Wrapping It Up

1)What surprised or intrigued me?

I was definitely surprised by the child's wake, the reburial of the dead in Madagascar, and the Chinese opera. The child's wake was just a huge wake up call, sort of like a reality check. It's kinda like how you pinch yourself to make sure you're still alive. I'm definitely alive. Life is real. Life hurts sometimes, too. The reburial of the dead in Madagascar was shocking and slightly disturbing, but I'm sure they think we are shocking and slightly disturbing, too. The Chinese opera was just like gymnastics, opera, Shakespeare, and Cirque de Soleil all rolled into one.
I was intrigued by the way the Native Americans linked their religiion and their music so much together. It was also incredible to see things that are prominent in every culture examined as vital facet of that culture, for example, things such as religion, music, death, social interaction, the arts, survival, expression. These are all things which every culture has some form or fashion of. It's just really neat to think about.

2) What did I learn about my own culture?

I learned that I'm not as normal as I thought I was. I'm weird to the rest of the world. I am different. We are all unique. I am very small. My world is much smaller than the world that I live in. Maybe my ways of doing things are just simply that: they are mine. I have a heritage, a cultural tradition that has been passed on to me. What if I had been born somewhere else? Where would I be now? What would I be doing? How would I view music and religion- two of the most important things in my life?

3)What will I learn more about?

This course has inspired me to learn more about the link between music and the individual person. Why do people sing those words or that style? Why is that culture primarily soloistic in their music? Why does this culture not let women sing? Is that man being rude by taking off that medal of honor or is he being humble? Why does that women never speak up for herself in situations where I would be comfortable speaking up for myself? What is it about a culture's music that shapes the mindset, the social mindset, the personal character of a person? How different of a person would I be if I didn't listen to American pop, contemporary Christian, and Southern country? Would my ideals be different? Would I feel differently about my personal rights/freedoms? It's just neat to imagine. It's neat to find out WHY people are the way they are. I guess it's one big psychology experiment.

Last Cool Stuff

Stuff #1) Muslim Women Music Makers Event

This is a video report that BBC did about an event showing Muslim women performing different genres of music influenced through many things- particularly American music. These women are all Muslim, but they come from Lebanon, Denmark, the UK, and have all different tastes in their music and different reasons for performing that music. It's pretty cool to see others mix cultures and musics for a sharing experience.




Stuff #2) Electric Zither?

Supposedly, the Blue Man Group made themselves an 86-string electric zither, and this is one. I think it sounds kind of cool. You could make some cool techno using this instrument.



Stuff 3) Wendy's and a Didgeridoo?

A Wendy's commercial using a Didgeridoo = lots and lots of laughs.



Stuff #4) Chinese Opera and the Cultural Revolution

This opera performer talks about the decline and reappearance of Chinese opera due to the Chinese cultural revolution. Very cool.

Cool Stuff #3

Stuff #1) Singing Bowl Improv?

This is a video of a man playing a set of Tibetan singing bowls. His collection is one of the largest in the world. He has a jazz influence, which could explain the "improvisation" title and links to the technique we talked about in Indian music. He has been a guest artist at Yale, taught at Wesleyan University, and done many performances for albums and even a documentary. I couldn't embed the video, but enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMT5jvXHTso



Stuff #2) Large Singing Bowl!

Okay, okay, I was wrong. So, it's NOT her standing up, BUT she is kneeling and the thing is still huge. I think I could probably fit inside. :) This singing bowl is in Kyoto, Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rin_gong_at_Kiyomizu-dera,_Kyoto.JPG#filelinks



Stuff #3) Singing Bowl for Healing

This is a link to a website where a woman tells her story of experiencing, researching, and using the various types of singing bowls as healing aids. She talks about the relaxation, the communication, and the way she felt her body flowed with the sounds. Music Therapy anyone? This is pretty cool. Here's the link:

http://www.creatinghealthatlanta.com/sound-treatments.asp


Stuff #4) Dancing Elephants who Love Indian music!!!

