Chapter 3: Music as culture:Music Culture and Instrumental Timbers

– Culture foundations of Music• In Mesopotamia archeologist have

uncovered rattles, flutes, and harp-like instruments dating to almost 2000 b.c.

• Considered the arts an important in their lives

– Exploring Music and Culture:• There are many cultures throughout the

world with unwritten Musical traditions we know what the music sounds like due to two types of scholars:

– Anthropologist: Scholars who study the physical and cultural characteristics and social customs of a group of people

– Ethnomusicologist: Scholars who study the music of different cultural groups.

» They study both unwritten and written music traditions and are interested in how music and culture influence one another

– Toward a Definition of Culture:• Culture is a word with multiple meanings

– Culture is the customs, beliefs, language , arts, and institutions of a group of people that are learned and transmitted within the group

• Music culture: is the performance practices, means, traditions, used and beliefs about music of a group of people, either from a specific time or place.

• Elements of Music: – Regardless of its culture origin, almost all music

shares several common elements these include:• Melody: a logical succession of musical tones• Rhythm: The way the beats or pulses are

organized and subdivided• Timber: The distinct tone quality of an

instrument or voice, which is clearly identifiable by the ear. Some people refer to timber as “Tone Color”

• Pitch: the highness or lowness of sound determined by its frequency of vibration

– Identifying Instrumental Timbers:• People’s perception is sharpened when an

individual can identify the differences among the sounds we hear.

• Each culture fashions its instruments using the natural materials of the region– Such resources include: fiber,

metal, reed, wood, gut, animal skin, and even stone.

• Instruments are isolated five fundamental categories, based on how the sound is produced:– Aerophones: instruments that

produce sound by a vibrating column of air.

– Membranphones: Instruments that produce sound by striking or rubbing a skin or membrane stretched across a resonating air chamber.

– Chordophones: are instruments that produce sound by striking or rubbing a skin membrane plucking a taut string.

– Electrophone: instruments that generate sound from electricity

– Idiopones: simple solid instruments that produce sound by being struck, scraped, or shaken

• Musical Catagories– Music can be categorized in several ways:

• Genre : is a particular type of music with a distinctive form or sound

• Musical style: A form of expression within a musical genre

– One of the most common ways to classify music is to use three broad categories:• Traditional• Popular• Classical

• Traditional Music, Popular music, and Classical Music– Traditional Music: Sometimes referred to as Folk

Music is informal music that develops within and is strongly associated with a cultural group or region• Is categorized by its natural quality• Almost all countries and societies have developed

traditional music– Popular Music: Is music intended for a wide

audience, often featuring prominent melodies• Popular music genres and styles often have roots in

traditional and even classical music• Popular music is your music

– Classical Music: it is a style of “art” music that stands apart form traditional and Popular• Classical musicians have formal training;

performances tend to be more refined and less spontaneous.

• Classical music traditions were originally associated with the more educated members of society

• Traditional Music Cultures:– Traditional musical styles and genres are often associated with

specific cultures or geographic areas. • Examples of traditional music cultures in America are: blues

and Jazz• Blues: is a genre of African American music that often

expresses frustration, sadness or longing– The vocal quality is most often straight forward, folk

like singing that dips and slides. – The texts and style of the blues originated in

spirituals and work songs of enslaved African Americans.

• Jazz is a musical form distinguished by its reliance on improvisation and its rhythmic urgency.

– Originated in New Orleans– Characteristics: polyrhythmic, juxtaposing two or

more different rhythms • Popular Musical cultures:

– Not only is one’s culture reflected in the popular music, but often popular music can be so unique that it creates its own culture.• Motown: is a nickname for Detroit Michigan. Short for

motor city• Motown was established by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1960• Motown of the 1960’s established a “sound” and style of

dress and Performance that remains easily identifiable. • Also propel African American artist into the popular music

mainstream.– Cover refers to one musician’s playing or recording of a song made

famous by another artist.• Classical Music Cultures:

– Adjectives that describe Classical music:• Formal, complex, and sophisticated

– Classical music is commonly associated with a specific time, known as the Classical period, composers such as Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Mozart wrote some of their greatest works.

– The Classical Period:• Composers depended upon a system of patronage for their

livelihood. – Often kings, members of nobility, wealth church

leaders.

– Worked as contract workers

– The Emerging Middle Class:• With the middle class making

more money they wanted what the elite had.– These encompassed: music,

theatre, and literature. – Wrote music for armature

musicians– Used familiar folk and

popular tunes as themes for their classical symphonies

– Two important musicians from the classical period are: Mozart and Haydn

• Chamber music: is music written during the classical period for small ensembles – Music played in small

rooms; many concerts took place in private homes for social gatherings and at parties