Call and response (music)

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Call and response (music)

In music

Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases

Phrase (music)

In music a phrase is a section of music that is relatively self contained and coherent over a medium time scale. In common practice, phrases are often four and most often eight bar s, or Measure s, long....
usually played by different musician

Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
s, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. It corresponds to the call-and-response pattern in human communication

Communication

Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs...",, 1: an act or instance of transmitting and 3 a: "a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or beha...
and is found in many traditions.

In Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara....
n cultures, call and response is a pervasive pattern of democratic

Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
participation -- in public gatherings in the discussion of civic affairs, in religious ritual

Ritual

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Encyclopedia

In music

Music

Phrase (music)

Musician

Communication

Sub-Saharan Africa

Democracy

Ritual

A ritual is a set of repeated actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community by religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions....
s, as well as in vocal and instrumental musical expression. It is this tradition that African bondsmen and women brought with them to the New World and which has been transmitted over the centuries in various forms of cultural expression -- in religious observance; public gatherings; sporting events; even in children's rhymes; and, most notably, in African-American music in its myriad forms and descendants including: gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, blues

Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
, rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music first created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s....
, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
and jazz extensions.

These forms also possibly influenced the evolution of call and response in the ancient Indian Classical Music

Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length....
technique of Jugalbandi.

Call and response is likewise widely present in other parts of the Americas touched by the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It is extensively used in Cuban music, both in the secular rumba

Rumba

Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance. It originates in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Spanish colonizers and of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves....
and in the African religious ceremonies (Santeria

Santería

Santer?a is a Syncretism of Caribbean origin. Also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi. From Spanish meaning "one who 'has', 'makes' or 'works' the spirit"....
).

Folk music

It is common in folk

Folk music

Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:* Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous with the term "Traditional music", also often including World Music and Roots music; the term "Traditional music" was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the other definition...
traditions of choral singing of many peoples, especially in African musical cultures. In the West, it is most readily seen in the sea shanty

Sea shanty

Sea shanties were shipboard work songs. Some speculate that shanties may have been sung as early as the 15th century though there is little evidence to support this claim....
, African-American work songs, military cadence

Military cadence

In the military, a military cadence or cadence call is a traditional call-and-response work song sung by military personnel while running or marching....
s, and the dance-songs of various European countries including France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
(particularly Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
) and the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately half way between Scotland and Iceland....
.

Classical music

In classical European music it is known as antiphon

Antiphon

An antiphon is a response, usually sung in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or some other part of a religious service, such as at Vespers or at a mass ....
y.

Popular music

The phenomenon of call and response is pervasive in modern Western popular music, as well, largely because Western music has been so heavily shaped by African contributions. Cross-over rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, and rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and other influences....
exhibit call-and-response characteristics, as well. One example is The Who

The Who

The Who are an England Rock music band formed in 1964. The primary lineup was guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon....
's song, My Generation:

My Generation Vocal Melody With Response

Where call and response is most apparent in the secular music arena is in traditional and electric blues, where the most common 12-bar form is an AA'B pattern where the AA' is the call (repeated once with slight variation), and B is the response. But, each A and B part may itself consist of a short call and a short response, and those 2-bar calls and response may also be divided into 1-bar-each call-response pairs.

To make an attempt at diagraming it:

Twelve bars:

A: 4-bar CALL

(2-bar vocal CALL

[1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE]

2-bar instrumental RESPONSE

[1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE])

- A': 4-bar CALL (repeated with slight variation)

- B: 4-bar RESPONSE (repeated)

Note that each turnaround can be considered a call which the next A section is the response to.

Leader/Chorus call and response

A single leader makes a musical statement, and then the chorus responds together. American bluesman Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters

McKinley Morganfield , better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered "the Father of Chicago blues"....
utilizes call and response in one of his signature songs, "Hoochie Coochie Man," which is almost entirely Leader/Chorus call and response.

CALL: Waters' vocal: "Now when I was a little boy"
RESPONSE: (Harmonica/rhythm section riff)
CALL: Waters': "At the age of 5"
RESPONSE: (Harmonica/rhythm section riff)

Question/Answer call and response

Part of the band poses a musical "question", or a phrase that feels unfinished, and another part of the band "answers" (finishes) it. In the blues, the B section often has a question-and-answer pattern (dominant-to-tonic).

Question/Answer in Indian Classical Music

A distinct section in North Indian Classical Music is known as sawaal-javaab (question-answer). Primarily an instrumental technique, the sawaal-javaab occurs between two artists. One artist will present a melodically and rhythmically challenging riff which will be either replicated or improved upon by the other artist.