Download Unit 4 Music reflects the place in which it was created.

Unit 4
Music reflects the place in which it was created.
Music is found in every known culture, past and present. The emotions and ideas that music expresses, the
situations in which music is played and listened to, and the attitudes toward music players and composers all
vary between regions. Different cultures produce different music!!! CULTURE is a set of customs & traditions.
Unit 4 focuses on traditional music of IRELAND, the MAORI , INDIA, and MEXICO.
1. You will be using SPOTIFY to listen to examples of music from each Culture.
2. SAFARI is available for research / song ideas.
3. Listen to 6 examples & write the song titles for each culture in the boxes below.
4. Refer to the attached information to learn about the music of each culture.
5. On the back of this packet…create your own graphic organizer to help you or another
student keep track of the music.
6. TAKE THE TEST: to show your learning!!
This test will be next week.
IRELAND
the MAORI
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
6.
6.
INDIA
MEXICO
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
6.
6.
Ireland Musical Elements
Ireland has a vibrant & diverse musical history. What stands out to you – THE LISTENER?
What identifies this music as “IRISH”?? Is it more similar to INDIA or MAORI…???
Tone Colors
Pitch
(unique sounds of instruments)
Can you add to this list???
Echoey plucking warm nasal breathy
piercing pounding thudding whiney
bright strumming twangy
shiummering
1. Harp
2. violin/fiddle
3. Uilleann pipes (bagpipe)
4. flutes & whistles
5. bodhran (wood frame drum)
6. Concertina & accordion
7. guitar
8. banjo
9. bouzouki
10. harmonica
Duration
Melodies move by steps & skips.
Many are catchy & singable.
Ornaments are ‘decorations’ :
Light & quick notes to ‘embellish’.


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Grace notes ed or gf
trills
deded
rolls
ddd - d
Tunes can be lively & complex -- or
free & ‘wandering’.
Harmony takes the form of a
drone: Hold down a single
pitch, or C & G, or G & D, or A
& E…
Use your left hand in a BASS
range:
(Rhythm)
Steady pulse is very important to
dance music.
Changing meter is common:
4
6 etc.
Tempo changes.

triplets
‘Wandering’ & slow
rhythms characterize
‘Laments’ or ‘Airs’.
8ths
16ths
Genres:
(styles)
1. Dance music : jig ( count of 6) reel (count of 4) strong beats, up tempo. Instrumental.
2. Lament
: Music that expresses sorrow…often mourning the ‘loss’ of a loved one.
3. Air
: a slow, wandering instrumental tune.
4. Song
:


Accompanied by various instruments….themes about THE FAMINE, LOVE, BATTLES
& EVENTS. Sometimes sung in native language: IRISH!!
Sean Nos: ‘in the old style’… a cappella singing….many ornaments & tempo
changes.
INSTRUMENTS:
flutes & whistles
guitar
banjo
Harp
violin/fiddle
Uilleann pipes (bagpipe)
bodhran (wood frame drum) Concertina & accordion
bouzouki harmonica
Mexican Musical Elements
Much of Mexican music can be danced to. Live music is common on the street in many parts of Mexico,
and Mariachi bands will often show up at restaurants and give you a live serenade for a small tip.
There are 5 genres (styles) of Mexican music. Listen for their differences:

Son ( ‘sown’) is a song which alternates instrumental sections with the singing of short coplas
– poems. Featuring a 6/8 meter and the foot stomping zapateado , strings, trumpets, violins, &
accordions.

Ranchera : a genre of folk music originally sung by only one performer with a guitar. Traditional
themes of love, patriotism, or nature.

Corrido: Very similar to Ranchera but instead stories about heroes and villains, also more
variation in tempo / bpm / speed.

Duranguense: The main instruments are the saxophone, trombone, and bass drum. The 1980’s
brought the addition of synthesizers to play both melodies and the tuba bassline. The tempo is
quite fast. A heavy percussion line consisting of the bass drum and varied snare drum rolls add to
this genre.
Ensemble music:
( named for the featured instruments)

Banda: sounds similar to polka music. (3/4) Polish immigrants contributed this genre;
the tuba and sometimes accordion can be heard.

Conjunto de marimba: marimba, double bass, and drums.

