To be clear, it allows sentimentality to replace historical fact. Yes, John Newton (1725-1807) was a slave trader (until 1754), and, yes, John Newton was later ordained an Anglican priest (in 1764), and, yes, John Newton penned the hymn text , “Amazing Grace” (published without music in 1779 in “Olney Hymns,” a text collection co-authored with William Cowper). Yes, the indigenous folk melodies of Africa are generally pentatonic (as is true of the folksong of most every culture on the planet), and, yes, the song of African slaves was often characterized by the musical traditions of their homeland (though the all-important role of drumming was regularly discouraged and even prohibited by slave owners), and, yes, both black and white spirituals in North America are also often pentatonic (more a product of their folk origin than of any sort of cross-culturization).
However, the well-known folk tune now universally associated with Newton’s text originated on this continent, first appearing in print with a different text in 1829 in the American folk hymnal, “Columbian Harmony.” The tune and Newton’s text did not come together until 1835 (28 years after Newton’s death) when hymnal editor William Walker paired them in “Southern Harmony,” a text and tune collection published, ironically, in New Haven, Connecticut. Thus, despite the romance of Winley Phipps’ story of Newton “setting his words to a slave melody,” and of a similar anachronistic implication in a recent popular movie about the 1807 abolition of the slave trade in England, Newton, no doubt, never heard, sang, or even encountered the melody now so closely associated with his famous words.
Does that historical fact in any way diminish the significance of this beloved hymn and its familiar tune? Absolutely, not! On the other hand, attempting to increase its significance through hymnological mythology is not only irresponsible, but, in this instance, absolutely unecessary.
Whitney Phipps has evidently assumed that the AG tune must be African because it is pentatonic. But the pentatonic scale is also common in Scottish, Celtic, Chinese, Japanese, and most notably here, folk music of the American Appalachian Mountains. The tune appears to have originated in Appalachian United States, rather than in England (even tho’ in England there would have been Scottish and Celtic influences, too!) In short, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to believe that Newton ever even heard the music we associate with his lyrics today!
Another misconception surrounding Amazing Grace is that John Newton was a captain of a slave ship, was converted to Christianity, writing Amazing Grace at the moment, and became an abolitionist. Newton was converted on March 21, 1748 – a date he observed throughout his life. But he continued to work in the slave trade. He made three further voyages as master of the slave-trading ships in 1750, 1752-53 and 1753-54. Only after an illness did Newton give up working in the slave trade. It was not until 1773 that Newton wrote “Amazing Grace.” And it was decades after his conversion before Newton took any public stand against slavery.
http://pjcockrell.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/amazing-grace-just-the-black-notes/
https://www.greghowlett.com/blog/thoughts/121009.aspx
There is a popular Youtube video that features Wintley Phipps talking about "Amazing Grace." He discusses how most Negro spirituals can be played on a piano's black notes. He then points out that "Amazing Grace" can also be played using just black notes. Of course, that hymn was written by John Newton, a slave trader.
Phipps strongly suggests that Newton heard the tune he used for "Amazing Grace" from black slaves. In fact, he mentions that when the song is printed today, Newton gets credit for the words but the music's writer is always listed as unknown. He then says that when he gets to heaven, he wants to meet the slave called Unknown.
It is a great, heart-warming story, but unfortunately, it is not true. Newton wrote the words of the hymn as a poem, which was how it was published in 1779. We have no idea whether he sang it to any particular tune, but we do know that the melody it is currently sung with (New Britain) was not associated with the song until the 1830's. Before that time, it was undoubtedly sung to numerous other melodies.
When Phipps discusses the idea of songs being sung with black keys, he is referring to songs that are written using a pentatonic scale. In terms of the scale we use today, the pentatonic scale is a subset that uses five pitches (1, 2, 3, 5, and 6). This is the scale that is created when you play the black keys starting on F#.
Pentatonic scales are prevalent in African American music (including music from slavery) but they are common in much folk music from different cultures. It is certainly possible that the melody of "Amazing Grace" was written by a slave, but that is far from a given. Even if true, there is almost no chance that Newton ever heard that tune or envisioned his hymn being sung to that tune.
That being said, I enjoyed the Phipps YouTube video and I love songs that use the pentatonic scale. I use pentatonic scales often in my arrangements. The runs in "Heaven Came Down" on Portraits of Hope are pentatonic. I am currently arranging "Go Tell It On the Mountain," which undoubtedly is a product of American slavery and was written using a pentatonic scale.
A few years ago at my church, someone (a visitor) came up and began quizzing me about pentatonic scales. His obvious opinion was that because the pentatonic scale is a subset of the common Western seven note scale, music written using pentatonic scales is inferior.
To that kind of thinking, I have one word: rubbish! First of all, music of that sort does not really only use five tones; tones are used that do not even fit into the Western chromatic scale. African American music highly developed the concept of playing and singing between notes (in the cracks). But secondly, the character of the music is not inferior; it is just different.
So, while I reluctantly have to point out the error of Phipps, my hat is off to the contributions of American slaves to musical development.
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