How Music Lives A Musicultural Approach

Culture A classic definition  Culture: “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man [humankind] as a member of society”  (Edward Tylor, 1871) The guy who wrote it

Sound Music Culture What it sounds like:  A particular sequence of notes and rhythms  A Warao shaman’s song with a particular melodic direction (up or down)  A particular vocal quality of singing (e.g., Chinese opera--Listen: CD 1-5) What it means:  The song “Mary Had a Little Lamb”  A song with power to cure vs. one with power to cause illness  An aesthetic of beauty to fans of Chinese opera, but maybe not to others

Identity The Basics Questions:  Who am I?  Who are we?  Who is s/he?  Who are they?  Mongolian khoomii (CD 1-6)  Rabbit Dance Song (CD 1-8 [start], CD 1-9 [cont.])  Eagle and Hawk (band) – “Dance” (CD 1-10)

Society  A group of persons regarded as forming a single community of related, interdependent individuals  Usually an “imagined community” (Anderson)  Defined by social institutions—examples?  Balinese sekehe gong (gamelan club) as a social institution (pp )   Listen: CD 2-12

Culture (again, but different)  Defining a specific culture, vs. defining “culture” as a broader concept  “A culture is defined mainly by a collective worldview shared by its members.” (p. 17)  Society = social institutions, social organization  Culture = ideas, beliefs, and practices that underscore social organization  Read: society vs. culture example re: Balinese gamelan beleganjur (pp )  Listen: CD 2-14

Other Dimensions of Music/Identity  Nation and nation-state  Diaspora  Other types of transnational communities (worker communities, virtual communities, etc.)  The individual (multidimensional identities)  Tito Puente (CD 4-7)—Cuban? Puerto Rican? New Yorker?  Jazz, salsa, Latin jazz, “Cuban music”?  Religion and spirituality  Dance  Ritual (CD 1-12 Zaar—Egyptian/Sudanese healing ritual)

Music, Commodity, and Patronage  Who owns music and how?  Who has the write to sell it, buy it, disseminate it, trade it (commodification)?  Ex. Alan Maralung “Ibis” (CD 1-13)  Aboriginal Australian songman  Didgeridoo jw8&index=7 jw8&index=7  Who “owns” this performance?  Music patronage  Who supports musicians? Pays them? How and why?

Transmission, Creation Processes  Music transmission — How music moves between individuals and communities, locally and/or globally  Different models of production and reception of music: notation or not, formal teaching or not, specialized or not?  Music creation processes  Composition—prior to performance  Interpretation—making an existing composition “one’s own” (performers and listeners)  Improvisation—in moment of performance  arranging—transforming existing work

Music in the Process of Tradition  Tradition: “a process of creative transformation whose most remarkable feature is the continuity it nurtures and sustains  Paul Pena: Genghis Blues (film) and “Kargyraa Moan” (CD 1-18)