This is the greatest thing... ever! A Christian church asked a temple if they could borrow some elephants for a procession or parade. The temple said no. BUT the musicians the Christian church was using were the same musicians that worked in the temple where the elephants were. They started the procession without the elephants and the elephants started walking down the road, joining the processional, and following their own culture's music!!!! How great is that!
Here's the video:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2taqb_dancing-elephants_animals

Music and Gender

Music and Gender? Where have I seen music and gender intersect?

I think we will go in chronological order.

First, must be as a child. I grew up hearing different songs on the piano from many of the students my mom taught in our living room. I would sit in my room and play, while listening to their pretty songs and my mom’s encouragement. She gave stickers and candy. Stickers and candy are always good. Most of the students I remember her teaching for long periods of time were girls of many ages. There were a few boys, but they either were artsy and exceptions to the rule or they didn’t stick with it for very long.

My brother played the drums in church growing up. I never, ever saw any girls playing drums or congas. It’s not that it was a rule in my church or anything, it just didn’t happen that often, if ever.

In sixth grade I joined the middle school band. I remember my band and my director laughing, on numerous occasions, about the comedy of having two girls in the percussion section. We had ONE male flute player. The other guys picked on him. And, we had one or two male clarinet players. They were picked on, too. The girls that played brass instruments were normally headstrong and tough. Why? They had to put up with guys all the time.

In high school, I was a drum major for my marching band. Obviously, there wasn’t a gender requirement, but at our school, the drum major was typically a girl. Why? I’m not really sure. However, our band required the drum majors to have extreme levels of attitude, compassion, organization, and charm. You have to have attitude to stay on top of your band. The compassion comes for the little freshman who is scared of the new world they are facing. The organization is for show music, pep music, drill sheets, meetings, competition schedules, etc. The charm is for smiling at parents who need to know that their “little baby” is on the right path in high school and for playing a symbolic poker game in the battle of getting a conductor to do what you want. No offense or anything, but attitude, compassion, organization, and charm are typically more dominant in females. But, I am biased, I know.

My last and most poignant observation is this- the role of looks and gender in music. Probably just as many girls as guys have record labels today, but… How often do you see an ugly guy on a record label and how often do you see an ugly girl? It’s slanted, isn’t it? Ugly guys can get deals much faster than ugly girls can. I’m not trying to be harsh with the word “ugly.” Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, right? But, based on the generally accepted look for men and women, aren’t women expected to have more perfection, skinniness, clear skin, nice hair, stylish clothes, and 24/7 good looks? It’s just something to think about.

Cool Stuff Jr.

Stuff #1) MIT Students GONE WILD- well crazy maybe

Here is a "Mockumentary" about a Peruvian Charango artist and his journey through the career of playing the Charango. Basically, some MIT students just got really, Really, REALLY bored. Anyways, things to be noted... 1) At the part about fan mail, he plays the melody to Beethoven's 9th "Ode to Joy." 2) He walks around barefoot the ENTIRE video. And 3) He fits his ENTIRE body into a dryer. Wow. How bored do we college students get? Well, enjoy a good laugh. (And it IS worth it to watch the entire video.)




Stuff #2) El Condor Pasa

Below is a video of a group from the Andes Mountains of Ecuador playing "El Condor Pasa"- the song we heard and saw in class on the JVC video. This is a very beautiful version of the song. You can see the pan pipes, the charango, the guitar, some form of a flute, and the percussionist with chimes and shakers. Also, all of the instruments are listed at the end. I like it very much! And it still amazes me how fast the pan pipers play. (That reminds me of the tongue twister Peter Piper.)



Stuff #3) Dance, Dance, Revolution

This article shows the history of many of the Latin American dances we know and love such as the Samba, the Rumba, the Paso Doble, the Cha Cha, and the Jive. It's really interesting. It gives a few examples of the rhythms associated with particular dances. Also, it mentions "ragtime," which is something we talked about in class the other day. Enjoy!

http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~don/pubs/latin.html

Music and Religion

As I said in my Autobiography, music and religion are very closely linked in my life.

