Call-and-Response 175the instrumental music of sub-Saharan Africa is composed
of instruments responding to each other.
Manifestations of call-and-response in North Amer-
ica are equally wide-ranging. Work songs between a lead
singer and a responding group not only allowed slaves to
sustain energy and optimism but also allowed communica-
tion (typically using words that had multiple meanings) in
the maintenance of African traditions, histories, and val-
ues. As early as the 18th century, African American church
singing of hymns included improvisation, choral responses
to psalms, and singing that alternated between men and
women. Th e shout—essentially a New World version of
the African ring dance—took varying forms in church, at
dances, at camp singings, and in children’s games (e.g., song
games and jump-rope rhymes), each manifesting elements
of call-and-response.
From the shout version known as “ring spiritual” de-
rived African American spirituals, which then mixed with
blues and jazz to form gospel. Gospel included call-and-
response elements especially at churches that emphasized
congregational spoken responses to the preacher.
Outside church, in the blues, black folk music’s use of
chorus refrains found expression in the call-and-response
of singer and audience, of instrument and voice, and of
spoken asides. Call-and-response later found musical ex-
pression not only in rhythm and blues and rap but also
in the more oral and literary expressions of signifying,
performance poetry (e.g., poetry slams), speeches (e.g.,
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X), and the percus-
sive rhythms and structures of much African American
prose.
Jazz also manifests the call-and-response of the “talking
instrument” from Africa and of instrumental communica-
tion during slavery (thus the prohibition on slaves owning
“loud instruments”). Th is “communicative” (and inherently
democratic) characteristic of jazz occurs with antiphonal
instrumental solos that respond to other soloists or to the
group, or with section responding to section in big band
music. A revealing literary expression of instrumental call-
and-response is at the end of James Baldwin’s short story
“Sonny’s Blues.”
Call-and-response remains one of the characteristic
elements of Africana music and, more generally, of African
American culture. Th e protean manifestations of call-and-
response attest to its continuing value in promoting vitalitySchuler, Monica. “Afro-American Slave Culture.” Historical Refl ec-
tions 6 (1979):121–55.
Turner, Lorenzo Dow. Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1973.
Call-and-Response
Th e call-and-response characteristic of sub-Saharan Af-
rican music is expressed both vocally and instrumentally.
Th is call-and-response characteristic manifests the com-
munal and dialogic nature of African music, a music whose
integration into daily life and whose spiritual qualities blur
distinctions between the sacred and the secular. Although
all music is an important cultural expression, African music
is remarkably intertwined with the maintenance, adjust-
ment, and vitality of life on not only daily but also yearly
and generational time frames. Th ese characteristics of Af-
rican music also exist in the call-and-response tradition of
African American music.
In Africa, the conversational nature of call-and-
response promotes group interaction and a respect for the
individual, acknowledged through the attention given to
the singer, the musician, and the dancer who “responds”
to what came before. Th at dancing needs inclusion in the
call-and-response tradition is not merely because people
dance to music but because of the inseparability of Afri-
can dance and music as indicated by ngoma, a word that
occurs in many African languages and means both “song”
and “dance” and in, for instance, Swahili, also signifi es
“drum.” Th us, call-and-response is an essential expression
of an art that brings together singing, instrumentation,
and bodily movement in multigenerational ensembles
whose interactions promote community while respecting
individuality.
Expressions of call-and-response in Africa include
the following: circular dances (ring dances) with drum-
ming, percussive foot stomping, and the movement of indi-
viduals into the circle to dance responses to the dominant
themes; the singing of songs whose cyclic tempos facilitate
vocal participations that respond to previous singers; im-
provised songs that comment on current events and evoke
responses; call-and-response Christian church ceremonies
and songs; weddings, funerals, and other “life span events”;
and poems in call-and-response form. In addition, much of