Listening Blog #6

Three Hand Clapping Games (Unknown, Oh Mama, Meter Competition)

Performed by the Orphans in the Refugee Orphan Home at Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana.

Liberia, Africa

Voice and Hand Claps

This weeks readings reminded me that it is our job as educators to stay in touch with what our students are listening to and doing outside of our classrooms.  When Lew and Campbell talk about social play they mentioned that, "This (Cause and Effect) means that children use play as a vehicle for cultural learning, and their play can serve as an important indicator and reflection of their development." (Lew and Campbell, 2005, p. 58) Play is used to learn about our cultural, our people and our history.  This video is a great example of social music games.  This video was recorded in an orphanage in Ghana, Africa in June of 2009.  It shows and example of three Liberian hand games.  These songs are an authentic representation of how social play is important.  The children are working together and are learning what it is like to be in a community, even though they are in a refugee orphanage.  In this world we have become to focused on our little group of family and friends.  In today's society they have been referred to as our own little "tribes".  In church this morning my preacher talked about all the commercials he has been seeing on television constantly reminding everyone to take care of "you and yours."  This is where our society has gone in the past decade.  We have gotten so bogged down in our own little areas of the city that we have forgotten what it is like to work as a whole people.

When doing research about the clapping games above, I found a great article about Miss Mary Mack.  The woman who wrote the article mentions that when games like Miss Mary Mack ceased to be taught in schools in America that we started loosing our community.  "Community was not emphasized; if you were in a group, okay, but learning happened in a separate mind, being, soul. Gone was the sense of communal identity where we shared knowledge and being. Instead, we were encouraged to compete against all those different little selves, our classmates."  (Lewis, 2001)  I didn't realize until getting to the end of the article that it was written by a pastor as well.  Both clerics make a strong point.  We have become so obsessed with hiding in our own little areas and taking care of our immediate "tribe" we have lost the urge to do things together.  Our children are not allowed to go down the street to their friends house anymore and heaven forbid you allow them to stay out after dark.  We have become so scared, we are the ones who are now responsible for that loss of socialization.  In today's western world if children want to talk or hang out with friends they text or talk over their game systems.  It seems to take a tragedy, such as a terrorist attack, or a natural disaster to remind us that we need to remember more than just ourselves.  Why do we come together in times of tragedy and not in times of celebration?  This needs to change.

We need to put aside our fears and help our students and children and maybe even the adults in our area to see that without socialization, the history and cultural knowledge passed down from generation to generation will fade away and die.  It is our job to start reminding our students that through social play, play that involves more than just our small group of friends, we can regrow our whole world. "If play is a "cause and effect" of the culture within which children are raised, then teachers, parents, and administrators need to be aware of this important process of transmission." Campbell and Lew, 2005, p.62)

Campbell, P.S., Lew, J.C. (2005) Children's natural and necessary musical play: Global contexts, local applications. Music Educators Journal.  91, 5; International Index to Music Periodicals

Lewis, T. (2001). Miss Mary Mack and African American Cultural Survival. Retrieved November 26, 2017, from http://timbooktu.com/rvtamara/marymack.htm

Listening Blog #5

Hey Jude

The Beatles

Painted by Snazzy Starlight

England

Voice and piano

When reading the chapter this week, I connected to the section that discussed the creativity pieces that are inspired by world music.  In the book Teaching Music Globally, Campbell states, “It is not unheard of, either, for young people to be prone to paint what they hear, realistically or surrealistically, selecting colors and textures to express visually what they have experiences by listening.” (2004, p. 210-211) In my classroom, I do this several times of the year.  I ask my children to draw what they hear, what they think is happening or how the music makes them feel.  Every time I do this activity, most of my students draw a scene with people, places and/or things.  However, at least a few of the students just draw colors.  When it is a loud sound they color one color, if it is quiet they choose another.  When discussing this with my husband he said it seemed like those children may have a form of synesthesia, as he does.  Synesthesia is when one or our five senses are connected to another sense.  For example, some people see colors when they hear music.  Different styles/sounds evoke different colors. Here is a video that explains more about music and sound synesthesia.  

