Music Around the World: Week 5: Music of South Asia

Monday, April 30, 2007

Week 5: Music of South Asia

Week 5

Today we finished our exploration of Japanese music by watching a documentary on Kabuki theater. I pointed out the ways by which the film explained the relationship between theater and society. Strict social norms, handed down by the Shogunate rulers and enforced by the Samurai class, governed ordinary people as well as the bourgeoisie. What could not be done in society became thematic obsession in theater: love relationships between upper class men and prostitutes, double suicides, sex and violence. In turn, themes in the theater influenced real life. Then we covered the shamisen and noted that all three of our listening examples had one playing. Compare the folksong (minyo) to the urban kouta and Kabuki examples. We heard Erica's presentation on Okinawan music focusing on an instrument called San-shin, related to the shamisen. How are the two instruments similar and different?
http://chiehwenc.blogspot.com/

You can choose to do the following question, or go on to the next question for this week's assignment:
1. Can you think of any examples in our day and age in which real life influences theater (or film or music or music video) and in turn these representations influence society?

READING FOR SOUTH ASIA: Ch. 6 South India (Carnatic style) Read pp. 209-224

Terms to know:
Sitar
Tabla
Tambura
Tala
Raga
Kriti
Carnatic (or Karnatak)
Hindustani (North Indian style)

LISTENING FOR SOUTH ASIA:

Under: Excursions in World Music INDIA

#25 Medium and fast gats in raga Yaman (Hindustani tradition)

#26 Kriti by Tyagaraja, BANTURITI (Carnatic tradition)

Next, we began our exploration of South Asian music by focusing on Carnatic or South Indian traditions that are closely related to Hindu devotional traditions. Go to your listening examples and compare the two styles (North and South), and we'll hear a guest lecture on Wednesday on Hindustani or Northern tradition. We heard Yeshika and Thuy's presentation on Bollywood (Indian film) music and dance, and they pointed to several examples of American popular culture that showed influences of Bollywood. We discussed the "double-edge sword" of representation in the mass media--that it's cool that American pop culture is influenced by Indian pop culture, but that often times those representations are riddled with stereotypes and exoticism. You can choose to write about this question as your assignment: 2. Can you think of an encounter with some type of representation in the mass media (give a musical example if possible) that you felt strongly about? It doesn't have to be about ethnicity--you could choose to write about gender identity, religious identity, or something else.
Bollywood/Indians in American popular culture via the Simpsons and hip hop presentation: http://tvuethno5.blogspot.com/ and http://yeshikas.blogspot.com/

Finally, Ajay presented on Bhangra, a really cool Punjabi music that uses a drum called Dhol played with mallets rather than the hands like tabla. http://ajaykethno5.blogspot.com/
See a dhol demonstration here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7d9-jQUWHQ&mode=related&search=
You can also search YouTube (isn't it great?) for Bhangra mixed with house, techno, rap, etc. that was big in the U.K. and also here to some extent in the U.S. among South Asian American youth.

Here are some of the terms that you asked about in section last Friday. Please ask me in class first thing if it's not clear:
1. *Background of ethnomusicology, what is ethnomusicology
I covered this extensively in the second class. Please get a study group together if you weren't there, or ask someone for the notes. Then browse the department's website and google "ethnomusicology" to get an idea of the history, and what individual academics study. Also, read Ch. 1 in your book.

2.*current population of Native Americans: Census 2000, 4.3 million people, or 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population, reported that they were at least part American Indian and Alaska Native.

3.*Importance of “encounters among ourselves” This was part of your reading in the Garland Encyclopedia. Why was it important for Pacific Islander peoples to revisit and sometimes reconstruct their cultures after gaining independence from colonialism?

4.*Kalinga people—hocket, how this form shows community solidarity
The Kalinga people of the Philippine northern mountains. You have a listening example.
#22 Saggeypo music of Kalinga people Read the description of why hocket reflects community values.

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE ANNOTATIONS FOR THE LISTENING. The capitalized words are the ones to know for the exam.

Upcoming Lectures on South Asian music:

UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology presents:

A lecture by Allyn Miner, Visiting Professor from the University of Pennsylvania*

“Ragas, Raginis, Sufis, and Sants: Reading North Indian Music History in a Sufi Epic of 1503”

Friday, May 11, 2007 at 3:00 PM
Gamelan Room, 1659 Schoenberg Music Building, UCLA

The Music Circle Presents

A Concert and Workshop Series

UDAY BHAWALKAR, dhrupad vocal
MANIKRAO MUNDE, pakhawaj

CONCERT:

Saturday, May 5, 2007, 8 PM
Herrick Chapel, Occidental College
Alumni Avenue & Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041

$15 Members • $25 General Admission • $5 Students with a valid ID

Concert Ethnography

Due: June 6, Wednesday, at the beginning of class, 15% of final grade Submit a 4-5 page (double-spaced) musical ethnography on a live world music concert you attended this quarter (see http://www.ethnomus.ucla.edu for a schedule of FREE UCLA concerts). Include a title page, with the title, your name, student ID, and major/year along with a concert program, handed out during the concerts, stapled to your paper IF POSSIBLE. Start with a statement of what your essay will address--some concept we covered in class such as identity, representation, context, aesthetics, ritual, etc., that ties all your information together (just like you've been doing in your blog assignments). Then, the ethnography will describe the music being played, the context or setting, the musicians, the audience, as well as your own experience, using the relevant analytical terms and techniques learned in class. You may also compare the music with another type of music (one studied in class) for further analysis. Pay attention to the (1) types of instruments being used (2) types of vocal music used (solo or chorus?) (3) Musical features such as call-and-response, complex meters, heterophonic textures, all the types of musical elements were learned in class. Other questions: Do you hear Western-style harmony in any of the pieces? What about the tempo and rhythms of the pieces? Does any one instrument seem to be featured or are they all more or less equal? Do you hear monophony, heterophony, or polyphony? Pay attention to the performers—are they mostly students or professionals or a mix? Is the audience composed of other students, relatives of the performers, or people who appear to share the same cultural heritage, or a mix? How do they respond to the music? Is the audience quietly listening, or are they clapping along and responding out loud? Anything else of interest should be noted. IF POSSIBLE, interview someone from the ensemble—why do they participate in the ensemble? How did they become interested in the music? How do they learn the music (by written notation or by aural transmission)? Would you want to perform or participate in this music? Why did you choose this particular concert to attend? Demonstrate your knowledge of class material by using information from the lectures, guest lectures, films, and textbook. Compare the original context (what one might find in the country of origin) to the one you attended (in a university setting, with students and professors, mixed audience). How do the audience, setting, musicians, and music differ? You can use outside sources IF WE DID NOT COVER THE MUSIC IN CLASS such as books, articles, recordings, interviews, videos, etc. Use the appropriate manner of in-text citation and of listing your references cited at the end (see the journal Ethnomusicology as a guide). The TA or I will be happy to look at preliminary drafts and advise you on any aspect of your project. Please proofread your paper and avoid mistakes in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary usage (they do count!).

Assignment: Week 8

In class, we discussed general principles of African music through aesthetics such as dense texture, and the relationship between social organization and musical organization (community participation vs. professional musicians). Think of a popular music artist/group or genre that you listen to...Can you list three to five aesthetic qualities that characterize the artist/group's music or that genre? What type of identity/image does that artist/group try to project through their music? In other words, how does the music sound reflect the artist/group's image/identity?

Music Around the World

Monday, April 30, 2007

Week 5: Music of South Asia

Concert Ethnography

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Assignment: Week 8

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