Clare's Dragoons

The piece I chose this week is titled "Clare's Dragoons" and is performed by Na Casaidigh (also known as The Cassidys) using voice and various instruments.  This piece is a vocal Irish ballad originally composed by Thomas Davis in the early 1800s.  It describes "Clare's Dragoons" (originally known as Clare's Regiment) who fought for King James II of Englad during the Williamite War in Ireland.  According to Lew and Campbell, children "learn of their world through the playful songs they sing, and they learn music through opportunities to explore and discover just what music is" (Lew and Campbell pg. 58).  Students learn about their world through play.  Students will sing songs during play time and these songs are rich in history.  Take for instance the play song, "Ring around the Rosey" that actually describes what happened during the Bubonic Plague.  Songs are rich in history and students socialize and learn with these songs even when they don't realize it.  This song is a slower song and wouldn't be used much in play.  However, with it being a ballad, children might hear this slow song as a lullaby.  They will learn history from this song!  Music plays an important part in learning.  Music aids in building language development, reasoning skills, and socialization.  Children learn these skills through lullabies sung to them as children as well as playground songs and games they play.

References:

Campbell, P., Shehan, L., Chooi-Then, J. (2005). Children’s natural and necessary musical play: Global contexts, local applications.  Music Educators Journal, 91(5), 57.

Dawn Light by Maddji

The piece I have chosen for this week is titled "Dawn Light" by  the Sami Folk Singer, "Maddji."  Sami musicians are from the Scandinavian area and use a variety of instruments from fiddle, flute, concertina, lur (trumpet), sami drum, and the accordion.

This is a modern day Lur from Norway.

This is a Sami Drum (also known as a rune drum):

The Sami people live in areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.  Their major means of livelihood is Reindeer Herding.  

Campbell states that it is important for students to be able to recreate music.  But they should also be able to create their own music as well.  Campbell specifically states that "the creation of new music allows the dual aims of listening and the intellectual internalization of sonic structures to be achieved and demonstrated" (Campbell pg. 191).  Campbell then goes on to say that the creation of "world music" is a great way to understand how people make music meaningful in their individual lives.  Two stances exist when dealing with the performance of "world music:" those who believe in authenticity (where we must keep the music as authentic as possible) and those who believe in the "value [and] potential for new musical expressions that can emerge as an outgrowth of experience and training in a wide variety of music traditions" (Campbell pg 192).  In order to create "world music" you can use a number of strategies.  Students can extend what has already been  created, meaning, they can add to a song that already exists.  In the case of this piece, I could have my students create a dance to the already existing music or create their own drum part to play with the song.  Another creating strategy one can take with "world music" is to completely compose or improvise their own piece of music.  In order to do that I can show my students a variety of Sami music and ask them to compose or improvise on the Orff instruments a piece of music that sounds like it could belong to the group of music to which they have studied and listened.  

References: 

Campbell, P. S. (2004). Teaching music globally: experiencing music, expressing culture. New York: Oxford University Press.

Sami music. (2014, May 7). Wikipedia. Retrieved July 24, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_music

Sami people. (2014, July 22). Wikipedia. Retrieved July 24, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people

All the Pretty Little Horses

These week I chose to discuss an American Folk Song.  The title of this piece is "All the Pretty Little Horses."  This piece is performed by Becky Jean Williams.  This is an American Lullaby which is evident in the soft sound and the lyrics that mention the "poor little baby."  It is thought to be of African American origin but no one knows for sure.  When reading Koops document titled, "Can't We Just Change the Words?" the issue of authenticity was raised.  Koops mentioned that, at a workshop, someone was having difficulty with the words to a Gambian song.  Someone else mentioned that the teacher should "just change the words."  Koops wondered if all teachers treated foreign music in this way.  Koops then gives strategies for ensuring the authenticity of music.  Koops states we should look at authenticity as a continuum and that at one end of the continuum is a piece of music in its authentic setting and that as you go further away, it becomes less authentic.  Koops warns teachers to give careful consideration to how far a piece of music should be taken on that continuum.  Koops also states that the piece should remain historically accurate.  Listening to this piece, "All the Pretty Little Horses" performed by Becky Jean Williams, I have determined that the performer did what she could to keep the piece accurate.  The words are not changed to a completely different story, the tempo is slow like a lullaby should be, and the tone of her voice is hushed because she doesn't want to wake the baby.  If the performer had changed this things, it would have made the piece less authentic.  In addition, other things could have changed to make it less authentic as well such as using an electric guitar, singing it in a different language, and increasing the tempo.  The performer did what she could to keep the piece authentic.

Koops, L.H. (2010). “Can’t we just change the words?”: the role of authenticity in culturally informed music education.  Music Educators Journal 97, 23-28.

Sakura

My listening selection this week is a traditional Japanese Folk Song titled, "Sakura."  It is performed by The New Kyoto Ensemble and is featured on their CD, "The Music of Japan."  This is a very famous piece that I have heard many times.  This particular selection uses a koto to play the song which can be seen here:

The koto itself is a traditional Japanese instrument.  It is the national instrument of Japan.  There are 13 strings that are strung over movable bridges.  Koto performers adjust the pitch by moving the bridges.  In addition, they use three fingers to pluck the strings.  During this piece, there are places where the melody is featured and is the only thing being played in octaves.  In addition, there are places where the performer can show off their technique on the koto.  During the piece, the tempo changes, going between slow and fast.  There are sections where the speed stretches creating a sense of rubato.  Regarding the structure of the piece, there is an introduction that begin a tremelo/drone effect on one or two notes.  It channels the stropic form t hat is used to tell stories.  In addition, strophic form is usually when there is the same melody played but with different text.  Each time the melody is played during this piece, "Sakura....," the player changes it a bit giving it almost a strophic feeling.  

