For the Most Part Art in Nonwestern Cultures Is Nearly Always
"World" MUSIC
(Not-WESTERN)
GENERAL BACKGROUND TO World MUSIC
The Western world has a vast musical heritage that has evolved over many centuries; still, some Asian, Polynesian, African and Near-Eastern musical traditions have thrived for THOUSANDS of years. While Japan, Mainland china, Republic of india and Indonesia have long-standing art-music traditions (in which music is performed past a select few well-trained artists), the majority of non-Western societies do non have art music ("formal concert") traditions—instead, they perceive music-making every bit a functional part of everyday life in which the gild every bit a whole participates. Much of this music is improvised and survives solely through oral manual; thus, information technology cannot exist described in standard Western musical terms, or written down using Western notational symbols. Such music tin merely be studied through a painstaking combination of musicological and anthropological means.
So, even though a distinction must be made between then-called "art-music" (played by professionals) vs. other types of "functional" music, this is not intended to imply that "fine art music" is more artistic or superior to any other.
Important Musical Considerations in non-Western Music
Most types of Non-Western music are founded on concepts quite dissimilar from those of the Western tradition:
Rhythm
Non-Western music (especially African) can make greater and more creative use of rhythm than Western idioms.
Dynamics
Non-Western music rarely uses dynamics every bit an contained concept. Changes in loudness/quietness occur by increasing/decreasing the number of performers.
Melody
Non-Western music ofttimes uses microtonal melodic intervals that are smaller or larger than those of the traditional Western scales
Harmony
In general, harmony is not every bit important in not-Western idioms as it is in the West. Non-Western music may take no harmony at all, or it may base its harmonies on completely unlike scale systems than Western music.
Tone color
Though non-Western music is primarily vocal in nature, some cultures have also developed unique independent families of instruments. Colorful percussion sounds, and unique cord and wind instruments are nearly commonly employed.
Texture
Since harmony is not an important consideration, non-Western music is often either monophonic (a unmarried note or tune sounding lonely) or heterophonic (two slightly different versions of the same melody being performed at the same time).
Form
Not-Western music is more freely-structured than Western music, and nearly types are heavily reliant on improvisation (on-the-spot creativity). Such music is transmitted orally; thus, it is rarely—if always--performed the aforementioned style twice.
SELECTED EXAMPLES OF WORLD MUSIC
AFRICAN MUSIC
Music—particularly song music—is an integral part of daily life in the African world. Practically any consequence of importance to an individual or to the culture as a whole is celebrated with music. Many African languages are "tonal" (the meaning of a give-and-take depends on the pitch-level at which it is spoken); thus, African melodies ordinarily follow the pitch contour of their texts. African melodies are based on scales that are quite different from those found in the W.
A common feature of African vocal songs is " call and response ," in which the leader of the vocal will improvise a narrative "call" about a past or current result, and and then the group at-large will sing a repeated "response," that remains the same throughout the song. Call and response technique eventually became an important characteristic of Black-influenced pop music in the Western world.
Improvisation and intricate polyrhythms (the simultaneous combination of two or more different rhythmic patterns) are richly abundant in African music, and African musicians have developed these to a much college level than usually encountered in traditional Western musical styles.
Long before the invention in the Western world of the telegram, phone, or Morse code, at that place had already been a long tradition of using diverse kinds of drums to "talk" (recite poetry, send out "verbal" warnings, or transmit bodily circuitous letters in the manner of the spoken discussion over long distances).
Effigy 1 : The various musical regions on the African continent (meet map on right)
Musical examples:
Click here to encounter African drumming, singing, dancing from Republic of angola (lower w Africa) via YouTube.
Click here to see the Kora (a thirteen-cord bridge harp) played and explained by Kinobe --a singer/performer from Uganda (Dungu--The Congo-kinshasa).
Click here to see an caption and a brief example past a Nigerian drummer of how an African "talking drum" is played (notice that the player's left arm squeezes the strings that surround the hour-glass shaped outer wooden shell of the drum in social club to enhance its pitch). In this way, drums can be used to simulate actual linguistic communication and literally transmit complex messages.
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ART MUSIC FROM Republic of indonesia
The Democracy of Indonesia is comprised of some 13,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, of which but 4,000 are named and simply 1,000 are inhabited. This complex lodge fuses more than than 300 ethnic groups and over 250 different languages. Out of this diversity has arisen a universal diverseness of distinctly "Indonesian" music—the Gamelan of the islands of Coffee and Bali (particularly Bali, which has a very complex tradition). A Gamelan is a colorful instrumental ensemble, comprised primarily of unusual percussion instruments including drums, gongs, and xylophones fabricated of wood (such as the gender ["Jen-DARE"] or statuary (such as the bonang ). These percussion instruments may be supplemented past a small bamboo flute or a uncomplicated cord instrument, and can be used as an accompaniment to traditional ritual dances. The instruments of the gamelan characteristic pitches that sound "out-of-tune" to Western ears ( microtones ). As a result, this music cannot be represented accurately with Western annotation.
Effigy two : Map of Republic of indonesia (highlighting Bali, and Jakarta (the capital of the island of Coffee)
Musical example:
Click on the Gamelan illustration below to come across a YouTube clip.
Effigy 3 : Common Instruments of the Gamelan
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THE MUSIC OF MEXICO
Before the Spanish Conquest (1519-21), music was a vital part of Aztec and Mayan social life on the Mexican peninsula. With the arrival of the Spaniards, European instruments were speedily composite with native musical traditions. The most noteworthy effect of this combination of influences is Mexican Mariachi music—a lively song and dance tradition featuring singers, treble and bass acoustic guitars, violin, trumpet, and sometimes harp. Despite their European genesis, these instruments render sounds that are uniquely Hispanic.
