World Music

Dr. David Salisbury, James Cook University, Australia

Introduction

World Music Robert E. Brown --- Relates to culture, traditional, folk, popular, art & has
ethnic or foreign elements.
Western society is a goal-oriented society. It was shaped by the ideas and institutions of
Europe and the Middle East and Africa. All these forces merged in the West during
Renaissance period between 1450 and 1600.
World music is a musical category encompassing many different styles of music from
around the globe, which includes many genres of non-Western music including folk music,
ethnic music, traditional music, indigenous music, neo-traditional music, and music
where more than one cultural tradition, such as when ethnic music and Western popular
music intermingle. (Wikipedia)
World music may incorporate distinctive non-Western scales, modes and/or musical
inflections, and often features distinctive traditional ethnic instruments, such as the kora
(West African harp), the steel drum, the sitar or the didgeridoo.
Music from around the world exerts wide cross-cultural influence as styles naturally
influence one another, and in recent years world music has also been marketed as a
successful genre in itself.
Academic study of world music, as well as the musical genres and individual artists
associated with it appear in such disciplines as anthropology, folkloristics, performance
studies and ethnomusicology.
Ethnomusicology = Music history + Anthropology
Music human expression in the medium of time using the structures of sounds or tones
and silence. It is expressed in terms of pitch, rhythm, harmony, and timbre.

Elements of Music
Words and word groups are spoken on short but precise pitches that rise and fall, such as
language we speak on daily basis. The subtle aspect of spoken language is known as
inflexion, where by the speaker controls the highs and lows of the short pitches within
words by use of the vocal cords. When the inflexion of spoken words are greatly extended
in length, the result is singing. Singing is a stylised mode of word utterance as opposed to
speech.
There is very little dispute about the principal constituent elements of music, though
experts will differ on the precise definitions of each aspect. However, Pitch (Sruti), Rhythm
(Laya) are the main constituents.
1. Pitch (Sruthi) is the perception of the frequency of the sound experienced, and is
perceived as how "low" or "high" a sound is, and may be further described as definite
pitch or indefinite pitch. It includes: melody, harmony, tonality, tessitura, and
tuning or temperament.
a. Melody (Raga) means series of individual pitches occurring one after
another in order, so that a complete composite order of pitches constitute
a recognizable entity. Melody is the recognizable identity of the song it is
what we would hum or whistle.
Melody is a succession of notes heard as some sort of unit. It is a
single line of tones that moves up, down, or stays the same using
steps, skips and repeated tones.
Repetition of pitch and rhythm patterns is an important factor in
any melody. There is a lot of repetition in popular melodies. The
short units of these melodies are motives. Motives combine to make
larger/longer units of related material known as phrases.
Melody has a range (the difference between the lowest and highest
pitches).
The choice of pitches for composing a melody are determined by a
pattern of pitches known as scale. A scale may be defined as a
pattern of different pitches that are dividing the interval of an octave.
Scales are tuned to a specific tuning system. For Western music, the
primary tuning system is known as Equal temperament. Ex: Bach =
24 pieces of music. Another system is Just Tuning, which is based
on a more defined sense of spacing.
Melodies move from note to note in adjacent movement, move in
step-wise direction or conjunct motion (smooth and flowing). They
can move in disjunct motion (rough and angular).

Melody plays hierarchical structural design. Musical structures are

arranged in a similar fashion to the language model. It mirrors the
syntactical model of language very closely.
b. Harmony is the relationship between two or more simultaneous pitches or
pitch simultaneities, chord progression affects the key.
Harmony in popular music remains tonal in some sense, and
harmony in jazz music includes many, if not all, tonal
characteristics, while having different properties from commonpractice classical music.
Harmony, like Melody is subjected to the gravitational forces of
major-minor tonal system.
The procedure by which chords of music are constructed is
Harmony. It is the series of notes played simultaneously. C
The term Arpeggio means rapid alteration of chord tones occurring
one after another. Arpeggiated means notes played one right after
another, but still outlining those basic same notes.
Harmony gives depth to music/melody. Think of Gregorian chants.
Gregorian chant was traditionally sung by choirs of men and boys in
churches, or by men and women of religious orders in their chapels.
It is the music of the Roman Rite, performed in the Mass and the
monastic Office.
Chords:
o Chords are vertical structures in music, and occur as a
simultaneous event. To make chords, you dont need a string
instrument.
o A chord may be defined as a combination of 3 or more
different notes & tones conceived as a related unit and
sounding at the same moment of time.
o Chord progression is series of chords played in a period of
time. Chords exist in a scale tonal infrastructure. Certain
chords project a quality of instability or tension, hence
called dissonant chords. Chords that project quality of
stability and repose are known as consonant chords.
o Chords require at least 3 different tones in their structure. A
3-tone chord is called a Triad. A commonly structured 4tone chord is called a seventh chord. --- C,D,E,F,G,A,B.
o Strumming means, playing all the chords or strings of the
guitar in a single motion at once.
o The lowest note is called bass or root. It occupies the sonic
space below the melody. A bass line is primarily composed of

