She can throw a whirling dervish out of whirl

          The Whirling Dervishes fascinated me! There was always the line from The Sound of Music in the song "Maria" -- "She can throw a whirling dervish out of whirl". My 5 year old self assumed that this was something made up, but no, they are very real. Their ritual seems almost not humanly possibly. Their whirling seems at first glance very impromptu but in fact it is very structured. This whirling is a religious experience for them, which seems like it would be hard to do if not in a trance like state. It's very symbolic to me that while they are turning physically they are also trying to turn to the right spiritual state as well. 

          One thing that this class has really opened my eyes to was that our culture is apparently lackadaisical in their respect to music. Since the United States is a relatively young country, we should be able to still be respectful of the musical art forms that we have had every since the United States was colonized. There are many other countries in which the young people are much more well versed in musical traditions of their ancestors from very far back. If you ask todays children about even music from the civil rights period, I'll bet you they wouldn't have that much to say. It seems an unfortunate fact, the lack of respect that historical music gets here. 

This class has definitely inspired me to go the library and check out some African music. For some reason which I cannot explain it really just grabbed me and pulled me in, ever since the first day listening to the postal workers. Perhaps it's something about the genuinely strong rhythms present in most of this music? I also just feel that I can relate much more to this vocal timbre than many other that we've experienced. I'm hoping that delving deeper into African music will help my ears slowly adjust to other types of music that are foreign to my ears that I cannot yet enjoy. 

I can also honestly say that I will never forget Ravi Shankar and his wonderfully talented daughters, Anoushka and Norah Jones!

Cool Stuff Third Installment

I was really intrigued by the Gamelan so I decided to look it up. Little did I know that the Gamelan is thought to have supernatural powers and offerings are made to Gamelans all over. Here's a website that is all about Gamelan's.

Gamelan

Here is a picture of what a Pelog scale would be. I'm sure this is just put roughly into western terms so that we may try to understand this. It's so interesting the intervals between their notes. 

Pelog

Below is a video of the very complex traditional Jaipongan dance from Western Java. 

Dance

The Times They Are A-Changin

          Bob Dylan was born in 1941, just after slavery was abolished and was just about to be a young man and artist throughout the civil rights movement. His music would be heard throughout times of change, calling for a better world, a changed one. Dylan used his music as a tool to inspire people to change and share his more liberal political opinions and later on, his newfound religious beliefs.

          I believe that Bob Dylan is extremely proud of how far that world has come - as evidenced by tomorrow’s inauguration. He has even very publically endorsed President Barrack Obama and some consider him to be the inspiration for President Obama’s campaign slogan, change.

         A revolutionary thinker in his time, he was certainly not ashamed or shy about his political views. Singing out against the corruption of rich white men and singing a rather explicitly detailed song about the murder of Emmitt Till, Dylan’s music was driven by what he considered undesirable political views held by a lot of the population at the time.

           Dylan criticizes and stands up to apparent wrongness in the world, “For the loser now,
Will be later to win, For the times they are a-changin'.”  His light folk sound wouldn’t immediately lead one to conclude that his song topics are heavy ones about oppressions, all men being equal, and politics leaving no room for humanity. He used his apparent star status to talk these, at the time, taboo topics, in his own medium Issues that if Dylan, who knows where we would be, had he not addressed them - still segregated? It has even been said by Bruce Springsteen that “ Bob freed the mind Elvis freed the body”.

           I am not claiming that Bob Dylan single-handedly moved the world along into a more integrated, harmonious one, but I am sure he touched some little white boys and girls listening to him to be a little more cordial to people not of their own color and background.

           What I really love is that his songs can still be applied to the apparent problems in America today. He talks all about a new way of thinking, which back then was directed at issues of segregation, oppression and a corrupt political scene. Now many of his songs can be taken towards more present day issues.

 

“Gonna change my way of thinking,

Make myself a different set of rules.

Gonna put my good foot forward,

And stop being influenced by fools.”

 

         – Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking

Cool Stuff Second Installment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxl957qkrXM&translated=1

Above is a link to a modern Peruvian man playing the charango and the Zampoña at the same time. I was really taken aback by the incredible musicallity required to do both at the same time. If you just listen and don't watch, you don't realize it's one person. 

http://www.redhotjazz.com/bessie.html

Bessie Smith is a true blues singer. Above is an article about the great blues singer and all of the people she has collaborated with. Several greats have worked with her!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbw-3e5zVoA

Above is an example of calypso music. It's so great because it combines two of the cultures that we've studied since it is African as well as some Latin American flavor. 

