Fun Stuff and Wrap Up

Through this class I've come across several instruments that I've loved listening too. The erhu is at the top of this list. There so many erhu solos on youtube that I accenditally spent the better part of an hour fliping through them. Heres one I really liked with erhu and pipa and a really beautiful elaborate set.


Heres a really pretty mysterious sounding one with piano. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re6LVYisnYY&feature=related
and another.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kmLxZkT6y8&feature=related

I was really interested in the Chinese Opera. Their movements and voice qualities are so unique.


I liked learning about the different aesthetics of music in other cultures. A great way to do this is to watch another culture's version of American Idol. After all, a person is selected into the competition based on how aesthetically pleasing the people of the country find the contestant's voice.




Part II
1. I was really intrigued by the Chinese Opera. They pretty much used character voices, like what you would see in a cartoon. The voices were really nasally and twangy. I really was fascinated by their elaborate costumes and sets and their use of dance and acrobatics in the performances. Anyway, that was something completely new to me.

This class has raised my awareness of the differences in aesthetics and uses of music around the world. I was really intrigued to learn that, to other cultures, music is much more than a form of entertainment. In our culture, music has become mainly a form of entertainment. When only thought of as a means of entertainment, it is easy to take music for granted. However to cultures such as West African or Native American, music is a way to preserve heritage, history, and language. Others view a spiritual aspect to music and believe that through music one can experience the divine. Ancient Hawaiians loved poetry and believed that the words contained mana or a supernatural force that should be respected. They believed that, through music, the mana of the text can be released.
2. The content of this class has lead me to think of the ways my culture uses and values music. I see many similarities among our culture and other cultures. Music is still an important part of our religious events. Our culture is similar to the Native American culture in that music helps us to feel closer to the divine and reminds us how to live our lives. Our folk music contains numerous ballads sharing the history of the hard lives of our ancestors living in a young developing America. When used in musicals or operas, it becomes more beneficial. In musicals and operas, music connects with audiences and helps them release emotions. Sometimes it seems that Americans overlook music and only view it as an expendable means of entertainment. Learning the ways other cultures use music really showed me how much music is a big part of life.
3. I was really interested in learning more about the music of China. I would have like to have spent more time on it. Watching the Beijing Opera made me pose questions inquiring the reason behind the traditions of the opera. I would like to know why their stage movements are the way they are and why they use twangy character-like voices the way they do in cartoons. I think the answers are just a difference in culture, but I would defiantly like to learn more about it. I was really intrigued by their elaborate costumes and sets. Much of what I've viewed seems really mysical. I wonder why that is? Maybe Mythology is a big part of their culture? I don't know but I'd really like to read futher into this culture. Also, as a side note, I really liked the erhu instrument.

Lebanese Musical Theatre, A Terrifying Indian Rendition of Thriller, and Some Really Sweet Dance Moves!!!!

Lebonese Musical Theatre?

I was really interested in this because it seems so similar to our musical theatre. Basically they've taken the Lebanese traditions and culture and presented them in a theatrical way. Some of the traditional music they've put to western orchestration. This video shares the inspiring story of how this dance company has brought music and dance to a war-torn Lebanon. The dance company has brought music and dance training to children that would normally have grown up without it. This is also a great example of how music is used to express heritage. By The Way!! I looked up more on this dance company. The Caracalla Dance Theatre stayed active and throughout all the struggles of the wars in Lebanon. They were one of the few establishments not to close. They even strived to entertain both sides of the conflicts!





This is an Indian version of Thriller. I thought it was interesting how it resembles western popular music of the 1980s but has it's own "indian style" to it.



I thought this video was really funny. I just love this dance they're doing!!! :D However it is interesting to see how traditional indian music makes its mark in contemporary indian music. They begin it with a long melismatic phrase with ornamentation like in the traditional songs.

Music and Gender

When I was in fifth grade, local middle school bands would come through my elementary school in attempts to recruit. They would play to demonstrate different instruments for us. In this initial exposure of the flute, it was always played by a girl. Because of its high timbre and lightweight appearance, I usually just associated it as an instrument for girls. In middle school, I joined band as a flute player. We had one guy that had already played the flute and the piccolo for four years. Everyone made fun of him for playing the girly instrument. It never seemed to bother him though.

I went to a coed college before coming to Converse. The guy singers seemed to be a lot better than most of the female singers. The music department tended to give them more solo opportunities. Good singers in the female group were there but didn’t get much of a chance. The guys had an amazing quartet. The female vocal students had nothing like that to perform in even though there is repertoire for four part women. Careers in teaching seemed to be the only thing female music majors were being prepared for.

I attended a high school in a small town where arts were not very appreciated. Most guys played sports. They started out in middle school in band. However, once they hit high school, they joined sports teams. The ones that remained in band were not the popular ones. Of course there were several exceptions!!!! Typically the mind set was that playing in the band or singing in choir (especially singing in the choir) is not the manly thing to do. Choirs seem to have it the worst. Guys are more likely to join the band than sing. The mind set on choir from quite a bit of the population was “if you’re a guy and interested in singin', you ain't right and you must be gay.” I recently returned to my high school choir to find that because of the lack of guys, the main ensemble had become a girl’s choirs. The few guys that remained interested in choir had formed a small male ensemble. We had such a deficiency in guys at my community theatre that certain plays were not possible to do.

I DARE YOU TO TRY TO HOLD BACK A SMILE WHILE WATCHING THIS!!!!