chord tones and is written as almost in many ways, an

alternate melody line to the main melody line.
o Harmonic saturation can be low or high. "Saturation" tends
to sound like tube distortion. It adds predominantly second,
third, and fourth order harmonic distortion. So if you have a
100 Hz sine wave and saturate it, a lot of the new energy goes
into 200Hz, 300Hz, and 400Hz. It's also called "warm"
because most musical sounds have a fundamental in the low
mids, and distorting it will add more energy in that range.
o When a less stable chord progresses towards a more stable
chord, we say it resolves.
o What particularly makes a chord sound a specific way is the
note in the middle, or the 3rd. its the major 3rd or minor 3rd.
o Four specific qualities of triads are major, minor, diminished
and augmented.
o Chord quality is closely connected to emotional mood in
music or mood quality.
Major Confident & triumphant
Minor Sombre & pensive
Diminished Tensed, restless & introverted
Augmented Energetic, restless & extroverted
c. Tonality is a musical system that arranges pitches or chords to induce a
hierarchy of perceived relations, stabilities, and attractions. The pitch or
triadic chord with the greatest stability is called the tonic.
d. Tessitura is the most musically acceptable and comfortable range for a
given singer or, less frequently, musical instrument; the range in which a
given type of voice presents its best-sounding texture or timbre. In musical
notation, tessitura is used to refer to the compass in which a piece of music
lieswhether high or low, etc.for a particular vocal (or less often
instrumental) part. The "tessitura" concept addresses not merely a range of
pitches but also the arrangement of those pitches.
e. Tuning is the process of adjusting the pitch of one or many tones from
musical instruments to establish typical intervals between these tones.
Tuning is usually based on a fixed reference, such as A = 440 Hz. Out of
tune refers to a pitch/tone that is either too high (sharp) or too low (flat) in
relation to a given reference pitch.
2. Rhythm (Laya) means Repetition or pattern. When a series of notes are repeated
in fast pace or slow pace, we say it as tempo, which gives feeling to the music piece.
Tempo, an Italian word identifies the speed of the music as the way it is measured

in terms of beats per minute. The sense of rhythm is conveyed by the use of pulse,
repetition (Aavartham), and tempo (Kaalam)
a. Interpolation:
o In classical music - For music of the Classical period, interpolation is
defined in the context of a musical sentence or period as "unrelated
material inserted between two logically succeeding functions".
o In popular music - Interpolation has been used by one artist to refer to
the addition of new material in a performance or recording of a
previously existing piece of music.
b. Syncopation: In music, syncopation involves a variety of rhythms which are
in some way unexpected which make part or all of a tune or piece of music offbeat. More simply, syncopation is a general term for "a disturbance or
interruption of the regular flow of rhythm". The placement of rhythmic stresses
or accents where they wouldn't normally occur. The correlation of at least two
sets of time intervals.
Syncopation is used in many musical styles, and is fundamental in styles
such as ragtime, jazz, jump blues, funk, gospel, reggae, dub, hip hop, breakbeat,
UK garage, dubstep, drum'n'bass, progressive house, progressive rock / metal,
djent, groove metal, nu metal, samba, baio, and ska. "All dance music makes
use of syncopation and it's often a vital element that helps tie the whole track
together". In the form of a back beat, syncopation is used in virtually all
contemporary popular music.
3. Timbre or Tone color is the quality of a sound, determined by the balance between
the fundamental and its spectra (including harmonics and other overtones) and
how this balance of overtones and the overall sound intensity envelope changes
over time. Timbre varies between voices and types and kinds of musical
instruments, which are tools used to produce sound.
4. Loudness is the perception of volume or intensity and is defined as "that attribute
of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending
from quiet to loud" (American National Standards Institute 1973, S3.20, 1973). It
includes dynamics and aspects of articulation.
a. Dynamics is the volume of all parts as a whole and every layer in the
structure.
b. Articulation refers to the direction or performance technique which affects
the transition or continuity on a single note or between multiple notes or
sounds. There are many types of articulation, each with a different effect on
how the note is played. In music notation articulation marks include the
slur, phrase mark, staccato, staccatissimo, accent, sforzando, rinforzando,

