Part 1: An Introduction

• What is Traditional Music?

  • Definition:

    • Traditional music, also known as folk music, is the music that originates from the cultural and social practices of a community. It is passed down through generations, often orally, and reflects the history, traditions, and values of the people.

• Historical Context

  • Origins and Evolution:

    • Traditional music has ancient roots, often dating back centuries or even millennia.

    • It evolves over time, influenced by historical events, migration, and cultural exchange.

• Role in Society:

  • Oral History: Used to pass down stories, history, and knowledge.

  • Social Cohesion: Strengthens community bonds through shared musical practices.

  • Ritual and Ceremony: Integral to religious and cultural ceremonies, marking significant life events and seasonal changes.

The Scope of Study

• Exploring Different Traditions:

  • A comprehensive study of traditional music includes exploring various global traditions, understanding their contexts, and recognizing their unique characteristics.

• Listening and Analysis:

  • Engaging with traditional music through listening and analysis helps develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of its complexities and beauty.

• Artists:

  • Identifying renowned traditional music artists.

Part 2: Characteristics of Traditional Music

• Folk Origins:

  • Rooted in rural and community traditions.

  • Passed down orally through generations.

  • Reflects the culture, history, and life of communities.

• Musical Features:

  • Simple melodies often in modal scales.

  • Repetitive structures and forms (e.g., strophic form).

  • Limited harmonic progression, often using I, IV, and V chords.

  • Use of drone or pedal tones in some traditions.

• Instruments:

  • Common use of acoustic and traditional instruments specific to cultures.

  • Examples include the fiddle, banjo, accordion, bagpipes, and sitar.

• Vocal Styles:

  • Narrative lyrics telling stories or conveying messages.

  • Use of dialects and regional languages.

  • Call and response patterns, especially in African and African American traditions.

Part 3: Types of Traditional Music

• Folk Music:

  • Variants include British Isles folk, American folk, and Eastern European folk.

  • Notable songs: “Scarborough Fair” (British), “This Land Is Your Land” (American).

• Blues:

  • Originated in the African American communities in the Southern United States.

  • Features 12-bar blues structure, blue notes, and call-and-response.

  • Instruments: guitar, harmonica, piano.

  • Influential artists: Robert Johnson, B.B. King.

• Reggae:

  • Originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s.

  • Characteristics: offbeat rhythms, syncopated bass lines, and politically conscious lyrics.

  • Key figures: Bob Marley, Peter Tosh.

  • Common instruments: bass guitar, drums, electric guitar.

• Salsa:

  • Latin American dance music with Afro-Cuban origins.

  • Complex rhythms with clave patterns, featuring instruments like congas, timbales, and trumpets.

  • Popular songs: “Oye Como Va” by Tito Puente.

  • Notable artists: Celia Cruz, Willie Colón.

Part 4: Regional Traditional Music Styles

• British Isles:

  • England: Morris dancing music, sea shanties.

  • Scotland: Bagpipe music, fiddle tunes.

  • Ireland: Celtic music with instruments like the bodhrán, tin whistle.

  • Wales: Choral singing, traditional harp music.

• Africa:

  • West Africa: Use of talking drums, kora (harp-lute), and balafon (xylophone).

  • South Africa: Influences seen in isicathamiya (a cappella), mbaqanga music.

• Asia:

  • India: Ragas and talas forming the basis of classical and folk music.

  • China: Use of the pentatonic scale, traditional instruments like the erhu and pipa.

  • Japan: Traditional music such as Gagaku, using instruments like the koto and shakuhachi.

Part 5: Listening and Analysis

Listening Skills Development

• Instrument Identification:

  • Recognize traditional instruments by their sound.

  • Examples:

    • Fiddle in Irish folk.

    • Sitar in Indian classical music.

    • Banjo in American bluegrass.

• Understanding Vocal Techniques:

  • Identify vocal styles and techniques used in traditional music.

  • Examples:

    • Nasality in Appalachian folk singing.

    • Microtonal ornamentation in Indian classical singing.

