1. African-American Music
Its History and Origins

2. African-American Spirituals (18th Century)
African-Americans, being converted to Christianity, would sing songs of despair, hardship and hope in the fields as slaves.
Folk spirituals, unlike much white gospel, were often spirited: slaves added dancing and other forms of bodily movements to the singing.
The creation of folk spirituals were spontaneous and performed in a repetitive, improvised style.

3. 19th Century
During the period after the Civil War, the spread of African- American music continued. The Fisk University Jubilee Singers toured first in 1871.
African-American Worship music became highly recognizable for their high energy and praise routines.
Gospel and Shout music are emblematic of Southern Christianity

4. White exploitation of African-American’s in the Arts
Stephan Foster, and others used African- America Harmonies, Rhythms and Instruments to produce popular music that had a lot of prejudicial overtones such as
Oh Sussana, an American Classic actually has very offensive lyrics.

5. Black Face
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes

7. Early 20th century 
In early 20th-century American musical theater, the first musicals written and produced by African Americans debuted on Broadway in 1898 with a musical by Bob Cole and Billy Johnson. In 1901, the first recording of black musicians was of Bert Williams and George Walker, featuring music from Broadway musicals. Theodore Drury helped black artists develop in the opera field. He founded the Drury Opera Company in 1900 and, although he used a white orchestra, he featured black singers in leading roles and choruses. Although this company was only active from 1900 to 1908, black singers' opportunities with Drury marked the first black participation in opera companies. Also significant is Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha, which is unique as a ragtime-folk opera; it was first performed in 1911.
 African Americans were becoming part of classical music by the turn of the 20th century. While originally excluded from major symphony orchestras, black musicians could study in music conservatories that had been founded in the 1860s, such as the Oberlin School of Music, National Conservatory of Music, and the New England Conservatory.

8. Scott Joplin
an African-American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime Writers“

9. Clef Club Orchestra
This orchestra was very large, numbering around 125 members, and consisted of a wide variety of instruments. Among the instruments included the normal orchestral instruments of violins, violas, cellos, basses, and the normal wind and brass instruments, but also included mandolins, guitars, banjos, ukuleles, and a large bass drum. These “strummed” instruments were not in small amounts either. According to one account the orchestra included “thirty strummers- ten each of mandolins, guitars and a rare harp guitar, and banjos.” The orchestra was also frequently joined by a men's chorus, eight pianists, and various soloists.
Very few of these musicians had any musical training, and hardly any could read music. The conductor is quoted as saying: “I always put a man who can read notes in the middle where the others can pick him up."

10. Clef Club Orchestra

12. The Harp-Guitar

13. James R Europe

14. Lieutenant James Europe in the first World War.
He was “the Martin Luther King of music” (Eubie Blake) and “a Moses of African-American music who single-handedly led black musicians and their music into the land of respect, professionalism and pride.”(Maurice Peress : Dvorak to Duke Ellington: A Conductor Explores America's Music and Its African American Roots)
On the Clef Club Orchestra-
"Our symphony orchestra never tries to play white folks' music. We should be foolish to attempt such a thing. We are no more fitted for that than a white orchestra is fitted to play our music."  Some of the peculiarities of the present orchestra, Europe admitted, were the result of practical necessity.  Although he could call upon "between 150 and 187'' musicians, he was forced to make substitutions for the lack of good oboe or French horn players. Other modifications, however, had a strictly musical and racial validity: "For instance, although we have first violins, the place of the second violins with us is taken by mandolins and banjos. This gives that peculiar steady strumming accompaniment to our music which all people comment on, and which is something like that of the Russian Balalaika Orchestra, I believe. Then, for background, we employ ten pianos. That, in itself, is sufficient to amuse the average white musician who attends one of our concerts for the first time. The result, however, is a background of chords which are essentially typical of Negro harmony."  The point is, noted Europe, that "we have developed a kind of symphony music that, no matter what else you may think, is different and distinctive, and that lends itself to the playing of the peculiar compositions of our race.”