and legato. A different symbol, placed above or below the note (depending
on its position on the staff), represents each articulation.

Ex: (L to R) Staccato, Staccatissimo, Martellato, Marcato, Tenuto.

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.

Tenuto - Hold the note in question its full length (or longer, with
slight rubato), or play the note slightly louder.
Marcato - Indicates a short note, long chord, or medium passage to
be played louder or more forcefully than surrounding music.
Staccato - Signifies a note of shortened duration
Legato - Musical notes be played or sung smoothly and connected.
Agogic Accent Longer accent
Dynamic Accent Louder/emphasis

5. Duration is the temporal aspect of music and relates to how long a sound lasts. It
is the primary tool used to analyse beat, rhythm and aspects of articulation (such
as staccato and legato).
a. Rhythm is the variation of the accentuation of sounds over time.
b. Beat in music theory, is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating
event), of the mensural level. The beat is often defined as the rhythm
listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a piece of music, or the
numbers a musician counts while performing. In popular use, beat can refer
to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, specific rhythms,
and groove.
Tempo (Kaalam) is the speed of communicating an emotion in a
particular piece, how fast or slow it's played.
Meter (Taalam) of music is its rhythmic structure, the patterns of
accents heard in regularly recurring measures of stressed and
unstressed beats (arsis and thesis) at the frequency of the music's
pulse. A variety of systems exist throughout the world for organising
and playing metrical music, such as the Indian system of tala and
similar systems in Arabian and African music.

Metric levels: beat level shown in middle with division levels above and multiple
levels below.
6. Spatial location represents the cognitive placement of a sound in an
environmental context; including the placement of a sound on both the horizontal
and vertical plane, the distance to the sound source and the characteristics of the
sonic environment (reverberation).
a. Form is the structure of a particular piece, how its parts are put together
to make the whole.
7. Texture relates to the number of sound sources heard and the interaction between
them. It includes: homophony, polyphony, heterophony, and simultaneity. In
music, texture is how the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined
in a composition, thus determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece.
a. Monophonic - Monophonic texture includes a single melodic line with no
accompaniment. PSMs often double or parallel the PM they support.
b. Biphonic - Two distinct lines, the lower sustaining a drone (constant pitch)
while the other line creates a more elaborate melody above it. Pedal tones
or ostinati would be an example of a SS.
c. Polyphonic or Counterpoint or Contrapuntal - Multiple melodic voices
which are to a considerable extent independent from or in imitation with
one another. Characteristic texture of the Renaissance music, also
prevalent during the Baroque period. Polyphonic textures may contain
several PMs.
d. Homophonic - The most common texture in Western music: melody and
accompaniment. Multiple voices of which one, the melody, stands out
prominently and the others form a background of harmonic
accompaniment. If all the parts have much the same rhythm, the
homophonic texture can also be described as homorhythmic. Characteristic
texture of the Classical period and continued to predominate in Romantic
music while in the 20th century, "popular music is nearly all homophonic,"
and, "much of jazz is also" though, "the simultaneous improvisations of
some jazz musicians creates a true polyphony". Homophonic textures
usually contain only one PM. HS and RS are often combined, labelled HRS.
e. Homorhythmic - Multiple voices with similar rhythmic material in all
parts. Also known as "chordal". May be considered a condition of
homophony or distinguished from it.
f. Heterophonic - Two or more voices simultaneously performing variations
of the same melody.
Silence is also often considered an aspect of music, if it is considered to exist. These aspects
combine to create secondary aspects including form or structure, and style.