Kesh Jig

You will create a blog via Blogger to record world music listening that you have selected to share with our class (not contained in our textbooks).  Embed a video example or audio recording of the musical example and write an entry that states the following:

1. Title of piece
2. Performer(s)
3. Culture or Origin
4. Orchestration
5. a one paragraph reaction to the piece that makes connections to course readings/discussion (see a specific weekly focus for this paragraph in the Assignments section)

Your blog entry must be posted on the Friday of each week. In addition to maintaining your own blog, respond to a classmates' blog entry by Sunday of each week.  A list of classmate blog posts is listed under Announcements.  Click on the assignments tab on the menu to the left to submit your blog assignment.

Specifically for week two, discuss in what ways classification systems are useful (use an example of time or instruments in your response).

The piece I chose to listen to and blog about this week is titled "Kesh Jig."  It is a traditional Irish Jig and performed here by a group called The Ghillies.  Included in this performance is a harp, and acoustic guitar, a violin/fiddle, flute, and a drum called a Bodhran: 

This is a lively and upbeat piece of music that is very easy to dance for.  An Irish Jig is a folk dance usually performed in compound meter.  They were adopted into Ireland and Scotland in the 17th century.  This particular piece, because it is a folk piece, has many renditions.  You can see one rendition in this piece of music here:

It is written in 6/8 time or compound meter.  

Bonnie C. Wade, author of "Thinking Musically" described many ways of classifying instruments.  She stated that "Belgian curator Victor Mahillon turned to the ancient Indian system with its one consistent criterion - the primary sound-producing medium of the instrument - and named the four types of instrument as idiophone, membranophone, chordophone, and aerophone" (Wade pg. 38).  Idiophones are instruments where the sound is produced by the instruments vibrating body.  Membranophones are instruments where the sound is produced by a vibrating membrane.  Chordophones are instruments where the sound is produced by a vibrating string.  Aerophones are instruments where the sound is produced by vibrating column of air.  In this piece, we can classify the harp, guitar, and violin as chordophones.  We can classify the bodhran as a membranophone and we can classify the flute as an aerophone.

References:

Bodhran. (n.d.). . Retrieved July 3, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhr%C3%A1n

deLombarde, T., & Randall, B. (n.d.). Kesh Jig. . Retrieved July 3, 2014, from http://www.blackflute.com/music/tunes/jigs/kesh.html

Wade, B. C. (2013). Thinking About Music. Thinking Musically (). New York: Oxford University Press.

Alla Gossar

You will create a blog via Blogger to record world music listening that you have selected to share with our class (not contained in our textbooks).  Blogger Getting Started Guide explains how to set up a blog.  Once you have created your blog, submit your blog address on this Google Form.  Your instructor will collect blog addresses and post a complete list on the announcements page of the Sakai site.  Embed a video example or audio recording of the musical example and write an entry that states the following:

1. Title of piece
2. Performer(s)
3. Culture or Origin
4. Orchestration
5. a one paragraph reaction to the piece that makes connections to course readings/discussion (see a specific weekly focus for this paragraph in the Assignments section)

Your blog entry must be posted on the Friday of each week. In addition to maintaining your own blog, respond to a classmates' blog entry by Sunday of each week.  A list of classmate blog posts is listed under Announcements.  Click on the assignments tab on the menu to the left to submit your blog assignment.  Refer to Due Dates.

Title:  Alla Gossar

Performers: Triakel (Swedish Folk Band)

Culture or Origin: Sweden

Orchestration: Triakel performs using only a vocalist, a fiddle, and a harmonium for their music.

Reaction:  Alla Gossar is a traditional Swedish Folk Song.  It was performed in this recording by a Swedish Folk Band called Triakel who use only a fiddle, harmonium, and a vocalist in their music.  This piece is evidence of what Bonnie C. Wade would call "glocalization" (also known as global localization).  Wade stated that "globally shared music is constantly recontextualized by those who listen to it, given new meanings, and made to perform new as well as the same old functions" (Wade pp. 19).  The piece itself is sung by a woman who does not understand why other girls want to get married so badly because all men turn out to be rubbish.  You can read the translation here: Translation of Alla Gossar  When I first listened to the piece, I did not get that meaning.  To me, this is a beautiful song with an upbeat feel.  It is light and can easily be danced to.  However, learning the words has turned it into a different song entirely.  Those who sing it in traditional Swedish culture probably have a different connection with the song entirely!  Wade is correct when she says "we can no longer assume that ethnic musical materials will serve as markers of particular ethnic identities" (Wade pp. 19).  This song was recorded by a traditional Swedish Folk Band and sent to places all over the world.  We do not get the same ethnic meaning that a person from Sweden might get from the piece.

References:

Translation - Swedish-English - Alla gossar äro klara som en dag huru skall man.... (2009, June 16). . Retrieved , from http://www.cucumis.org/translation_1_t/view-the-translation_v_225537.html

Wade, B. C. (2013). Thinking About Music. Thinking Musically (). New York: Oxford University Press.

Week 8

Radiohead performed a song titled "Bodysnatchers" in 2007.  The song climbed to number 8 on the rock chart in 2008.  According to Starr and Waterman, the sing "is in a sense [...] about the music industry and also serves as an example of Radiohead's creative extension of the basic formula of alternative rock" (Starr and Waterman pg. 558).  Alternative rock combines punk rock with the sound of heavy metal guitars. Traditional rock bands utilize two guitars, but this piece uses three!

The piece draws influence from the Beatles "Within You Without You."  It is a philosophical song that uses instruments from Indian culture such as the tambura.  The piece is about how the music industry controls you as though you were only a puppet!