China, Overtone-Singing, and Wrap-up

My family doesn’t have TV, but we were fortunate to be able to watch some of the Beijing Olympics while on our summer vacation, including the spectacular Opening Ceremony, which this YouTube video shows a part of. China wanted to present its best face during the Olympics and especially this ceremony, so the whole ceremony is a fascinating fusion of the best of historical China and modern China, via complex symbolisms in the music, costumes, choreography, and visual representation. I also couldn’t help but like that the Chinese character formed by the “movable printing type” means “harmony.” If you have time, the next video of the continuing ceremony is also quite good and focuses a bit more on the music.



I don’t remember exactly how I found this YouTube video, but I wanted to share with you this gentle (at least at first) and beautiful performance of a solo guzheng player. Notice the repeated notes, the use of both regular and free meter, and the bending of the strings to manipulate pitch.



One intriguing thing I have noticed this semester is the diversity of vocal timbres and techniques. I have been especially fascinated by chord-singing, a technique in which one person sings 2-4 notes at once, which is very alien to the Western Art music concept of singing. I got to research chord-singing, also known as overtone singing, as part of my group’s presentation on Tibet, but Tuva and Mongolia also have their own styles of chord-singing. The styles all involve singing a fundamental drone and reinforcing a particular harmonic overtone of that fundamental with the vocal tract. I became very happy last weekend when I discovered that I can actually chord-sing, but I’m nowhere near producing melodies of the harmonic overtones like the Tuvans can.

Listen to this YouTube clip of some Tuvan throat singing, paying careful attention to the high “whistling.” You’ll have to click the link because embedding was disabled for this clip, but it's worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1pcEtHI_w

And here’s a YouTube video of “Amazing Grace” using overtone-singing.



One thing that this course has made me realize about our own music-culture is how prevalent harmony is in our music. I love the harmonic element of music, especially harmonic progression, but many of the music-cultures that we studied have little or no harmony. Instead, they emphasize other elements of music, such as rhythm in Africa or melody in India.

I really enjoyed the music-and-religion blog and would like to learn more and think more about the connection between music and spirituality. Why does music affect our souls? What is the fundamental reason every religion I know of seems to use music in one way or another? Why or how does a purely physical phenomenon, the acoustics of music, take hold of our emotions? In general, why and how does music have the power it does? Why does music work?

Noteworthy Things of the 3rd Week

We didn’t have enough time to cover Moroccan wedding music in class, although it is covered in our textbook. So here is a YouTube video I found of part of a Moroccan wedding, despite the video promotion in the middle. No, the high-pitched trilling is not a car acting up! It is the women doing zagareet cries, which our textbook says proclaim excitement. I like the intricately geometrical wall behind the drumming girl in orange. Next to her is a woman playing what I think is a bendir, a Moroccan frame drum that is the special domain of women. Unusually for both Arab culture and all the music-cultures that we have studied so far, all of the performers we see in this video are female. I suppose that I’m getting used to being at a women’s college, because it took me a while to realize this.



I stumbled on http://music.indobase.com/index.html while searching for nadaswaram items on Google. (The nadaswaram is a double-reed instrument similar to the oboe that is “the world's loudest non-brass acoustic instrument,” according to this site and Wikipedia.) This website has articles not only for each of fourteen different instruments used in Indian music, but also for various Indian classical singers, composers and playback singers, instrumentalists, and Indian music festivals. What a resource!

Last but certainly not least, I actually stumbled on this YouTube video while searching for tabla videos, but this video has not only intricate tabla but also Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Ravi Shankar, and Joshua Bell, Western violin virtuoso. Joshua Bell doesn’t get to show off his fabulous double stops in this very Indian collaboration – his only double stops are melody and drone – , but, like Yehudi Menuhin with Ravi Shankar in today’s class, contributes his artistry to the delightful whole. Notice that he stands rather than sits with the rest of the ensemble on the platform.

Musical Autobiography, Volume II: Gender

In today’s culture of Western Art music, the overall gender balance seems to be relatively even. It certainly is not as extreme as that of various State Geography Bees in which I or my brother have been. My second year in it, there was only one other girl besides me in the tiebreaker round to be in the Final Round, even though there were twenty-two students in the tiebreaker. In my experience of the music world, the gender balance seems to tip towards girls early on, but becomes more even as the skill level becomes higher.

My piano teacher’s studio contained more girls than boys. Among her high school students, there was only one boy, although he was quite good. In summer piano camps, however, the balance between boys and girls was fairly even.

