final round of cool stuff and things pertaining to the class

This is called "Scotland the Brave". It's a great example of the bagpipes. This piece came close to being set as the National Anthem in Scotland.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBKBI7DOLHA

I actually mentioned this in my final paper. It's a replica of The "Queen Mary harp". It's a great example of the clarsach. Since I didn't show a visual example of the clarsach in class, I figured this would be appropriate for this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCcy7_TPMY8


Here is another example of Scottish folk music. This is a group of performers at a festival. I didn't mention percussion in my paper or presentation so here is some percussion and bagpipe music.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IxKM77KM64





Things pertaining to the course

1. I must say that the class as a whole has been interesting. It's difficult to say what I found most interesting in the course. I particularly enjoyed learning about Native American culture. I found it interesting that Native American culture is so similar to other culture in terms of style. Native American culture, African culture and many others are extremely repetitive and contain little notation.

2. In comparing our culture to others, it seems that Western music is so much more complicated than some of the others that we heard throughout the class. Maybe it's just me, but our system of harmony and temperament seem more complicated.

3. As I worked on my presentation and final paper, I found the music of Scotland intriguing. Since I only concentrated on the instruments, it would be cool to learn more about vocal music as well as today's popular music of Scotland.

Cool stuff 3

This is Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I did a presentation on these guys last semester. I really enjoy listening to them. They are an African Call and response group. Here they are performing with Paul Simon.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Hnfu76QIs&feature=PlayList&p=3A569DE30E109AFE&index=0&playnext=1

This is West African folk music by King Ibu and Lucky Diop. These guys are just jammn away on different instruments. I particularly enjoy the guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVk22fjN6AE

This artist is called ZIKALO. It's another type of South African folk music. I love the vocal styles. There is a great deal of call and response style in this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmMX9-HDdBQ

Music and Gender

Whether I would admit it or not, Music is heavily influenced by gender. I have noticed that there are a lot more males playing brass instruments than females (Duh). Oddly enough, In high school the entire trumpet section (9 people) was made up of eight girls and myself. This was a very rare instance. I also noticed that when girls play brass instruments, they don't always enjoy playing in the same styles that many males enjoy. Generally speaking, high school boys tend to enjoy playing loud powerful music where girls tend to be more lyrical. I don't know if this is the trend in most high schools but it sure seemed like it was at old C'field.

At Limestone the music department (instrumentalist) was heavily dominated by boys. I'm not really sure why it was this way but it was. Jazz band was very exciting there. The Jazz band was nothing but boys most years. I always believed that female musicians would add so much character to our ensembles.

I think it's interesting that I am achieving a Graduate degree at a school that's primarily for girls. It seems a little strange at times but at the end of the day Converse is simply awesome. A Converse College I get to feel like a true individual.and ounce again I am playing in a trumpet section with all girls.

I would also note that Converse College may have some productions related to gender. Maybe I'm going out on a limb here but perhaps the lack of brass players is why we don't have a Jazz Band. Also, we don't have a great deal of brass ensembles except the trumpet quartet that we just started. Could this be attributed to having a primarily female program? As a whole, the department seems to be steered toward a classical setting than a Jazz or Commercial setting. I would say that gender has played a major role in our musical output.

Music and Religion

Through my religious experiences, music has always been a central roll. I would say that music is actually central to an appropriate church service. I simply couldn't imagine a service without it. I grew up in a methodist church with a small congregation. As I posted in an earlier blog, I was the only instrumentalist that went to my church besides the pianist. I would play hymns on my trumpet ounce every Sunday (give or take) and it was just awesome. That being said, it was pretty much a traditional setting. Until I got older, I believed this setting was the only way. Having gone to numerous different types of churches including House of Prayer, I would say there isn't a single way of worship and different types of music can be appropriate. I enjoy listening to a gospel group singing in an almost rock style. This is what they feel within their souls. I would never try to use this style within my own church because it may offend some people but that's my advantage. This advantage means that I understand something that they can't.

