Week 5 - Cantadoras del Pacifico

Title: Mirando (The group is performing their own distinctive style know as Currulao)

Performers: Cantadoras del Pacifico

Culture of Origin: Southern Colombia

Orchestration: Marimba, Drums, shakers, voices


When reading Chapter 6 of Campbells, Teaching Music Globally, I was reading about her creative "world music" experience about a groove. In the book, she describes a groove as "the way ensemble musicians interact during performance" (pg. 201). I feel that the video example I chose is a great example of a groove in a cultural ensemble. If you watch the very beginning and notice how each new instrument enters, beginning with the tempo and feel started by the marimba, you sense the connection between all the players. The added voices enhance the rhythm that is being played to further develop the groove.

As the video progresses, you see some drummers and the marimba player developing their groove to amplify was is being performed. The added dancers create another performance layer to the music.

My favorite part of this video is how the musicians feel the music and the groove they are creating. Any teacher can teach a repeated 8 bar rhythm to their students, but I believe it is the connection of the musicians that make this "world music".

Week 4 - Tres Cantos Nativos

For this week, I reflected upon a piece of cultural music that I have seen performed many different ways in different schools. The piece is called Tres Cantos Nativos. In this arrangement that you can purchase on J W Pepper, the music is freely based on three melodies sung by the Kurao tribe. This tribe is a group of native Brazilian indians living in the forests of northern Brazil. 

I have included two videos in my blog this week to show the differences in performance. Many teachers I know teach this music and put choreography to the different melodies. Both videos shown start with the group creating rainforest sounds that gather into a thunderstorm. When looking at the music, it is not directly written in the text to do so.

As you can see in this picture taken from J.W. Pepper website (http://www.jwpepper.com/Tres-Cantos-Nativos/5539655.item#.U8mszY1dUg5), the music suggests that animal cries and percussive sounds be added to the first 8 measures, but it does not directly say to create a thunderstorm. Both groups do this in different ways.

Another comparison I have made is the choreography that has been added. It is different for each ensemble, and this can create concern for validity of the piece. Were these motions added for aesthetic value, or just to enhance the music? There is nothing written in the music giving directions to include choreography with stomping and hand clapping. I asked a teacher friend of mine who has taught this multiple times how she learned the choreography. She informed me that she was inspired after watching videos online of other groups performing the music in this way. This in no way relates to the tribe found in Brazil

The first video is a recording of the Lee University's Choral Union under the direction of Dr. Cameron LaBarr. You can hear the vocalists and the percussion that was added. This arrangement also changed the order of the three melodies to put the more "fast paced" one at the end. Does that change its value?

This video is the Young People's Chorus of New York City. You can see their interpretation of this music by how their singing is more nasal and the choreography is different. They also sang this in the original concert order.  This piece uses vocals, but you can hear percussion instruments.

I know many teachers who enjoy teaching Tres Cantos Nativos, but I don't believe it is taught to have any value of music from Brazil.

Week 3 - Shoo Lie Loo

Title: "Shoo Lie Loo"

Performers: Elizabeth Mitchell, Levon Helm, Dan Zanes, Jon Langford (Mekons), The Children of Agape Choir of South Africa

Culture of Origin: United States

Orchestration: Voice, Guitar, Fiddle, Snare Drum, Tambourine, Harmonica

I enjoyed this video of the folk song "Shoo Lie Loo" and the video that showed children playing a game. In the video, you can see children clapping along to the beat and eventually forming a circle where they call out for their friend to "fly across the circle like a bird". The song is very simple and doesn't have a difficult melody to learn, so it is easy for children to join in.

This video also gives a great example of different types of musical structure. This is a great example of watching students respond to the context of the piece. There is an audience-performer interaction that is vital to the music. If this piece was performed for an audience just sitting and watching, this piece would become very boring and repetitive.  You can also see a great example of call and response between the voices. This is something that continues to draw in and keep the children interacting with the musicians. You can also see an example of how the instrumental musicians play during the breaks of the vocal parts.

A great quote from the reading this week sums up the role of context in musical structure. "The shared value is this: the conduct of cooperative, supportive social relationships within a group is prized above individual achievement." (Wade, pg. 159)

Week 2 - Tears for Kientepoos

Title of Piece: Tears for Kientepoos

Performers: Mary Youngblood

Culture of Origin: American Indian

Orchestration: Plains-style flute


I originally found this video on the Smithsonian Folkways website (http://www.folkways.si.edu/video/american_indian.aspx) but in order for me to put the video here on my blog I found another recording of the same artist playing the same piece. I was drawn to the simplicity of how the flute-playing sounded. Knowing that the title is "Tears for Kientepoos", I expected the playing to feel sad and solemn. In the video that is found in the Smithsonian Folkways website, Mary Youngblood describes this as a tribute to Kientepoos, an American Indian who wanted peace for him and his family. This unfortunately did not happen and he was hanged.

I feel that the flute gives us a nice melodic line that uses the breath of the player to really draw out each note and shape it to form a sad line. There is no real sense of time for a beat or rhythm, for I feel that adding this would take away from the sense of "breathing".

During this week we discussed instrument classification. I enjoyed learning about the Sachs-Hornbostel classification systems of Idiophones (instruments whose primary sound-producing medium is the body of the instrument itself), Membranophones (instruments whose primary sound-producing medium is a vibrating skin), Chordophones (instruments whose primary sound-producing medium is a vibrating string), and Aerophones (instruments whose primary sound-producing medium is vibrating air). The flute playing in this video would be classified in the aerophones for the vibrating air used to create this sound. I believe having music where there are different classifications of instruments used can be a way to add different musical levels and layers to a piece of music. However, for this piece, adding an instrument from another classification would take away from the simplicity of this piece. I also do not think it would have the same effect if it were to be played with another instrument from another classification. If an instrument from the chordophone classification were to be used, the feeling of the breath and the sadness would not be the same. It is important to know the different classifications in order to understand the way they can be used in different pieces of music.

I hope you enjoyed this music by Mary Youngblood and her music from her American Indian culture.