    • Call and response in African and African American traditions.

• Rhythmic Patterns:

  • Recognize and differentiate rhythmic patterns specific to various traditions.

  • Examples:

    • Syncopation in reggae and jazz.

    • Clave rhythm in Afro-Cuban music.

    • Polyrhythms in West African drumming.

• Melodic Structures:

  • Identify common melodic forms and structures.

  • Examples:

    • Pentatonic scales in East Asian and Celtic music.

    • Ragas in Indian classical music, which include specific melodic frameworks.

• Harmonic Practices:

  • Understand the harmonic context and progressions used in traditional music.

  • Examples:

    • Drone accompaniment in Scottish bagpipe music.

    • I-IV-V chord progression in blues.

    • Simple diatonic harmony in American folk music.

Analytical Listening Practice

• Guided Listening Exercises:

  • Focus on specific elements such as rhythm, melody, harmony, and texture.

  • Example: Listen to a blues track and identify the 12-bar structure and use of blue notes.

• Comparative Analysis:

  • Compare pieces from different traditions to understand their unique and shared characteristics.

  • Example: Compare the rhythm and instrumentation of Irish folk music with that of American bluegrass.

• Contextual Research:

  • Explore the background of a piece to better understand its significance and influence.

  • Example: Research the history and cultural significance of the song “Chan Chan” by Buena Vista Social Club.

Listening Resources and Recommendations

• Recordings and Collections:

  • Alan Lomax Archive: Extensive collection of folk and traditional music recordings.

  • Smithsonian Folkways: A treasure trove of traditional music from around the world.

  • Naxos World: A collection of world music albums, ideal for exploring diverse traditional genres.

• Documentaries and Films:

  • “Buena Vista Social Club”: A film documenting the lives and music of Cuban musicians.

  • “The Blues”: A documentary series exploring the history and influence of blues music.

  • “Muscle Shoals”: A film about the influential music scene in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and its roots in traditional music.

• Online Platforms:

  • Spotify and Apple Music: Curated playlists featuring traditional music from various cultures.

  • YouTube: Channels like KEXP and NPR Music offer live performances and traditional music sessions.

Part 6: Traditional Music Elements

Melody

• Blue notes: Notes sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than standard in blues and jazz music, adding a characteristic expressive quality.

• Pentatonic, whole tone, modal: Scales used in various musical traditions. Pentatonic scales have five notes per octave, whole tone scales use whole steps only, and modal scales emphasize specific modes (like Ionian, Dorian, etc.).

• Slide/glissando/portamento, pitch bend, appoggiaturas: Techniques for altering pitch smoothly (slide/glissando/portamento), bending pitch deliberately (pitch bend), and adding decorative notes (appoggiaturas) in melody.

• Ostinato: A repeating musical phrase or pattern.

• Riff: A short, repeated musical phrase often played by the rhythm section or soloist in jazz, rock, or blues.

• Melody–scat: Vocal improvisation using nonsense syllables to create a melody, common in jazz.

• Melisma: The singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession.

• Improvisation: Creating or performing music spontaneously or without preparation, often involving melody, harmony, or rhythm.

Tonality

• Modal: Music centered on modes rather than traditional major or minor scales.

• Pentatonic: Scales consisting of five notes per octave.

Structure

• Strophic: A song structure where all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music.

• Verse and chorus: A structure where verses (varying text) alternate with a chorus (repeated text and music).

• Cyclic: Music with a repeating pattern or cycle.

• Call and response: A musical form where a phrase played by one musician (call) is answered by another (response).

• Popular song forms: Common structures found in popular music, such as AABA or ABAB.

• Structure–12/16 bar blues: Standard structures for blues music, using 12 or 16 bars in a specific harmonic pattern.

Timbre

• Generic families of instruments: Broad categories like percussion, wind, string, etc., found in traditional or world music.

• Use of technology: Incorporation of synthetic, computer-generated, or sampled sounds in music.

• Drone: Sustained or continuously repeated musical tone.

