ABSTRACT
The British, who set up permanent settlements in the seventeenth century and claimed the fledgling colonies for the Commonwealth, donated their language, much of their political and governmental organization, and their musical culture to the “new world,” and their influence continues to the present day. A collection of pitches of differing importance and “weight” that can be arranged as a scale. These pitches and their ways of interacting form the basis of musical compositions. Northern New England is a unique cultural region in the United States. Because of the area’s physical geography, settlement patterns, and relative isolation from urban centers before the middle of the twentieth century, its musical traditions exhibit a particularly close connection between musical performance and economic and social practices. Active musical traditions accompanied work and play, provided entertainment, reinforced social roles, and contributed to the establishment and maintenance of a cultural identity.