There's even a calypso music tribute to our new president, Barrack Obama. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-6S5DyCR-w

Integrity, Grace, and Virtue - thoughts on music by a debutante

            When I think of the word “rite” the big three that come to my mind are birth, marriage, and death.  Unfortunately or fortunately, as you may look at it, I have only experienced one of these in my life, the birth part.  On February 22, 1990 in the early hours of the morning, I was born while Haydn’s 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th symphonies were playing.

          However, my most recent and probably most unique rite occurred over Christmas break. I made my debut. Yes, I came out to society and now am available for marriage. Too bad I won’t find my husband at school, ha-ha! At the Durham Debutante Ball, music was played ALL night long. And let me tell you friends, a lot of it wasn’t magnificent music. They played what I like to call “elevator” music while we danced to the Cotillion Figure, the Grand March and of course during the good old Garland Dance. I think that the type of music was expected. This music was simply pleasing enough to the ear, and there so that we could dance around in our large white dresses. The music was largely in major keys and stylistically pretty cheesy. Don’t get me wrong sometimes I like cheese, but they were pouring it on. It  was just light and fluffy. It was very uninspired and certainly nothing special. The use of this music was to show us off to society and, in the old days, so that the young men of society could get a good look.

          The music did not necessarily reflect the mood of the debutantes, because if it did it would perhaps sound panic stricken or extremely emotional. You see, we were all very concerned about not tripping while being paraded around and having just the right curtsey. This type of insipid music lasted most of the night, until the after ball party began. The traditional “Father Daughter Waltz” was taught to us early in the process, but without any actual music. During the week of the ball, they finally played the music for us. Immediately I realized the chosen song that was a version of “ What Wonderful World”, made famous by Louis Armstrong. There was only one problem – it was in 4/4 time! I spent a large portion of the rest of the day trying to politely explain to non-musical people that it wasn’t possible to do a waltz to a song that was in common time

 

          The music that I describe as so boring was indeed just that. The fact that there was no great or exciting music at the ball was entirely appropriate because the focus of this even was not on the music. It was on the dancing that all of the debutantes were doing. The music was just a tool for us to use in order to do some very traditional dances and keep in time with each other while doing it. The music in this case was just a small part of the larger picture, which was the big southern tradition of making our debut. 

Glory of God and Refreshment of the Soul

“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” – J.S. Bach

  As a Presbyterian and part time Baptist while in Spartanburg, the music in my religious experience is used to exalt and glorify the Lord. According to Bach, that is the use of all music. Music is a form of worship and has always been a primary form of worship/communication with God in my life. In the churches that I’ve been to, typical protocol is allowing the entire congregation to participate in the music and raise all of their voices together as one.  This is one facet of church music that is very similar to the music of the Africans and Native Americans. Everyone participates, sure there are leaders, but it is a form of communal bonding or worship. In my experience nothing bonds a group of people quite like worshiping together.

   In the first church I ever went to, there was rarely clapping after special performances by a soloist or choir. It was a very formal service where the only songs that were sung were from the hymnal. In my church at home and in my church at school, the worship songs can be contemporary and traditional. It has been recognized at all of my churches that whoever is helping with the music is using their gifts to lead musical praise, not perform. At my current churches clapping and the giving thanks to the musicians is welcomed. At my church here in Spartanburg, during the time of musical worship, bodily movement while singing is much more common practice than at my church at home. I’m not going to lie, it startled me when people began dancing around a little and waving their hands up to the heavens. That relates back to the fact that some music moves people, literally!

   I think that to a certain extent more contemporary western secular music has actually influenced the religious music scene. At least in my life, which started out as singing just plain hymns, contemporary “Christian pop” was brought into my church as a means of a different style of musical worship.  Due to the fast that Christian pop has changed the idea about what is beautiful and commonly practiced in many churches across the world because it is easy for most everyone to follow. People of older generations, who only grew up singing hymns, now like and even prefer this contemporary type of worship song. It is becoming more widely used and considered more interesting, perhaps more beautiful. I see  that this opinion not only held by people of my generation but also spanning across many different generations.

   When thinking about the construction and rules of music writing, church music has always influenced everything that succeeded it. Church music was the only type of music for some time. From church comes idea that a plagal cadence is very pleasing to the ear and should signal the end of a piece of music – people have been taught to recognize this even if they aren’t aware that it has a name. Amen!

