PART I
This is a video I found on youtube of a man playing the sheng on the street in London. His playing is accompanied by a more modern recording of other instruments, which is something we have encountered more than once in this class.
This second vidoe is of two girls from the Kombai tribe in Papau New Guinia, which is not a culture we studied in class. However, I ran across this video and found it interesting. They are singing while they chop at a sago tree. It reminds me of a "whistle while you work."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FVIbUIbvPM
This last video is of a choir singing the Japanese folk song, Sakura. It's a traditional folk song about cherry blossoms. In class we heard an instrumental version of it. There are a lot of choral arrangements of this song that are very beautiful.
PART II
1. I thought it was very interesting how some cultures learn music by route. I found the Indian tabla players the most interesting. They were able to speak the syllables that coordinated with certain sounds on the drum just as fast as they could play them.
2. During my time in this class I realized that our culture is accustomed to a certain type of music. Since, we are used to hearing music a certain way, when we hear music of other cultures we might think it's ugly or unpleasant. However, the cultures to which the music belongs don't hear it that way and may think our music is unpleasant. It's interesting to think about the world from other points of veiw.
3. I have always wanted to learn more about the world's religions. This class definately sparked that interest again and I hope to persue learning more about different religions and how they may influence other cultures/people.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have always been interested in other people's religions as well. I feel very sheltered sometimes from other people's religious views. It was interesting how music was so connected to religion. I never thought of it being so related.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was first learning to play the piano, a really simple version of Sakura was in my piano book for me to learn! I think its really cool That you put a video of that song up because as a child, that was the first song I ever memorized to play! :)
ReplyDeleteI found the first video's music very beautiful. It was soothing. The quavering effect was very nice. I could hear how the music had asian influences. However, it didn't sound distinctly asian to me. I think that sometimes this was caused by the accompaniment, and other times the accompaniment aided the music to be more identifiable.
ReplyDeleteI like that the song reminds you of whistle while you work! That's a great song. I wonder what they are singing about. It's probably about the work, but it would be cool if there were translations with the lyrics.
The Japanese song is lovely. I enjoyed the dynamics. The plucked accompaniment is very simple, but I think that the singing is so lovely that much accompaniment is unnecessary.
I love that you want to learn more about other cultures and religions. I find it so interesting that there are so many different ways of life on this one planet.
ReplyDeleteThe music the man is playing on the sheng sounds so familiar. I feel like i have heard it before, but I cannot place it to any piece. I agree with Sarah, it was very soothing and relaxing to me. He did not mess up one time and had such a vibrant tone to the instrument. I know it is the culture and all, but the women in the second video need to cover up! :) It reminded me of the Mailman song, like how they worked and created music at the same time. It was pretty neat.
ReplyDeleteThe Sakura folk song is very beautiful. I love Sakuras... and I do agree with you about how our culture is used to certain type of music. I feel the same way. Even though I'm from Asia, South East music was the most unfamiliar to me. It was so interesting.
ReplyDelete