MUH 2051 Exam 1 Chapter 1 What in the world is music Humans Properties of Music Without people music cannot exist Humans construct sounds in some way in order to create music Even silence can be considered music For example the song 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds by John Cage illustrates the way that the audience shuffles in their seats during this silent piece 1 The basic property of all music is sounds 2 The sounds and silences that comprise a musical work are organized in some way 3 Sounds are organized into music by people thus music is a form of humanly organized sound 4 Music is a product of human intention and perception Intention Performer versus Perception Audience 5 Music is inescapably tied to Western culture and it s assumptions Properties of Sound 1 Frequency Pitch 2 Duration Length Rhythm 3 Timbre Tone Color How you describe the sound 4 Dynamics Volume Amplitude Tones Music HIP Approach A sound whose principal identity is a musical identity as defined by people who make or experience that sound Each tone gains musical meaning through its relationship with other tones environment Tones with particular properties can be associated with a certain symbol or place cultural They have different meaning in different cultures based on context For example a church bell can indicate the time that mass is beginning a wedding or a funeral is beginning or that it is a holiday Music is basically organized sound but all music is not organized in the same manner All sounds have the potential to be music It is a form of human organized sound Are the sounds intended and perceived as music Intention when a combination of sounds are organized by a person and presented as music Perception when any person listens to a combination of sounds and thinks it is music This approach privileges inclusiveness and emphasizes the idea that music is inseparable from the people who make and experience it For example Muslim s do not consider their Qur anic recitation to be music and yet some audiences perceive it that way Ethnocentrism MUH 2051 Exam 1 The imposition of cultural perspectives biases and assumptions on people and practices of other cultures We cannot help but impose our own culturally grounded perspectives biases and assumptions on lifestyles that are different from our own Our concept of music is as broad and open minded as we try to make it We can combat ethnocentrism by respecting our differences Chapter 2 How music lives a musical approach Ethnomusicology Musicultural Phenomenon Music Anthropology A field that studies the world s music An interdisciplinary academic field that draws on musicology anthropology and other disciplines in order to study the world s music How do musicians and musical institutions act and function relative to their societies You cannot have music without culture and you cannot have culture without music They are inseparable Where music as sound and music as culture are mutually reinforcing Music gives rise to meaning identity transmission and creation That complex whole which includes knowledge belief art law morals customs capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society A process of creative transformation whose most remarkable feature is the continuity it nurtures and sustains The essential glue that binds together sound and culture to form music Notes can acquire meaning relative to other notes Musical sounds acquire meaning in relation to things beyond themselves Bi musicality Alan Merriam When someone is versed in one or more musical field Edward Burnett Tylor He wrote the Anthropology of Music in 1964 and he described ethnomusicology as having two aspects music and culture In 1871 he defines culture as the complex that includes knowledge belief art law morals customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society Culture Tradition Meaning Reflectivity Identity Music reflects culture The only question is how Music is an expression of ourselves and is a reflection of our experiences and cultural backgrounds Music can connect us to the spiritual world and it reflects our religious beliefs MUH 2051 Exam 1 Diaspora Communities Defined by people s ideas about who they are and what unites them with or distinguished them from other people and entities Example Who am I and Who are we Nationalist music is often promoted by governments and other official institutions to symbolize an idealized national identity Communities that broke off from another and migrated somewhere else They took their cultures with them and infused it into their new community An international network of communities linked together by identification with a common ancestral homeland and culture Special events during which individuals enact their core beliefs values and ideals through performance These reveal information about how people conceive the world and their place or purpose in it Non linguistic syllables that have no meaning that are used in vocal performances A group of persons regarded as forming a single community of related independent individuals Movements of the body that represent the embodiment of music through organized movement This can also reflect culture Rituals Vocables Society Dance Methods of Transmission of Musical Knowledge 1 Formal being taught 2 3 Structured being taught and growing up with it Informal teaching yourself Participatory Music Presentational Music Creation Processes The audience helps out in some way with the performance There is a clear performer and a clear audience 1 Composition planning out the music ahead of time prior to performance 2 Interpretation music performers make an existing piece of music their own in some way Example musical covers 3 Improvisation adding things as you go along on a whim composing on the spot 4 Arranging changing a preexisting composition to fit your needs and make it something new Seke Gong Gamelan Belenganjur Aka a Gamelan Club Composed of male performers from Bali who belong to the same place group They play on the Gamelan MUH 2051 Exam 1 Virtual Communities Musical Syncretism Fieldwork Musical Cycles A gamelan that is said to possess special powers that ward off evil spirits A community that is forged in the electronic sphere of cyberspace The merging of formerly distinct styles and idioms into new forms of expression A hallmark for ethnomusicology research Involves living among people whose lives and music you are researching Patterns that are repeated over and over again
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