Here are some "cool" things I learned about music in Sub- Saharan Africa:
As we were exploring African culture and music, I became really interested in the instruments used. A lot of them are very specific to Africa and are rarely seen in other types of music around the world. One of the instruments I found to be very interesting is the musical bow. The musical bow is a chordophone that consists of a flexible stick that can measure 1.5 to 10 feet long. Strung from end to end is a stretched, tight chord that the player can pluck, bow, and strike to create a primary note. There are multiple ways a player can create overtones of the primary note: they can use their finger and thumb to stop the string, they can bend the stick to make the chord tighter or looser, or. they can lightly touch the string to create faint overtones.
There are a few different types of musical bows. The gourd bow, the mouth bow, and the earth bow. The gourd bow has a gourd attached to it that helps the vibration of the strings to resonate. When playing the mouth bow you must put your mouth around the strings in order to amplify the sound. The earth bow is made with a flexible stick that is put in the ground with a string attached. Below I will show an example of each type being played.
I also was really interested in the different types of music found in the different cultures of Africa. A lot of them are similar due to the close proximities and lack of geographical borders. One I found particularly interesting was Mbalax. Mbalax is a more modern style and is the most popular music style in Senegal and Gambia and was founded among the Wolof people. For many centuries the Wolof people were singing songs of praise with clear, high- pitched voices accompanied by the sabar and other talking drums. But with the French colonial masters, Western Latin music, Jazz, Funk, Rock, and Pop the original music of the area was at risk of disappearing. In 1970 a fusion of cultures brought about this new musical style. One of the most popular artists create Mbalax music was Youssou N'Dour.
Just like in the other two cultures we've studied so far, dance is an important part of the African culture. It provides a vital expression of the region's philosophy. The African people use dance to encourage crops, celebrate special occasions, mark life experiences, to communicate with the gods, and is done just out of pure enjoyment and joy.. Dances are varied depending on the communities that created them but a lot of the types of dances incorporate spirited, vigorous movements. It is also very communal and is not just a part of community life but ti represents and reinforces the community itself. The structure of the dance often mirrors the organization and values of the community that it comes from. You'll see that a lot of the time dances are segregated by sex, age, status, and ethnicity. Below is a video with some examples of the traditional African dance:
Bibliography:
Musical Bows- https://www.britannica.com/art/musical-bow and https://www.contemporary-african-art.com/african-musical-instruments.html
I enjoyed your blog! I especially enjoyed the part about instruments. I always find myself wondering how they were made. I know we've talked about cultural influences that inspired adaptations of instruments, but as for ones that originate from a place, I think it's amazing how people can create instruments and give others the opportunity to express themselves with it for years after.
I enjoyed reading your blog Sabrina! I also enjoyed learning about the different instruments, and the one that you shared is so cool. I also like that you shared more about their dances and dancing, that's so interesting. I noticed that a lot of their dancing is heavy on footwork and rhythm.
Hey Sabrina, your blog is so cool! The musical bow is a very interesting and unique instrument. A lot of instruments in Africa really aren't distributed to other countries. I find it very interesting how there are many ways to play the musical bow and different ways to produce an overtone. The dancing uses a lot of rapid movement, there might be gentle dances from time to time, but I think the majority of it has quick movement.
Here's some cool stuff I found interesting about Arabic and Indian Music! As I was looking further into the music of India, I found that Indian classical music is actually split into two main "schools": Hindustani Music and Karnatak. Hindustani Music is the music of northern India that has Turko- Persian elements and is referred to as "the true music of India". There are two types of Hindustani Music: Classical and Light Classical. Classical music is often improvised and following the adherence to the raga formula more strictly. There is not much instrumental accompaniment only the tabla for rhythm and the tanpura for the drone part. The main artist's performance is not to be upstaged by the other instruments being played. Light Classical music are like classical performances but are less complex and the performance is much shorter. Below is an example of classical music and light classical music. In Arabic music you mostly here the oud as the main chord...
Music's been a really important part of my life because of my parent's love for it. My mom especially has been a musician her whole life so I decided to interview her for this blog. So before I begin I should give a little bit of background on my mom. Most of you know her as Mrs. Roche and she's the main accompanist here at Converse College. She received her undergraduate in piano performance and her masters in accompanying and has been playing the piano since she was pretty much able to walk. Me: What is your favorite memory or experience of music? Mom: Ohhhh that's hard.... my favorite experience? Gee there's so many to choose from but what I remember with great fondness is playing for operas and musicals at Brevard. Being in orchestra and you know making these shows come alive. Helping the kids learn it and then see the finish product when it was done. I never got to see any of it while I was coaching them I could only hear it and then to go to the final perfor...
Here are some "cool" things I learned as I delved more into Music of the Americas: 1) One of the many aspects of the Native American culture that I really enjoyed learning about was the different types of dancing. While I was exploring more, I ran across a type dance called the hoop dance. The hoop dance is a storytelling dance done with 1- 40 hoops to create shapes that represents the various movements of animals and other elements. It is preformed by a solo dancer who begins with a single hoop, evoking the circle of life and as the dance goes on additional hoops are added representing other life elements such as humans, water, seasons, etc. Throughout the dance, the soloist makes very rapid movements in which the hoops are interlocked and extended from the body to portray appendages such as wings and tails. Below is a video of Native American Hoop Dance champion, Brian Hammill: 2) Another aspect of the music of the Native Americans that I found really interesting was the dr...
I enjoyed your blog! I especially enjoyed the part about instruments. I always find myself wondering how they were made. I know we've talked about cultural influences that inspired adaptations of instruments, but as for ones that originate from a place, I think it's amazing how people can create instruments and give others the opportunity to express themselves with it for years after.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog Sabrina! I also enjoyed learning about the different instruments, and the one that you shared is so cool. I also like that you shared more about their dances and dancing, that's so interesting. I noticed that a lot of their dancing is heavy on footwork and rhythm.
ReplyDeleteHey Sabrina, your blog is so cool! The musical bow is a very interesting and unique instrument. A lot of instruments in Africa really aren't distributed to other countries. I find it very interesting how there are many ways to play the musical bow and different ways to produce an overtone. The dancing uses a lot of rapid movement, there might be gentle dances from time to time, but I think the majority of it has quick movement.
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