listening (b)log: Sorida

I listened to two renditions of the song/game Sorida, which is a South African Greeting song. The song, in its original version, features male and female voices with a beat played by a drum. In the original version, there are hand movements that accompany the song. The rendition by Rosephayne Powell is arranged for SATB, acappella, with percussion. Her rendition features layered vocal patterns (ri da ri da, da da da) and a solo.

I feel that both of the renditions of the song can be taught to various age groups. The original song/game can be used to teach awareness of beats, cadence points, and eye/hand coordination. The combination of aural, visual, and movement is a powerful way to help students internalize rhythm, become aware of the body, and realize extramusical goals, such as following directions. This would be a good song to teach to children who in the second to fourth grade.

The other rendition of the song is an original work that is loosely based on the song/game. The song was written by an American, who studied the African folk song. She added her own lyrics, melody, and harmonies, but they are based on another African folk song that plays on the syllables of the word "sorida." This song could be used to teach more advanced musical techniques to high schoolers. I think that, if using this piece in a high school, the teacher should teach and expose the authentic song and its hand movements to the students before beginning to teach the modified song, so that some authenticity can be preserved.

listening (b)Log: Waltzing Matilda

I listened to a rendition of Waltzing Matilda which you can find here. The artist is Rolf Harris. This is a top rated rendition of this song. He plays the accordion to accompany himself on the song. In addition, audience members laugh and sing along with him.

Waltzing Matilda is a widely-known country folk song in Australia. I learned a few things about this song in the introduction. I had always thought that Waltzing Matilda was about a man's waltzing partner named Matilda. Come to find out, this song is about a man who wanders through the Australian Outback with his belongings tied in a blanket on his back (who he affectionately calls his Matilda, his only companion) slung over his shoulder. The song contains many context dependent words that are unique to the region.

billabong: large body of water
billy: tin of water to be boiled
tuckerbag: food bag
squatter: big landowner

I might use this song in a general music class to teach listening for context clues that might illuminate what these unfamiliar words mean. Also, this is a fun song that is child-friendly.

listening (b)Log: The Polyphonic Spree: Light and Day

I listened to a song called Light and Day by the band Polyphonic Spree. This song is written for vocals, guitar, flute, harp, keyboard, and flute, and trumpet. This song has been represented in various movies (Breakfast Club) and TV shows (Scrubs).

I chose this song because it is structured in an unusual way for a Western pop song from American artists. Instead of ABA structure with a chorus, the song has a colotomic structure. In colotomic structure, there are specified instruments to mark off established time intervals. In the gamelan percussion ensembles of Java and Bali, for instance, timed intervals may be marked by the entrance of different instruments. In this piece, the entrances are made in progression by guitar, violin, harp, vocal (male then female), flute, then keyboard in time-spaced intervals. To mark the ending of the piece, a trumpet is introduced. Using an example from popular culture, like this piece, can provide an entry point into the colotomic structures of musics from other parts of the world.

listening (b)log: El Condor Pasa (If I Could)

I listened to two rendtions of a Peruvian folk song called El Condor Pasa (If I Could), a compilation of Peruvian folk melodies written by Daniel Robles. The original version is written for the guena (flute) and churango. The second version has been popularized by Simon and Garfunkel on the Sound of Silence album.

The Simon and Garfunkel rendition preserves the essence of the original song in the background instrumentation (churango, a type of flute called a quena). Simon and Garfunkel changed the lyrics of the song (from the original Spanish) but otherwise maintains the overall contour and feel of the piece. Many other versions exist, including a Spanish eurodance version, a Russian pop version, and a Hebrew version of this song.

It would be interesting to do a lesson incorporating the many different styles of this particular song. In a secondary general music class, I might have students create charts to listen for what is the same and what is different in two or more versions of the song. I might ask how the original Peruvian folk melody is preserved in each version (in terms of instrumentation, melody, etc.). I might also ask open ended questions that encourage divergent thinking about why this song might appeal so widely to people around the world.

