A minstrel was a bard who played songs to tell stories about other places or about historical events of the Middle Ages. Initially, minstrels were simply servants at Court (the name means literally "little servant"), and entertained the Lord and Courtiers with chansons de geste or their local equivalent. As the courts became more sophisticated, they were eventually replaced by the troubadours, and many became wandering minstrels, performing for common townsfolk. In this guise, minstrelsy was still well liked until the middle of the Renaissance.

Minstrel music, popular in the USA from the 1830s until the early 20th century, was a type of banjo music performed by both black and white musicians with black-painted faces. (Even the black musicians had to black up to match the exaggerated make-up used by the white performers.) The music was an imitation of a style developed by Afro-American plantation slaves, who had been trained to play Irish fiddle music to entertain their masters, but who then developed a style of their own. Typical minstrel tunes were Dixie and The Camptown Races. Minstrel shows are now considered racist, as they mocked the misfortunes of Afro-American slaves, but their legacy of bluegrass, country and old-time musical forms remains. See American roots music for a broader discussion of these genres.

External links

Minstrel Music History on "Musical Extravaganzo" (http://www.freewebs.com/minstreltune/minstrelhistory.html)