Chapter 5 Essay

1. How is the history of European and Arabic cultural contact reveal through musical characteristics in places such as Spain and Bulgaria?

The adoption of Western music inspired new ways of viewing music and resulted in a transformation of Chinese music. It prompted “Chinese composers to either fuse Western music with traditional sounds or turn their back on traditional Chinese music [because they Westernized] their music modeled on the perceptions that Western music equates with modernization” (Lau 90). Additionally, because many traditionalists feared that traditional Chinese music would gradually disappear due to the modernizing Western music, “they began to focus on promoting Chinese music as a way to counteract the encroachment of Western culture and music. But they did it in a 'modernist' rather than preservationist sort of way. Many musicians experimented with new ways of composing music and modernizing traditional instruments” (Lau 92).

In the late 2004, a series of papers (research project) on the topic of world music and globalisation became a hot topic in a conference and gradually took on a life turning onto a virtual laboratory for teaching and research on the relationship between music and globalisation under ethnography which was funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and humanities Research Council from 2003-2006. Since then this topic has got wide meaning and more complicated.

American Indian life in the present time can be characterized as one big melting pot. Some societies try to preserve their own identity, while other groups came together in some way and brought their cultures together. A lot of what is known about their music has come from the past century when technological advancements were just beginning to take place. It was also during this period of time that there was a lot of turmoil between the whites. It was obvious that each tribe had its own musical identity, whether it dealt with style, uses of, or ideas of what music was. At that time there were thousands of groups, all speaking their own language, and each had several songs to accompany ceremonies, dances, and to divide society. Anthropologists have put them into categories according to their ways of life.

The term “classical music” refers to the western influence, not the eastern influence of Asia; the two are very different

This paper will demonstrate the various analysis of the Native America music and some details about history of Native American Music and themes which represents the religion and music. It also gives importance’s to the music which are used based on the events and their significances of the person related towards the history. The broad view points of the Native American music which give the reasons why the songs are interested in the light of enjoying it.

After close examination of the aesthetic qualities of both Native American and Indian music cultures I have decided to point out the various distinctions amongst the two cultures. Native Americans often used their music during various religious ceremonies to cleanse one’s spirit or human condition claiming that these rituals possessed omnipotent powers. The Native Americans music is so sacred that they despise of outsiders recording their ceremonies because of the preconceived notion that others would destroy the powers within the context of the music entirely. However, Indian artists often use their compositions for mere entertainment. Indian music often is a mixture of outside influences and it’s free flowing compositions possessed with various

Nonwestern music is impacted by the diversity in cultures which leads to many different musical styles. Most of nonwestern music is composed of several types of rhythms, percussive sounds, and different instruments. Vocal performance are performed often with imitation of rhythm pattern and variation in pitches. Instruments of indefinite and definite pitches are used together.

Music helps to conserve and promote the most prized possession of human civilization: religion, culture and tradition. Each community has its distinct music through which it can display its culture and tradition. For example though dāpā and gospels both are religious and devotional songs they introduce us to two distinctly different cultures. Dāpā is a religious Newari music that praises Nāsadya, the local god of music and dance. On the other hand, gospels are highly emotional evangelic vocal music that originated from the African-American Christian community in the

Indian melody is usually based on ragas, a type of melodic mode. Many ragas exist, and each features specific “ethical and emotional properties.” Indian music does not use the Western major and minor tonal systems, or emphasize harmony. Instead the melodies incorporate seven-note thats. Unlike Western scales, the interval pattern varies for each that. “Two of the most common thats, Asavari and Bilawal, closely approximate the Aeolian mode (natural minor scale) and Ionian mode (major scale), respectively.” Traditional Indian music is monodic, with most compositions having a single melodic line, with percussion and drone accompaniment. Most Indian classical music is not contrapuntal, instead, “The interest and complexity of this music lies in its melodies and rhythms.” Talas, the rhythmic patterns, are the basis for the complexity of rhythms accompanied within songs. Talas are long rhythmic cycles, unlike the Western practice of organizing rhythm into short measures. Vocal music is part of Indian tradition, and “vocal techniques are the basis of good instrumental technique.” In general, Indian vocalists do not use vibrato, giving a tonal quality that may sound nasal, flat, or lifeless, very foreign to the Western listener. However, in Indian music, this can be described as a "clean, clear sound" that does not mask or

Music plays a significant rule in our lives. It’s a melody and rhythm we live in. It plays a very essential rule in our day to day to life when it comes to expressing feelings, passing time and for other uses as well. Though we in general may not think about how music has changed so much in the past few decades we must acknowledge the fact todays music is the outcome of the various change in the past. Today’s majority of music we hear is what we define as more as a “westernized” music. Considering other cultures in the world, a huge impact of western music is seen within them. Westernization and modernization are two different words with different meanings and they have two different impacts on a society. Modernization is used to define the improvements and show a progressive transition from one stage to another. Westernization is the concept of being influenced by the customs and techniques of the western society and reflecting them in a non-western culture. This essay will discuss furtherly about the impact of the western society on music cultures of North India and Korea by looking from both the positive and negative point of this impact.

China has long been the cultural hub of Asia, and has had the longest amount of contact of any Asian country with other Western countries. Ever since the Silk Road was established, China has been trading with other Western countries and exchanging aspects of their cultures with one another. One of these aspects is music. But how exactly has Western music influenced Chinese music? In order to understand this, we must look at the history of Western encounters with China in terms of music.

As it was known for the culture to build music, nowadays different kinds of music build different cultures. Thus we have Pop culture, Rock culture, Electronic music culture etc.

The vocal tradition is especially strong in Indian music. It is understood that the song is probably the most ancient form of

Music from all over the world presents a range of musical theories. Some of these are documented in writing whilst others are transmitted orally. Discuss and give examples with reference to both Western and non-Western music.