Exam 1 Flashcards
Merriam’s Three-Part Model for Musical Analysis
- Sound
- Practices
- Beliefs/Conceptions
Musical Universals
- all societies have (something that sounds to us like) music
- all societies have singing
- all societies use music in religious rituals
- all societies have musical genres
- all societies have musical units (works, songs, ect.)
Monophony
features 1 single melodic line
Homophony
features multiple melodic lines moving at the same time
Polyphony
features multiple independent melodic lines (round)
Monody
features 1 melodic line w/ accompaniment
Heterophony
features multiple voices w/ the same melodic contour and very slight variations
5 Instrument Types
- Chordophones - sound produced by strings
- Aerophones - sound produced by air
- Membranophone - instrument w/ a membrane (drums)
- Idiophones - sound produced by instrument itself
- Electrophones - sound is produced electronically
Dravidian
Prominent language in South India (majority of the pop. in S. India)
Other languages in S. India include: Hindi & English
Hindustani Music
North Indian classical music
- sitar
- tabla
- harmonium
- violin
- tambura (drone)
- sruti box (drone)
Karnatak Music
South Indian classical music
- veena
- mridangam (drum)
Cultural Evolutionism
the theory that all cultures evolve on a single track from simple to complex, from primitive to modern, and worse to better
Enthnocentrism
the belief that your own perspectives/values are universal
Vedic Period
1700-500 BCE
- Aryans
- Sanskrit
- Vedas
British Colonialism
1858-1947
- Industrial Revolution = mechanization & division of labor
Raga
~ scale & associated characteristics
- pitches/svara (radiating self)
- sargam syllables
- ornamentation/ gamaka
- phrases
- extramusical associations
Cultural Relativism
the proposition that there is no single, universal, scientific, or objective criteria for evaluating cultural practice or musical quality
Alap
Hindustani Music
- slow
- ametric
- improvisation in raga
Gat-Tora
song form in Hindustani Music
- tabla
- tala (meter)
Jhala
free, virtuosic improvisation
Alapana
Karnatak Music
- slow
- ametric
- improvisation in raga
Kriti
Song form in Karnatak Music
- tata
- mridangam (percussion)
- precomposed text & music
Common Features of African Music
- rhythmic complexity (polyrhythms)
- interlock
- dense, overlapping texture
- descending melodic lines
- call & response
- cyclical, open-ended form
- ostinatio
- community participation (present in many, but not all)
- core & elaboration parts
- improvisation
Shona Instruments
- mbira
- hosho
Syncretism
the process of combining distinct cultural practices to create new cultural practices CAUSES FOR SYNCRETISM: - colonialism - mass production of instruments - mass media - nationalist movements - World Beat
Kora
W. African instrument w/ 21 strings
African Independence Movements
The African Independence Movements took place in the 20th century, when a wave of struggles for independence in European-ruled African territories were witnessed
Central African Forest Peoples
- small-scale hunter-gatherer community
- music is a socialized activity
Shona of Zimbabwe
- have bira (spirit possession ceremony)
- have more call & response and community participation
Qawwali
genre of Sufi Muslim music popular throughout N. India & Pakistan
- uses harmonium & tabla
- involves singing of Persian poetry
When did India gain independence?
1947
Aryans
relating to or denoting a people speaking an Indo-European language who invaded northern India in the 2nd millennium BC, displacing the Dravidian and other aboriginal peoples.
Jùjú
form of Nigerian popular music associated w/ the Yoruba people
- combines electric instruments w/ indigenous drums
Chimurenga
word in the Shona language, roughly meaning “revolutionary struggle”
