scholarly journals Musical Practices in the Funeral Context: A Case Study of Cemeteries in the Ljubljana Region in 2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-241
Author(s):  
Anita Prelovšek
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Folk Music ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Instrumental Ensemble ◽  
Vocal Ensemble ◽  
Musical Practices

In Ljubljana and in its surroundings the music at a traditional funeral still consists usually of a vocal ensemble or a trumpet, but in 2016 this has increasingly tended to be replaced by a girl’s vocal and instrumental ensemble. The choice of music depends largely on the wishes of the relatives of the deceased. Folk music predominates, followed by popular music; the music requested least is classical music. The most frequently performed songs of the year 2016 were: Gozdič je že zelen, Lipa zelenela je and Nearer my God to Thee.

Reimagining the archive as thick sound: A case study of Dhrupad from Bettiah and beyond

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-58
Author(s):  
Sumitra Ranganathan
Keyword(s):  
Complex I ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Philosophical Problem ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
Indian Classical Music ◽  
And Function ◽  
Archival Work

The ephemerality of music is a consuming philosophical problem; it is also a practical dilemma for archivists and researchers. For oral traditions such as Indian classical music, notations, recordings and transcriptions fail to capture much of what is communicated in musical performance, which problematizes the creation and function of archives. This article explores an approach to archiving musical practices in relation to constitutive processes of emplacement, a complex I denote by the term ‘thick sound’. Using a rich and historic Dhrupad tradition as a case study, I discuss how I used documentary, material, aural, embodied and sensory performance data to construct my archive. I investigate the ways in which such documentation captures ecologies of music-making and the challenges posed for the analysis of histories of (thick) sound. I conclude by discussing the implications for theorizing archival work as active intervention, mediating relationships of past, present and future.

scholarly journals Teaching Aesthetics – A Case Study of One-To-One Tuition in Popular Electronic Music in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 257-278
Author(s):  
Eirik Sørbø ◽  
Andreas Waaler Røshol
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Electronic Music ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Educational Framework ◽  
One To One ◽  
The University

Research regarding informal learning over the last few decades has shown how popular musicians acquire skills and knowledge through informal learning, suggesting new methods for formal music education compared to the structures of western classical music. Today, the realm of popular electronic music education faces some similar challenges that popular music education initially did; new ways of informal learning, and a different and diverse knowledge base for the students entering popular music programs. Related to these challenges is the question of how to teach one-to-one tuition in higher electronic music education, and this article seeks to address this challenge. We present a case-study of the practice of a teacher at the University of Agder in Norway that teaches electronics in one-to-one tuition, where the research data is based on interviewing this teacher and his students. An important aspect of the practice in question is the process of listening to and discussing the student’s original recorded music. We discuss some of the challenges of one-to-one teaching in electronic music education, and argue that this particular teaching approach accommodates some of these challenges. Bringing in the educational framework of Biesta, we argue that this form of teaching practice also facilitates subjectification by addressing both uniqueness and expression. Further, we argue that this practice, which focuses on the teaching of aesthetics instead of technicalities, combined with the development of the students’ unique artistic expression can open some interesting possibilities related to addressing subjectivity in higher music education. One of these is how the students need to articulate both the objectives and aims within their music, and the objectives and aims of their music, which in turn develops a terminology to talk about and beyond aesthetics.

Improvisation and Value in Rock, 1966

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-232
Author(s):  
DAVID BRACKETT
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
White Male ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Cultural Hierarchy ◽  
Musical Transformation ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
Indian Classical Music

AbstractThe mid-1960s has figured as a central period in the historiography of popular music, but the role of improvisation has been little discussed. This article argues that issues of improvisation and value are crucial to understanding the emergence of a high-low split within popular music, a division that figures prominently in criticism and fan discourse up to the present day. This new stratification within popular music made it possible for rock to acquire critical prestige relative to other popular music genres. The formation of rock also relied on its association with a primarily white, male, middle-class demographic. This article demonstrates that rock's prestige rests simultaneously on maintaining this narrow demographic profile while locating aesthetic and spiritual value in musical practices coming from elsewhere (in terms of geography, race, or cultural hierarchy): blues, Indian classical music, jazz. The socio-musical transformation in which improvisation played such an important role is explored through a survey of recordings and an analysis of the development of rock criticism in 1966, the year in which a new constellation of aesthetics, politics, and musical style crystallized.