• Vocal techniques: Different ways of singing, like falsetto (high-pitched voice), vibrato (regular variation in pitch), or rap (spoken-word delivery).

Texture

• A cappella: Vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment.

• Imitative: A musical texture where different voices or instruments enter in succession, echoing each other.

• Layered/layering: The technique of adding multiple parts or textures to create depth and complexity in music.

Tempo, Metre, and Rhythm:

• Irregular, free: Rhythmic patterns without a strict, regular beat.

• Skank: A guitar or keyboard rhythmic pattern emphasizing off-beats, common in reggae.

• Bubble: A syncopated rhythmic pattern in Caribbean music.

• Clave (Bo Diddley type beat): A foundational rhythmic pattern in Latin music and jazz.

• Augmentation, diminution: Techniques where rhythmic patterns are lengthened (augmentation) or shortened (diminution).

• Anacrusis: The upbeat or pickup note(s) before the downbeat.

• Hemiola: A rhythmic pattern where two groups of three beats are temporarily played as three groups of two beats, or vice versa.

• Bi-rhythm, cross-rhythm, polyrhythm: Simultaneous rhythms with different patterns or time signatures (polyrhythm), or rhythms that cross each other (cross-rhythm).

• Shuffle beat: A rhythm where the first note in a pair of notes is longer than the second.

• Backbeat: Accentuation of the second and fourth beats of a measure in 4/4 time.

• Syncopation: Emphasizing weak beats or off-beats in music.

• Off-beat: Accenting a weak beat or the upbeat.

• Bossa nova, samba, salsa, tango, habanera, danzón, merengue, cha-cha-cha, rumba: Different rhythmic styles or dance forms originating from Latin America or the Caribbean.

Part 7: Study Pieces from Paul Simon and Esperanza Spalding

Paul Simon

“Graceland”

• Melody: Features melodic phrases influenced by African musical traditions, potentially incorporating pentatonic scales and melodic improvisation.

• Rhythm: Utilizes a blend of African and Western rhythms, possibly including polyrhythms, syncopation, and a shuffle beat.

• Structure: Likely follows a verse-chorus form with rhythmic variation and possibly a cyclic structure in some sections.

• Timbre: Includes a mix of acoustic and electric instruments, possibly with layered textures and vocal harmonies.

• Tonality: Might explore modal influences in the melodies.

“Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”

• Melody: Features intricate vocal melodies with melismatic passages and potentially incorporating blue notes.

• Rhythm: Complex rhythmic patterns with elements of African and Western fusion, possibly including polyrhythms and syncopation.

• Structure: May include a call-and-response structure between vocals and instruments, with sections of improvisation.

• Timbre: Utilizes a variety of instruments including guitars, bass, and percussion, possibly with a bright, percussive sound.

• Tonality: Likely explores modal elements in the harmonic and melodic structure.

“You Can Call Me Al”

• Melody: Catchy, memorable melodies possibly featuring riff-based sections and improvisational elements.

• Rhythm: Upbeat and lively rhythm with a prominent backbeat and syncopated accents, potentially incorporating elements of the Bo Diddley beat (clave pattern).

• Structure: Likely follows a traditional verse-chorus form with instrumental solos and rhythmic variations.

• Timbre: Features a mix of brass, guitars, and percussion with a focus on rhythmic interplay and layered textures.

• Tonality: Could explore modal scales and pentatonic elements in the melodies and solos.

Esperanza Spalding

“I Know You Know”

• Melody: Features intricate vocal melodies with jazz influences, possibly incorporating melismatic passages and scat singing.

• Rhythm: Complex rhythmic patterns with elements of jazz and Latin music, potentially including polyrhythms and cross-rhythms.

• Structure: May have a through-composed structure with improvisational sections and varied rhythmic textures.

• Timbre: Utilizes a mix of acoustic and electric instruments with a focus on jazz instrumentation and vocal textures.

• Tonality: Likely explores modal and pentatonic scales in the improvisational sections.

“Little Fly”

• Melody: Intimate vocal melodies with delicate phrasing and potentially featuring melismatic passages and vocal improvisation.

