I am researching the different genres in music in many different countries :)
I chose music because it means alot to me and its one of favourite pastimes , so id love to learn more about the different types of music and where they originated from :)
The countries i chose to do are:1. African American music - blues and jazz or gospel music
2. Argentia - folk and art music
3. Brazil - aural surroundings , the music imitates the sounds they hear.
4. Cuba - Called the son (rural styles of songs for dancing)
5. india - folk music and classical music
6. japan - orchestras and opera
African American music:
The blues began as solo singing. These solo songs came from "field hollers" that slaves yelled while they toiled in the fields. They also may have come from story songs, called ballads, and other songs that were sung at lively dances. Blues singers made slight changes to original melodies and rhythm in order to add emotional expression, including sounds of moaning or crying. The emotions expressed were often sad and mournful.
Later on, instruments such as the guitar, banjo, and harmonica were added to accompany solo blues singing. Eventually the piano, bass, drums, brass, and woodwind instruments were also added. Today, musicians follow a specific form or pattern of phrases when they sing or play the blues. One of America’s most famous blues singers was Bessie Smith (1894–1937).
Jazz began in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the early twentieth century. It started as a mixture of many different types of music including popular music and the blues. It has changed over the years and has many different sub-styles, such as Dixieland, swing, bebop, Afro-Cuban, cool, free jazz, and fusion.
In jazz the performer often improvises to create new or different sounds that add to the emotional expression of the song. Jazz musicians create their own version of the melody while they are performing. The performers usually begin by playing a tune that they all know, and then they take turns improvising around that tune. Sometimes jazz performers make up a completely new melody that goes with the same chord progression of the original melody. Players or singers often repeat the melody in its original form at the end of the selection.
There are different kinds of jazz bands. A "combo" is a small jazz ensemble that usually consists of a keyboard, bass, drums, and sometimes guitar. These form the rhythm section. They support the rhythm and harmony, and each of these instruments can function as a soloist, trading off with the others. Sometimes a melody instrument is added, such as a clarinet, saxophone, or trumpet, and there may be a singer. A "big band" might include five saxophones, five trombones, five trumpets, and a rhythm section of a keyboard, drums, guitar, and, in the early days, banjo and tuba.
Argentina:
folk - There are two main kinds of folk music heard almost everywhere in Argentina. One is music that comes from original cultures and the other is creole music that has evolved from the culture of the Spanish colonists and their descendants, often mixing with local original traditions
In some areas of Argentina, folk music has been influenced by visitors from neighboring countries eg Chile.
A style of dance music that is quite popular is called cuarteto. It has proven to be an extremely successful part of the dance hall scene and recording industry in Argentina.
In the plains area called La Pampa the dances are lively, but the songs are often introspective and quiet. Guitar, accordions, and harmonica are used to accompany both dances and songs. Singing duels, in which improvisational skills are compared, are common in La Pampa. An old Argentine vocal duet style, in which performers sing in parallel thirds with guitar accompaniment, is popular there and in many other areas of Argentina.
Brazil:
Aural surroundings -
Immigrants from many different countries have come to work and live in Brazil in the last 200 years. Over time, people from these cultures have intermarried, forming a mixture of cultures and traditions, which the music and dance of Brazil reflects.
Hidden deep in many of the forests of Brazil are groups of the original peoples whose cultures are ancient. Members of these groups are often hunters and gatherers and live in the way people lived thousands of years ago. Their musical instruments include various kinds of rattles, drums, whistles, flutes, and horns. In addition to playing instrumental music, the people enjoy dancing and singing. Their music often reflects their aural surroundings—it imitates the sounds they hear.
When the Portuguese people arrived in Brazil, they had with them many European instruments, including the flute, clarinet, a small, four-stringed guitar (that later became the ukulele in Hawaii), guitar, violin, cello, accordion, tambourine, and piano. These instruments, particularly the guitar, tambourine, and flute, have been used in much of Brazil’s traditional music. The Portuguese brought from Europe vocal music such as ballads, romantic songs, church music, children’s songs, and lullabies, which were sung using the scales and harmonies common in Europe then. The choros (Portuguese for weeping or crying) is the most popular song form in Brazil and is accompanied by guitars, flute, clarinet, and mandolin. People enjoy dancing to this music. Finally, the Portuguese brought with them the familiar rhythms of their region of the world, including rhythms of the polka, the waltz, and the march.
Cuba:
The Son - Not much is known about Cuba’s folk music before the year 1800. It is known that early Cubans played wooden and conch shell trumpets, hollow wooden drums, flutes, and shakers.