scholarly journals Pedagogical challenges in folk music teaching in higher education: a case study of Hua’er music in China

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-79
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Graham Welch
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Folk Music ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Western China ◽  
Teaching In Higher Education ◽  
Traditional Approaches

Recent literature suggests that traditional approaches in folk music education are not necessarily compatible with the pedagogical conventions of formal music education. Whilst several recent studies have tended to define these non-classical-music learning contexts as ‘informal’, the practice of folk music that was recently introduced into Chinese Higher Music Education appears to be much more complex and fluid, at least in its real world setting. This case study presents a detailed example of the teaching and learning of folk singing in contemporary society in Western China. In this particular context, both ‘informal learning’ and ‘formal’ music practices were observed and compared, based on research data collected from four music lessons and subsequent interviews with the participants. Drawing upon the analytical evidence, the research discusses a possible pedagogical model where two apparently contrasting approaches to learning (i.e. a conservatory model vs. traditional folk learning) could coalesce to ensure more effective learning outcomes of traditional folk music in higher education contexts.

Similarities and Differences between Classical and Jazz Saxophone Playing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Levente Puskás
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Folk Music ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Dance Music ◽  
Saxophone Music ◽  
History Of ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The 19Th Century

The saxophone is one of the most popular, almost ubiquitous instruments of our time. It is unimaginable that the saxophone would not appear in an orchestra or band in jazz, popular music, dance music, pop music, or even folk music. It is not widely known, however, that the story and history of the saxophone dates as far back as around 170(!) years ago. In 2014 the 200th birthday of Adolphe Sax the inventor, after whom the instrument got its name, was celebrated. Sax was the first saxophone professor at the Conservatoire de Paris. For most of the 19th century, mostly Classical and Romantic pieces were usually played by the saxophone, as the genre of jazz came into existence only around the 1910s–1920s. At that point classical and jazz (popular) saxophone music separated. Differences between the two styles can still be observed in both musical approach and technique. This study presents the similarities and differences between these two highly distinct approaches. Keywords: saxophone, Adolphe Sax, classical music, jazz

scholarly journals Transformations of folklorism in 20th-century Slovak composition

2015 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-395
Author(s):  
Branko Ladič
Keyword(s):  
Folk Music ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Folk Traditions ◽  
Simple Arrangement ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 1960S

Folkloristic musical works played an essential role in the creation of a ‘Slovak idiom’ in classical music of the post-war period. From the simple arrangement of folk songs to a more autonomous art music (which may have been only partly influenced by folk traditions) there existed a broad spectrum of musical practices, including also film music and music for the professional ‘folk music ensembles’ that appeared after 1948. By referring to specific examples from this large body of music, I will show how composers worked with harmonic and poetic elements that were particular to folk music: my discussion of examples from the breadth of this music — including music for the film Zem spieva ([The land sings], music by F. Škvor), the ‘model’ compositions for the ensemble SĽUK (A. Moyzes) and, finally, the subjective folklorism of the avantgarde in the 1960s and 1970s — shows how Slovak composers worked under changing ideological influences to bring about an ‘ennobling’ of folk music.

