Of course, the strongest musical accomplishment of the African is his extraordinary command of rhythm. As is the case with most primitive music, the rhythm of the African music is determined by the native dances. The drum, which marks the rhythm, is the most important instrument of the African, and his ability upon it is nothing short of marvellous. He has developed a 'drum language' which he uses in signalling in war time and for communication at long distance. 'The most refined effects of the modern tympanist seem to be put in the shade by the devices used by African drummers in varying the sound of their instruments so as to make them convey meanings, not by conventional formulas but by actual imitation of words.'[66] Their ability to use cross rhythms and intricate effects of syncopation is evidently inherited by the American negroes, whose prowess in that direction may be verified in a thousand dance halls. Syncopation and the peculiar form of it which Mr. Krehbiel refers to as the 'Scotch snap' is indeed the outstanding characteristic of all negro music. The short note on a strong beat immediately followed by a longer one on a weak beat, and the consequent shifted rhythm popularly known as 'ragtime' is scarcely ever absent in negro folk-music. That it is a heritage from Africa seems to be conclusively proved by the recording of such melodies as these: [Illustration: Music score] Drum Call from West Africa. [Illustration: Music score] Hottentot Melody. Next to their rhythmic snap, the most radically outlandish characteristic of the negro songs is their frequent variation from the diatonic scale. This most often takes the form of a raised (major) sixth in a minor key (while the seventh is not varied or is omitted altogether); the raised seventh in the minor scale, or the flattened seventh in the major. Besides these 'wild notes,' as Mr. Krehbiel calls them, there are omissions of certain notes of the scale that produce a decided exotic effect. Thus we have the major scale without the seventh or without the fourth, and the minor scale without the sixth. The major scale with both the fourth and the seventh omitted, in other words the pentatonic scale, familiar in all primitive and exotic music as well as in certain folk-tunes, notably the Celtic, is also present in negro song. There are, moreover, examples in the so-called whole-tone scale. The effect produced by these aberrations constitutes the most beautiful quality of negro music. We cannot refrain from quoting here an example or two. The raised sixth in the minor scale is most exquisitely shown in the famous 'spiritual' 'You May Bury Me in de Eas',' which we quote in full, without harmonization:[67] [Illustration: Music score]