More than once I have had the experience of asking Dr. Tetreau what I thought was a simple question only to find that I was still learning from him 45 minutes later! I had no idea that the answer was so involved. But then, how can I know what I don't know, right?

As I was teaching the Music Appreciation class at International Baptist College this week, I was reminded of a couple areas where I am on the other side of those types of questions. Sometimes folks will ask me what they assume is a simple music question. And I sigh because I know that I will either have to give them more information than they were expecting or risk a misunderstanding by gross oversimplification.

The two questions below will illustrate what a wise man once said: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Didn't Rock ‘n' Roll music come from the demon worship of deepest, darkest Africa?

There may be an element of truth there, but inflammatory statements like that amount to so much propaganda. The earliest commercial form of Rock came from a blending of country music (influenced by Southern folk music, which was influenced by the multi-cultural music of American immigrants), Rhythm and Blues, early jazz, and even gospel. Leading up to early Blues was Rag Time, a style of piano playing in which the left hand played a steady rhythm while the right hand "ragged," that is played a syncopated melody. In Rag Time, folks can usually see early jazz developing, but sometimes they miss the influence of the marches of John Phillips Sousa. Rag Time often resembles a march in form and tempo.

The trace elements of fact in the above question remind us that Rock ‘n' Roll was influenced by African-American culture. And those folks obviously were influenced in some way by their African roots. But there were many influences and changes that affected the music that eventually became what Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed dubbed "Rock ‘n' Roll" in 1951. (Though even the use of that term has a long and involved history that is precursor to Freed's famous declaration.)

Frankly, I find the complex poly-rhythms of African drumming to be closer to the extraordinary combinations of the "new music" of the Ars Nova of Europe in the 1400's than to the stultifying monotony of most rock music. But that is another topic.

Is it true that tap dancing came from early American slaves who were not allowed by their white slave owners to beat their native African drums?

Sigh. It is true that when slave owners figured out that African drumming was often a form of communication and prohibited their using drums, slaves found other was of beating out rhythms, including stomping.

But even a cursory look into the history if tap dancing will reveal that the form was influenced by many, many other cultures and styles including Irish competitive step dancing, clogging in general, the Juba dance from the West Indies, African dances of communication and daily life, and American Vaudeville.

"Tap dance," I found, is a broad term that requires further definition. For instance, "hoofers" use more leg motion (as opposed to the heel-to-toe movement often associated with tap); dancers like Fred Astaire arrived at a ballroom dancing look; Gene Kelly incorporated his ballet training; and American musical theater has hijacked tap to the point that just the word conjures images of Broadway musicals in the minds of many folks.

All this to point out the fact that sometimes telling only some of the facts actually distorts the truth. Education is certainly not the answer to man's spiritual problems. But Proverbs does remind us, "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him... The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge" (Proverbs 18:13, 15).

David Stertzbach II, B.A.
Music Pastor