Experiment role in the world music (based on the «The Road» album of the Ukrainian «Dakha Brakha» band)

2018 ◽  
pp. 215-227
Author(s):  
Iia Fedorova
Keyword(s):  
Folk Music ◽  
World Music ◽  
The Other ◽  
Modern Music ◽  
Musical Practice ◽  
The Road ◽  
Music Practice ◽  
The World ◽  
Binary Oppositions ◽  
Musical Practices

The main objective of this study is the substantiation of experiment as one of the key features of the world music in Ukraine. Based on the creative works of the brightest world music representatives in Ukraine, «Dakha Brakha» band, the experiment is regarded as a kind of creative setting. Methodology and scientific approaches. The methodology was based on the music practice theory by T. Cherednychenko. The author distinguishes four binary oppositions, which can describe the musical practice. According to one of these oppositions («observance of the canon or violation of the canon»), the musical practices, to which the Ukrainian musicology usually classifies the world music («folk music» and «minstrel music»), are compared with the creative work of «Dakha Brakha» band. Study findings. A lack of the setting to experiment in the musical practices of the «folk music» and «minstrel music» separates the world music musical practice from them. Therefore, the world music is a separate type of musical practice in which the experiment is crucial. The study analyzed several scientific articles of Ukrainian musicologists on the world music; examined the history of the Ukrainian «Dakha Brakha» band; presented a list of the folk songs used in the fifth album «The Road» by «Dakha Brakha» band; and showed the degree of the source transformation by musicians based on the example of the «Monk» song. The study findings can be used to form a comprehensive understanding of the world music musical practice. The further studies may be related to clarification of the other parameters of the world music musical practice, and to determination of the experiment role in creative works of the other world music representatives, both Ukrainian and foreign. The practical study value is the ability to use its key provisions in the course of modern music in higher artistic schools of Ukraine. Originality / value. So far, the Ukrainian musicology did not consider the experiment role as the key one in the world music.

Jaco Pastorius, the Electric Bass, and the Struggle for Jazz Credibility

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-138
Author(s):  
Brian F. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Electric Bass ◽  
Public Persona

This article explores Jaco Pastorius’s efforts to legitimize himself as a jazz electric bassist. Even though the instrument had existed at the margins of jazz for decades, by the 1970s it was overwhelmingly associated with rock and funk music and therefore carried with it the stigmatized connotations of outsider status. Building on the work of Bill Milkowski, Kevin Fellezs, Lawrence Wayte, and Peter Dowdall, I situate Pastorius’s career within the broader context of 1970s jazz fusion. I then analyze how he deliberately used his public persona, his virtuosic technical abilities, the atypical timbre of his fretless electric bass, and his work as a composer and bandleader to vie for acceptance within the jazz tradition. As I argue, Pastorius specifically attempted to establish his jazz credibility through his first two solo albums, initially by disassociating himself from his own instrument, and then by eventually abandoning the musical style that had made him famous. Ultimately, Pastorius’s story serves as a useful case study of the tangible ramifications of authenticity disputes and the complicated ways in which musicians have attempted to navigate contested musical spaces within popular music.

Bartók and Scarlatti: A study of motives and influence

2009 ◽  
Vol 50 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 3-27
Author(s):  
Balázs Mikusi
Keyword(s):  
Folk Music ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Short Overview ◽  
Historical Figure ◽  
Human Emotions

The long-held notion that Bartók’s style represents a unique synthesis of features derived from folk music, from the works of his best contemporaries, as well as from the great classical masters has resulted in a certain asymmetry in Bartók studies. This article provides a short overview of the debate concerning the “Bartókian synthesis,” and presents a case study to illuminate how an ostensibly “lesser” historical figure like Domenico Scarlatti could have proved important for Bartók in several respects. I suggest that it must almost certainly have been Sándor Kovács who called Scarlatti’s music to Bartók’s attention around 1910, and so Kovács’s 1912 essay on the Italian composer may tell us much about Bartók’s Scarlatti reception as well. I argue that, while Scarlatti’s musical style may indeed have appealed to Bartók in more respects than one, he may also have identified with Scarlatti the man, who (in Kovács’s interpretation) developed a thoroughly ironic style in response to the unavoidable loneliness that results from the impossibility of communicating human emotions (an idea that must have intrigued Bartók right around the time he composed his Duke Bluebeard’s Castle ). In conclusion I propose that Scarlatti’s Sonata in E major (L21/K162), which Bartók performed on stage and also edited for an instructive publication, may have inspired the curious structural model that found its most clear-cut realization in Bartók’s Third Quartet.

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