Choosing Rhymes

1. En Den Dino
2. Two children
3. Israel/ Hebrew Culture
4. The following video is of a choosing rhyme from the Hebrew culture. In the past, I have used the rhyme as a jumping off point for arranging where students can change the tone of their voice, dynamics, add ostinato patterns, and unpitched percussion. I have not really taught the song with much cultural background or used the song in ways that felt culturally appropriate, but students did interact with the music and rhymes work well for arranging because they lack specific pitch. I also didn't want to use an American rhyme like "eeny, meeny" because the students might have a harder time considering arranging possibilities with a song they already knew.

In it's context, this choosing rhyme helps children socialize within their culture much like "one potato, two" does for American children; it helps them learn turn taking, competition and rules (Lew & Campbell, 2005). Through play, children can learn to interact with others in culturally appropriate ways. En Den Dino can help children learn how to behave socially in the ways already described, but it can also help them learn cultural norms. A child that might need to make a choice or decide between who gets the last cookie (or other thing) can use utilize the choosing rhyme and thereby demonstrate their understanding that a choice needs to be made. In the video, the children are seemingly choosing between two beverages. In this case and in this cultural setting it is most appropriate to not have one person make a decision. Instead, they can use chance to keep things equitable. In another setting or culture, the response might be different  and children can learn appropriate responses through play.

1. El Cascabel
2. Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan
3. Mexico
4. cordophones (violin, guitar, vihuela, guitarron, arpa), voice, aerophones (trumpet)
5.  "El Cascabel" is a mariachi "show" piece and would likely be beyond the ability level of all but the best high school musicians. However, there are ways to enactively listen to mariachi music and thereby create a strong connection to the music and culture of mariachi music. Built on a solid foundation of attentive and engaged listening, students can begin to create or re-create mariachi music using stylistically correct ways of performing. Students can pay particular attention to the powerful delivery and falsestto used in the vocal performance to perform other mariachi songs or create their own music for mariachi. Trumpet players can imitate the wide vibrato that is vital to the mariachi style. Violinists can listen to and play melodic lines clearly and without vibrato like the mariachi violinists do. "Mariachi Philharmonic" is an excellent text written by former ASTA president Bob Phillips and mariachi educator and performer John Nieto. The book utilizes students orchestral background to help them interact with mariachi music with notated parts for the string orchestra. Of course, having the traditional instruments such as the guitarron and vihuela would be ideal, but most schools do not have them on hand and may lack the resources to buy them. Guitars can be used and chord symbols are provided in the text. Bass and cello players can take on the role of the guitarron in the ensemble. The arrangements of popular mariachi songs are flexible which leaves room for students to make musical decisions regarding form and texture using their prior knowledge listening to mariachi music. This utilizes their aural skills for making musical decisions which is an important part of music learning. Students can also make decisions when to add in "shouts" that are another very important part of mariachi music. Becoming comfortable with whistling an shouting may take time, but provides important insight into their role in the ensemble. Another thing string students may hesitate to do is sing in a foreign language. It is of utmost importance, however, that all performers sing when possible. The heart of mariachi music is in the singing and text of the music and students must engage with that aspect. Performing a mariachi song also provides the students with a better understanding of the role of mariachi music for Mexican Americans as a source of identity. They can feel the strength communicated in the powerful singing, interact with the cultures ideas about love and life through translated lyrics, and they can perceive the importance of community in the culture through the combination of melody, harmony, communication, and accompaniment that makes the full mariachi sound.

Taiko drumming in America

1. Hiryu Sandan Gaeshi
2. Soh Daiko
 3. U.S. New York City but originally Japan
4. Taiko ensemble, aerophones, membranophones, idiophones,

Hiryu Sandan Gaeshi is one of the first songs a novice taiko drummer learns. In honor of the grandmaster of Taiko, Daihachi Oguchi, taiko esnembles around the world posted their videos of the song. You can find groups from the U.S., Europe, Australia, Japan, and all over the world performing this song each in their own way. Taiko drumming has taken on it's own cultural significance beyond that of traditional taiko drum use. Taiko in the modern sense is more a combination of drumming and martial arts that is an entertaining visual and aural experience.

I had the opportunity to learn taiko drumming from a colleague who has since moved to San Diego and started the La Jolla taiko ensemble. He went to a  Japan on a grant to learn taiko drumming several year back and returned to teach taiko drumming.

  When considering Koops' (2010) models of authenticity there are a number of things to consider. When viewing authenticity as a continuum, it becomes difficult to discover the "home setting" of this music. Is it most authentic to consider taiko drumming's home setting as Japan? What about previous uses for the taiko drum for ceremonies and as a village symbol? Can modern taiko drumming be truly authentic at all? The continuum model doesn't particularly makes sense for this music and leads to either dismissing the multiple manifestations of the music across the globe or creating miniature pockets of "authentic taiko for region  X  ". 

    The historical and personal model does leave room for the variety's of expression found in the many youtube versions of Hiryu Sandan Gaeshi. Attempting to maintain historical authenticity for modern tiako drumming, however, would require a great deal of money as each taiko drum is 1,000s of dollars. In a school setting if would be difficult to provide such and experience, but there would be value in learning the rhythms and arm motions of taiko drumming with an aural learning approach.
 
