Traditional Music Cultures Music Appreciation Mr. Williams Music As Culture Traditional Music Cultures Music Appreciation Mr. Williams

Introduction Traditional musical styles and genres have been associated with specific cultures or geographic areas. Some cultures have musical expressions so distinctive that they are immediately recognizable. This section of the chapter will explore the musical contributions of two such cultures, Mexico and Bali.

Mexico Mexico is a large country with many regions, much like the U.S. these regions differ in terms of dialect, foods, clothing, and music. The official language is Spanish, but sizable minorities speak languages native to the area. It is an industrial country where more than half of the people work in agriculture. What does that infer about the musical style or performance practices?

Mexico Music has played a very integral role in Mexican development for centuries. Before the arrival of the conquistadors in 1519, both religious and social music were important to the native cultures living in Mexico. The Spaniards introduced a rich musical heritage, including a wide variety of instruments. The Africans and Caribbean introduced different timbres and styles to the music as well, creating a mestizo culture. What are some of the influences from African and Caribbean music that you can hear in Mexican music?

The Music Of Mexico Mexican music today is regional, meaning that each area of the country has its own musical styles and customs. All use instruments such as folk harp, violin, and guitar-like instruments. When you visit any Mexican town, you will hear music playing. This music can be used to celebrate events, births, baptisms, weddings, etc. People usually sing along (remember traditional music is participatory) or respond with yells, laughter, clapping, and dancing.

Music of Mexico What does this picture tell you? What instruments do you see ? What type of event could this be? How do you know that?

Music of Mexico Regional popular music throughout Mexico comes from the states of Veracruz in the east, and Jalisco in the west. Typically Veracruzean music is performed on four instruments: a 36 stringed harp called an arpa, a four-string guitar called requinto jarocho, and a thin guitar called jarana, and six-stringed guitar. Traditional songs are called sones jarochos. One of the most famous is La Bamba.

Bali Bali is a province in the Republic of Indonesia. The Balinese people are known for their ritualistic forms of music, drama, and dance. The predominant religion is Islam but most of the people are Hindus. Singing and dancing are very important in Bali and children learn to do both in and out of school since each day time is devoted to ceremonies of some type.

Music of Bali Nearly everyone in Bali is an artist- a sculptor, painter, or musician. Men gather in the afternoons after gathering rice to practice gamelan music. Gamelan is a musical ensemble or performing group specific to Bali. The term is generally applied to gong-chime orchestras throughout Indonesia, but is essential to Balinese music. The musicians play on metallophones, gongs, chimes, cymbals, drums, flutes, and sometimes two-stringed fiddles. Boys at young ages are taught how to play these instruments by ear while girls are taught dancing and weaving. Does this culture rely on written or unwritten traditions?

Gamelan

Balinese Music There is no music in Bali that does not have a story behind it. One is the Barong dance, which tells the story of the struggle between good (Barong) and evil (Rangda). What kind of dancing or acting do you think you would see in this story? Balinese people never get tired of hearing these stories and in reality, there are so many stories that they most likely repeat them every so often.

Questions End of Section 2.3