The World of Music7th edition

Part 3

Listening to World Music

Chapter 7: Music of the Americas

Native American Music• Non-European• Unique

– Instruments– Functions– Aesthetics

• Ignored– Unknown—even today– Little (or no) Influence on

Popular Music• Oral Tradition

from one elder/”old people” to the next generation

• Great Variety between Tribes– Because they remained isolated

from other American cultures and each other

Native American Music cont.

• Vocables• Little or no intended harmony• Narrow range (Octave or less)• Songs accompanied dancers/dancing typically• Instruments made of available materials

– Skins– Indigenous metals or other materials for the body of the drum

• Vertical Flute/Recorder type instruments• Rattles/shakers made of natural (Logs/wood) or animal

parts (Hooves, antlers, bones, etc.)• Pow-wows

Ethnic Music in the United States

• Rural Europeans became urban, (Concentrated) ethnic Americans.

• Immigrants were a strong market for recordings of the music of their homeland.

• Often their tastes were modified by experiences in the new world.

• Examples– Reggae

– Salsa

– Bossa Nova

– Tex-Mex

– Mariachi

– Cajun/Zydeco

– Klezmer

Reggae• From Jamaica

– And other Carribean Island nations

• Connected to – Rastafarianism– Black Nationalism– Social Reform

• Substyles– Ska (1950’s)

• Jamaican R+B– Rocksteady

• An evolution of Ska emphasizing socioeconomic and Jamaican Nationalism

• A precursor to Rap? (80’s)– Early Reggae had poetic recitations

over background music tracks• Artists

– Jimmy Cliff– Bob Marley– Bunny Wailer– Peter Tosh

• Influenced Later Artists– The Police– Rancid– Rap/Hip-hop

Latino• Salsa (Cuba)

– Ironically created in NY City with/by Cuban and Puerto Rican Musicians

• Salsa Musicians– Ruben Blades– Tito Puente

• Bossa Nova (Brazil)– Derived from Brazilian Samba and imported Musically by

Jazz musicians who visited Brazil (50’s)• Bossa Nova Musicians

– Antonio Carlos Jobim– Joäo Gilberto

Latino Music cont.• Tex-Mex (Texas and Mexico)

– aka Tejano– Performed by a Conjunto (Combo type ensemble)

• Button Accordian• Baja Sexto• Sometimes Drums and Sax

– Styles include Corrido (story/ballad) and Ranchera (Mexican C+W)• Tex-Mex Musicians

– Little Joe Hernandez– Texas Tornados

• Mariachi (Mexico)– Traditional Folk (mostly local) Ensembles– Consists of:

• Harps• Violins• Trumpets• Vilhuelas or Jarana (Small guitars)• Guitarron (Acoustic Bass Guitar)• Voices as well

Cajun/Zydeco (Louisiana)• Cajun

– Mostly Whites, – French Language– Instruments

• Fiddle• Accordion

• Zydeco– Mostly Blacks, – French Language– Instruments

• Accordion• Electric Guitar• Electric Bass• Drums• Washboard

– King of Zydeco:• Clifton Chenier

– Other Musicians• Buckwheat Zydeco• Rockin’ Dopsie

Music of Latin America• Latin America encompasses S. Am., C. Am., Car. Islands, etc. (A large area)• Traditional Folk Music from Mestizo people

– Indian and Spanish ancestry• Use instruments in different categories

– Aerophones• Wind instruments

– Idiophones• Percussion Instruments made of natural items

– Membranophones• Percussion instruments with skins/membranes on them

– Chordophones• Instruments with strings

• Influenced by European concepts– Harmonically similar– Little chromaticism– Limited range– Major and minor tonality – sometimes in the same song– Syncopated rhythms

• Mixed meters occurring at the same time

• Influenced by the Catholic Church due to colonialism in the 16th century