazing Grace” to shape-note singing and multicultural religious chants.

07: Brass Bands, Powwows, and Folk Festivals

Duration: 28 min
How music fosters community in brass bands, Native American powwows, and folk festivals.

08: American Music of Politics and Protest

Duration: 30 min
Protest anthems like “Bread and Roses” and “We Shall Overcome,” plus satirical “zipper songs.”

09: The Banjo: An African Gift to American Music

Duration: 27 min
The banjo’s ties to slavery, innovation, and cultural ownership debates.

10: The Roots of Country Music in America

Duration: 28 min
Appalachian “hillbilly” music and tropes like “Goodbye, Old Paint.”

11: American Piano, Ragtime, and Early Jazz

Duration: 31 min
Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” and the piano’s role in jazz’s birth.

12: The Musical Gumbo of New Orleans

Duration: 32 min
Why New Orleans’ blend of cultures makes it America’s most musically unique city.