Effigy 4 : Map of Mexico, highlighting Jalisco--the birthplace of Mariachi music.
Figure 5 : Traditional Instruments of a Mexican Mariachi Band
Musical instance:
Click on the Mariachi photo above to see a YouTube clip of the renowned Mariachi Vargas.
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Art MUSIC FROM JAPAN
Japanese music has enjoyed a rich popular and classical tradition that has spanned over 1,000 years, with many styles and idioms. The near important Japanese instruments are the koto , the shamisen (a three-stringed "banjo"), and the shakuhachi (a 4-holed bamboo flute). The 13 strings of the koto are tuned to a 5-note pentatonic scale . The strings are plucked, scraped or struck by ivory "finger picks" to produce a diverseness of musical effects. The player may besides alter the pitch of a string by pushing or pulling on the string with the left-hand.
Figure 6 : A map of the traditional regions of Japan
Figure 7 : Traditional art-music instruments of Nippon
Musical examples:
Click on the Japanese Instruments analogy higher up to hear a beautiful rendition on YouTube clip of the famous Japanese folk vocal "Sakura" ["Cherry Blossoms"] played on the koto.
Click here to see a basic demonstration of how to play "Sakura" on the koto , as seen on YouTube.
Click here to see a merging of koto, shamisen, and shakuhachi with rock instruments in a YouTube clip of "Sakura" ("Cherry Blossoms").
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Fine art MUSIC OF THE Near- AND Middle-EAST
The Near- and Middle-East includes many countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, West Asia and Northward Africa, and dominated by Islamic Arabic-, Western farsi-, and Turkish-speaking peoples who share folk and fine art-music traditions dating back to the 7th century. One of the most pervasive aspects of Eye Eastern art-music is the 'Ud --a curt-necked fretless lute with a pear-shaped body and v pairs of strings. Dissimilar the Western lute, the 'Ud is played as a monophonic melodic instrument, often joined past the colorful rhythmic accompaniment of the darabukkah (also called "Darbuka" or "Doumbek")--a small clay drum that changes its pitch when the role player applies variable finger pressure to the drumhead.
Effigy eight : A political map of the Middle East
Figure 9 : Traditional Instruments of the Middle Eastward
Musical examples:
Click on the Midde-Eastern Instruments illustration above to see a YouTube prune of the 'Ud and Darabukkah playing together). if yous are interested in studying the internal construction of this example of a Turkish " sama'i ", you tin can watch so entire video, which points out the alternating sections, which are referred to every bit the kjana [verse] and the taslim [refrain/chorus] .
Click here to run across a master Darabukkah drummer , perform some amazing licks on YouTube.
Click here to see the "Ud and Darabukkah accompanying the singing of penitential prayers in a YouTube clip of a Jewsih Selichot Service in grooming for the High Holy Days.
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Art MUSIC OF CHINA
Traditional Chinese music can exist traced back 7,000-eight,000 years based on the discovery of a bone flute made in the Neolithic Age. In the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, only royal families and dignitary officials enjoyed music, which was fabricated on chimes and bells. During the Tang Dynasty, dancing and singing entered the mainstream, spreading from the purple court to the common people. With the introduction of strange religions such as Buddhism and Islam, exotic and religious melodies were absorbed into Chinese music and were enjoyed by the Chinese people at fairs organized by religious temples.
Diverse types of Chinese opera developed during the Ming (1300s-1600s) and Qing (1600s-1900s) Dynasties, with the famed Beijing Opera becoming one of the three main aspects of Chinese culture (along with Chinese medicine and Chinese painting) Ii important Chinese instruments are the Zheng (a big, picked musical instrument with 13 to 21 bridged strings) and the Erhu (a ii-stringed bowed musical instrument)).
Effigy 10 : A map showing the close proximity of Prc, Bharat, Indonesia, Japan and the Eye Eastward
Figure
11
: Traditional Chinese Instruments--the Erhu and the Zheng
Click on the Chinese Instruments photograph above to run into a YouTube clip of The Orchid Ensemble playing the erhu, zheng, and a variety of Chinese and Western percussion instruments.
Click here to see an instance of Chinese traditional opera, on YouTube, with embedded translation, and a completely different sound and artful than Western opera. (The idea here is not to guess whether the music is "skillful" or "bad", but but to get some idea of the wide range of sounds and expression that are possible in world music.)
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Fine art MUSIC FROM Bharat
The musical traditions of India date dorsum some 3,000 years. Indian classical music is improvisatory, using sophisticated melodic and rhythmic systems called ragas (melodic patterns) and talas (rhythmic patterns) that govern the performer's choice of circuitous pitches, ornaments, and rhythms. Indian performers consider their music to be spiritual in nature—each raga is associated with a detail mood, such as repose, love or heroism. Indian music is transferred orally from chief-teacher ( guru ) to the student, who learns by strictly imitating the teacher—non from a written tradition. Only the basic elements of a slice are notated—the essential ornaments and elaborations cannot be written down, and must exist internalized through years of intense study.
The most important art-music instrument of India is the Sitar —a long-necked lute with a wide fingerboard and moveable frets. During the 1960s, when rock artists such as the Beatles sought enlightenment through Indian gurus, the Sitar became pop in the Westward. The most well-known Indian guru/Sitar master is Ravi SHANKAR, best-known in the Due west for his performance at Woodstock in 1969. The Sitar may be accompanied by a percussion instrument called a Tabla.
Figure 12 : Traditional Instruments of Republic of india
Musical examples:
Click on the Sitar/Tabla analogy above to see a YouTube clip of both instruments playing together.
Click here to see a brief video documentary clip on YouTube of The Beatles' George Harrison taking a sitar lesson with Indian guru Ravi Shankar.
Source: https://wmich.edu/mus-gened/mus150/WorldMusic.htm
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