I decided to search for a world music piece that had an artistic, synesthetic representation.  Hey Jude is one of the most recognizable Beatles songs.  The Beatles were one of the first British boy bands to invade America.  They brought with them a new style and created a completely new way people saw and heard music.  This example of Hey Jude is the original version.  The artist in the video is a YouTube blogger named Snazzy Starlight.  She listens to a song and then draws the colors she sees.  Not everyone sees the same colors.  The interesting thing about this condition is that each child is able to associate sounds with certain colors.  I did an experiment last week with my chorus.  I had them sing twinkle twinkle little star.  Then I asked them to sing it more “purple”.  As a group, they sang a deeper, darker sound.  When I asked them to sing it more “yellow”, they made a simpler, brighter sound.  I know this is not a true representation of synesthesia, but it was a very interesting experiment. 

One issue that is mentioned by Campbell is that if the students do not know where the song comes from, they could interpret a song one way, but it could end up being offensive to the people in that culture. (Campbell, 2004, p. 212) When doing these types of activities in class we must first research the songs we choose to have our students recreate in another artistic way.  In doing so we can prevent any misunderstandings from occurring.

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

Listening Blog #4

Listening Blog #4

Title Unknown

Dervish

Hargadon's Bar in Sligo, Ireland

Violin, Harp, Guitar, Bodhran, Accordian, Banjo, Harmonica

This week we are discussing authenticity in world music.  I chose this piece as a representation of authenticity as continuum as mentioned in Koops 2010 article in The Music Educators Journal.  She states that, "As soon as music is removed from the context in which it was created, absolute authenticity is no longer possible; teachers must evaluate how far on the continuum a musician can go without negating potential educational benefits of teaching the music in the classroom or distorting the music in a disrespectful way." (Koops, 2010, p. 24)  This piece takes place in a local Irish pub.  The group performing is surrounded by patrons and are playing simply for the joy of playing.  The performance of this song represents authenticity in it's purest form.

I found it very interesting that Koops states, "This strategy of authenticity as a means for musical expression can be used by teachers in justifying time spent investigating the context of a piece or in encouraging students to persevere in learning the text of a piece rather than simplifying or translating it." (Koops, 2010, p. 24)  In our discussions the past few weeks we have each mentioned not having the time to teach truly authentic world music due to all the other items we are expected to do.  If we use this strategy, and present it to our administration and county as a teaching strategy necessary to teach in an authentic way, perhaps we could convince them that the extra time is necessary.  In schools that are multi-diverse, the need to show examples of authentic cultural music is even more necessary.

I grew up knowing that I have Irish roots, but I was never exposed to truly authentic Irish music such as this.  The only songs I knew were Danny Boy and When Irish eyes are smiling.  In order to teach beyond stereotypes, we must be given the time to expose our students to real examples of multi-cultural music.

Reference
Koops, L. H. (2010). "Can't we just change the words?" The role of authenticity in culturally informed music education. Music Educators Journal, 97(1), 23-28. doi:10.1177/0027432110376892.

Listening Blog #3

Listening Blog #3

The Banshee

American

Composer, Henry Cowell

Performed by Sonya Kumiko Lee

Piano

When researching about the role of context in music, I came upon this quote from a paper by an anonymous author.  It states,

"There is a growing body of work in the philosophy of music and musical aesthetics that has considered the various ways that music can be meaningful: music as representational (that is, musical depictions of persons, places, processes, or events); musical as quasi-linguistic reference (as when a musical figure underscores the presence of a character in a film or opera), and most especially, music as emotionally expressive." (n.d.)

I chose to  a piece that is representational.  The Banshee by Henry Cowell is thought to represent the scary and loud scream of the mythological creature the banshee.  According to Wikipedia.com, a Banshee heralds from the Irish culture and is a female spirit who tells the impending death of a relative with a loud shriek.  I have read other people’s opinions on this piece that say the sounds are actually meant to represent the pain of Cowell and of the members of his generation, but I have no facts to back that opinion.

I found it very interesting that Henry Cowell was an American composer yet he was one of the first to research other cultures to expand the western sound.  Musicsalesclassical.com states that, "Studies of the musical cultures of Africa, Java and North and South India enabled Cowell to stretch and redefine Western notions of melody and rhythm/ master of the gamelan and the theory of gamelan composition led to further explorations with exotic instruments and percussion." He stepped outside of the realm of normalized Western music to highlight other cultures.  The fact that a Banshee is an Irish myth helps further that idea.  This song is not only meaningful in the context of representing that creature, but also in representing an emotional response.