I practice the religion of Christianity, and more specifically, Protestant Christianity. Music is highly important in the Christian religion. The Bible gives several examples of music being used as a form of worship, a form of reflection or lament, and a form of celebration.

Music is used in my church for many different things. First and foremost, we use music to worship our God. The music can be slow or fast and have a variety of topics, but the main purpose of it is to praise God. The music is more often than not song, but there is a large amount of instrumental music used as well. Many of our texts come from the Bible, specifically the Psalms of David or other poetic books of the Bible such as Song of Solomon or Isaiah. In some cases, we combine dance or movement with the music to act out a story from the Bible or a situation in life. We call this performing a drama. Drama uses sign language and expressive movement to portray the words of the song, without actually singing the song or playing the piece. Below is a link to one example of a drama. This church is from my denomination, the Church of God, and is in South Carolina. This group chose to use their bodies to make shapes that tell the story.

It is one of my personal favorites.



Here is another example of a drama that just uses motions and actions to tell a story. This was done at a conference put on by the Church of God a few years ago.



As far as styles, there are many opinions. The styles of music that we use to worship with vary from generation to generation, church to church, and person to person. Some people care a lot about what style of worship or music people use. Others aren’t as particular about it. It depends on that person’s personal beliefs.

Since I am from the Southern part of the United States, a country- Western style to music is found aesthetically pleasing to many Christians. Because of my age and generation, I like the more contemporary Christian music.

But besides that, the prevailing religion of this area is Christianity. Therefore, other than the Southern influences or country influences, there aren’t many prevailing religions that have affected the music of my religion as far as how I experience it. I’m sure that in other parts of the United States or in other countries, Christians use music that has many different flavors than the flavors that I am used to hearing or worshipping with.

Also, since the music of Protestant Christianity had its roots in the Lutheran hymnals of the Reformation, much of the hymns and texts used in this music can be directly linked back to those Lutheran hymnals and the times that surrounded the Reformation.

Cool Stuff

Stuff #1- Sheep Slaughtering???



This is about the Navajo nation's main pageant for the title Miss Navajo. The women pride themselves in the fact that they compete in beauty, dance, music, and yes, sheep slaughtering. Watch the video. I feel pretty bad for the sheep.

It's interesting to see how they pride themselves in every aspect of their culture, though. They are definitely proud of their heritage.

Stuff #2- Borenya, West African Drumming at the heart of SC!

http://www.borenya.org/index.html

Borenya is a touring company that performs elaborate productions of West African Drumming in South Carolina and all over the U.S. They will do lectures, classes, workshops, residencies, and performances in schools, theaters, community centers, and celebrations. The best part is that they are in our backyard in Columbia, SC. They are even sponsored by the SC Humanities Council and the SC Arts Commission, to name a few. Enjoy!

It would neat to have them come to Converse one day. There are even pictures on their website of the director of the group with groups of real drummers in their African communities and countries.

Stuff #3- International Centre for African Music & Dance

http://www.ug.edu.gh/index1.php?linkid=188&sublinkid=32

Located at the University of Ghana, the school of music and dance offers degrees in music, dance, and drama. The council which oversees the school is comprised of people representing the six sub-regions of Africa and other people from locations and cultures around the world. Very cool, I must say. It's neat that they teach it, although I'm sure the best way to learn is to just go sit, listen, and try until you get the hang of it.

Isn't this the University where the Postal Workers came from?

Music and Family

For me, music and family go hand in hand like butter and bread, peanut butter and jelly, Linus and Lucy, and “Fred and Adele”, to borrow a line from a song in “Annie.” My dad sings, my mom sings and plays piano, my brother sings and plays drums, and numerous others of my family sing and play piano or other instruments.