Structure includes:- motive, sub-phrase, phrase, phrase group, period, section,

exposition, repetition, variation, development, and other formal units, textural
continuity.
Style is defined by how the above elements are used. It is what distinguishes an
individual composer or group, period, genre, region, or manner of performance.
Aesthetics is how the music affects you emotionally. For example: an upbeat tune may
make you joyful, while a slow violin song may make you feel lonely, cold, depressed etc.

Impact of western culture on world music

The world music especially non-western music has independently evolved through the
history. Many of the world music does not follow the western music scale and using own
instrument to play the music. Even though the melody of world music is not as complex
as the western music, the world music expressed much variable melodies with unique
melody. However, after the beginning of the 20th century, the world music does not keep
the traditional way of playing the music but also accepted the western styles of music. The
globalization and modernization made possible to communicate between western and
non-western music. Since the western music is most frequently played and popular, the
western music scale has been accepted; the western music is now widespread and many of
people are used to listen to the western music at home. However, some of musician has
tried to combine the styles of western and non -western music and sometimes it is
expressed as the fusion music in modern time.1
Positive Impacts
Album Deep Forest ---- Sweet Lullaby song
(Deep Forest is a musical group originally consisting of two French musicians,
Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet. They composed a style of world music, sometimes
called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats.)
Negative Impacts due to commercial interests winning over ethical choices
Album Grace land --- Paul Simon & Black Mambazo
(Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a South African male choral group that sings in the
vocal styles of isicathamiya (traditional music of Zulu people) and mbube (= lion in

1 The Western Impact on World Music: Change, Adaptation and Survival by Bruno Nettl, Vol. 30, No. 3
(Autumn, 1986)

Zulu language, is a form of South African vocal music) genre. They rose to worldwide
prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon 2 on his 1986 album Graceland.)

World Music & Traditional Society

In order to gain musical knowledge, one should gain the knowledge of the society they are
living in/studying. Knowledge of various people and their cultures in the world will be an
essential ingredient in everyones education. Music and language play an important role
in a group to maintain their identity with in a larger society.
The two factors that signalled the advert of world music are Casette recorder and
distribution of commercial music globally. The common media for world music include
public radio, webcasting, BBC, NPR, ABC, local channels, and so on.

Composition Style of Paul Simon, 1986 --- My typical style of song writing in the past has been to sit with
a guitar and write a song, finish it, go into the studio, book the musicians, lay out the song and the chords,
and then try to make a track. With these musicians, I was doing it the other way around. The tracks preceded
the songs. We worked improvisationally. While a group was playing in the studio I would sing melodies and
words anything that fit the scale they were playing in.
2

The central theme in community music is active music making including performing,
creating and improvising music. When communities within communities exist, multi- and
trans-culturarism can be seen. In such areas, a face to face interaction will give a better
insight of their view points. And a comparison of their viewpoints with ours may give the
broadest possible insight. The ethnomusicologists go to such community gatherings, they
make documentaries, do record them, and later analyse them, apart from using them in
their studies.
Classification of Instruments

In Ethnomusicology, the instruments are classified by how they produce their particular
sounds.
According to Natya Sashtra (India),

Instruments where sound is produced by vibrating strings.

Instruments where sound is produced by vibrating columns of air.
Percussion instruments made of wood/metal.
Percussion instruments made with skin heads.

Charles Mahilion (1888) classified as Strings, Winds, Drums and Others.

Sachs Hornbostel system (1914) classified as
1. Idiophones Produce sound by vibrating themselves = Xylophones
2. Chordophones Produce sound by vibrating chords/strings = Guitar, Cello, Kora
3. Membranophones Produce sound by vibrating membranes = Drums, Kazoos,
Darbuka
4. Aerophones Produce sound by vibrating column of air = Flute, Oboe, Trumpet,
Horn, Reed, Pipe
5. Electrophones Produce sound by electronic method = Electric Guitars, Keyboards

Basic Fieldwork Concepts

A. The classical Ethnographic Field Methods used here are:

1. Ethnographic Observation - Focused and Select - Work with an open mind without
any assumptions, by keeping aside your own history and background.
2. Interviewing - Structured or Semi-structured - Be as neutral as possible and be as
objective oriented as possible
3. Case Studies Individual - Case studies give more insight rather than group
studies/team research, as there involves daily observation of the participant.
4. Longitudinal Research - Long term study of a particular area, where the changes
are mapped and noted.
B. Locating a Performance:

Locate Find out where a Performance is going on.

