As discussed in the latest chapter 5, by Cooley, much of
European music can be summed down to just a few common traits. Many pieces use
simple rhythmic structures, form, and melodies. The first example, “I Have Good
Tobacco,” is a French folk song that attributes back to an Abbot in the early
1770s. It follows a simple ABA form, is written with a solid rhythm that
utilizes a duple meter, and keeps to a single major key. However, not all modern
music from Europe will fall into these guidelines. Bands such as Radiohead
commonly twist the normal duple and triple meters for time signatures much more
exotic, such as in “Morning Bell”. This piece is written in a 7/8 time
signature, not the common 4/4 used in many popular songs today. It also does
not follow the ABA form and utilizes modes of the minor scale as it shifts
between minor and major keys as tonal centers. Though Radiohead has always been
a band that shifts the boundaries of popular music, it is one of Europe’s most
popular groups still performing and writing today. It seems that many of the
traits of European music have instead shifted more over to American popular
music.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah
Singing is one of humanity’s oldest
ways of worship, and continues to be widely used amongst the various world
religions today. The example covered today was an excerpt from a black Baptist
church, titled Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah, a lining out hymn. This piece,
nicknamed Dr. Watts hymn, is lead by the deacon while the rest of the
congregation follows after by very slowly repeating the words with an altered
melody. He leads with an open melismatic rhythm during the reply of the
congregation after having previously ornamented the first melodic line on his
own in a much shorter verse. His tone is majestic and when directly amplified
rings out strong above the congregation, whom are simply picked up with room
microphones. While leading the congregation in the longer verses, the deacon
seems to adlib ornamentation that leaves the rest of the people somewhat lagging.
Others in the assembly add their own ornamentation in tandem with the deacon’s.
He then stops after the second verse and invites the mass to shout, “Yeah!” for
a few times, inciting more energy into the crowd. He then explains that through
singing the music one can be saved if they accept His way, the way of the Lord.
Suddenly without pause, the deacon bursts out in the final verse before leading
the congregation to the end of the piece. The camera during the entirety focuses
mainly on the leader, only panning to the congregation occasionally during the
replies and when the deacon talks directly to them. The people sway back and
forth while raising their hands up as they sing out, illustrating what seems to
be a powerful musical experience of worship. As the voices ring through the air
warmly, even through an older video recording, it is clear that music is a
powerful form of worship.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
The Shona
While listening to the excerpts from the
chapter, one piece stood out as a bit more unique from the others. This piece
did not use rhythmic percussion under singing like the others, rather
approached with a more percussive melodic instrumentation, the thumb piano from
the Shona piece, Nhemamusasa. It did not seem like a piece that would be found
in African music, but more a piece that borderlines a tune that would be used
in a pop song. I had heard instruments similar to it used in many songs ranging
from electronic music like Magnetic Man to Jamaican music. I even have one in
my collection of instruments and love to twiddle on it.
It really would only make sense that the
instrument hails from African roots, as Jamaica is largely inhabited by an
African American population. But perhaps hearing it in an album by an
electronic band before hearing it in Nhemamusasa had altered my view on the
instrument and it’s origins. It seemed like it would be a melody used in a pop
song or children’s tune more than a traditional African piece. The melody is
very organized in triads in this piece, and the plucking of the keys gives it
the rhythm instead of a drum following along. As the other mbira, or thumb
piano, joins in the melody becomes even more scattered and upbeat. The hosho,
or rattles, were the last to join in, solidifying the beat under the plucked
rhythm of the mbira. This further validated that the mbira created the rhythm
along with the melody, differentiating Nhemamusasa from the other selections.
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