Music History Final Flashcards
Topical Song
memorable, easy to learn, narrative and commentary
- freedom
- civil rights
- rights to vote
- anti war /pro peace
- feminism
Magnetic vs Rhetorical Topical Songs
Types of topical songs
MAGNETIC, attract people to the movement
*we shall overcome, Pete Seeger
RHETORICAL, specific messege designed to change a political opinion
*edwin stars, war 1970
Public transcripts vs Hidden transcripts
PUBLIC TRANSCRIPTS, open political messages
- -affirm and perpetuate an existing power structure
- -or to openly protest the existing structure
HIDDEN TRANSCRIPTS, embed messages through metaphorical or coded terms
–often used to oppose the dominant culture (the political embellishment)
Mento vs Ska
MENTO, Jamaica folk music
–acoustic guitar, banjo, drums, mbir
SKA, Jamaican genre (1950’s)
–rhythm that emphasizes the offbeats in quadruple meter
–elements of mento, calypso (from Trinidad and Tobago), jazz
Powwow
(Algonquin pawwow 1827)
- gathering of religious practitioners for healing ceremonies
- 1900 term used for any gathering
Powwow Dances (how it’s performed)
- -ability to dance is a divine gift, to pray using motion
- -clockwise circle
- -drum tempo and step patterns that hold specific meanings
Traditional vs Fancy Powwow dance
TRADITIONAL,older choreography
FANCY, free form, less choreographed, faster tempo, athleticism
Identity
- music can signify many aspects of identity , including nationality, place, ethnicity, race, class, religion, gender
- although identity is experienced differently by each individual, it is almost always constructed in relation to groups that we wish to be part of or seek to avoid
- some identities are so ubiquitous that we have tended to overlook them
- -whiteness
- -barbershop quartet, “nostalgia for unchallenged and exclusive sociability and camaraderie located in the adolescent memories of middle aged men
-each of us is also a mix of competing and interacting identities. Depending on the situation, we may choose to emphasize or play down one or more of these aspects of identity
Kata
patterned form (arts, tea ceremony, flower arranging, dance, martial arts)
- the form is considered more important than the original content
- deviation is discouraged
Kabuki
Kabuki theatre
dance, drama
- sing, dance, skill, –bazzare
- origins in the early 1600’s
- -woman perfeomers (also play male roles), ordinary life
- -prostitution, red light district
- -fashion, current trends, early “pop culture”
- -later switched to male performers
- -fires, brawles, bans
Hanamichi
flower path, walkway extended into the audience
- like opera
- -trap doors and wired flights
- -scene changes
- topics and censorship
- kata and patterned acting
Debayashi
onstage music ensemble
Karaoke
Japanese, Kara=empty, oke=orchestra
- begun at a Kobe snack bar in 1972
- participation more important than quality performance
- views from scholars
- -technological performance medium
- -setting specific musical genre
- -ritualized form of musical behavior
- “value” structure and pattern
Enka
song genre drawing on traditional musical styles
- pentatonic (major or minor scale without 4 or 7
- -Blues and tango
- stylized formulas (composition as well as emotional impact)
- -originally political texts (protest music?)
- -modern topics (post war) sentimental
- -used in karaoke
Kobushi
(little melodies) melismatic ornaments
Creoles and Cajuns
CREOLES, ethnic mix of French and Spanish and African dissent
- -West Indies and New Orleans 1600’s
- -1718 founding of the city
- -black code, system with a free black class (legal rights but not social)
CAJUNS, 1755 and later, French refugees from Acadia (nova Scotia, Canada)
- -1762 Lousiana ceded to Spain
- –Cajuns move to the bayous
- -cajun French language (illegal in the Lousiana schools)
- –songs used as a way to preserve the language
- -music, fiddle, guitar, drums, accordions (German)
Cajun music (instruments used?)
- –songs used as a way to preserve the language
- -music, fiddle, guitar, drums, accordions (German)
Zydeco Music
Was a Cajun style ensemble that had a district sound made from a steel washboard.
Originated after WWII
Aside from conveying text with a specific political message, what are some other ways in which music has been used for protest and resistance?
Topical songs such as magnetic and rhetorical songs are used. magnetic, attract people to the movement. rhetorical, specific messege designed to change a political opinion
AND
Public and open transcripts are used.
- public transcripts, open political messages
- -affirm and perpetuate an existing power structure
- -or to openly protest the existing structure
- hidden transcripts, embed messages through metaphorical or coded terms
- -often used to oppose the dominant culture (the political embellishment)
Invention of tradition
Traditions established within a very short time.
- -invention of tradition (rapid adoption)
- -reject materialism and oppression
- Zion =Ethiopia as the origin of mankind
- the struggle in Liberia
- rituals and symbols
- cannabis, a healing herb
- -religious growth and connection with Jah
Reggae (and origin of the term)
1968
- name comes from song by Toots and Maytals “do the reggae”
- reference to “regular”, or “rags”…poverty, suffering, ghetto
- news, political commentary, Rastafari religion, love
- rhythm, subversive (African)’ Rastafarian
What are Rastafarians and how are there beliefs associated with reggae?
Rastafarians were people that supported Ras Tafari as the New Ethiopian emperor. And styles of music such as Ska and Rocksteady that were associated with Rastafarian beliefs, were the predecessors of reggae.
What are honor beats in a powwow and what do they honor?
series of drumbeats
- –dancers honor the drum
- –heartbeat of the earth (hear and feel)
- –connect with spirit
- –no liquor permitted at the drum
- power etiquette
- ethnic backgrounds
What are some of the “do not” rules when performing late oke in Japan? What do these rules reveal about Japanese culture?
- in Japan (rules), do not…
- -sing when drunk
- -sing too loudly
- -monopolize the microphone
- -sing songs written for the opposite sex
- -sing songs composed by gifted writers (too difficult)
- -be narcissistic
- -sing two songs in a row
- -repeat a song that has been done by someone else
What is Zydecco Music and where did the term originate?
Was a Cajun style ensemble that had a district sound made from a steel washboard.
Originated after WWII