Participate Go and participate in the performance.
Watch & Observe Carefully different aspects of the performance.
Learn If anything new is
Understand
Explore your community

C. Negotiating a Performance:

Explore the emic view (see things from inside), the folk view and the actors view.
Always jot down important words/expressions.
Audio visual methods are better. (Participant Observation aspect.)
Simple check list of items based on subject (think beyond and keep)

D. Describing a Performance:
1. Venue & Audience Agenda

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Day and Date of performance

Place/Venue of performance Indoors/Outdoors or Big hall or at Home
Time Morning or Evening
Duration of the performance Long or Short
Audience group - Age & commonalities.

2. Description of performance group

a. Instruments used
b. Performers/Musicians
i. Names & Age
ii. History
iii. Background
c. Musical Style
d. Discourse content - Language, Expression, Social interaction
e. Function of Music Entertainment or Cultural ceremony
3. Musical Selection/Elements of Music
a. Song Solo or Chorus
b. Rhythm and Melody
c. Ideational elements - Beliefs, Attitudes, Values, Symbolisms
4. Physical drawing/map of the site

5. Recording technology
6. General Comments
a. Likes, Dislikes of the audience, Expectations
b. Goals - Motivations, Human need fulfilment
E. Analysing a Performance:

Record the performance In order to understand the cultural, social,

ethnographic factors of the performance.

Quality of performance If known about the music and the genre, how well they
sang the intricacies, or how well the known audience received it, and how much
the unknown enjoyed the performance.
Boundaries/stretch
Connections made, if any, with the audience Social interactions with the
audience, any specific comments made by them, general views of the participants
etc, to be noted down.
Environment of the performance

AFRICAN MUSIC

The traditional music of Africa, given the vastness of the continent, is historically ancient,
rich and diverse, with different regions and nations of Africa having many distinct musical
traditions. African music is rich in rhythm, because of usage of more percussion
instruments. Amongst the various influences trade, globalization, colonization have
impacted the African music a lot. More than 3,000 languages are spoken in Africa. It is a
continent with rich culture, varied environments spread throughout, many languages, and
nomadic population.
African music is full of melisma, yodelling. Melisma is moving from one note to another
really smoothly. The characteristic of Sub-Saharan music is poly rhythms, where as in
Western music it is polyphony. They have huge range of instruments like slit gongs, double
bells, akora, fiddles, lamellophone, embera, djembe drum, talking drums, bougarabou,
water drums, ngoma drums, imbera, kalimba, kosika, rain stick, wooden sticks, kanoon
etc. The instruments have spirit in them, which is the reason they are decorated widely.
Musicologically, Africa may be divided into five regions: North, South, East, West and
Central. Southern, Central and West Africa are similarly in the broad Sub-Saharan
musical tradition, but draw their ancillary influences primarily from Western Europe and
North America.
1. North Africa (red region on map) has influences of Persian, followed by Greek
and Roman cultures, while Carthage was later ruled by Romans and Vandals.
North Africa was later conquered by the Arabs, who established the region as the
Maghreb of the Arab world.

Like the musical genres of the Nile Valley and the Horn of Africa (sky-blue and
dark green region on map), its music has close ties with Middle Eastern music
and utilizes similar melodic modes (maqamat). North African music has a
considerable range, from the music of ancient Egypt to the Berber and the Tuareg
music of the desert nomads. The region's art music has for centuries followed the
outline of Arabic and Andalusian classical music: its popular contemporary
genres include the Algerian Ra.
2. The southern region (brown region on map) includes the music of South Africa,
Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia and Angola
3. The eastern region (light green regions on map) includes the music of Uganda,
Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe as well
as the islands of Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Comor. Many of
these have been influenced by Arabic music and also by the music of India,
Indonesia and Polynesia, though the region's indigenous musical traditions are
primarily in the mainstream of the sub-Saharan NigerCongo-speaking peoples.
4. West African music (yellow region on map) includes the music of Senegal and
the Gambia, of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia, of the inland
plains of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, the coastal nations of Cote d'Ivoire,
Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo as
well as islands such as Sao Tome and Principe.
5. The central region (dark blue region on map) includes the music of Chad, the
Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia,
including Pygmy music.

