In Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction H. Wiley Hitchcock takes the reader on a musical journey from the mid 1500's, otherwise known as the Colonial period. To the early 1800's when America was first starting to grow its roots, also known as the Federal period. .
The text first begins with the Protestants and there relationship with music. Being that they left England because of religious persecution on tiny colonial ships, large instruments like organs and harpsichords could not be accommodated. Also most of the colonists were not of the wealthy aristocracy that had created and gave life to music in England. Therefore the colonists in the beginning did not have the elegant and sophisticated music that the British and Western World came to have. Nevertheless, the colonists could and did enjoy only music that was quite simple and fully functional, such as social and worship music. This is where "American Music" first began. John Calvin, Leader of the Protestant movement in the mid 1500's, believed that the only proper music for Church had to be based on the lyric poetry of the bible, more specifically the book of Psalms. He also believed that any polyphonic, instrumental, and non-biblical based text music was to much associated with Catholicism, therefore all hymns up till the late 1500's were unison based and quite simple compositionally wise.
In New England the Puritans borrowed the music for their hymns from the Church of England and simply put there owns lyrics to it. At one point there was only 13 melodies to accompany 150 psalms, quite bland. Pretty soon the Puritan Ministers were raising horrified cries at the poor signing of the hymns (at this time a hymn was simply taught by listening to others). It got so bad that Rev. John Tufts wrote the first music instruction book in America and eventually the first schools of music in America were resurrected, such as Yale.