Coming across a variety of musicians I wanted to check out the African Americans who contributed to music to be what it is today. People may think of course Beethoven and Mozart are the reason for classic music today. If you think about it, musicians across the world are the reason for such different melody, tempo, and different harmony.
Musicians before our time had different technology, and experiences such as the territory war with one another and other countries without knowing what the future holds. Music back in the 1800’s was all instrument used to catch someone’s attention with the way it makes you feel inside your musical mindset no voices, just instruments playing a sense of tempo that makes you feel a type of way. Though many might…show more content… Justin Holland born on July 26, 1819 in Norfolk, Virginia to free black parents was an influential musician who showed his passion for this art of music. His father, Exum Holland was a farmer that seen the talent his son had when Justin was about the age of eight years old. At that time and age, there was little to none opportunity to be educated in that field of art up until 1833 when both his parents died at the age of 14 he moved to Boston to further his education in music. When he moved to Boston, he played and studied the piano, the flute, and the guitar. He caught more interest in guitars when he heard Mariano Perez play at a concert. He later became his guitar teacher along with his other teachers Simon Knable, who was in one of America’s 1st all-brass band teaching him the art of composing, and a Scotsmen named Pollock giving him lessons about the flute. In 1841, where he moved out of Boston to go to Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio to even further his studies. Many noticed him when he saw his “linguistic abilities” speaking different languages, Spanish of which he emphasis on at the time where Sor and Aguado- style were written. Holland eventually became fluent and efficient in other languages such as Italian, German, and French. He spent two years in Mexico to study and master the Spanish language to grasp of the early Spanish guitar masters like Sor and Aguado. Later he made his returned back into the studies at Oberlin College in 1845 for a shorter time period where he got married, he ended up in a major city in Ohio called Cleveland. Where he then made a name for himself becoming the 1st city’s black professional in Cleveland specializing in the 3 instruments he was taught, the guitar, flute, and piano with an addition to those 3 he later learned about instrument called the mandolin, a string instrument like the guitar that he picked up during his
