Folklore, Blues, Gamelan, and Latin American Music Study Guide

Vocabulary terms and definitions covering the characteristics of folk music, the blues, Indonesian gamelan, and Latin American musical traditions based on the lecture notes.

Dynamic music

Music that is constantly changing, adapting, and being reinterpreted by the people who perform and experience it, rather than staying fixed like written works.

Oral tradition

The process through which folk music is passed down through generations, allowing musicians to alter lyrics, rhythms, and style based on context.

American Blues

A dynamic folk music originating in the southern United States from African American work songs and spirituals, often featuring a $12$-bar structure and blue notes.

Sanjuanito

A style from the Andean region of South America, such as "Sanjuanito de Otavalo," associated with festivals like Inti Raymi and instruments like panpipes and charangos.

The Parting Glass

An Irish folk song traditionally sung at social gatherings as a farewell, emphasizing lyrical storytelling and communal singing.

Syncopation

The musical technique of stressing normally unaccepted parts of a measure.

Intonation

The act of matching standard pitches and cycles per sound.

Blues notes

Notes that bend or slide into pitch, are playful, and indicate both a major and minor $3rd$. They are typically lowered notes that sound sad or emotional.

Blues scale

A musical scale that uses variable $3rd$, $5th$, and $7th$ scale degrees.

Quatrain-refrain pattern

A blues stanza structure that consists of $6$ lines.

AAB structure

The commonly followed structure for the $12$-bar pattern of the blues.

African-American work song

Music used to coordinate group labor, often on plantations or in fields, featuring a strong, steady rhythm and call-and-response.

Gamelan

A traditional Indonesian ensemble consisting mostly of metal instruments like knobbed gongs and metallophones, along with hand-played drums.

Gongan

The essential basic melody that defines the sound of gamelan music.

Wayang kulit

Indonesian shadow puppet theater for which gamelan music provides a celebratory performance or entertainment.

Slendro

A Javanese tuning system consisting of $5$ notes that are spaced fairly evenly.

Pelog

A Javanese tuning system that has $7$ notes, though only some are used at a single time.

Ki Nartosabdho

A famous Indonesian musician and master puppeteer who modernized traditional gamelan music.

Krakatau

A pop and jazz fusion band from Indonesia that combines Western instruments with traditional gamelan rhythms.

Gendhing

The title of a gamelan composition which usually indicates its structure, melody, and scale system.

Balungan

The basic melody within the punctuating percussion and texture of gamelan music.

Nueva Cancion

A Latin American musical movement that glorifies standing up for one's culture, exemplified by artists like Violeta Parra.

Zampona

A Latin American musical instrument known as panpipes.

Hocketing

A melodic texture and technique associated with panpipes where different musicians play alternating notes to form one complete melody.

Cueca

A rhythm pattern that juxtaposes $rac{3}{4}$ and $rac{6}{8}$ meters.

Requinto

A specific kind of guitar used in Latin American music.

Wawa Velorio

A ceremony for a deceased baby or young child in Andean communities featuring singing, gathering, and harp music.

Sanjuán

A happy, fast, and rhythmic music and dance style used for celebrations and community festivals in Ecuador.

K’antu

Ceremonial panpipe music from the Bolivian altiplano, such as "Kutirimunapaq," based on a pentatonic scale.

Landó

An Afro-Peruvian music and dance style characterized by a slow, emotional groove in a $rac{6}{8}$ feel and the use of the cajón drum.