HARD ISN'T IT?
This is actually a parody of a Mariachi band. It's from the move "The Three Amigos". However from what I've read, this is pretty much the style of a Mariachi band. They're only exaggerating this jovial qualities of it. The ensemble consists of violins, trumpets, and guitars,and it orginated during colonial times in Mexico. They typically dress in silver studded versions of the traditional outfits of Mexican horseman with wide brimmed hats.

...AND HERE IS A MARIACHI BAND SERENADING THE CREW OF THE USS ENTERPRISE!!!!


The music of a Mariachi band is for celebrations such as weddings and coming of age ceremonies. They are also used to serenade women by playing repetoire that attempts to touch the heart of women.


I really liked this music. I loved the shakers and flute in it. Venezuelan music is a mixture of indigenous music with African music.


I've always loved this tango song. They use it a lot in film. It was played in the movie "True Lies". The tango imerged from Buenos Aires. It draws influence from other dances such as the Flamanco (from spain), Italian folk dance, and the POLKA!!!

Music and Religion

1. Growing up, I've mostly attended Baptist Churches. In a Baptist Church service, music plays a dominate role. In fact, the first half of the church service, before the actual sermon, consists of prayers and hymns followed by an offeratory solo of some sort. The music is used as worship and is considered to be an offering to God. Because of this belief, the general rule is to not clap for any hymns, ensembles, or solo pieces. The glory should go to God not the performer. Music also helps people get into the mood for worshiping. Lyrics typically remind singers of biblical messages or offer praise to God.

2. Aesthetics. In your experience, do the prevailing religions of your surroundings influence what is found aesthetically pleasing in music? Is there any way in which the values of those religions inherent in the way music is built or experienced?
I've thought on this question for awhile and I'm having some trouble with it. I'm not sure how the values in the Christian religion influence our ideas on how music should sound. The style of the music used in our church services (traditional services and contemporary services)comes from the culture. The aesthetics of the music is determined by the culture. The style that is used is the style most popular with the group. In this way, the group can relate more through the music and worship. An example would be a traditional service, it mostly targets the older generation and uses hymns that they would have grown up with. The values of the christian religion doesn't influence the music to sound this way. If it did, then other styles such as contemporary music wouldn't have entered the church. However if you went back to the roots of our religion and music, there are some influences. In Josquin des Prez’s Ave Maria, the use of 3/4 time symbolizes the trinity.

I was really fascinated by learning about the Navajo Nation. It made me curious about the some of the other tribes. So I decided to research a little on the second largest tribe of the United State, the Cherokee. The Cherokee have pretty much the same ideals concerning music as the Navajo. They view music as a creation given to them by the spirits.

I found a pretty neat quote that attempts to explain the Cherokee belief on music. "...to dance is to pray, to pray is to heal, to heal is to give, to give is to live, and to live is to dance." (http://www.cherokeediscovery.com/musicart.html) I thought it was a neat quote because the Cherokee share the Navajo belief that life happens in cycles and the quote is circular.

While searching Cherokee flute music (and thinking that I wouldn't ever find anything really cool and unique to post) I luckily ran into this video of a man playing two flutes at once. He first starts a melody with one flute and then plays them at once in a chilling beautiful harmony.






In 1821 Sequoyah founded a written language for the Cherokee. The first book to be printed in Cherokee was a hymnal.



This is an Ewe performer. I thought it was a pretty neat video featuring drums and flute.

I have come from a relatively musical family. The Lawrence (paternal) and Porter (maternal) family history is set predominately in farming regions of the Appalachian Mountains. With the backdrop of the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, my grandfather on my mother’s side cultivated a love for music. Unfortunately this passion was met with some opposition from his farming family which was in such a state of penury that the Great Depression hardly fazed them. For reasons of money, my grandfather’s father strictly stressed farming over music. When my grandfather was granted the opportunity to go to college after serving in the Navy, his father happily saw to it that his only son would obtain a degree in agricultural sciences. However my bold grandfather had other plans. He secretly majored in music and became a band director for the small West Virginian town of Ravenswood. He saw to it that all of his four children would participate in music through school. From this my mother was exposed mostly to the music played by my grandfather’s high school bands. This music included the patriotic marches of John Philip Sousa, popular music of the day, and some classical and jazz band pieces. To my mother’s family music had powerful and entertaining purposes. At my grandfather’s high school, the band was a major player in football games. The band, consisting of over 100 members, would actually intimidate the opposing teams. My grandfather and the football coach would actually work together at making sure of this! Other opposing teams would suspect this and get angry. However, when they attempted to complain, they would be laughed at and told: “Who has ever heard of the band director and the football coach being friends?!” Although my mother has chosen careers outside of the music world she still has a love for music that she has passed on to me and my brothers.
My dad’s side of the family is more bluegrass oriented. This side of my family is from the Blue Ridge Mountains which are also a part of the Appalachian Mountains. My grandmother has learned piano by ear. She has little to no music education but can transpose instantly to ANY key!!! She has mostly used this talent by playing gospel hymns for church. Believing deeply that music ability was an important skill to obtain; all of her four children received some form of music lessons. My uncle went the farthest with this ability. He has learned, by ear, the fiddle, banjo, and guitar.
In my immediate family, I am the only on to show an interest in majoring in music. Most members of my family have majored in other areas but use music as a recreation and hobby. Since entering into voice lessons my junior year in high school, I have brought classical music into our family more. It is not taken as well as I’d like of course as the dominate musical genre of our family is country, blue grass, oldies, and gospel. As for me, I’m sorry to say I’m still attempting to decide on what place music should take in my life. Either as a career or a hobby.