   The reproduction, reality, and relevance model does make sense in trying to maintain the original approach (each taiko group in the Hiryu project does some things similarly owing to the original intent set down by Daihachi Oguchi). It is also important to maintain reality. If I was teaching taiko drumming, it would be important for the experience to be realistic to what other, professional and semi-professional taiko ensembles do, omitting the shouts heard in taiko drumming or the oportunities for improvisation would be to deny a realistic experience.

  In the end, I think Ramos has a good point in getting beyond authenticity. Music is not a static product and there is no "ideal" taiko music. Yes, we should attempt to recreate the music in a realistic and relevant way, but trying to "recreate" authentic taiko drumming would miss the point that music is ever evolving. Simply watching a few taiko examples shows that there are some important aspects of taiko drumming that should be honored, but there is room for individuality for the ensemble. That is part of the global reality made possible by new technologies.
 

1. Somali Freedom Song
2. Hasan Gure and Ghanaian immigrants Kwame Ansah Brew and Kofi Emmanuel Dennis on percussion.
3. Somalia
4. Chordophone (Oud), membranophones, and voice
5. The basic structure seems simple with a repetition of the same melodic material either with voice or played on the oud. However, there is a short introduction where Hasan sets the tempo and the accopaniment comes in reinforcing the duple meter. The intra-ensemble interaction is very important for the structure of the song. You can see eye contact to begin the song continued visual interaction. Each section has the same melodic material, but the length of each section differs. The ensemble must interact together to determine the length of each section as well as when the music has ended. It is possible the singer/oud player is setting the lengths of the sections and the accompaniment must follow, but it is not entirely clear and eye contact may be playing a role in setting the section lengths. There is not much audience-performer interaction in this setting so it is unlikely to play a role in structure. Since the membranophone players are from Ghana and not Somalia, it would be interesting to see the difference in performance. How well versed are they in Somali music? Is this performance more of a collaboration across cultures resulting in a cultural mix? Perhaps cultural differences played a role in setting the structure of the music. 

               I've shown this in the past for general music classes mostly to demonstrate an oud for students to hear. It helps that we have a large Somali refugee population and some students get excited about the cultural connection. I have not had any students recognize the song or have any emotional connection to the music, but it would be interesting to hear the perspective of this performance from a Somali native. 

Throw Down Your Heart

1. "Jesus is the Only Answer" - from the CD track titles
2. Ugandan performers and Bela Fleck
3. Jinja (Uganda)
4. Banjo, Thumb Pianos, shakers, a large variety of Idiophones, Chordophones, and voice. 
5. Instrumentation
6. The Sachs-Hornbostel system for classifying instruments is useful in this example. Identifying chordophones used in the song emphasizes the way in which the sound is produced.  With the large variety of instruments seen and heard in the video it is important to have a clear way to identify them. If we don't know the names of the instruments (as is the case with this video), classification provides a way to describe them accurately. If I knew the names of the instruments, but wanted to describe the music to someone who does not, I might use sachs-hornbostel to provide a clear picture for them. The use of meter to classify the idea of time in this recording is fairly straightforward. The overall time feel is duple (a common 4/4), but there is a great deal of polyrhythm within the music as well. Describing the time as duple does communicate the overall musical time structure in a clear and concise way. Generally, the use of classifications does this well. It communicates that which we can describe when more specific information is lacking and provides clarity to a audience that lacks insider knowledge. 

Though this video clip is a joining of African and European sounds, I really enjoy this film. Bela Fleck sets out to discover the "ancestors" of the banjo and the film documents a wide variety of African music. I've shown the full film to my general music students in the past. It does a great job of showing authentic music making while spotlighting African music's hallmarks like polyrhythm, participation, call and response, and more. I also like this scene's comments on music and gender.

La Bamba

The following video is of Tlen Huicani performing the Son Jarocho song "La Bamba." The music is from Veracruz in Mexico and the song is best known because of the rock 'n roll version created by Ritchie Valens. The song is performed with traditional instruments like the arpa (harp), guitar, requinto, and jarana. 

    Certainly we might engage with this song by listening, performing, or analyzing and arrive at some important conclusions. We would learn about the music of Veracruz and this song in particular, but miss out on a great deal of context vital to the understanding of this music in relation to culture and the music itself. Ethnomusicology is important because it helps us develop a deep and enduring music pedagogy. We can investigate the origins and usage of the requinto and it's role in Son Jarocho music. We can lean about the reasons for the loud shouts and their meaning in this music. We can discover the role this music plays in Veracruz and better understand the importance of music in culture. 

I used this recording when teaching the music of Mexico to 6th grade students. It's familiarity because of Ritchie Valens was a "gateway" to learning about the music of Veracruz. We learned that, much like in America, Mexico has different regions with different music and musical tastes. We learned that shouts and calls in Mexican music communicate intensity and passion. This learning was made possible because ethnomusicologists have conducted field work to learn more about the music of Veracruz and made that information available. In teaching world music, I was able to include enthomusicology to provide a better picture of this music in relation to it's culture and our own culture as well.