To my family, music goes hand in hand with our belief system. We have a strong and rich Christian heritage, in which we have grown up around singing, playing, and using music as a form of prayer, worship, and enjoyment. I guess the most prominent activity in which we use music is in our churches. Since my dad is a pastor, you can often find him leading the music in a worship service. My mom plays piano for our church, and every once in a while I do as well. Every Sunday around 11:30am I become a child again and sing and dance with the kids in our Kids’ Church.

If you were a fly on a wall in my house, you would hear many sounds of music- me practicing the piano, my Dad and Mom going over the songs for next Sunday’s service, my brother singing in the shower, and many types of music from Chopin (classical) to Billy Joel(pop) to Gold City (Southern gospel) to Straight No Chaser (a cappella Christmas) to Gateway Worship (contemporary Christian) to the Bee Gee’s (soft rock 60’s).

What do we do with our music? Throughout my life and the life of my family, music has served as a form of worship, a form of enjoyment, a way to relieve stress, a career avenue, and a way to honor our friends and loved ones. Music brings us together.

Textually, my family listens to clean, uplifting music. We like funny music, positive music, and music that we can relate to whether on a spiritual or emotional level.

Materially, we own one piano, a drum set, and many instruments including maracas, egg shakers, recorders, one oboe, and anything that my brother can make into a drum. One of my fondest childhood memories is seeing my brother in the middle of the kitchen floor with pots spread out all around him, each one a differently pitched drum- whether literally or just in his imagination. He has even used ME as a drum. What a surprise!

Movement is an extreme part of our music. Whether it’s clapping hands, using sign language to portray a song, or just dancing/swaying to the beat, movement is a huge part of our Pentecostal denomination’s many ways of worshipping.

There really isn’t a way to sum this up other than to say that music is my life, day in and day out. It is a huge part of my church life, my home life, and my personal life. Music and family to me are inseparable.

My Musical Autobiography

One of the biggest influences of “Non Western Art Music” on my life is most definitely church music. My dad is a pastor in a Pentecostal denomination that relies heavily on contemporary Christian music, as compared to the traditional repertoire of churches with Lutheran, Catholic, or Episcopalian flavors. Growing up around this music has made me appreciate the music of different age groups. You have the people my age who make Christian music in rock, gospel, and even “screamo” styles. Then you have the older generation who appreciate hymns and down-home southern gospel tunes that might remind you a lot of country music. I know many of those hymns are from the Western sacred music of the Lutheran church, but much of it is heavily influenced by the pop music culture of America today. So, needless to say, I’ve had experience with just about every form or influence on Christian music available in America- rock, pop, soft rock, jazz, gospel, southern gospel, sacred hymns, instrumental music, and even things like handbells, bagpipes, and ram’s horns.

Since I was born and raised in the South, and have lived in South Carolina all of my life, I have had a strong taste of country music in my life. Yes, most of it talks about sad things like losing a friend or missing the good times, but some of it is uplifting and even comical, like the revenge a girl got on her cheating boyfriend or the way a hometown country girl is attracted to a man on a tractor. Needless to say, it makes for a lot of entertainment.

I have been to Mexico two or three times, so I’ve heard some traditional Mexican music there and seen some of their instruments. However, I never played it myself and don’t remember a whole lot, except for the heat of Mexico.

There was the time in third grade when a group of African drummers came in traditional African garb to my music classroom and played for the group of hyper, wide-eyed, ooh-ing ten-year olds. They even let some of us play the drums ourselves. They sang and played some songs with call-and-response (which is also common in gospel music), where we would echo what they sang. I was thrilled.

At a music conference last year, I heard and attempted to play the didgeridoo, an Australian instrument. However, it was a failed attempt, but I did get to laugh at the other people around the room when they tried to play and looked pretty ridiculous at it.

Also, a really neat experience on my list of musical exclamation points was getting to see a live performance by the group Stomp. This isn’t a culture of the world, but it is most definitely Non-Western Art Music. It is a group of people who create music- some pitched, some unpitched- with props such as brooms, trash cans, aluminum cans, their own bodies, and yes, even playing cards.