WORLD MUSIC
AFRICA
In Africa we have the following culture areas: Sub-Saharan and Arabic.
Sub-Saharan music
Characteristics:
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Rhythm is the basic element.
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Polyrhythm: simultaneous sounding of two or more conflicting rhythms.
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Call and response: conversational style in which a group of instruments
or voices answers a soloist. -
Ostinato: repetition of a musical unit.
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Dance and body percussion: hand clapping, foot stamping.
Instruments: 1 algaita (oboe), 2 kora (harp), 3 sanza or kalimba (made of metal bars),
4 balafon (xylophone made of wood and gourds), 5 djembe, 6 talking drum, 7 shekere (shaker).
Arabic music
Characteristics:
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Melody is the basic element and it focuses on ornaments. It rarely includes harmony and chords.
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The predominant texture is monophony or heterophony.
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It's mainly vocal music, due to the connection between music and poetry.
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Quarter tones: Arabic musical system divides the octave into 24 equal quarter tones.
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Maqam: organization of melody in which each maqam is similar to a scale and has a different character.
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Iqa': organization of rhythm in repeating patterns ranging from 2 to 48 beats.
Instruments: 1 ney (flute), 2 zurna (oboe), 3 rebab (violin), 4 oud (lute), 5 darbuka (drum), 6 riq (tambourine).
ASIA
Characteristics of Asian music:
- Melody is the basic element with vibrato, glissando and microtones.
- Vocal timbres are often nasal in women and guttural in men.
- The predominant texture is heterophony.
Indonesia
A gamelan ("to hammer") is a is a traditional ensemble from Bali and
Java made up of around 40 instruments, mainly metallophones, gongs,
drums, which accompanies celebrations and theatre. Debussy and Ravel
first discovered gamelan music at Paris Exposition Universelle 1889 and
it influenced their works.
India
Indian classical music has two styles Hindustani music (North) and Carnatic music (South), which are similar because they use a raga and a tala per song.
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Shrutis: Indian musical system divides the octave into 22 shrutis or microtones.
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Raga: organization of melody that is improvised from basic rules and learnt by imitating and memorizing. Each raga is associated with a different time of the day, season or mood.
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Tala: organization of rhythm in repeating patterns ranging from 3 to 128 beats.
Instruments: 1 shehnai, 2 pungi (flutes), 3 sitar (lute), 4 santur (zither), 5 tabla, 6 mridangam (drums).
India
Indonesia (gamelan)
China
Chinese traditional music is featured by the close relationship with poetry and evokes nature.
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Several types of notation were used but none of them indicated rhythm.
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Vocal melody is limited by the fact that, in Chinese, inflection affects a word's meaning.
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Pentatonic scale, roughly represented by the black keys on a piano, is the most common scale.
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Peking Opera: traditional theatre that combines music, dance, mime, martial arts and acrobatics.
Instruments: 1 suona (oboe), 2 sheng (mouth organ), 3 erhu (violin), 4 pipa (lute), 5 guzheng (zither), 6 tanggu (drum).
Japan
Japanese music is similar to Chinese music with pentatonic scales and similar instruments.
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Gagaku: court music and instrumental group which plays this music.
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Kabuki: burlesque theatrical music.
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Nöh: religious theatrical music.
Instruments: 1 shakuhachi (flute), 2 sho (mouth organ), 3 shamisen, 4 biwa (lutes), 5 koto (zither), 6 taiko (drum).
OCEANIA
Characteristics of Oceanic music:
- It is primarily vocal music.
- Polyphonic music was introduced by Europeans.
- Traditional music is associated with the supernatural.
Micronesia
Kiribati music: battles between clans often took the form of music
and dance competitions, which put the performers into an ecstatic
state in which the power of the spirits seem to work through them.
Melanesia
Vanuatu Women's water music: unique musical tradition of moving and pounding water to produce rhythms.
Kaluli music from Papua New Guinea: is interlocked with the sounds of the rain forest (birds, insects, rain) which are imitated or used.
Instruments: 1 susap or mouth harp that creates the illusion of speech with love-controlling magic to attract.
Polynesia
Haka from New Zealand: vigorous Maori dance performed to intimidate the enemy with shouted chorus, hissing sounds, attack or defensive body postures, hand flutters, glaring eyes, grimaces and protrusions of the tongue.
Hawaiian music is simple in melody and rhythm but complex in poetry.
Instruments: 2 nose flute, 3 ukulele.
Australia
Aboriginal music is the oldest music in Australia and it plays a central role in both social and sacred life.
Instruments: 4 didgeridoo is an aerophone which produces a continuous fundamental note or drone with circular breathing by inhaling through the nose and storing air in the cheeks.
AMERICA
American music mixes European, African and Amerindian traditions.
North America
Native American music: is the traditional music used for ceremonial purposes,
healing, expression and recreation. The most important aspects are percussion and
singing of meaningless vocables or syllables. It usually begins with slow and steady
beats that grow gradually faster and more emphatic. Circle dances such as the
Ghost Dance are common to many Native American tribes.
Instruments: 1 Anasazi flute, 2 eagle bone whistle, 3 Apache fiddle, 4 drums.
Appalachian music: is the traditional music of Appalachia (Eastern USA).
It's a fusion of English ballads, Irish and Scottish folk (especially fiddle music), hymns and blues.