When the Spaniards came to colonize Cuba in the 1500s, they brought European art music. Early Catholic church music in Cuba was documented. There is evidence of music for choirs and organ, with the occasional addition of string instruments. In the early 1800s, symphonies and operas were performed in churches.
Today, popular Cuban music and dance styles include salsa, son, rumba, mambo, and cha-cha-cha. The instruments used include the claves, maracas, guiro, thumb piano (like the African mbira), and cowbell, as well as various drums, including bongos and a large conga. Some European-style instruments may also be used. In Cuban music, a special rhythm played on the claves (called the clave rhythm) sets the tempo and maintains it.
Son is a distinctly Afro-Cuban musical style because it uses an African rhythm. Spanish poetic styles in the lyrics, and the use of plucked instruments (including guitars)are used. Son is a part of much Cuban music.
One style of Cuban song, was music from the rural areas of western and central Cuba. This is Cuba’s "country music," called musica guajira ("peasant music"), or musica campesina ("farmer’s music"). Lyrics of these songs center on life in the country, love, and some humorous topics, especially when dancing is involved. Guitar and some string instruments accompany these songs that share some characteristics with North American country music and blues songs. This rural style is not derived from African styles, but is influenced by the Spanish style.
India:
folk music - Music is important in all aspects of life in India. Indian music relates deeply to the soul of the people, revealing different emotions and moods that are connected to specific times of day and seasons of the year. Two main categories of music native to India are folk music and classical music. These two categories share some musical characteristics, but they are performed by different classes of people. Classical Indian music is enjoyed and performed mostly by members of the upper class. Folk music is enjoyed and performed by people from many different cultural classes all over India, from towns and villages to the countryside. Additionally, pop music and music for films can be heard broadcast on the streets and in homes and restaurants throughout India.
Indian folk music is an important part of life from childhood through old age and death. It is heard at festivals, ceremonies, religious rituals, dances, and is part of the work of daily life, whatever it may be. Folk music styles vary widely from place to place, between men and women, and between classes of people. Dance, theater, song, and instrument playing are all tied together in Indian folk music. This varies from group to group, depending on the purpose of the music or the dance.
Some folk styles share with India’s classical tradition characteristics such as rhythm, meter, and ragas (special complex modes with elements of melody, ornamentation, and mood).
classical music - India has a classical musical tradition that is around five thousand years old. Originally, classical music was performed only in the courts and temples. Today, it is performed at public concerts or on the radio for anyone to hear. It is, however, enjoyed and performed by people of the upper class. It can be purely instrumental or may feature singers who are telling ancient tales. All of classical Indian music, whether from the north or the south, can be thought of in three layers: melody, drone, and rhythm.
Classical Indian music uses very small intervals of sound, smaller than the half-step interval known in Western music. String and wind instruments can bend and slide pitches in special ways to produce these small intervals. The classical music of India is played mostly on string instruments and drums, plus some wind instruments. Instruments vary slightly from north to south.
Japan:
Opera and Orchestras - The musical life of Japan today is very much like that of North America and Europe, with all of the familiar popular music, in addition to symphony orchestras, period instrument ensembles, performance art, and opera. Arts groups from all over the world come to Japan on tour to perform.
Melodies based on pentatonic scales are the most important element in Japanese music. Unlike Western art music, harmony does not exist in Japanese art music.
Personal emotional expression is not the goal of traditional Japanese instrumentalists, so they usually sit still in a formal posture and don’t look at one another as they play.
The koto [KOH-to] is a board zither with thirteen or more strings. The sound is mellow and resonant. Koto players place it on the floor when playing.
The shakuhachi [shah-koo-HAH-chee] is an end-blown bamboo flute. It has four finger holes on the front and one thumbhole in back. The player may move his or her head around to produce bends, shakes, and slides in ornamenting the melody. The shakuhachi is often associated with Buddhist monks, and its breathy tone quality works well in Zen meditation.
The shamisen [SHAH-mee-sen] is a long, narrow, three-string plucked lute. The square resonating box is covered with animal skin, and the strings are plucked with a large triangular pick. Japanese folk and popular songs have been accompanied by the shamisen since the 1600s.
The koto, shakuhachi, and shamisen are played together to perform some styles of traditional music with voice. The voice has an intense, tight sound that is low in pitch and ornamented with quivers, bends, slides, and other techniques.
The koto The shakuhachi
The shamisen
HOPE YOU ENJOYED :)