Mariachi: folk music using guitarron, vihuela, guitar, violins, trumpets & singing. This
genre is played by 5 or more musicians who wear charro suits. ( sombrero, heavily
embroidered jacket and tight-fitting trousers)
INSTRUMENTS: violin, marimba, harp, guitar, vihuela /5 stringed guitar
guitarron /Bass guitar, trumpets, flute, French horn, accordion, bass drum, snare drum
saxophone, trombone, tuba
India Music Elements
PITCH:
Characteristics of the MELODY, or tune.
Hindustani (Northern) Karnatak (Southern)
http://raag-hindustani.com/Scales1.html

A raga/raag/raga is a series of pitches similar to ‘our’ concept of a scale / 5 – 12 musical notes .
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A raga often has distinctive melodic shapes, a pitch range and characteristic ornamentation on
specific pitches.
A raga is associated with the hour of the day, year, emotional state of being, or gender.
Ornamentation is essential to the performance of a raga.

Most Classical Indian music uses a drone – a long, sustained pitch in the bass.

Ragas are used as a basis for improvisation.
Think of the twelve basic notes in an octave as twelve basic colors. What happens if you
limit yourself to a select a few out of these twelve colors for a painting? You will be creating a
theme. You may choose use colors that are similar, or you could choose contrasting colors
for a more dramatic effect.
All ragas must include the root note sa. All ragas must include at least one or both of the notes ma
(the fourth) or pa (the fifth). A raga may use both the natural and flat/sharp versions of any of the
variable notes (re, ga, ma, dha, ni), but not in succession.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Choose your pitches. Assign colors to each. Arrange these on your paper, using highs, lows, repetition.
PLAY your Raga: on the Uke, stepbell, or guitar or your Band/Orch. instrument.
Alap – introduction using drone & your melody instrument.
Tala : decide your meter / time count…5, 6, 8, etc. The rhythm is flexible & ‘wandering’.
Improvise using only your RAGA.
?? any time to add ornaments?? Will you BEND any of the pitches?
TONE COLORS:
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Vocal:
mostly nasal & pinched
Strings:
twangy, vibrating, shimmering
Winds: (aerophones): breathy, quivering
Drums:
‘gurgling’, tapping
Non-Drum Percussion
Rhythm and beats

Tala
is the meter, or number of beats.
INSTRUMENTS: 1. sitar 2. tabla drum 3. Shenai (OBOE) 4. Mangira 5. Bansuri (bamboo)
6. harmonium 7. The tanpura - used for ‘drone’.
http://india.tilos.hu/english_hangszerek.html#bansuri
MAORI Music Elements
The MAORI are the indigenous / native people of New Zealand. This Polynesian community
originated from many tribes, all battling for land rights on North and South island. The MAORI
created distinct codes of acceptable behavior and rituals.

Traditional MAORI music used only ‘aerophones’ / wind instruments. Contemporary
music has included the guitar and ukulele.
VOCAL music: the ‘core’ of MAORI music.
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
Sung
Recitative - ‘sing-speak’…similar to rap / no fixed pitches / fast & rhythmic tempos.
RECITATIVES:
Powhiri : This welcome ceremony involves men shouting fiercly, while women sing in a
melodic way. Most of the times a powhiri ends with a haka (men song) without weapons.
Haka are shouted speeches by men, combined with a fierce dance
Karakia : quick chants and spells; used during daily life by both adults and children, but also
during rituals.
SONGS & SUNG POETRY:
Nga Moteatea : mainly laments (sorrow-songs), sometimes love songs and lullabies.
Poi : Poi are songs accompanied by a kind of dance in which women hit their body
rhythmically with one or two mainly cotton balls attached to the end of a string.
Oriori are songs composed to teach children of high rank their heritage & history.
AEROPHONES: air blown instruments
Koauau: Maori flute – made of wood or even a human bone. It is a straight blown flute @ 5 inches
long . Worn around the neck when not being played. It has 3 fingerholes.
Nguru : made from a whale tooth, wood, stone, or clay. It has 2 – 4 fingerholes.
Putatara: a trumpet made from a triton shell. Used as a ‘signal’.
Puukaaea: a wooden war trumpet, made out of two pieces of wood cut lengthwise and hollowed out.
Both pieces are assembled and kept in place by fibers or ropes. 36” and longer.
STRINGS: acoustic guitar & Ukulele
PERCUSSION: stomping, slapping the body, striking objects with sticks.