Chapter 2 How Music Lives a musicultural approach I Introduction a Music becomes important mainly in the context of human life In what people do i ii Who they think they are iii What they value iv What they believe b It is the beliefs and practices that are embedded in music rather than the sounds themselves that reveal the most profound insights into what makes music meaningful and significant in people s lives i Ethnomusicology an interdisciplinary academic field that draws on musicology and other disciplines in order to study the world s music c Ethnomusicologists are interested in understanding music as a musicultural phenomenon i Phenomenon in which music as sound and music as culture are mutually reinforcing and where the two are essentially inseparable from one another II Culture in music a Edward Tyler definition of culture i That complex whole which includes knowledge belief art law morals custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society 1 Encompasses all parts of lives Religions and political systems a b Language and technology c Rituals and dances d Modes of work and play e Things that make them laugh and cry f What they wear and what they eat g The music they make and listen to III Meaning of Music a Sounds turn into music once meaning is attached to them b Note common term used to refer to specific tones in a piece of music c The two ways that tones are meaningful i First we invest meaning with the context from the song in the parts notes 1 This kind of meaning is essentially limiting to the sounds themselves in other words to music solely as a phenomenon of sound ii Second musical sounds acquire meaning in relation to things beyond themselves 1 Meaning is determined by context a Mary had a little Lamb melody changed instead used for funeral melody changing of the meaning d Example shamans rational healers among the Warao the Amerindian people of Venezuela i Musical meaning as a phenomenon of culture explains why they believe that are certain songs that have the ability to heal people and why other kinds of songs have the power to make people sick and even die e Example Chinese opera To be such a man i Is perceived as beautiful by its Chinese admirers but may be perceived quite difficulty by people who do share their same P O V of music ii Cow bells and squeaky woman s voice IV Identity In Music a How people view themselves and represent themselves to other people is inseparable from the meaning they place on music b Conceptions of music and identity are closely tied i Identity people s ideas about who they are and what unites with or distinguishes them from other people and entities 1 Individuals family communities institutions cultures societies nations supernatural powers c Music will always answer two questions i Who am I 1 Your involvement with music will inevitably contribute to your conception to who you think you are ii Who are we 1 The music you associate will cause you to identify and socialize with certain individuals d Music also frames related questions pair i Who is she or he and who are they ii Basis for judging music both foreign and western 1 Mongolian singing performance a Sounds like they are talking into a fan with a weird strumming of acoustic guitar 2 Central Javanese gamelan performance from Indonesia a Out of sink ritual chanting through a tunnel 3 Rabbit Dance opening native American a May sound like foreign language and makes you think that the performers are isolated away from the modern western world 4 Rabbit dance complete native American a If you listen closely they are singing in English one of the lines are hey sweetheart I often think of you I wonder if you are thinking of me e Vocables generic term used by musicologists to describe nonlinguistic syllables that are used in vocal performances i They were used in the native American song Dancing Rabbit the ii intro Powwow intertribal celebration 1 Eagle and Hawk Dance a Rock band non traditional b Blend of rock folk rock and traditional first nations musical elements c The song consists entirely of vocables f Identity in music is located at many different levels i Societies 1 A groups of persons regarded as forming a single community of related interdependent individuals a Societies are Rooted in social organization 2 The focus of studying music and society a How music functions among the members of a society to foster a sense of community and sometimes to challenge it 3 Societies as imagined communities a The term society usually refers to a nations and due to the size they may not necessarily know everyone face to face but they share a connection to one another through ideas and social institutions 4 Societies are built around social institutions a The study of music and society focuses on how musicians and musical instruments function relative to their societies 5 Example gamelan from Bali Indonesia played by large group of extremely coordinated musicians a Percussion instruments i Gongs drums cymbals and xylophone b Sounds like a bunch of wind chines wood and c Social institution of the performance is the sekehe drumming gong gamelan club i Each village ward or banjar makes up group ii They compete in competitions with other neighboring town and also perform in religious ceremonies d Traditionally all male i Western influence has reached Indonesia allowing women s roles to be broadened 1 They now have women s banjar clubs 2 They perform at political rallies and other nationalistic events but they are rarely ever involved in the religious observances rituals ii Cultures 1 A culture is defined mainly by a collective world view shared by its members a They are rooted in ideas beliefs and practices that underscore social organizations i Religion ideologies sciences philosophies moral and ethical principals artistic creations and ritual performances 2 Balinese Sekehe Gong a The gamelon beleganjur is a special processional gong used during cremation process i Only men are thought to have the strength to properly deliver the music so that the souls of the deceased can travel safely to world of gods 1 They believe that demons can grab the souls and drag them down the only solace is the male gong group ii The cultural significance the afterlife depends on the gender of the performer 1 During the mid 90 s there was a women s emancipation movement which resulted in having women become members or started their own benjar groups 2 Both men and women feel that
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