Post 11

One cannot sum up a music culture in just 200 words. So I will just focus on one or two major aspects of Gullah music culture.
First, because of the focus of the culture to span the Atlantic and keep African traditions valued in America, the Gullah music culture is very rhythmically based. "Rhythm: everything's about rhythm. And It's about celebrating Gullah culture," says Queen Quet, a (possibly the) spokeswoman for and believer in the Gullah way of life. Gullah music has a heavy emphasis on percussion, as shown in the video, with over a dozen vibraphones being played simultaneously while others around dance. These rhythm and dance aspects of the Gullah go hand in hand. In the videos, we don't see any music without dance. It is said in the first video that the rhythms come from the mixture of the Gullah dialect with the English dialect learned in America. This brings me to my second focal point about the Gullah culture. That is, their history and their music culture are inseparable. In fact, their history and all parts of their culture are inseparable. They have such a rich heritage that they feel extremely important to maintain. Because the Gullah history involves slavery in America, they easily confront the issue as part of their life, just as African traditions are part of their life. The influence of these beliefs and traditions on their music culture runs deep because it is the foundation of their very way of life.