Music Around the World: Final Blog writing assignment

Friday, May 25, 2007

Final Blog writing assignment

Wednesday's Presentations:

http://garymethno5.blogspot.com/2007/05/african-dance.html African elements in American dance

http://carroolly.blogspot.com/2007/05/lindy-hop-demo-sf-jitterbugs-lindy-hop.html

Andrea P.--Thomas Mapfumo

Alice Zhang--African griots

This is the topic for your last blog assignment, worth 2pts and due FRIDAY JUNE 1ST, to give you an extra day. It should be the double the amount you normally write for an assignment, about 1 or 1 1/2 pages of text (on a word document).

QUESTION: You are an ethnomusicologist giving a 2-hour lecture on American music in a foreign country. What artists, music, genres, and concepts would you choose to represent American music and culture? From what era? Would you choose to give an historical overview since Europeans and Africans arrived, or would you choose to cover contemporary music or one type of music (such as Jazz) or music of various ethnic groups such as Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, etc.? Give an outline of your lecture including listening examples you'd play, and the reasons you chose these musics, genres, artists, etc. to represent American music.

Featured Blogs:
http://drewburns.blogspot.com/2007/05/i-recently-went-to-bullet-for-my.html Aesthetics of Heavy Metal

http://chiehwenc.blogspot.com/2007/05/week-8.html Aesthetics of Chinese pop and J-pop and its appeal to Asian Americans

http://jrchung54.blogspot.com/2007/05/ethno-5-blog-8.html Related "individualism" of American rap to community-mindedness of Korean rap

http://akashd.blogspot.com/ Aesthetics of Bay Area rap

http://ethnomusicology5mahasami.blogspot.com/

http://alicezethno5.blogspot.com/

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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

Friday, May 25, 2007

Final Blog writing assignment

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Concert Ethnography

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Assignment: Week 8

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