I believe that our culture isn't different from the Native Americans in that sense. Do all Native Americans use the same type of music for their religious beliefs. From the Sioux to the Cherokee different tribes use different styles and instruments. They also consider music to be crucial to their religious ceremonies the same as we do. Are we really so different? In my view, without music, we couldn't have religion. I just don't know if I could get through a church service without music. My music background began in the church.

Cool Stuff:What we are doing in class...

Here is an interesting site with pictures of musical instruments used by the cherokee indians. I decided to find info in the cherokee because we seem to have so many in South Carolina. hubpages.com/hub/music-and-the-Cherokee-Indians
The site discuses how vocals are the central element of their music. The instruments as illistrated in the pictures are drums, shakers, and the flute. They are used to merely accompany the vocals.

This is another website for native american music. It focoses on the Soux tribes. It mentions the flute, drums, and shaker as well. Vocals are the central element throughout all Native American Music. www.denawilliams.com/sioux

Since I did a presentation in South African Music last semester, I thought I would just post some info about South African music. The central element of this style is vocal just as Native American music. Some of the instruments used are the Bow, Shakers, and tin whistle. Here is the website.

www.southafrica.info

Cool Stuff:What we are doing in class...

family music culture

I would say that some of my key musical experiences growing up can be attributed to my mother and father. As a child, my father would take me to work with him doing construction work. He is a carpenter and all we would listen to is country music. It seems that many people who live in the country and work out doors listen to country music. At least that's the way it seemed growing up. I guess country music was the first type of music that I ever actually memorized lyrics and would sing along. The first album I ever purchased was a Billy Ray Cyrus album that featured the song Achy Breaky Heart. Though it's not something I listen to very often today, Country Music was my first favorite musical art form. Even though I have had extensive musical training in significantly more artistic music, I still consider country music a major art form.

My mother loved many different types of music. I give her partial credit for why I choose to play the trumpet. She loved listening to Christmas music. She particularly loved to listen to Christmas music arranged for different brass groups. She also loved listening to older pop groups such as The Temptations, The Beatles, The Jackson Five, The Rolling Stones, and many others. She would say things like "Brandon, Listen to that trumpet lick....You could do that some day". She was always a key source of inspiration in pursuing my music career (also a huge help with developing strategies in managing my classes when I taught band).

During my high school years, my brothers and I took an interest in rock music. Our favorite band was Metallica. A few other bands we enjoyed were AC/DC, Guns n' Roses, Megadeth, etc. We listened to these groups inside and out. luckily I participated in Band and Chorus which gave me extensive knowledge in music that was a little more artistic. like country music, I consider rock a major art form as well. It's just simply different from the type of musician that I aspire to become.

Music of Diverse Cultures Autobiography

I have had little experience when it comes to music of cultures outside of my own. Most of the music that I am familiar with are European art music, pop music, and jazz. I always considered this a pretty well-rounded musical background for my music study but it's always important to understand different arts around the world as well.

My knowledge was strengthened a few months ago when my general music teacher had everyone do a presentation on music of a culture of their choice. I choose South African music with a particular emphasis on the Zulu tribe. The Zulu folk music that I took the most interest in was a vocal style known as isicathamiya. This vocal style is made up of an all male chorus where one person will sing and melody and the full chorus will alternate with that person (call and response). A popular group around the world is called Ladysmith Black Mambazo and are prime examples of the isicathamiya style. Most music within the Zulu culture are vocal with little instrumental accompaniment (such as by a whistle or bow). Over all, this was an exciting project that allowed me to become more culturally aware.

I also had a small portion of Music of the world in an undergraduate music history class. This was only for about 2 weeks and the only thing I can remember is Native American music.

I guess another portion of cultural music would be a great deal of the repertoire performed in the different wind ensembles I have played with. I touched on many different cultural styles in jazz band as well (ex. Latin Jazz).

Other than the presentation and short discussions in music classes, I have little experience with music of other cultures. However I have always enjoyed listening to music recordings from cultural movies such as the soundtrack to Braveheart (Scottish music). Another piece i enjoyed listening to was the opening to The Boondock Saints (Irish Music).