Transcript Introduction to World Music

Introduction to World Music
Dr. Tamara Livingston
http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~tlivings/worldmusic.
htm
Course Goals
• Think critically about music
• Be able to see music as more than “just
entertainment”
• Understand how music means; how is
musical meaning created?
• Develop respect for the significance of
non-Western music systems in their
respective cultures
Ethnomusicology
• The study of music in
culture (cultural
context); the study of
music as culture.
– Sounds
– Concepts
– Behaviors
Defining the Issues
• “Music” or “Musics”
– Music systems: is Western Art Music one or many
music systems?
• Universality vs. Differences
– Universal language vs. “personal” music
• Defining Music
• Politics of Music (musical meaning and discord)
(exs. Wagner in Israel; Mozart in Berlin)
Music Examples
•
•
•
•
Is it “music”?
What can we say about it?
What does it mean?
How does it mean? (what other
information might we need before
addressing this?)
Defining Music
• Soundscape – the characteristic sounds of a
particular place, both human and nonhuman –
R. Murray Schafer (Canadian composer)
• Music is … “sound that is humanly patterned or
organized” – J. Blacking (British
ethnomusicologist)
• Music-culture – the way of life of a people,
learned and transmitted from generation to
generation, as it relates to music.
Culture
• “that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
custom, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of
society” – E.B. Tyler (anthropologist)
Elements of a Musical Performance
MUSIC
PERFORMERS
AUDIENCE
TIME AND SPACE
A Music-Culture Model
AFFECTIVE
EXPERIENCE
PERFORMANCE
COMMUNITY
MEMORY/HISTORY
Another Music-Culture Model
SOUND:
Melody
Rhythm and Meter
Texture
Form
CONCEPT
BEHAVIOR
Aesthetics
Ethos
Theory
Meanings
Repertoires
Identity
History
How music is produced
Who produces it
Who participates
Ritual
Rules
Audience/Performer interaction
Movement
Thinking / Writing About Music
• Why do we need music-culture models?
Isn’t music analysis all that is needed?
• Why do ethnomusicologists seem to be
more interested in cultural aspects rather
than the “music itself”?
Description and Theory
• Description of musical practice includes:
Face-to-face observation and participation;
insider interviews; fieldwork (immersion in
a music-culture)
• Theoretical analysis: attempts to ground
the “what” in the “why” by linking
description to meaning within a cultural
context;
Ethnomusicological Theories
• Cultural Evolutionism and Diffusionism
(Comparative)
• Structural-Functional Approaches
• Linguistic Approaches
• Marxist Approaches
• Performance Theory
• Gender, Ethnicity and Identity Approaches
• Postmodernism, Postcolonialism, and Globalism
Analysis Example
• Gilberto Gil (Brazilian Singer/Songwriter),
from “The Spirit of Samba: The Black
Music of Brazil,” Jeremy Marre.