The studio of my brother’s old violin teacher also contained more girls than boys. The violin gender balance was also skewed towards girls when my brother played in the by-audition Junior High String Ensemble of the South Jersey Band and Orchestra Directors Association, in which there were forty-eight violinists total but only sixteen male ones and the highest-ranking male violinist (my brother) placed only sixth. In contrast, the studio of my brother’s current teacher, a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, seems fairly balanced. The violin sections of my brother’s orchestra, the Philadelphia Sinfonia, are only slightly skewed toward girls; there are about a dozen boys out of thirty-one violinists, and the concertmistress is female but my brother is the principal of the Second Violins. The gender balance of the complete Sinfonia orchestra is slightly skewed towards boys. So my brother’s violin experience, and mine, is that the gender balance evens out as the musicians get better.

My brother and I were both in a children’s treble choir, ChildrenSong of New Jersey, for several years. ChildrenSong was mostly female with a handful of boys, perhaps because junior high boys see chorus as a “girl thing.” This imbalance was deemphasized by our concert attire, in which the girls wore palazzo pants instead of skirts and both genders wore the same shirts and vests.

Church choirs also often have more women than men, because men are harder to recruit. This is true of my home church, but the choir of my church here in Spartanburg has plenty of men. My home church also has a summer chorus, Grace Notes, comprised exclusively of girls and young women. This is because my home church has only two young men who like singing and can sing decently, and two of the more musical families of my church have no sons but several daughters. The secret ingredient of Grace Notes is its sense of sisterhood.

In the Petrie School of Music, of course, the undergraduate students are exclusively female. This allows the learning and the social atmosphere to approach an intimate, supportive sisterhood like that I experienced in Grace Notes. Dr. Weeks is my first male piano teacher, but he has small hands like mine such that his fingerings work for my hands; I know not whether Converse chose him for his small hands, but I am sure that I am not the only female piano student here to appreciate it. I do wonder, though, what it is like for our professors to teach almost-all-women.

Interesting things of our second week

I found this video through YouTube’s suggestions while searching for videos of mbira music, which we discussed Tuesday. These Zimbabwean musicians and dancers are really enjoying themselves! One of the dancers is missing his forearm, but he can still dance, and he is having a great time doing so. As you watch Kumatendera, listen to the mbira layering, the call-and-response, and the harmony within the chorus. Here is some more information about the Mbira DzeNharira:

“Mbira DzeNharira is a seven piece (depending on the day) mbira group that plays the "mbira orchestra" made popular by Garikai. Lead by Wilferd MaAfrica, and Tongerai Bangure, they are a musical powerhouse that has made them the only traditional mbira group to reach the ZBC number one slot on the popular music charts. Their tight harmonies and singing about modern issues as they relate to the spirit have touched many of the younger generation in Zimbabwe and helped vitalize the mbira scene for everyone. They are a constant presence on the radio and television in Zimbabwe, and that doesn't look like it will change any time soon.” -http://www.mhumhirecords.org/Mbiradzenharira.htm



During my family vacation last summer, we spent two nights at the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival. The second night was a concert by banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and Toumani Diabaté, a Malian kora player. Midway through the concert, Diabaté demonstrated the kora, as he does in the first video; kora players play bass, melody, and accompaniment, but with less fingers than pianists do!



Diabaté also told the audience how he was from a family of griots, Malian kora players (the musician-politician-authorities kind of like Celtic bards that we talked about, along with koras, on Tuesday) who pass their skill and music father-to-son. Here is also a video of Béla Fleck and Toumani Diabaté playing together.



I found this video of a young Peruvian playing both a charango and a zampoña, both of which we’ve learned about in class, through searching “charango” on YouTube. Nothing exciting here, but the zampoña’s timbre is pretty and I have a weakness for chord changes and pieces in minor.



Now constrast that modern zampoña player with this pair in traditional dress. I love the hats! My path to this picture is a bit windy. If you go to Wikapedia, you can get a list of various South American folk music traditions. I clicked “Huayño” (also known as Peruvian wayno, which is discussed in our textbook) and followed its external link to http://boleadora.com/andes.htm (a handy site with all sorts of Andean music), which had links to various groups’s websites including French http://www.waynakuna.com/, which had this picture. Whew!

How My Church Uses Music

“I firmly believe, nor am I ashamed to assert, that next to theology no art is equal to music; for it is the only one, except theology, which is able to give a quiet and happy mind.” - Martin Luther.

The religious music in my life is definitely Christian church music, because my family is Lutheran – which is why I get excited every time Dr. Vaneman mentions Luther. For the past several years my family has served as church musicians at a relatively traditional Lutheran church. I also participate in the traditional service at my church here in Spartanburg.

Music is not the primary event of our church service, but music is used prevalently, almost essentially, to reinforce the events and feelings of the service. Parts of the text of our liturgy are often sung rather than spoken; examples of liturgical music are the Kyrie (“Lord, have mercy”) during the Confession and Absolution of sins, the Gloria praising God for his forgiveness directly afterwards, and, sometimes, the Psalm of the day. Such liturgical music is sung by the pastor and the congregation and accompanied by the organ or the piano if there is no organist at the service. This wedding of music and word helps the congregation memorize the service.

