Shout Because You're Free: The African American Ring Shout Tradition in Coastal Georgia

Transcriber's Note

Johann S. Buis Upon first hearing the ring shout repertory, even the sophisticated listener can be fooled by the simplicity of the musical construction. But this simplicity is deceptively complex. The improvisational artistry of the leader s singing is so fleeting and varied that putting such virtuosity on paper has been an extremely daunting task. Indeed , the agogic glides, falsetto swoops, and highly syncopated gestures that the leader generates in such songs as "Eve and Adam," "John on the Island," "Went to the Burial," and numerous others have not been rendered in minute detail in these transcriptions. Such complex gestures are virtually impossible to notate. A middle ground of readable renderings that are neither overly simplistic nor unduly complex has been the guiding concept for the transcriptions . The virtuosity of the leader is often juxtaposed by the simplicity of the basers' response (see "Eve and Adam"). The transcriptions bear out this phenomenon. Throughout, the transcriptions are rendered with the upper staff for the leader, the lower staff for the basers, and the rhythm notated below these staffs. Rarely, in cases of unison singing (e.g., "Watch That Star") or solo singing (e.g.,"Drive OF Joe") has a single staff been used. The rhythmic patterns have been notated as "clap" and "stomp" on separate lines. Occasionally, an additional line has 164 Transcriber's Note been added (designated "feet"). Participants generally clap a pattern, the "sticker(s)" stomp another pattern (often identical), and the same "stickers" tap their feet (alternately) coinciding with the use of the stick. On other occasions the heels might simply tap four quarter notes in a measure on the beat throughout; in such a case the third line has been used. The rhythmic patterns, though generally the characteristic syncopated pattern underlying the entire repertoire of ring shout songs, vary subtly from song to song. In some, the "clap" pattern and the "stomp" pattern coincide exactly with one another, as described above. In other cases, a polyrhythmic pattern results when participants overlay varying rhythmic patterns with one another. Here, too, the transcriptions reflect a rendering that does not record the minutest detail of the polyrhythmic pattern, but rather the perceptible patterns that can be notated accurately and recreated by the reader. During the slowintroduction of many songs (whatthe shouters call "setting " the song), there is never any rhythmic accompaniment, but the leading baser coerces the group to join him as soon as the lively tempo begins following the "setting." Rarely does this "coercion" start on the downbeat (beginning) of a measure. Usually, the leading baser leads up to the beginning of the cycle with everyone in place. This process usuallyoccurs within a split second. No attempt has been made to notate this "coercive" practice. Instead, all parts of the basers' pattern have been rendered simultaneously in the transcriptions. Melodic characteristics have been quite complex. Transcription has been affected by the followingfactors: 1. Shifting centonization. A phenomenon that shifts the point of gravity incrementally higher or lower. This practice causes the transcriber to lose a point of reference. In such cases, the beginning point of reference has remained fixed in the transcription. Despite the shifting centonation, internal intervallic relationships remain exceptionally accurate, beyond the "setting" phase. 2. Absence of versification. No verses exist in any songs. Rather, the call-and-response structure makes responses fairly easy and predictable . Interestingly, the more ornate segments ("calls" in the calland -response structure) appear much later in recordings used for this project. In the interest of practicality, the variants have been listed Transcriber's Note 165 with text below them. These variants are not always complete, but in the nature of fluid improvisatory practice, they are no doubt representative of the leaders art. 3. Identical texts do not have identical melodies. Asin "Eve and Adam" the same words carry different melodies, particularly in the leaders calls. 4. The rapid melodic cells that constitute many of the leaders calls frequently take .75 seconds, compounding the transcribers task enormously. 5. Overlapping entries. Occasionally, the leader and basers overlap their entries (see "ArmyCross Over"), presenting the transcriber with a challenge that seems fairly easy on paper and that lends an attractive flowto the singing. 6. Keys of convenience. A number of songs have been transposed within one half-step up or down, makingthe key signatures no more than three sharps or flats (one song was sung in F-sharp major, another in B major...