The Music of the American Revolutionary War What

The Music of the American Revolutionary War What was it’s role in America’s Fight for Freedom? Copyright © 2005 - Frankel Consulting Services, Inc.

Before we answer this question, let’s look at some images of that period of American history…

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Paul Revere

The Declaration of Independence

Washington Crossing the Delaware

The Minutemen

The British Regulars

The American soldiers were not very well trained. They were mainly farmers who believed in the cause of freedom from the tyrannical reign of King George III.

The British Regulars were professional soldiers with a great deal of experience in combat.

Guess what…it didn’t matter. We beat them.

Why was music important during the Revolution? It was functional It served as a form of communication during battles Most importantly, it boosted the morale of the troops who were fighting

What types of instruments did they use? Let’s take a look…

The Drum

The Drum served several purposes First, the drum was by far the most important instrument to the military. It kept the troops in step while marching It dictated the type of march It served as a communication device on the battlefield - when to line up, when to load, aim & fire.

Drums were almost always played by young boys who were too young to fight. They were most often the first to be killed as they were so important as a communication device on the field. They didn’t have walkie-talkies back then.

Old School Drumsticks circa 1775

The Fife

The Fife had a simpler function It played the melodies of the tunes They were made from very hard wood like ebony They are very similar to modern piccolos except they did not have any keys

Why do you think they chose the fife as the main melodic instrument?

Correct. It is small, light-weight & loud.

There were other military instruments used for similar purposes. They included: Whistles

Horns

…and Bagpipes

While there were other musical instruments in the colonies during the Revolution, none of them were used as much as the fife and drum.

Even today, the sound of a fife and drum band evokes an image of the Revolutionary War.

We will be studying four songs from the Revolutionary War Revolutionary Tea Yankee Doodle The Rebels The World Turned Upside Down You might be surprised where a few of these songs originated

Today, we will begin with Revolutionary Tea Written of course, about the infamous Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.

Next class: We will be studying Yankee Doodle and the hidden meaning behind many of the verses, as well as the origin of the first popular American song. We will then begin using some of the software to create our own variations on Yankee Doodle. It should be fun…