Listening Blog Five

Title- Songs of Appalachia: Watch Wade Darnell Play His Banjo

Performer- Wade Darnell

Culture- It is important to realize that American music is a part of World Music. I think we often forget to include ourselves into the conversation on world music and tend to focus on culture unfamiliar to us.

Instrumentation- Banjo

As I continue to work on the circular unit project, it becomes more and more apparent that we tend to leave ourselves out of the category of "world music" because it is what we know best. It is important to take a step back and put ourselves in the shoes of people from different cultures and then look at our music in order to appreciate it as "American Music". We tend to discus the music of cultures we are unfamiliar with, and then compare it to other cultures we are still just beginning to learn about. Why not compare the different cultures to the culture we know best?

By comparing and contrasting the music of different cultures to the music of our own culture, we can better understand both sides of the conversation and maybe even discover something new about the culture we have been surrounded by for our entire lives.

Listening Blog Four

Title- Huun Huur Tu at Philadelphia Folk Festival, August 2006

Performers- Huun Huur Tu

Culture- A demonstration of the Sygyt style (one of three) of throat sining on American soil during a folk festival.

Instrumentation- Voice creating multi-phonics

This week's class discussion reminded me of throat sining, and specifically how it has spread across many cultures. In chorus last year, we performed a piece by an Australian composer that was called for a section of only throat sining. In the popular television show The Big Bang Theory, character Sheldon Cooper demonstrates his abilities to throat sing. And in the video above, the organizers of the Philadelphia Fold Festival found it appropriate to include throat sining on their program. This is just one very specific example of how music from one culture can be spread through many disciplines. Composers want to include the music of others in their compositions, festival organizers want to share the music with others, a pop culture is spreading the music almost unintentionally.

Third Listening Blog

Title- Kissidugu- West African Percussion and Dance

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

Performers- Musicians under the direction of Fara Tolno

Culture- This group is a perfect example of how we can accurately celebrate other cultures. This group regularly puts on performances and classes that are culturally accurate. What a great experience this would be to take students on a field trip to.

Instrumentation- African Percussion Ensemble 

As I was looking for a piece to discuss in this weeks entry, I came across this video of the Kissidugu ensemble and immediately became interested. After doing some research and reading comments listed on the video, it was very clear that this group is putting on performances and teaching classes that are an accurate depiction of their original culture. 

As music educators, we are going to want to teach the music of many cultures, but may not be able to perform them all at a high level. Groups such as this one present a special opportunity to bring a culture bearer into our classrooms so they can share their expertise to students. We should not be ashamed that others are more familiar with cultures we are teaching, but we should embrace them and learn as much as possible to help educate others later on in life. 

Second Blog 3/1/13

Title- The exact title of this piece is not listed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpqVYvPIv1s

Performers- Istvan Kohan (clarinet) and his band

Culture- In klezmer music, the leading voice (usually the violin or clarinet) has the important job of imitating the human voice crying, laughing, and wailing.

Instrumentation- Clarinet, Violin, Accordion, Trombone, Keyboard, Bass, and Percussion.

Last night I attended the symphony band concert and one section in particular is still very present in my mind. The soprano sax solo from movement three of Lord of The Rings was composed in order to give the audience a visual image of what the character Gollum would look like.

The musicians playing coupled with the visual imagery reminded me of klezmer music and how the lead player is responsible for imitating the human voice. In this video, the clarinetist uses many slides, trills, fast moving lines, and other musical tools that help to give listeners a visual image. This compositional tool is very common throughout the genre.