When a group of laborers coordinate their efforts on a physical task, it often helps to establish a steady rhythmic pulse to their movements. Work songs were born out of this necessity, for singing a song together helped to ease the physical and emotional burden of labor while giving each worker a pulse by which to time his movements. Careful coordination of movements helped the laborers to work efficiently and avoid injury.

Work songs have a steady, moderate pulse and follow a predictable pattern. The lyrics don’t necessarily have anything to do with the work being performed. They frequently make use of the call and response structure, and the song leader also leads the labor effort.

Slaves in the American south were known to sing work songs as they worked on the plantations. Sailors sang their own unique variety of work songs, known as sea chanteys, as they operated the pulleys and capstans on the ship. Two well-known sea chanteys are “The Drunken Sailor” and “Shenandoah.”

Prison inmates on chain gangs sang work songs as they chopped wood or hauled stones. Although white and Hispanic inmates have not historically sung work songs, black inmates still sing them today.

Out of the degradation of slavery came one of the most important musical genres in American history, spirituals. Although slaves were forced to give up their culture – including their music, stories, and religion – they developed a new style of music that was a deeply authentic expression of faith, strength, and dignity.

After their conversion to Christianity, slaves began to combine English Christian text with African musical sounds. The words of spirituals were religious, but the meaning of these songs went far beyond religion. In the face of oppression, music was an important way for a slave to express hope for a better life, on earth or in the afterlife. The lyrics sometimes contained coded messages for those seeking to escape slavery. The famous song “Wade in the Water” is about the Israelite’s escape from Egypt, but the parallels for an enslaved community in the US are clear.

Like many other kinds of music, spirituals frequently made use of call and response. The spontaneity of spirituals allowed people to add their own interjections when it felt right. The songs used the major and minor harmonies of European music (which they learned by singing hymns upon their conversion) but added their own vocal inflections: scooping, swooping, and blue notes.