I use this song every other year in my 4th/5th grade combination classes in October.  My students always say that there is no way I can scare them.  Together we go over the myth of The Banshee and talk in detail about what instruments and other sounds could be used to represent that character.  I tell them I am going to play a song that represents the banshee.  The only thing they have to do is listen and try to identify the instrument and/or instruments they think they hear. Then I turn off all the lights and have them close their eyes.  I play the song with sound only as they sit or lay down.  Their reactions are amazing.  Even my strongest boy jumps when the first loud scratch on the piano string happens.  Afterwards we have a great discussion about string instruments, and the anatomy of a piano.  It is one of my favorite lessons.

Henry Cowell. (n.d.) Retrieved November 05, 2017, from http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/short-bio/Henry-Cowell

Musical expression and musical meaning in context. (n.d.) Retrieved November 05, 2017, from http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=32072#continued

Banshee. (2017, November 02). Retrieved November 05, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee

Listening Blog #2

Listening Blog #2

Russian Orthodox Chant

Let my prayer arise

Russian Orthodox Monks-unknown

Russia

Vocal

I am a member of the American Orthodox church and I have always been fascinated with the simplistic sound of their music.  An Orthodox service is entirely sung, and though there is a choir to help lead the singing,most of the service it is sung by the entire congregation.  There are different sections where the priest does a call and we respond.  There are also portions of the service where readings are chanted by the other members of the clergy.  After researching I have discovered that though it sounds simplistic, it is actually based on a set of eight tonal scales.  This particular piece is in the sixth tone or the Plagal Second Mode. Let my prayer arise is used only during the first week of Lent, usually on the second day.  It is based on Psalm 141:2 "May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice." (BibleGateway.com)  Orthodox hymns are time specific, based on the Eastern Orthodox Church calendar.  Many times our Easter does not line up with Easter as it is on the Western calendar.

We have been looking at classification this week.  This song falls firstly into the category of vocal music.  Though it wasn't mention as much as other instruments, Wade discusses different ways the voice is used as an instrument on pages 45-47 of his book. (Wade, 2013).  This particular example uses voicing is based in the sixth tone, as I mentioned above.  This piece classifies even further into the area of spiritual associations.  "We find throuhout the world the idea of an instrument's giving voice to a sacred spirit." (Wade, 2013, p. 51)  We can even classify this song one step further using the Russian Orthodox chant categories of canonical, music found in approved liturgical chanting books, and uncanonical, music based on freely composed melodies.  This piece is canonical, specifically it is classified into the 8 tone system.  (Simmons, n.d.)

BibleGateway. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from 

            https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2B141%3A2&version=NIV

Simmons, N. (n.d.). A brief history of the monophonic chant tradition of the Russian

            Orthodox church. Retrieved October 29, 2017, from

            http://www.synaxis.info/psalom/research/simmons/chant_history.html

Wade, B. C. (2013). Thinking musically: experiencing music, expressing culture. New York:

            Oxford University Press.

Listening Blog #1

Listening Blog #1

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Shosholoza

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

South African

Acapella, Horn

Ladysmith Black Mambazo was the first non-western musical group that I fell in love with.  My husband did a missionary trip to Africa when he was in high school and brought back with him a traditional african booboo and a beautiful, hand made Kora.  He taught me all about the importance and roll of music in the African culture. 

According to the website ethnomusicology.org, “Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its cultural context. Ethnomusicologists approach music as a social process in order to understand not only what music is but why it is: what music means to its practitioners and audiences, and how those meanings are conveyed.” 

The study of "why" music is what it is, and the emotions music stimulate drives me as an educator.  The only way to truly experience a piece, and portray those authentic ideas to your audience is to know why, where and the history of the song that was written.

The piece, Shosholoza, highlights the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.  The workers there originated the song in the mines of Africa.  You can hear the constant and easy to find beat that I imagine was used to keep the diggers in time with each other while avoiding boredom after repeating the same motions over and over.  This song gained fame in 1995 at the Rugby world cup in which the South African team won.  The word Shosholoza comes from the Zulu language and means to go forward. (Marika, 2016)

References

Marika, M. (2016, June 28). Shosholoza's story of good hope. Retrieved October 21, 2017, from https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/people-culture/sport/features/shosholoza-capeReferences

http://www.ethnomusicology.org/?page=whatisethnomusicol#

Ethnomusicology.org. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2017, from http://www.ethnomusicology.org/?page=WhatisEthnomusicol