From Wiki Pedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Bosco_Mwenda Jean Bosco Mwenda, also known as Mwenda wa Bayeke (1930-1990) was a pioneer of Congolese fingerstyle acoustic guitar music. He was also popular in other African countries, particularly East Africa, and in the late 1950s and early 1960s was briefly based in Nairobi, where he had a regular radio show and became a profound influence on a generation of Kenyan guitarists.
Notice that while he plays chords, they don't really form a functional harmony. I get the impression that neither chord is a tonic or dominant but that both are treated equally. So even though he is playing chords the primary focus the music is the interlocking of multiple short cyclic and primarily rhythmic melodies. The tension caused by the varying pull of each parts melodic and rhythmic elements creates an elaborately layered and textured sound scape. All that with just a guitar and his voice- Very cool!
My most intimate experience with music's function in society may not appear important enough to warrant discussion - at least not at first glance. I'm talking about kid's and their Ipod's, mp3 players, or phones etc. When I began teaching regularly 3 years ago it was rare for a child under 12 to own an ipod but lately they have become ubiquitous. Now I teach guitar to about 20 kids each week and one of the first things I do is have them bring in the music they like to listen to (usually on an ipod). Whatever the medium of transmission, kids today walk around with a library of music and other media right in their pockets. I have observed that Kids in or approaching their teens are especially protective of who views this list. I think this shows they are aware of the power of this list. This cache of data is more than just music, It is a revealing window into their lives. A list of songs tells me an amazing amount of information about a student. Things like; personality, economic status, social status, degree of freedom, and sometimes even religious beliefs. Sharing the contents of this digital biography invites dangerous exposure to judgment or even ridicule. It may be fairly safe to show your guitar teacher because he has settled into the inconsequential role of a lame 34 year old. But for many a 13 year old the prospect of a classmate or member of the elite class of cool kids viewing your list is bone chilling. - What if my friends think the Jonas Brothers suck. (I do, but I never say it) - I only have ten songs on my (not the latest and greatest) ipod - or worse, I don't have an ipod! - what does Guns and Roses, Hannah Montana, High school musical, and the Beatles say about me. - I can't wait until the other kids hear my Fergi Ringtone
All of this pressure, fear, and social anxiety amounts to the eradication of individuality and creativity that kids are capable of. When we are born we are clean slates. There is no inborn predilection for bubble-gum pop, is there? With the entire world of music at their finger tips I am dismayed at the lack of variety in the average kids ipod. I wish more kids had the courage to give new music a try. I would love to look into a 1o year old's ipod and find Sly and the Family Stone, Ravi Shankar, Blitzen Trapper, Lamb of God, The Strokes, Tony Rice and Debussy. What I'm trying to say is I wish I convince every kid that sits in my studio to make there own mind up about what music they like. At the least I hope I give them an understanding of music delicately pry open their minds a crack.
While looking into the Native American church peyote ritual and music I came across this amazing scene from a rather unconventional western film titled "Renegade". It was released straight to DVD in 2004 so I had never herd of it before but I found it compelling enough to go out and rent it. The scene below depicts a vivid peyote hallucination by the main character U.S Marshal Mike S. Blueberry who is trying to come to terms with the death of his first love. Based on the detail of the images I imagine the film maker did some experimenting of his own.
So, if you managed to watch the whole thing you get the notion that this type of ritual is completely alien to us. Just imagine the power this kind of vision would have on someone living in a tribal society generations before the arrival of the modern world. I think these people would believe deeply in magical properties alive in the real world .
The people of the church were primarily Nigerian and Yoruba. Yoruba is a language and a religion as well as an ethnic group. What was really interesting is that out of a three hour church service on Sunday we spent a least two hours playing music. The ensemble consisted of the choir, western hit drums, bass guitar, keyboard, guitar (me), Latin congas, sometimes trumpet, and on special occasions the talking drum called an Igba by the Yoruba. We started each service with 45 minutes of high energy jamming as the parishioners filed in. The music was mostly contemporary christian songs like "Lord We lift Your Name On High" or "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and "How Great is Our God" but with a decidedly juju or reggae tilt. After the energy has reached a zenith the pastor comes to the front and after a few words he may signal for the music to begin again. After another 15 minutes the sermon would begin. Even during the sermon the musicians would enter in quietly to underpin the pastors story or to add an emphatic swell which he would feed off of and signal us to wane softly or rise with his passionate words. Then the band played again during the offering and finally at the end of the service we played as the parishioners left. One of the ideas that was prevalent in the church was that noise and praise would scare away Satan and other demonic influences. These were very devout Christians but from time to time they would refer to witch craft and demonic possession as if it was a real and plausible reason for illness and misfortune. Sounds to me like a perfect example of syncretism! Our singing, dancing, drumming, and shouting were protection from evil, praises to God, and a unifier the church consciousness. All of this was very new to me as I grew up in the Episcopal Church and we were not regularly involved in shouting and dancing. Unless you consider standing up, sitting down, and kneeling in succession over and over a dance of some kind. The experience did change my approach to music and religion as well as how I look at other cultures. I loved these peoples boisterous and friendly way and I appreciated their belief in the power of music to create joy and healing. Here is a video of me at City of David.