Interspersed throughout the service are hymns, which are sung by the whole congregation and accompanied by the organ and often a few instrumentalists such as my flautist mother and violinist brother. Hymns are opportunities for the congregation to praise God and to respond or ponder any themes presented in the service, especially those of the scripture readings of the day.

The service also contains specific slots which are opportunities for “special” music performed by musicians of the congregation, either in groups or solo. “Special” music serves the dual purpose of influencing the mood of the congregation and of being an offering from the musician(s) to God; “special” music slots are often in influential parts of the service, such as the beginning, directly before the sermon, while offering is being taken, and at the end of the service. Because the primary audience of “special” music is God, the congregation is not supposed to clap when the performer is finished. However, my congregation does applaud when the toddlers sing, to let them know they did well (and because they’re adorable), and when a performance is exceptionally good. One Sunday at my church here in Spartanburg, Dr. Couch served as the substitute organist and did all sorts of good musical things in the service, so many people gathered to listen during his postlude (J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in F, BWV 540). We all clapped heartily when he had finished because it was excellent.

Many Christian denominations share these basic styles and uses of music in their services. How do the traditional Lutheran values influence our aesthetics and repertory?

Martin Luther valued music highly for its power over the emotions. He thought all of the congregation, not just a trained choir and church musicians, should make music to worship the Lord and to help remember facts about Him. The liturgical music in more-traditional Lutheran church services is therefore primarily sung in unison, has a limited range, and is rhythmically simple; the idea is to make it easy to sing and remember. Hymns are also designed to be easy to remember while still using the power of good music. Because the music-tradition is fairly strong within the Lutheran church and we sing a lot, hymnals usually give the hymns in four-part SATB, but the musically challenged can just sing the melody. Hymns are usually in strophic form such that the music repeats while the text changes. In both hymns and liturgical music, the congregation is helped by the accompanying organ and instruments. The hymns are usually ones we have all sung before, because the difficulty of learning new music distracts from the service.

Because music is an aid helping people draw closer to God, it is not performance-oriented, not even in “special” music. I cannot use any of my vaguely showy piano pieces in the church service, but clearly-religious (and Lutheran) Bach is fine, especially on the churchier organ. Church musicians dress nicely like the rest of the congregation but never in a showy or distracting manner; usually choirs have a uniform to simplify their appearance.

Generally, music is kept simple and secondary within the church service by keeping the songs and pieces fairly short; for “special” music, anything length over about five minutes is too long. The texts of the songs must be theologically sound (in the opinion of my church) and, preferably, fit the theme of that day’s service as represented in the readings and/or the sermon. In the traditional Lutheran view, music is merely an aid, but an important, powerful, and enjoyable aid, to the Christian faith.

Interesting things of the week

I found this photo of a Navajo earthen hogan in a book I spotted while in Mickel Library’s Native American Religion section looking for pictures. We talked a lot in class about the importance of repetition and circularity in the Native American and specifically Navajo culture, which, as you can see here, influences even the architecture. The smiles of the women next to the hogan are so friendly, I want to get to know them.

I stumbled on this link while Google searching for “Native American flute” images, but I like the article better than the image. The article discusses the history of Native American flutes, which we covered a bit in class although of course they are less pervasive than the drum in Native American music-culture. The story explaining the genesis of the flute is probably apocryphal but I think it’s sweet. http://www.wind-dancer-flutes.com/History_of_the_native_american_f.htm

I found this video while surfing YouTube using the suggestions and terms such as “Ewe”, “Ghana” and “Agbekor”, as we’ ve discussed the Ewe and Agbekor in class. This probably is not Agbekor, but it is Ewe music and dancing including the gankogui, and the young people enjoying themselves and learning their native dance brought a smile to my face. They’re so good already!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_MDVzF5JjI&feature=related

My Family as a Music-Culture

My family – my parents, I, and my brother – views music rather seriously, viewing music and musical talent as God-given. We believe that music is an essential way to praise God; this belief perhaps stems from that we are Lutheran. We value music’s ability to bring people together and to affect both the listener’s and the performer’s emotions. My parents value my brother’s and my training in Western Art music because, in my father’s words, “The pursuit of anything at a high level shows character, industriousness, and will to practice.” And oh yeah, my family also values music because we enjoy it.

So, how did and do we carry out these beliefs about music? My mother, who took some flute lessons when she was a girl, was in marching band, and has sung in church choirs for most of her life, plays flute and sings in the choir at church. She put us in children’s church choirs early. Soon my brother and I began to study Western Art music seriously, he as a violinist, I as a pianist. He and she both play in my church’s small “pit orchestra” which helps lead and accompany the hymn-singing. Occasionally my mother has us three sing a piece together as a musical offering during offertory or communion; she likes us to sing together. My father, who (according to himself) is not a musician, usually sings in the congregation.