Cool Stuff

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/451167/percussion-instrument/53694/Sub-Saharan-Africa       

Above is a link to a Britannica site which describes various types of instruments that are prevalend in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many of which are idiophones!

http://www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com/?mpf=frame 

Above is a link to the Native American Music Awards site. They have an awards ceremony for outstanding contemporary Native American artists, just as we have the Country Music Awards or the Grammy Awards. There's a Hall of Fame section I recommend you check out, there are some famous Native Americans that I'll bet you didn't even realize were Native American!

Since there were not many Native American women involved in music traditionally I thought I'd poke around to see if they had modernized today. I was seeking to find if women are more influential or involved in the music making process today. Turns out there's this great group of three women, Pura Fe, Jenifer Kreisberg and Soni Moreno. They call themselves Ulali. They are making the music, beating on the drums, as well as singing. This song in entitled "Mother", which proves that they are still singing about traditional subject matters - but women are making music in their culture now!

Get on your feet, Get up and make it happen

Movement and music have almost always occurred simultaneously in my life and yet, it wasn’t until approximately ten minutes ago when I realized this. My mom put me in a tutu and shuttled me to dance class when I was knee high to a grasshopper, as so many mothers do. This was my first experience with music and movement. Looking back, this was probably also my first lesson in recognizing the beat in music. Every beat belonged with a specific movement. From the experiences in my life I conclude that movement has and always will rely on the music.

          Music moves people to dance. I’ve hardly ever seen anyone dancing without music. Also depending upon the genre of music being played, you move a certain way. If there is a waltz being played, the general population will not begin break dancing or shagging. Few other things can cause you to move like music does, that is SO powerful.

Music does not only move you to dance, but also exercise – which is something that is so desperately missing from many people’s lives. In a yoga class there is fluid, relaxing music that sets the mood for you to stretch and let everything do. Also as ridiculous as this is, Richard Simmons’ career would not be what it is without music. Much of his success can be attributed to the fact that he does exercise routines to music. He uses motivating music that people cannot help but get up and move to.

I was a serious athlete for 10 years, until I was seriously injured and began my deeper music education. All of my athletic days would be filled with training to music. It keeps you at a steady pace because of the rhythm. People just have a natural tendency to move their bodies to a rhythm that they hear, even if that means simply tapping their toes. This is something that is innate in human beings.

Perhaps I am a little bit biased, seeing as music is my life these days, but I strongly believe that without music, people would not have to urge to move. Music on the other hand can and does exist without movement occurring. What a wonderful art form we study that can cause people to move because it really touches them!

"As happens sometimes, a moment settles and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment." -- John Steinbeck

My Musical Autobiography

In my infinite experience and wisdom in all of my 18 years of life, this type of diversity has been missing from my musical background. My whole life I have been surrounded with VERY western music, and not really realizing there was anything else out there, I didn't know what I was missing! While I was being born there was Mozart playing and Bach was played throughout the house while I was growing up - this was all I knew. Sure, growing up in choirs I sang the occasional song in Spanish or during the Holiday season we were given a Hebrew song to sing, but I wasn't very cultured in my musical tastes. 

 

         It wasn't until February 2008 when Dawn Upshaw came to Duke University's Page Auditorium, conveniently located a hop, skip and a jump away from my house. Not only did Dawn Upshaw sing a song cycle by the Jewish born, Argentinean composer, Osvaldo Golijov but the Orquesta Los Pelegrinos and the Eighth Blackbird ensemble performed Golijov’s masterpiece “Ayre”. I had never heard any music like this before, at first it didn’t even seem like music to me! The Eighth Blackbird ensemble played “Meanwhile”, which is incidental music to imaginary puppet plays; which I did not enjoy because my mind wasn’t open to this new type of music. The song cycle sung by Ms. Upshaw was my wakeup call. She sang into a cordless microphone, which I am not accustomed to seeing done in the world of classical music.  This piece also calls for every type of –ophone imaginable, even a hyper-accordion ( which I didn’t realize was a real instrument before this evening). Golijov’s music was like nothing I had ever seen before, he blended to many different cultures in this one song cycle, which is reflective of his own background, a true melting pot.  I don’t think there is a way to justly define this genre of music, this fusion of Spanish, Christian, Arabic, and Mediterranean influences. The musicians used the instruments in ways I had never even dreamed of, the piano was played from within, the flute was almost sung into, and once a trio of musicians came out with blindfolds on. This truly was a musical awakening of sorts for me.