• Rhythm: Gentle, flowing rhythm with subtle syncopations and possibly incorporating elements of rubato (tempo flexibility).

• Structure: Could be strophic or through-composed with a focus on lyrical expression and intimate musical textures.

• Timbre: Features acoustic instrumentation with a focus on vocal timbres and subtle instrumental accompaniment.

• Tonality: Might explore modal influences in the harmonic and melodic structure.

I Adore You”

• Melody: Evocative vocal melodies with emotional depth, potentially featuring melismatic passages and expressive phrasing.

• Rhythm: Medium tempo with a relaxed groove, possibly incorporating elements of jazz and R&B rhythms.

• Structure: Likely follows a verse-chorus form with expressive vocal and instrumental solos, and possibly a cyclic structure.

• Timbre: Utilizes a blend of acoustic and electric instruments with a focus on vocal clarity and instrumental subtlety.

• Tonality: Explores modal and pentatonic elements in the harmonic and melodic structure.

Part 8: Other Famous Composers

Woody Guthrie (1912-1967)

• Background: American folk musician and songwriter.

• Contributions: Known for songs like “This Land Is Your Land” that capture the spirit of American folk.

• Influence: A major influence on later folk artists like Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger.

Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) (1888-1949)

• Background: American blues and folk musician.

• Contributions: Famous for songs like “Goodnight, Irene” and “Midnight Special.”

• Influence: His music bridged African American folk traditions with mainstream audiences.

Celia Cruz (1925-2003)

• Background: Cuban salsa singer known as the “Queen of Salsa.”

• Contributions: Hits include “La Vida Es Un Carnaval” and “Quimbara.”

• Influence: Brought Afro-Cuban music to international prominence.

Ravi Shankar (1920-2012)

• Background: Indian sitar virtuoso and composer.

• Contributions: Pioneered the global appreciation of Indian classical music.

• Influence: Collaborated with Western musicians like George Harrison of The Beatles.

Bob Marley (1945-1981)

• Background: Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter.

• Contributions: Hits include “No Woman, No Cry” and “One Love.”

• Influence: Played a key role in bringing reggae to international audiences.

Fela Kuti (1938-1997)

• Background: Nigerian musician and pioneer of Afrobeat.

• Contributions: Songs like “Zombie” and “Water No Get Enemy” combined traditional African music with jazz and funk.

• Influence: His music was a vehicle for social and political activism.

Buena Vista Social Club

• Background: Cuban ensemble group that gained fame in the 1990s.

• Contributions: Revived traditional Cuban music with songs like “Chan Chan.”

• Influence: Brought traditional Cuban music to a global audience.

Part 9: Functions of Traditional Music

• Cultural Expression:

  • Celebrates and preserves cultural identity and history.

  • Used in rituals, festivals, and communal gatherings.

• Storytelling:

  • Conveys folk tales, historical events, and social commentary.

  • Often educational, transmitting moral lessons or cultural knowledge.

• Dance and Social Interaction:

  • Integral to traditional dance forms (e.g., Irish jigs, African dances).

  • Encourages community participation and social cohesion.

• Influence on Modern Genres:

  • Traditional music influences a variety of contemporary music genres.

  • Examples:

    • Blues and Jazz: Both genres have roots in African American traditional music.

    • Country and Bluegrass: Evolved from traditional American folk music.

• Inspire Modern Artists:

  • Modern artists often draw on traditional music for inspiration.

  • Examples:

    • Sting’s use of Celtic music in his solo work.

    • Björk’s incorporation of Icelandic folk music into her avant-garde style.

• Contemporary Dance:

  • Traditional music often provides the foundation for contemporary dance styles.

  • Examples:

    • Flamenco influence in modern dance.

    • African drumming in contemporary choreography.

• Fashion Trends:

  • Traditional music influences contemporary fashion trends and styles.

  • Examples:

    • Use of traditional motifs and patterns inspired by traditional music and culture.

    • Fashion shows featuring live traditional music to create a cultural ambiance.