INDIAN MUSIC

The Indian music is the most complex music system in the world. The structure includes
complicated polyrhythms, delicate nuances, ornamentations, and microtones, which are
the essential characteristics of Indian music. Carnatic (South Indian form) and
Hindustani (North Indian form) are two branches found in Indian music.
Hindustani music, because of Moghul empire shares western classical musics tendency
towards long performances geared towards knowledgeable audiences. Carnatic music, is
more ancient, pure and religious. Most Indian classical music is improvisational. The
supporting instrument (drone) is tambura or tanpura, which is either set to 4th or 5th note
(ma or pa). The texture of Indian music is typically a single melody supported by drones
and rhythmic percussion. The melody instrument in Indian music is Sarod/Sitar/Veena,
which has moveable frets, so it ensures microtonality. Tabla/Mridangam is the percussion
instrument used for tala/rhythm. The Nadaswaram (Shawm) is an instrument unique in
Indian music.
The building blocks of Indian music are Raga and Tala. The South Indian musical forms
are:
1. Abhyasa Gana
a. Gitam
b. Swarajatis
c. Varnams - Pallavi, Anupallavi, Charanam (has different tunes)
2. Sabha Gana
a. Varnam (2 halves of equal duration)
i. Purvanga
1. Pallavi
2. Anupallavi
3. Muktyai or Chittiswaras
ii. Uttaranga
1. Charanam
2. Charanam Swaras
b. Kritis
c. Keerthanas
The learning happens through rote learning, called Sruthi tradition. The influence of
iconography, the influence of language, and the influence of social organization is a lot in
Indian music.

Aspects of Melody & Rhythm in Indian Music:

Matra = 1 beat = Single Stroke
Vibhaag = Measure/Bar = Claps (Tali) and Waves (Kali)
North Tala system = 175 talas (derived from 7 basic talas)

Sam - First beat / Down beat (last one) = Same in Indonesian music
Bol - Drum Syllables assigned to distinguish each rhythmic cycle. Also known as
Sollu Kattu, or konnakkol, these are syllables which correlate to the various strokes
of the tabla, mridangam, and pakhawaj as well as other classical percussive
instruments. There is a difference in the way that North Indians and South Indians
view these syllables. In the north (Hindustani sangeet) the tal is actually defined
by the bol, while in the south (Carnatic Sangeet) the syllables do not define the tal,
but are generally used as a mnemonic aid to the musician. Furthermore, the
lexicon of syllables is very different between North Indian musicians and South
Indian musicians.
Theka - The word "theka" literally means "support" (Pathak 1976). Originally the
theka was nothing more than a "groove" that is laid down for the accompaniment
of other musicians. However in the last few centuries it has emerged as "the"
signature for any north Indian tal. Theka is generally conceived of as a
conventionally accepted arrangement of common bols. Such bols as Dha, Dhin,
Ta, Na, and Tin are the most common. The majority of common thekas may be
played using only these bols.

The instruments used are Sitar, Tabla, Pakhwaj, Sarangi, Tanpura, Shahnai, Dhol etc in
Hindustani Music and Veena, Violin, Mrudangam, Nadaswaram Tambura etc in Carnatic
Music. In Tabla, the smaller drum is called Dayan since it is used by Right hand and the
larger drum is called Bayan since it is used by Left hand. The smaller one is made of wood
and the larger one is made of metal and gives deeper bass tone.

LATIN MUSIC

The Latin Music can be divided into

Mexico & Central America

South America
Cuba & Carribea

Spanish influence is more in rural (Ballady style) and African influence is more in urban
areas of Cuba.
The Spanish rhythm is very complicated rhythmic patterns of 6/8 and time.
The Afro-Cuban type is more with syncopation and 2/4 time feel.
Mexicans have Mayan, Toltecs, and Aztecs influence.
The Peru & South Americans have sounds and styles that reflect some of the Andean roots
(indigenous) and the Spanish musical influences.
Siku players = Ira (male play first) and Arka (female play second) sides
Latin music is from wide geographic area that has influences of it indigenous and colonial
part (Spanish, African, Jesuits, Europeans). Be it national anthems or independence
movements, the colonial influences were seen.

