Culture/Origin: American Musical Theater/Hollywood/Disney
Orchestration: Voice, Orchestra
Reaction: While reading about Musical Play and the clean up song, I couldn't help but think about this song. By making a tedious and icky task into a game with music, children learn to associate fun with tasks generally seen as, well, not fun. It also serves as a learning tool for children, teaching them how to work together to clean up a mess or get a task done as well as that sometimes you need to complete tasks you may not initially wish to complete.
Performers: (He may say his name, but I can't really understand him)
Culture/Origin: Classroom Boredom
Orchestration: Voice, Pencil, Desk
Reaction: Wade spoke a lot about the idea of composition vs improvisation. Jazz was mentioned along with multiple other traditions within other cultures such as India and China. When I was reading about Wade's ideas I thought about goofing off in the back of the bus on music trip, and how someone would start a beat and everyone else would join in. The next thing I thought was what you see in the video above, pencil tapping, the added bonus in the video above is rapping. Many wouldn't consider the above video composition, but if you think about it, improvisation is merely on the spot composition. To be more specific, Wade defines improvisations as, "a compositional process in which a musician exercises relatively great flexibility with given material during a performance." While I fully agree with most of Wade's definition, I have a problem with the last three words, "during a performance." Improvisation can happen, as you can see above, during random periods of the day. Personally, I was fond of tapping out fun beats to keep myself occupied during my less exciting classes in high school. Sure, it wasn't a Bach Cantata, but it was a fun beat that I created a tune to in my head. Composition can happen any where at any time, no performance necessary. Heck, you don't even need tools we consider "instruments." Why carry around drum sticks when pencils are much smaller and weigh less?
Reaction: This is the version of "By the Waters" that I am accustomed to singing at Tisha B'av, a jewish holiday in remembrance of the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem. However, at a reading session at OMEA for the Middle School/Junior High level, I came across a new arrangement of this song, arranged my Catherine Delanoy. You can view a copy of the score at the website. In the article we read, "Music That Represents Culture: Selecting Music with Integrity" by Carlos R. Abril, Abril states, "The key [to authenticity] is in determining how much can be lost before the music is no longer a reflection of the culture purportedly being represented." He also talks about "Cultural Validity." At the beginning of Delanoy's arrangement of "By the Waters," I actually didn't recognize the song. However, once we got past the beginning section, I realized what the songs was. At first, I was a little upset by Delanoy's arrangement, but I realized that the song did, in fact, maintain a tone I found appropriate for the song, and while she embellished the beautiful, simple musical lines of the song, the arrangement proves to have excellent teaching tools for middle school students. Thus, Delanoy kept within Cultural Validity of the song by maintaining an appropriate musical tone, and as long as a music educator looks up the context for the use of the song, that educator will ensure to maintain enough of the musical context to uphold a strong "reflection of the culture purportedly being represented."
In her article "Deep Listening to the Musical World" Patricia Shehan Campbell outlines the 3 phrases of musical listening. I felt this song would be good a good candidate this idea of musical listening. While it may not be a song for the beginning listener, it does have many qualities for good, musical listing. I found this piece to be the most relevant for Campbell's second phase of musical listening, Engaged Listening. There are multiple instruments and parts to this song creating a challenge for a good listener. By asking a student to play a long with one of the less predominant parts to this piece of music, the student could learn a great deal. For instance, I had a bit of trouble defining the orchestration of this piece, but by listening closely to one part at a time, I found it easier to identify the different parts. Not only will a student acquire better dictation skills with rhythm, but students will be able to better learn the difference between different musical instruments that may sound quite similar.
Performer: Patricia Eredia
Culture/Origin: America- African American Slaves
Orchestration: Voice and Guitar
Reaction: When I think of Follow the Drinking Gourd, I remember learning it in elementary school and later about the meaning behind it. The "drinking gourd" referred to the north star and slaves were told to "follow the drinking gourd" along the Undergroud Railroad to reach the North and receive their freedom. African American Slaves had many of these spirituals to get them through the long, endless days of forced manual labor, and they would unite with these songs. While I have never met Ms. Patricia Eredia, I feel her performance can be at least somewhat considered "authentic." While she is clearly not a slave seeking freedom in the North, she puts emotion into the song. Additionally, the whole audience gets involved with clapping much how the slaves would unite due to these songs. Paticia uses soul in her performance, and thats what the slaves' spirituals were all about, soul, and the will to unite and move forward another day.
In response to "Chapter 2: Thinking About Instruments" from Thinking Musically:
Title: Turkey Plates in a Party Store
Performers: GarageBand Instruments
Culture/Origin: America
Orchestration: MIDI sounds, GarageBand Loops, and Digital Audio
My Response: Well, I actually composed this song myself for Music Tech last semester, but I found it relevant to the chapter on instruments because I use jazz loops, middle eastern influenced loops, as well as a turkey gobble, all of which use different instruments. The organization of the instruments in my composition give it the feel of possibly shopping at a grocery store for Thanksgiving dinner and remind the listener not to over look my favorite holiday. (You can find a mini-rant of mine about not over looking my favorite holiday in an earlier post of mine in this blog.) While I realize the idea behind this blog for MUED 305, World Music is to discovery music outside our usual listening purview, I found myself thinking about this piece all throughout the reading of this chapter. I mean, where else are you going to find a piano and a cello homogeneously working together rear-ended by a heterogeneous turkey gobble?
