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Chapter Two
Music as Culture
Cultural Foundations of Music
 Exploring Music & Culture
Many cultures throughout world with unwritten musical
traditions
Scholars study both written and unwritten music
traditions
How music and culture influence one another
 Toward a definition of culture
Culture can apply to any specific group within a society
Music culture – association of certain sounds with
certain cultures
Elements of Music
Regardless of cultural origin, all music
shares several common elements:
Melody
Rhythm
Timbre (tam-bur), a.k.a. “tone color”
Pitch
Identifying Instrumental Timbres
 Each culture makes instruments out of natural
materials of their region.
 Ethnomusicologist have classified all musical
instruments based on how sound is produced:
Aerophones – a vibrating column of air
Idiophones – simple, solid instruments that are struck,
scraped, or shaken
Membranophones – striking or rubbing a skin or
membrane stretch across a resonating air chamber
Chordophones – striking, rubbing, or plucking a taut
string or chord
Electrophones – generate sound from electricity
Identifying Instrumental Pitch Ranges
Instruments range in audible pitch from
very low to very high.
Some have no discernable pitch.
Usually affected by size of instrument
Longer the instrument, lower the sound.
Shorter the instrument, higher the sound.
Musical Categories
Identification of musical style
The way music is written
Behavior/dress of musicians and audience
Social and cultural context
Help us to better understand the culture that created
the music
Lead to a greater appreciation of the music
Traditional Music
Sometimes called “Folk Music”
Participatory music
Closely tied to language, environment, &
social customs of the people
Oldest and most prevalent category
Almost all societies or cultures have
traditional music
Popular Music
Primarily form of entertainment
Sometimes participatory
Often have roots in classical or traditional
music
Not restricted to particular uses/settings.
Commercial aspects of music
Classical Music
Developed in many parts of the world, but
not as widespread.
Musicians tend to have formal training
More refined, less spontaneous
performances
Audience participation not encouraged
Originally associated with more educated
and wealthier members of society
Traditional Music Cultures
Mexico
Religious and social music were important to
native Mexican cultures
Spaniards, Africans, and Carribean influences
created mestizo culture
All musical forms use Spanish instruments
Veracruzan music performed on 4 instruments
Arpa – 36-string harp (melody & bass)
Requinto jarocho – 4-string guitar (melody)
Jarana – thin guitar (rhythm & harmony)
Six-string guitar (rhythm & harmony)
Traditional songs called sones jarochos
Traditional Music Cultures (cont.)
 Bali
Known for uniquely ritualistic forms of music, drama, &
dance inspired by Hinduism
All citizens participate: male, female, & children
Gamelan is “gong-chime” orchestra throughout
Indonesia & can have 25 performers or more
 Metallophones, gongs, cymbals, drums, flute, 2-stringed
fiddle
 Men play in ensemble and women dance using difficult
movements
 Relates to religious stories (no dance or drama without
music)
Barong Dance – struggle between good and evil
Popular Music Cultures
 Motown (“motor city” - nickname for Detroit)
One of the most successful and influential music
empires in the world
Founded by songwriter/producer Berry Gordy, Jr.
 Started Tamla Record Company in late 1950s in Detroit
 First hit was a song named “Money”
 Many hugely successful recording artists (Supremes,
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Tempations, Marvin
Gaye, Michael Jackson, etc.)
New and distinctive style and influenced attitude and
dress of the period
Helped propel African American artists into mainstream
Popular Music Cultures (cont.)
Motown (cont.)
“Hit Ratio” of successful songs was almost 75%
Weekly quality control meetings
Staff to choose between sandwich and song
Cover – one musician’s playing or recording of
a song made famous by another artist
Much Motown music simple, happy, up-tempo
Often meant for dancing
Classical Music Cultures
 Produced by many cultures throughout different
historical periods
 Commonly associated with Europe between
1750 and 1830
Composers depended on system of patronage
Emerging middle class increased wealth and wanted
to share the entertainment of the elite
Composers catered to tastes of middle class
 Theme & variation a very popular musical form of the era
Chamber music took place in smaller rooms in private
homes for social gatherings and parties
Vocabulary
 Anthropologist – scholars
who study the physical and
cultural characteristics and
social customss of a group
of people
 Ethnomusicologist –
scholars who study the
music of different cultural
groups
 Culture – the customs,
beliefs, language, arts, and
institutions of a group of
people that are learned
and transmitted within the
group
 Music culture – the
performance practices,
means, traditions, uses,
and beliefs about music of
a group of people, either
from a specific time or
place
 Rhythm – the way beats
or pulses are organized
and subdivided
 Timbre – the distinct tonal
quality of an instrument or
voice, which is clearly
identifiable by the ear
 Genre – a particular type
of music with a distinctive
form or sound
Vocabulary (cont.)
 Musical style – a form of
expression within a
musical genre
 Traditional music –
informal music that
develops within and is
strongly associated with a
cultural group or region
 Popular music – music
intended for a wide
audience, often featuring
prominent melodies
 Classical music – a style
of “art” music that stands
apart from traditional or
popular music
 Gamelan – a Balinese
music ensemble, or
performing group
 Chamber music – music
written during the
Classical Period for small
ensembles