Music in World Cultures #2

Bagpipe

An aerophone with one or more drones and a chanter, all attached to an air reservoir, or bag, allowing for uninterrupted sound production

Body of the Bagpipe

It is constructed of an airtight bag. In the past, this was made out of the skin of an animal, such as a sheep or goat, but today, most are made with synthetic materials such as Gore-Tex.

Chanter

A pipe with finger holes on which a bagpiper plays the melody

Blowpipe

The pipe through which a bagpiper blows to fill the air reservoir or bag

Drone Pipes

Pipes that sound a constant tone but are not fingered to produce other pitches

Highland Bagpipe

A large outdoor bagpipe associated with the Scottish Highland (the quintessential bagpipe)

Uillean Pipes

A bellows-blown bagpipe of Ireland

Grace Notes

The addition of one or more notes in slight anticipation of the main pitch to be played (they are quickly played before the main note)

Cutting

A grace note that is used to divide a continuous tone into segments

Doubling

A cluster of grace notes which circle around the main note and play it twice

Birl

A doubling near the lowest pitch of the chanter’s ranger

Grip

a rapid cluster of grace notes in the lower range that sounds like a voice breaking

Canntaireched

a vocal technique that uses vocables to transmit a bagpipe melody and ornaments

Semiotics

Pibroch

A genre of solo bagpipe music that consists of a set of elaborate variations on a theme

Diaspora

Coming from the Greek word for “dispersion,” this term is used to describe immigrant communities living outside their homeland, whether their migration is voluntary or forced.

Chain Migration

A process in which initial movements of migrants lead to further movements from the same area to the same area

Voluntary Migration

Individuals and groups move from their homeland by choice, motivated by an attraction to the new location.

Forced Migration

A migration that pushes individuals to move to a new location

Pull Motivation

The positive factors that influence the decision to immigrate to a location.

Push Motivation

The negative factors influencing the decision to immigrate from a location

Oral Transmission

Music is transferred from person to person through hearing the music performed

Written Transmission

Written Source in music is transferred by

War, Anarchy

Push Reasons for the Chinese Migration

Economic Prosperity (the Gold Rush and the railroad)

Pull Reasons for the Chinese Migration

Muyu

A genre of Chinese vocal music whose texts deal with concerns of everyday life, performed by men or women in public or private.

Syllabic

Added vocables to the text of muyu

Melismatic

Ornaments added to prolong for three or more pitches

Ud

Plucked five-stringed Middle Eastern lutes with a short neck and a large body with a rounded back; Like many plucked chordophones, players often use a pick or plectra to play it, and some play this instrument with an eagle feather

Quanun

a Middle Eastern trapezoidal zither with twenty-six sets of three strings, played polyphonically, with picks attached to both index fingers

Maqam

the system governing pitch and melody in Arabic music. Like Indian Ragas, it goes beyond mere collections of pitches, incorporating characteristic ornamentation techniques and aesthetic convention, particularly melodic phrasing and modulation possibilities.

Mawwal

a traditional Arab form that alternates sections in free rhythm and regular rhythm.

Spiritual

a genre of songs, usually with verses and a refrain, that emerged from the musical expression of African American Slaves converted to New World Christianity.

Call-and-response

a performance practice in which a leader makes a musical statement, and another performer (or group of performers) responds with a musical answer.

Field Holler

a field holler, also called a holler, is an extemporized form of black American song, sung by southern laborers to accompany their work

Fisk Jubilee Singers

A singing ensemble at Fisk University in Nashville, Tn, who became famous in the late 1860s and 1870s for their powerful concert versions of slave songs. Many of the group’s members are former slaves

Tet

the celebration of lunar new year and spring

Da Vu

popular music dance events referred to as Night dance, which often feature well-known Vietnamese singers.

Tan Nhac

A Vietnamese popular song tradition of the French colonial period that used Western instruments and Vietnamese lyrics, and occasionally drew on Vietnamese folk melodies.

Buddhism, Night Dances, Holidays, and Chamber Music

Traditions that Vietnamese migrants maintained

Dan Bau

A Vietnamese zither with a pitch bending bar. This instrument is known as a monochord in cross-cultural terms. It consists of a single string, a resonating chamber, and a small bamboo shaft. It represents the spirit solidarity and kinship between ethnic groups. “Like two brothers of the same house.”

Dan Tranh

a wooden zither with sixteen strings. Its musical traditions reflect the rise and fall of the kingdoms of Vietnam, reflecting Vietnam's relationship with China and its cultural values

Dan Nhi

A Vietnamese 2-stringed lute

Pham Duy

Best known Vietnamese composer; began his career as a musician in a traveling ensemble throughout Vietnam. Many songs are patriotic, based upon his experiences fighting the French colonial forces**, and much of his music is banned.**

Song Cycle

A group of songs that are composed as sent, sometimes because they have texts by the same poet or are connected thematically in some other way; unified under one major concept

Ru

Vietnamese lullaby improvised on Dan Bau

Ho

a Vietnamese work song; interaction between villagers pounding rice to separate the grains and a traveler

Ballad

a song genre commemorating important events and individuals in strophic form

Corrido

a type of ballad, usually strophic, that commemorates important events and memorable individuals in Mexican and Mexican American history

Hero Corrido

corridoes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries on the actions of important individuals

New Orleans Jazz

A style of small-ensemble jazz that originated shortly before World War I, became internationally known through recordings in the 1920s, and underwent a revival in the 1940s

Second Line

People who follow the band in the jazz funeral, dancing as they go.

Hymn

Sacred songs used of worship

Dirge

instrumental laments played at a slow tempo

Pizmon

Hymns sung by Syrian Jews, featuring sacred Hebrew texts set to popular Arab melodies.

Contrafactum

A song in which new text is set to a borrowed or preexisting melody

Sebat

Sabbath afternoon songfest held by Syrian Jews to commemorate special occasions.

Haflah

A party held among Syrian Jews and other peoples of Middle Eastern descent to celebrate a special occasion such as an anniversary, usually featuring a professional vocalist who sings