October lectures

Question 1

three stages of ethnomusicology

Answer 1

1. comparative
2. anthropological
3. crisis of representation

Question 2

What is a total social fact?

Answer 2

the physical, behavioural, cognitive aspects of a human activity

Question 3

Alan Merriam’s model of the total musical fact

Answer 3

concept/cognition —sound— behaviour

Question 4

Wallin, Merker and Brown’s model of the total musical fact

Answer 4

Biology— culture

— cognition

Question 5

emic

Answer 5

insider, culturally informed knowledhe

Question 6

etic

Answer 6

outsider, observed knowledge

Question 7

Flores vocal duets: when and how are they sung

Answer 7

• mens songs are different from women’s; they sing separately
• monogamous vocal partners, exclusive for life
• for agricultural work and rituals
• they have an understanding of the music and how it should sound
• polyphonic

Question 8

Flores vocal duets: the myth of the rice characteristics

Answer 8

• performed four times a year according to the agricultural cycle
• about sacrificing a girl as an offering for good crops

Question 9

Are Flores vocal duets sung today?

Answer 9

No, tourism :(

Question 10

The the myth of the rice features

Answer 10

1. sing four times a year at night with dancing for 24 hours (lines up with agricultural cycle) and ritual continues the following day
2. Girl was sacrificed
3. They celebrate her to ensure good crops
4. Sad

Question 11

Ju’wasi Lion songs

Answer 11

• humans and lions coexist and respect each other

- They sing a song in honour of the lions: repetition, imitation, and heterophony

Question 12

Concepts from “The Old Way”

Answer 12

• Music is a way of interacting with environment

- tool for empowerment and protection

Question 13

Shamon

Answer 13

A person with access to the unseen world

Question 14

animism

Answer 14

belief that the natural world is inhabited by soul spirits

Question 15

Katajjaq sound (Northern Quebec)

Answer 15

• rhyhmically staggered (interlocked) panting style
• for time passing, to make people laugh
• imitate different sounds (like animals, chainsaw)

Question 16

Diffusionist explanation of separated cultures

Answer 16

• Ainu, Chukchi, Inuit

- migration

Question 17

Pylogenic explanation of separated cultures

Answer 17

• pygmies, bushmen

- genetic heritage

Question 18

Universalist explanation of separated cultures

Answer 18

• Krk, Croatia, Flores

- human nature

Question 19

Characteristics of Flores culture

Answer 19

• agricultural society
• music for rice cultivation and festivals
• gendered/monogamous duets
• counterpoint, weaked pulsed rhythm, small intervals, scale unnamed

Question 20

Characteristics of Bushman culture

Answer 20

• hunter-gatherer society
• music to harness natures power
• in groups
• counterpoint, strongly pulsed songs
• anhemitonic (no semitones)

Question 21

Moravian characteristics of culture

Answer 21

• agricultural society
• music for cultivation and festivals, socializing
• group solo singing
• monophonic texture

Question 22

Inuit characteristics of culture

Answer 22

• hunter gatherer society
• domestic music suitable to the north
• duet singing
• interlocking texture
• cyclic and pulsed
• unnamed scales

Question 23

Two most important things in History of Music in the past 500 years

Answer 23

1. the spread of European music
2. The survival of African musical principles (slave trade etc.)
3. Sound recording

Question 24

diaspora

Answer 24

people having to leave their homeland

Question 25

Time line (African music)

Answer 25

repeating rhythm

Question 26

What is the difference between interweaving and interlocking

Answer 26

interweaving uses different sounding timbres (Jayden vs Jess) interlocking uses similar sounding timbres (Jayden vs. Madison)

Question 27

Supporting rhythms

Answer 27

drum rhythms that support the main line

Question 28

Inherent rhythms

Answer 28

Rhythms that can be heard even though not one person is playing it you just hear it in your head

Question 29

Agbekor characteristics

Answer 29

• interwoven rhythms

- 12 subdivisions of the cycle

Question 30

isochronous

Answer 30

• equal beats. (like 4|4 vs. 7|8)

Question 31

What kind of scale does the musical bow use?

Answer 31

anhemitonic pentatonic scale

Question 32

Features of African music

Answer 32

sound: cyclic structure with variations, layers of rhythm (interlocked, interwoven), inherent rhythms
concept: strong sense of pulsation, flexible approach to pitch, improvisation, importance of timbre
behaviour: give-and-take, community participation and dance, having your own sound