Brazil Choro (cry/lament in Portugese), Samba, Bassa Nova (Slowed down

Samba)
Samba varieties
Montu no Salsa and Pregon
Copa Cabana = Night club
Mambo music
Salsa music

The call and response is called coro-pregon in Latin music. The soloist makes a statement
and a chorus of musicians, vocalists respond to it. It is also present in Blues. It is a major
aspect found in other genres like Son, Son Montuno, Cha cha and so on. Vocal
improvisations are also used in market vendors, chants (without any chorus) & is called
pregon, who is the caller or lead singer (guia). The language used is mainly Spanish.
In Rumba genre, massive coro (double the parts) is used. And in Montuno genre, chorus
form the framework.

Blending the traditional and modern music

Syncretism

World Music & Contemporary Society

The Latin music is more social

Our behaviour is influenced by the culture in which we live. Music is a form of cultural
expression. Ex: Female Anthems.
Guiro = Percussion
Musical structures derive from specific cultural standards.
Maraca player
Berimbau = percussion & string
Massification
Claves
Impede
John Meredith
Celtic background

Marketing of World Music

One origin of the term was the initiation of World Music Day (Fte de la Musique) in 1982
in France. World Music Day has been celebrated on 21 June every year since then. On 29
June 1987 a meeting of interested parties gathered to capitalize on the marketing of this
genre. Arguably popular interest was sparked with the release in 1986 of Paul Simon's
Graceland album.
Before 1987, world music had a following but it was still difficult for interested parties to
sell their music to the larger music stores. Although specialist music stores had been
important in developing the genre over many years, the record companies, broadcasters
and journalists had been finding it difficult to build a following because the music, itself,
seemed too scarce. However, they were aware that the jazz and classical markets had
developed a crossover audience. They decided the best way forward would be a collective
strategy to bring the music to a wider audience. At around this time, Cultural Cooperation started the Music Village Festival. This regular series of free world music
festivals continues to run. They also started a network of world music artists to help
promote their work.

At the outset of the 1987 meeting, the musician Roger Armstrong advised the reason why
something had to be done. The first concern of the meetings was to select the umbrella
name that this music would be listed under. Suggestions included "world beat" and
prefixing words such as "hot" or "tropical" to existing genre titles. "World music" won after
a show of hands, but initially it was not meant to be the title for a whole new genrebut
just something the record labels could place on record sleeves to distinguish them during
the forthcoming campaign. Another issue was the distribution methods at the time.
Like "jazz" or "blues," "world music" is a marketing rubric used by radio programmers and
record store buyers, which has caught on with the general public. But while those older
terms may be inexact--who is to say where blues leaves off and jazz or rock picks up?--at
least the material in each genre shares common traits, a 12-bar structure or improvised
solos that give the category some meaning. World music is instead an odds-and-ends bin
of ethnomusicologists' finds and pop stars' patchwork projects. The grouping expresses
less about the music than about the marketing strategy--a strategy that as it succeeds
commercially is undermining the artistic invention it claims to promote, eclipsing the
truly original global collaborations that are out there.
Much of the "world music" of the guide books and record stores would better be termed
"other people's music." In this file, listeners can find such disparate sounds as Balinese
gamelan, Jamaica's choppy reggae rhythms, and the eerie simultaneous tones of a single
Tuvan throat singer. These aren't music styles that draw inspiration from around the
globe; many, in fact, grow out of ancient traditions and are connected to their homelands
in ways that most American and European pop isn't. This is a point world music promoters
miss entirely. "As cultural and political walls crumble," the liner notes to a Warner Bros.
Reprise World Music Sampler pontificate, "the universal impact of global grooves cannot
be denied." But in truth, such easy notions of globalism and universality do more to
obscure than to illuminate the meaning that these traditional music have to their
musicians and their audiences.
Just as the labels "race," "rhythm and blues," and, more recently, "urban" have been used
by white marketers to lump together black popular music ranging from gospel-bred soul
to gangstrap, so "world" is now used to describe everything non-Western to an American
audience. It's a tag designed to attract buyers who are eager for new sounds--and are
presumed to be uninterested in actually understanding them. Were we being honest, we
would call this music "exotica."
An even greater part of what is being passed off as the new global fusion is simply mixand-match. A Western musician "discovers" a non-Western talent and plugs this artist's
work into a very conventional Western pop format. The unfamiliar sound adds spice, and
the New Age overlay of political correctness adds marketing steam. It's as if we were
somehow supporting Australian aboriginal rights by listening to Western rock that