Listening b(log): Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood

I listened to a piece entitled Music for Pieces of Wood by minimalist composer Steve Reich. The piece is scored for five sets of tuned claves. It was written in 1973.

This piece begins simply--a single set of claves lays down a quarter note beat that continues throughout the piece. The second person to enter plays a repeating twelve-note pattern. In typical Steve Reich style, the other three members of the group play the same pattern as the second player, either in unison or offset by a beat, requiring several repetitions of the twelve-note pattern for the players to "line up" with each other. Because the claves are tuned differently, and there are constantly changing rhythms, there is a surprisingly complex web of sound that develops fairly quickly.

I thought of this piece in relation to the reading on Deep Listening because I think that minimalist music is, initially, easy to understand. The repetitive nature of minimalist pieces can be a fantastic tool to help teach students how to listen deeply. If something is repeated over and over, as in this work and the work of many minimalist composers, students can latch onto and feel the "groove" of the music. This is even more powerful when one is participating in the music. Using this piece as a point of departure, I could very easily access the ears of my students to help them tune into deep listening, helping them to realize that music does not have to be Western Classical Art music to be both rewarding and appealing.

Listening b(log): Low Entropy: Crystalline

I listened to a piece entitled Crystalline by a man whose real name is Soenke Moehl. He is better known as Low Entropy. This piece was produced on an electronic instrument. To my ears, this style might be characterized as new age or progressive.

I found this piece by accident looking for a piece of Baroque music that uses the just intonation system (as opposed to the equal intonation system that modern Western ears are used to). Just intonation differs from equal intonation because it uses a system of ratios to tune intervals based on the stability of the perfect intervals of the fourth and the fifth. True "perfect" fifths have a ratio of 300:200 Hz, or 3:2, and Crystalline is a piece that is built on this tuning system. To me, this piece is haunting. It slows time down, brings my heart rate up, unnerves me, and interests me. At this point in my blog, I have listened to the piece continuously for what feels like hours (but is, in fact, only around 20 minutes).

What does this have to do with authenticity, and why did I just explain a seemingly esoteric tuning system for a world music class? Because, in spite of the fact that we know that lots and lots of Baroque era music was built with just intonation in mind, we continue to practice and perform Baroque era music on modern instruments in equal temperament. I suppose that it is just less work to train the Western ear to hear more than one system of tuning as "normal". However, after only a few listenings of "Crystalline", I am finding myself oddly at ease with the new work my ears are having to do. It's repetitious and satisfying and new and wonderful all at the same time. And doesn't every schoolchild that walks through my door have the right and opportunity to experience this in the form of exposure to the "old" music of the Baroque, to the "new" music of "Crystalline", to the microtuned scales of India?

listening (b)Log: Enter the Haggis' "Litter and Leaves"

I listened to a song called "Litter and Leaves" by Enter the Haggis, a Toronto-based Celtic band. The song is an example of the band's blend of various styles of music, mainly between traditional Celtic styles and rock and pop idioms. The orchestration of the song: vocals, bagpipe, and drums.

This band has a definite fusion style. The band is not traditional in its orchestration for a rock band, and also deviates from Celtic band orchestration. The band is forming its own niche, both in the rock band and Celtic band worlds. The band is especially interesting to me because of the geographical location of the band (Canada). This speaks to the migration of the bagpipe as an instrument, which accompanied groups of people to many areas, including Canada and the U.S..

The instrument itself is an aerophone. A reservoir for air provides a drone that accompanies tunes played on the chanter. The instrument has an association with Scotland's military history. The instrument was outlawed in the medieval era in England because of the national associations with Scotland, and the Scottish rebellion for political independence. The idea of both freedom and release from political repression is embodied in the sound of the bagpipe, which is part of its appeal as an instrument used in this Celtic world fusion band.