Music History Exam 2

didjeridu

end-blown wooden trumpet that imitates the sound of nature’s continuous drone, drone pitch is changed using humming/vocables, believed that it is a way to communicate with ancestors and spirits, made from a branch hollowed out by termites,

corroboree

nighttime sacred ritual in Aboriginal culture, involves performance of aboriginal song, white body paint, and dances around campfires

dreamtime/the dreaming

Aboriginal spiritual belief system, it is their story of creation in which mythic beings shaped and created the natural environment, animistic and totemistic beliefs, didjeridu allows humans to connect with dreamtime and gain awareness of the dreaming

Aboriginal cosmology

Aboriginal spiritual beliefs related to the dreamtime, beliefs of “sky-world” - “‘The sky was a canopy covering all and coming down beyond the horizon to meet and enclose the flat surface on which men and women followed the fixed pattern of their lives’.”

Wondjina

Aboriginal spirits, thought to be the creators of the universe, still present, just not visible

Musical Bow

considered some of worlds earliest instruments, played by drawing stick across string and using mouth as resonator, which creates “otherworldly” tone

umrhubhe

musical bow associated with Xhosa people from Eastern cape of South Africa

Uhadi

Musical bow variant that uses a gourd resonator

Umakheweyana

Musical bow associated with Zulu people, uses gourd resonator and is often much bigger than other musical bows

Khoisan

indigenous people of southern Africa

Azmari tradition

secular tradition in which musicians offered social critique, transmitted information, or spread news of recent events, sophisticated texts were improvised, important but ambiguous part of royal court, performed at celebrations and in bars (tej bets), lots of embellishments and vocables

masinqo

single-string bowed lute that Azmari musicians play to accompany themselves

Abyssinia

Ethiopian empire, had magnificent moving court

Christianity in Ethiopia

Kingdom of Aksum adopted christianity very early, Ethiopia has oldest christian church in Africa

ge’ez

literary and liturgical language of Ethiopia

St. Yared

Patron St. of music, composed lots of Ethiopian liturgical sacred music in the 6th century

melekket notational system

16th century Ethiopian musical notation system for Ethiopian church music

Krar

5 or 6 stringed bowl-shaped plucked lyre

Beganna

10 stringed box lyre used for prayer and meditation

“wax and gold”

verbal practice of double meaning, used by Azmari musicians, wax is literal meaning, gold is hidden/interpretive meaning of sung text

Shillela

song genre or type of song performed by Azmari musicians, multiple different types: fukera praises the achievements of a great warrior while denigrating enemies; the kerera inspires a warrior in battle; the fanno memorializes a dead hero

Tezeta

a type of tuning system or ‘Qenet’, this one is used for a song of reminiscence or nostalgia

Jeli/Griot/Griotte

Griot/Griotte is western term, not used by Africans, (Jeli is African term), they are musicians that tell histories and genealogy, very important social role

kora

21 stringed harp made of gourd and cow skin, women are not allowed to play it because of “phallic” playing position

jeliya

art of the jeli

balafon

similar to xylophone, made from wooden bars laid across a frame and struck with hammer, believed to be original griot instrument

ngoni

small lute, smaller than kora, hollowed out piece of wood (shape of canoe)

ardin

10-16 stringed harp, played by female griots

birmintingo/kumbengo

birmintingo is opening section, marked by flourishing solo runs on kora, allows player to collect thoughts and survey audience, kumbengo is next section, steady repeated patterns on kora and singing praises that relate to history or lineages, lots of rhythmic density and polyrhythms in kumbengo section

raga

melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music, “composition kit”, rules for performance

alap

beginning section of raga performance, free rhythm and fully improvised, rhythmic density increases and melodic range ascends (jhala is this climactic section)

Gat

second section of raga performance, characterized by drum entering

tala

rhythmic cycle in raga performance, drummer and audience “keep the tal”

tabla

pair of hand drums used in raga performance, tuned to central pitch, “boing” sound, smaller drum is tabla, larger is baya, rhythm of raga

rasa

the mood that the raga is trying to convey

tambura

4 string plucked fretless lute, creates buzzing drone sound with drone strings that contributes to “dreamy” aura, slow and repetitive notes, provides fundamental tones for performance

sitar

7 string plucked fretted lute lute with sympathetic strings that vibrate by themselves to create an “echo” effect, melody in raga

sarod

smaller version of the sitar

Gagaku court music

ancient Japanese court music with elegant, slow pacing and very strict performance rules

koto

13 string zither

shakuhachi

bamboo flute, represents connection with nature and zen ideals

shamisen

3 string plucked lute played with plectrum

sangyoku

chamber group comprised of shamisen, koto, and shakuhachi

hichiriki

wide reed aerophone that bends tone

biwa

plucked lute

ryuteki

horizontal flute

taiko drum

drum used in taiko drum ensembles, associated with Shinto ritual practices

sho

mouth organ that characteristically plays tonal clusters

taqasim

arabic secular tradition, improvised performance from "maqam”, which is “composition kit” in this culture, features instruments oud and buzuq, free flow dreamy style of music, instruments alternate between main melody

ud/oud

plucked fretless lute, deep resonance and generally lower range than buzuq

buzuq

plucked fretted lute, brighter, higher timbre than ud

dastgah

mood/mode for performance in Iranian classical music, lots of melancholy melismas and ornamentation, generally sounds slightly sad, talks about life in difficult environment

santur

hammered zither used for dastgah for santur and voice

gusheh

short melodic compositions that are memorized and then strung together, allows for element of improvisation

radif

collection of gusheh associated with different things, connects back to dastgah/mood

gumboot performance

dance forged out of mining experiences of workers, uses idiophones like bottle tops attached to rubber boots to create percussive sounds

maskanda

guitar based instrumental music based on functional role of musical bow, Zulu folk music, musical accompaniment to gumboots

Fanakalo

pidgin language that is a combination of lots of languages so that miners could communicate more effectively

gamelan

traditional ensemble of Indonesian music, features a combination of percussive instruments such as gongs, metallophones, and drums

colotomic structure

rhythmic pattern used in gamelan music, system of marks off music into units according to entrance of specific instruments at specific times, Using gongs to define the form: Gongs mark the beginnings and ends of rhythmic cycles that run at different speeds, usually slowest/core for the lower-pitched instruments and faster/more complex for the higher-pitched