happens to have a didgeridoo echoing the usual bass line. This is music marketed as much
to Western consciences as to Western ears--and it is equally unchallenging to both.
Commenting on Global fusion is simply mix & match - Plugging a non-western artists
work into a conventional western pop format, David Byrne in October 1999 said --- "In my
experience, the use of the term world music is a way of dismissing artists or their music
as irrelevant to one's own life. It's a way of relegating this "thing" into the realm of
something exotic and therefore cute, weird but safe, because exotica is beautiful but
irrelevant; they are, by definition, not like us. It groups everything and anything that isn't
"us" into "them." This grouping is a convenient way of not seeing a band or artist as a
creative individual, albeit from a culture somewhat different from that seen on American
television. It's a label for anything at all that is not sung in English or anything that doesn't
fit into the Anglo-Western pop universe this year. It's none too subtle way of reasserting
the hegemony of Western pop culture. It ghettoizes most of the world's music." Crossing
Music's Borders: 'I Hate World Music', The New York Times, October 3, 1999
Balinese gamelan sounds like magic: part rain on the roof, hammering down in relentless
cascades as it does on this small, tropical Indonesian island; part sunlit shimmer, as the
quavering melodies float from the synchronized mallets of as many as 50 or 100 musicians
in the gamelan orchestra. Balinese gamelan sounds impossible--fragile and invigorating-and for those of us who hear it for the first time as adults, it is wildly intoxicating. In its
currently most common form, the boisterous kebyar, it is produced largely on
metallophones--metal gongs and xylophone-like instruments--often led by a breathy
wooden flute. It is the music of one island's cultural and religious ceremonies, distinct
even from its Javanese counterpart, being nearly always louder and faster than the stately
court compositions of the neighbouring isle. Balinese gamelan is an art firmly tied to its
place of origin, but in the West these days it will most often be found listed under "world
music," a category that's billed as cutting across geographic boundaries and
demonstrating a new cross-fertilization among the world's cultures.
Even in Bali, art is reaching beyond its borders and with results far more intriguing than
simplistic add-a-sound ideas about world music would have suggested. Ketut Yuliarsi is a
Balinese gamelan composer who now writes, in the Western tradition, out of purely
personal inspiration and not in the age-old manner of composing for religious purposes.
He presents his works at the annual arts festival in Bali's capital, Denpasar, and his group
Bodiswara has played in Tokyo, Singapore, and Australia. But when he tries to have his
pellucid compositions performed around his home island, he is invariably asked, What
ritual is it for? What festival does that tune accompany? when he cannot name a purpose,
more often than not his work is refused.
The resistance he is facing is a good indicator of the musical challenge that daring
collaborations provoke. It recalls the confusion that reportedly greeted the bossa nova in
the 1950s. The rhythm is wrong, it's not samba, Brazilian critics said. You're right, it's not

samba, Jobim answered them with the tune "Desifinado," which translates as "out of tune."
But the rhythm isn't wrong; it's just what it ought to be. The song was an international
hit. Its lyrics:
If you insist upon classifying
My behavior as antimusical,
I, even lying, must argue
That this is bossa nova.
This is very natural.
Such art without boundaries is truly world music, whether or not the marketers get behind
it.

Instruments Mentioned in the Course

Drums from Sumatra

Talempong
Balafon Xylophone type
Slit gongs
Double bells
Akora
Fiddles
Lamellophone
Embera
Djembe drum
Talking drum
Bougarabou
Water drum
Ngoma drum
Imbera
Kalimba
Kosika
Rain stick
Wooden sticks
Kanoon
Mbira
Krongerong
Didgeridoo
Accordion

Bodhran
Charango
Siku or Panpipe
Blurb
Mandolin (Spanish)
Barrel drum
Paraguayan Harp
Angklung
Boning
Gombong
Bush ballads/Bush bards

Others:

Samba
Tango dancers

Songs Mentioned in the Course

Farewell - Apocalyptica
La Costa Del Silencio (De Mago De Oz)
Milladoiro - Muineira De Cabana
Baladi Fairuz Armen Kusakaian
The girl from Ipa nema
Ray Barretto Salsa