Finding music ensembles to play or sing in (other than those at church) is a bit more difficult for homeschoolers, but my parents found a good children’s chorus in our area, ChildrenSong of New Jersey, that my brother and I sang in for several years. Later my brother joined the Philadelphia Sinfonia and is now Principal Violin II.

My brother and I both pursue our musical study on our instruments seriously; much of my family’s activities involving music stem from and support this study. We practice, take lessons, and perform in recitals and competitions. Part of the summer was reserved for this or that music camp. Sometimes our study was enjoyably supplemented by listening to CDs of Classical music and by attending recitals, concerts, and operas – the last most memorably as a telecasted Metropolitan Opera performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in a movie theater which was the only time our family has been in a movie theater.

Music is not always used seriously in my family. Lunchtime in our kitchen is often an occasion of some vocal improvisation (or mishmash of Classical music) using whatever words we manage to come up with; the word “cockatoo” is a favorite for rhyming purposes. When my mother does the dishes, she often sings her own version of the song “When the Saints Go Marching In”:
Oh when the dishes jump into the dishwasher,
Oh when the dishes jump into the dishwasher,
They’ll be oh so very, very happy –
Not to be confused with ‘snappy’!

My family does not do much casual listening, to pop or rock etc. – we’re usually far too busy with homeschool and practicing. So my family’s repertory is mostly Western art music and church music with some occasional World music thrown in. Sometimes I compose music which my brother supports and sometimes notates using LilyPond.

Of course, all these musical activities involve materials. Besides our main instruments, the flute, the violin, and a parlor grand piano in the living room, our house contains a digital piano which I began my study on, an autoharp, and a variety of novelty instruments we rarely play: a half-size guitar, a zither, a thumb piano, a tin whistle, Russian flutes, a Chime-Along, mountain ocarinas, a harmonica, a melodica, and a small drum. We also have two music stands, lots of printed Classical and Church music including 6 hymnals, and equipment to play our CDs and LPs on. Because I play organ, I also have organ shoes and, when at home, use my church’s organ. Our costumes in performances are the usual Western Art music ones.

I would say my family is rather musical. At least, music has become more important as my brother and I devote ourselves to it. And music has helped knit my family closer together.

Autobiography of my life in non-Western Art music

I will start at the very beginning in this autobiography of my interaction with non-Western Art music. One of my earliest memories is of a fish-shaped instrument rubbed with a stick, which I was handed to investigate in the context of a music class that I took when I was three years old. Later I learned that this instrument is called the güiro and is often used in Latin-American music.

I was introduced to much non-Western Art music when I was in ChildrenSong of New Jersey, a children’s choral program in my area. During my first year, when I was a seventh grader, we had a televised workshop with an African drum group. Besides rehearsing and performing – in beautiful African costumes – various songs with us, the group taught us to step and clap like their dancers did and showed us many of their instruments. Their percussion was very complicated, sometimes featuring one of the drummers virtuosically.

The second half of my last year in ChildrenSong was Celtic-themed. In our workshop, we worked on our many Celtic and Celtic-influenced songs and were taught some English sword-dancing (with wooden yardsticks), including a sequence in which we interlocked the sticks. We commissioned and premiered an SSA arrangement of “My Singing Bird.” As one of the solos in our fundraiser dinner, I sang “Waly Waly” from a book of Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English folk songs that I later sight-read through in piano practice. Some of our songs were in Irish Gaelic and accompanied by my brother on the violin. By the end of the spring, all this new background plus my family’s CD of some Scottish fiddle music inspired me to compose a simple melody imitating the Scottish style.

When I visited Converse as a prospective student last January, I got to sit in on last year’s Music of Diverse Cultures class (and be impressed with the class interaction). Dr. Vaneman was finishing up Indonesia and beginning Japan. She played an old video of a gamelan and some female dancers (who used very precise hand movements). She also played a recording of some Japanese flute music which was rather unmetered, very nature-like, and dynamically very precise and complex. We also watched a clip about Japanese puppet operas, which is a serious art-form in Japan. One man, off to the side, sang each of the puppet-characters, from a written notation whose exact meaning is jealously guarded and passed on from master to apprentice.

Last summer, my family went to the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival as part of our family vacation. The first concert, we heard the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which my father really enjoyed as we had lived in Slidell near New Orleans for a few years. The next night, we heard banjoist Béla Fleck and Toumani Diabaté, a kora player from a long line of Malian kora musicians who passed their expertise and music father-to-son. The kora is a large lute-like instrument made from a calabash and cow-skin and having 21 strings.