Instruments: 5. fretted dulcimer, 6. fiddle, 7. banjo.
Cajun music: is the traditional music of Louisiana which derived
from the ballads of the francophone Acadians of Canada,but
later developed into dance music.
Instruments: 8 Cajun accordion, 9 fiddle, 10 triangle.
Tejano music: it was born in Texas as a fusion of pop, rock, polka,
R&B and Latin American music.
Instruments: 11 accordion, 12 bajo sexto.
Central America and Caribbean
Mexico
Ranchera: music genre originated in a rural context, whose lyrics deal with love, patriotism. E.g. "Cielito Lindo".
Corrido: narrative song derived from the romance, about socially relevant topics. E.g. "La cucaracha".
Son jarocho: music genre from Veracruz with indigenous, Spanish and African influences. E.g. "La Bamba".
Instruments: 1 guitarrón, 2 guitarra de golpe, 3 vihuela, 4 violin, 5 trumpet. Performers: mariachis.
Cuba
Guajira: music genre derived from the Cuban son, which is featured by its arpeggiated guitar or piano parts. E.g. "Guantanamera".
Mambo: dance influenced by jazz and big bands. E.g. Pérez Prado "Mambo n. 5".
Salsa: dance developed in New York in the 70s as a mix of jazz, rock, Cuban son and Latin music. E.g. Celia Cruz.
Instruments: 6 bongos, 7 congas, 8 cowbell, 9 timbales, 10 maracas, 11 claves, 12 güiro.
Dominican Republic
Merengue: dance in duple meter, born in the early 19th century, that is danced with a sideways couple two-step. E.g. Elvis Crespo.
Bachata: melancholic genre derived from the bolero and Spanish guitar music, which nowadays is closer to pop. E.g. Juan Luis Guerra.
Instruments: 13 güira and other Latin percussion instruments.
Trinidad & Tobago
Calypso: dance originated in the early 20th century associated with carnival. It is often performed by a steel band made up of various types of steel drums and other Latin percussion instruments. E.g. Harry Belafonte.
Instruments: 14 steel drum.
Jamaica
Reggae: music genre that incorporates elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento, calypso, African and Latin music. It is featured by offbeat rhythms and staccato chords called skank. E.g. Bob Marley.
South America
Andean music: Quechua, Aimara and Spanish influences.
Carnavalito: collective dance associated with carnival from the Andean regions.
Instruments: 1 quena, 2 siku, 3 ocarina (flutes), 4 charango (guitar), 5 harp, 6 bombo legüero (drum).
Argentina
Tango: sensual dance derived from the fusion of various forms of African, Latin American and European music. It originated in the 19th century in lower-class districts of Montevideo and Buenos Aires. E.g. "Por una cabeza".
Instruments: 7 bandoneon.
Brazil: Amerindian, African and Portuguese influences.
Samba: dance in 2/4 associated with carnival, with a sung chorus to a batucada rhythm.
Instruments: 8 cuíca, 9 surdo, 10 tamborim, 11 chocalho, 12 agogô.
Bossa nova: music genre that means "new trend" and mixes samba and jazz, with highly syncopated rhythms. E.g. "Garota de Ipanema".
Capoeira: martial art that combines music, dance and acrobatics.
Instruments: 13 berimbau, 14 atabaque.
Colombia
Cumbia: music genre derived from a courtship dance practiced among
African slaves, that later mixed with Amerindian and Spanish elements.
It is featured by a distinctive gallop rhythm. E.g. "La pollera colorá".
Vallenato: music genre that means "born in the valley" originated from
rural life in the Caribbean region of Colombia. E.g. Carlos Vives.
Instruments: 15 accordion, 16 caja vallenata, 17 guacharaca.
EUROPE
Western Europe
Celtic music: musical tradition of the Celts, which often accompanies
social events, gatherings in the pub or work songs such as sea shanties.
It usually uses strophic form and heterophonic texture.
Instruments: 1 tin whistle, 2 fiddle, 3 clàrsach (harp), 4 bagpipes,
5 accordion, 6 bodhrán (drum).
Northern Europe
Sami music: musical tradition of the Circumpolar peoples from Norway,
Sweden, Finland, which is a fusion of indigenous and modern sounds.
Yoiks are a cappella songs without rhyme or fixed structure dedicated to
a person, animal or landscape.
Instruments: 7 kantele (zither), 8 Sami drum.
Eastern Europe
Russian folk music: It is primarily vocal. Songs were an integral part of daily village life. This music often accompanies traditional dances with the typical squatting step called prisiadka.
Instruments: 9 balalaika (guitar), 10 gusli (zither), 11 spoons.
Klezmer: musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews which is played at weddings and other celebrations by professional musicians called klezmorim. The melodies were originally based on the chants of the synagogue.
Instruments: clarinets, flutes, violins and accordion.
Southeastern Europe
Bulgarian women's choirs: choral tradition featured by a peculiar timbre, asymmetrical meter and unusual harmonies, which often involve a major or minor second.
Central Europe
Yodel: traditional Alpine form of singing which involves repeated and
rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitched chest register and
the high-pitched head register or falsetto. It was a rural tradition used
by shepherds to call their stock or to communicate between villages.
Instruments: 12 accordion, 13 alphorn.
Southern Europe
Fado: it means "fate". Portuguese music genre characterized by
melancholic melodies and lyrics.
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