In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, 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 and is found in many traditions. Music is a human activity which involves structured and audible sounds, which is used for artistic or aesthetic, entertainment, or ceremonial purposes. ... In music a phrase is a section of music that is relatively self contained and coherent over a medium time scale. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... Call and response is a form of spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements (calls) are punctuated by expressions (responses) from the listener, as stated by Smitherman [1]. In West African cultures, call and response is a pervasive pattern of democratic... Communication is the process of exchanging information, usually via a common protocol. ...

In West African cultures, call and response is a pervasive pattern of democratic participation -- in public gatherings in the discussion of civic affairs, in religious rituals, 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; even in children's rhymes; and, most notably, in African-American music in its myriad forms and descendents including: gospel, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz and jazz extensions.  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... Democracy (from Greek δημοκρατία (demokratia), δημος (demos) the common people + κρατειν (kratein) to rule + the suffix ία (ia), literally the common people rule) is a form of government where the population of a society controls the government. ... A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... African American music (also called black music, formerly known as race music) is an umbrella term given to a range of musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of United States. ... Gospel music may refer either to the religious music that first came out of African-American churches in the 1930s or, more loosely, to both black gospel music and to the religious music composed and sung by white southern Christian artists. ... The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. ... Rhythm and blues (or R&B or even Runub) was coined as a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Jerry Wexler at Billboard magazine, used to designate upbeat popular music performed by African American artists that combined jazz and blues. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the early 1920s in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ...

These forms also possibly influenced the evolution of call and response in the ancient Indian Classical Music technique of Jugalbandi. The origins of Indian classical music, the classical music of India, can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. ...

Call and response is likewise widely present in other parts of the Americas touched by the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Known under the Spanish term coro-pregon, it can be found in Afro-Latin music based on religious chants. Coro-pregón (or coro-guía, coro-inspiración) in Afro-Cuban music and Cuban-based latin music (mainly from the USA and Puerto Rico), most of all salsa, but also in some non-Cuban genres like merengue, refers to a call and response section between the lead singer... Africa is a large and diverse continent, consisting of dozens of countries, hundreds of languages and thousands of races, tribes and ethnic groups. ... Latin American music, or the music of Latin America, is sometimes called Latin music. ...

Folk music

It is common in folk traditions of choral singing of many peoples, especially in African musical cultures. Folk Music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the common people. ...

Classical music

In classical European music it is known as antiphony. This article is about the musical term. ...

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 exhibit call-and-response characteristics, as well. One example is The Who's song, My Generation: Rock and roll - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Rock is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars, a bass guitar, and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, trumpet, and trombone are common in some styles, however, horns have been omitted from newer subgenres of rock music since... The Who is a British rock band that first came to prominence in the 1960s who have sold an estimated 150 million records[citation needed]. The band grew in stature to become one of the most highly-regarded and popular rock artists of all time [1][2][3], and except... This article is about the album. ...

Download high resolution version (857x209, 10 KB)My Generation vocal melody with response, also tumbling strain modal frame (music) example Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ...

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:

• 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)
  • (2-bar vocal CALL
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE]
  • 2-bar instrumental RESPONSE
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE])

• B: 4-bar RESPONSE (repeated)
  • (2-bar vocal CALL
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE]
  • 2-bar instrumental RESPONSE/turnaround
    • [1-bar CALL, 1-bar RESPONSE])

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 Bo Diddley utilizes call and response in his "I'm A Man," which is almost entirely Leader/Chorus call and response: Bo Diddleys emphasis on rhythm largely influenced popular music, especially that of rock and roll in the 1960s. ...

• CALL: Diddley's vocals: "Now when I was a little boy"
• RESPONSE: (Harmonica/rhythm section riff)
• CALL: Diddley: "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.

External link

• History of Gospel Music - with references to call and response in black gospel music

• Gospel Music History - Gospel Music Encyclopedia citing the origins of the different types of call and response and different gospel music styles