I have included below an excerpt about Yoruba culture because it illuminates the point of view and practices of the people of City of David to a degree. The melding of Christian beliefs and western lifestyles with the Yoruba sensibility creates a sub group of Africans that can be found throughout the world. _________________________________________________________________
Music and dance have always been an important part of Yoruba culture for those living in Nigeria as well as in the diaspora. Yoruba music and dance are used for many different occasions in life such as religious festivals, royal occasions, and entertainment. Yoruba traditional music focuses on Yoruba deities. Drums and singing are the main elements of Yoruba music. Instruments such as metal bells and wind instruments are sometimes used. Yoruba is a tonal language. Words must be pronounced in the appropriate tone (pitch) in order to understand speech in its correct mean- ing. There are three major tones: high, mid, and low. Most of Yoruba music is based on these tonal patterns of speech. Juju emerged in the 1920’s and is the most well known form of Yoruba popular music in Nigeria. Juju has its roots in traditional Yoruba drum- based music. Juju is dance music played by large ensembles centered around guitars and drum- ming. Singing is a major part of Juju music and is inspired by Yoruba poetry, proverbs, praise songs, and the musical character of the language. Music and Dance
First, I must say that this blog entry does not focus on world music directly (and I could have filled this page with esoteric youtube videos) but considers the idea of taste and preference in music. I think that this idea is entirely relevant to our class because it confronts us with a view of our own absurd likes and dislikes and how they prevent us from experiencing what the world has to offer without prejudice. As we have been listening to new and different music I have been thinking about taste and preference. The average American listener would probably not like the following music:
But, what if all music could be just like you wanted it. What if music gave us exactly what we want all the time. What would the results be?
A hilarious and revealing story from the NPR program "This American Life" showcases three composer / scientists Vitaly Komar, Alex Melamid and David Soldier who set out to just that. By surveying 500 Americans with a battery of questions like: what is your favorite instrument, how long should a song be, what are the best topics for a song, what kinds of voices do you prefer, the composers created a made to order song drawing from all of these and more elements: -- love, soprano sax, humble ambition, tenor sax, a marriage proposal, cheesy electronic drum fills, working the night shift, string swells, power chords, and saccharine male/female harmonies.
The result the composers termed "The Most Wanted Song" an r&b rock styled amalgamation that sounds suspiciously like top 40 adult contemporary pop. I will let you be the judge of whether or not the most wanted song is truly wanted at all. Play "The Most Wanted Song"
Now imagine you did the sameprocess in reverse. Poll hundreds of people to find out what we dislike most in music, Of course the composers did this as well. The results "The most Unwanted song" Includes high pitched operatic voice, rap, oom-pah rhythms, harp, piccolo, banjo, tuba, cowboy lyrics, holidays and Wal-Mart. In addition things like drastic changes in loud and soft, children's voices, and a length of more than ten minute were listed as peeves by listeners. Funny, this list describes rather accurately the music that most of us are studying. The end result I find to be utterly irresistible, charming and side splitting all at once. And as though to prove we really have no idea what we really want the "most unwanted song" is by far much more interesting and entertaining that the "most wanted song".
Play "The Most Unwanted Song"
Perhaps the best music has a blend of pleasing and displeasing elements. Just the right combination of cliche, dissonance, surprise, and mellow saxophone could produce music that everyone likes. Or we should drop the idea of pleasing everyone and just try to make the music we like. - if we really know what that is.
From the composers page --- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes by the Composer
This survey confirms the hypothesis that today's popular music indeed provides an accurate estimate of the wishes of the vox populi. The most favored ensemble, determined from a rating by participants of their favorite instruments in combination, comprises a moderately sized group (three to ten instruments) consisting of guitar, piano, saxophone, bass, drums, violin, cello, synthesizer, with low male and female vocals singing in rock/r&b style. The favorite lyrics narrate a love story, and the favorite listening circumstance is at home. The only feature in lyric subjects that occurs in both most wanted and unwanted categories is intellectual stimulation. Most participants desire music of moderate duration (approximately 5 minutes), moderate pitch range, moderate tempo, and moderate to loud volume, and display a profound dislike of the alternatives. If the survey provides an accurate analysis of these factors for the population, and assuming that the preference for each factor follows a Gaussian (i.e. bell-curve) distribution, the combination of these qualities, even to the point of sensory overload and stylistic discohesion, will result in a musical work that will be unavoidably and uncontrollably liked by 72 plus or minus 12% (standard deviation; Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic) of listeners.
The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles). An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and elevator music, and a children's choir sings jingles and holiday songs. The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commericals and elevator music. Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no covariance someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population would enjoy this piece.
I must admit, I have never quite known how to move properly to music. To be honestly dancing has not been on my priority list since summer camp in 1988. My grandparents knew how to dance and it was real dancing to real music. In their generation kids could cut a rug to the swinging sounds of Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. In the suburban America I grew up in dancing was simply non existent. Had I grown up with the Hip Hop, Latin or European cultures where dance is still an integral part of life than I sure I would feel differently. But unlike the late great Mr. Brown I was born a Anglo and lame.
Perhaps one thing I like about playing playing and instrument is that you move you body purposefully to make music. You can forget for a moment how you look or even where you are in space for that matter and simply exist for and within the music. Leave the dancing and swaying to the listeners I'd rather be playing.
All that said I still believe that music and movement are inexorably tied. Rocking and singing my children to sleep each night for the past two years I have witnessed the profound union of parent and child in that simple movement. It's odd that when we have children those instincts just kick in as if they were waiting there all along. Stretching into the darkest mists of time when the question arises "what do I do with this crying child" the simple natural answer is to sing and sway. That sweet combination of voice, touch, and movement is magic to you're little one. Music and movement are natural magnets to one another. Get one going and the other soon follows. One of the cutest things you will ever see you kids do is bob and bounce to music. When our daughter was around 6 months old I would bounce her on my knee and sing "pony girl, pony girl , won't you be my pony girl " Later we discovered that she would begin bouncing herself at the slightest suggestion of the song. One evening after dinner we put on the "Saturday Night Fever" album and watched both the kids just go nuts to it. They bounce and twirl and wave there arms to the music watching you and adapting your moves to fit their heightened level of exuberance . It's really amazing, we seem to be hard wired for this music and movement connection from birth.
