GLST 490 – Day 2: An Overview of Concepts of Music (based on “Introduction: Studying the Musics of the

World’s Cultures” by Bruno Nettl in Excursions in World Music (5th ed.), Prentice-Hall, 2007.

Iraqi oud playerbyB. Augur

Overview of Music Concepts Music is a universal characteristic of all human

cultures. Nettl advocates for a 'relativistic' perspective – that

all musics are 'equal,' have their own respective merits.

Some musical cultures excel in melody and harmony, others in rhythmic complexity, others in their ability to connect people to the supernatural world.

He says that ethnomusicologists especially value the extraordinary qualities of the music of oppressed groups who are often viewed as socially inferior.

Overview of Music Concepts In some cultures, music may serve primarily for

enjoyment/ entertainment, whereas in others it may have a 'higher' purpose (war, religious or spiritual ceremonies, rites of passage, etc.).

Overview of Music Concepts One thing that had a huge impact on music was the

European development of musical notation, and later the publishing of sheet music. This rendered a given piece of music relatively static, whereas before musical works had been constantly been changing and evolving, depending on who was playing them and where they were being played. Musical scores limited improvisation.

The degree of improvisation and the degree of professionalization (high in urban industrial societies and much lower in folk societies) are two key issues that can be examined.

Overview ofMusic Concepts

Adoption of European instruments (such as the violin) has also affected music in places like India, Iran, and amongst the Navajo people of the Southwest, changing the ir sound.

Other instruments, like pianos, affect the mobility of musical groups and may encourage a heavier reliance on chords in music, since many traditional musical instruments cannot readily produce chords. The ability of guitars to produce chords and be mobile may account in part for their enormous popularity.

Overview of Music Concepts Some cultures have the notion of a 'maestro' – i.e.

a master musician or composer, who has an almost god-like status (e.g., Mozart, Beethoven, Pavarotti, Eric Clapton in the early days, Ravi Shankar, jeliya in Mali), whereas in others music is more of a 'participation sport.'

Lamine Soumano - Guitar, Kora, Mandolin, Arranger

Lamine is a griot from Mali and virtuoso of the guitar and kora. Most certainly, one of the finest musicians in West Africa having been on numerous tours of Europe and the US.

Photo Credit: Kaitlin Houlditch-Fair

Overview of Music Concepts

Nettl argues that, in Europe, until the end of the beginning of the 19th century there wasn't much distinction between 'academic' music and 'popular' music. What do you think about that claim? What about today?

Further, he divides music into three aspects: sound, behaviour, and the ideas cultures have about music.

In Western society, we usually associate the concept of 'musical' with pleasant sounds (birds singing, waves lapping, etc.), but this isn't necessarily so (think Gang of Four or Sex Pistols).

Overview of Music Concepts Sound can be analyzed in terms of pitch, timbre,

complexity of harmony, rhythm, etc. Behaviour is shaped by context – a lone soloist on a

stage during a recital vs. work songs vs. recreational songs (kids singing at camp or people in a karaoke bar) vs. hymns sung in a church on Sunday. And how they are sung varies greatly from culture to culture. Can you think of examples?

These contexts and cultural values shape how music is appraised. If one attends a concert, one expects a certain musical proficiency. If one is in church, one values the choir more for the feeling they convey than for their perfect pitch and harmony. Other examples?

Overview of Music Conceptshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJ_OoVj820 Other universals: all cultures engage in singing (often this is accompanied

by dancing); singing is something virtually everyone can do

all cultures have percussion instruments virtually all cultures have flutes of some kind in one way or another, music is usually used to

transform ordinary experiences into transcendant or extraordinary ones, including during rites of passage

music is used to reinforce boundaries between groups the role of women in music varies from culture to

culture, but is sometimes limited. Why is this so?

Overview of Music Concepts To give Nettl a final word:

“If music has always been changing, it has surely changed more, and more rapidly in the late nineteenth century, but especially in the period since 1950, than ever before. Among the reasons are 1) the colonization of most of the world by Western nations and, after 1945, the increased political and economic integration of nations that were formerly colonies into a global system; 2) incredible advances in communication by mass media, airlines, computer networks; and 3) the dissemination of Christianity and Islam throughout much of the world. The musi-

Overview of Music Conceptscal concepts in the [early twenty-first century] is much more homogenous than it was some three hundred years ago. Musical styles everywhere have begun to partake of the sounds of Western (and often also Middle Eastern) music. Western-style harmony, synthesizers, instrumental ensembles have come to pervade much of the world’s music, as have Islamic singing styles and African-derived percussion rhythms. Much of this is a layer of music added to the older, traditional, and so the diversity of musics available within each society has increased.

Overview of Music ConceptsOne may argue that the musics of the world are becoming more alike, and that a cultural gray-out is developing; but we also need to recognize that because of the globalization of communication, the variety of music available to each individual has increased enormously. Each society maintains, and correctly, that it has a music with at least a certain degree of uniqueness, and this continues to evolve.http://www.musicscotland.com/cd/shooglenifty-solar-shears-musicscotland.html?gclid=CLufm8Lk-qMCFQIQbAodznkfGw