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.