World Music Quiz JukeBox Index

INTRODUCTION Significance: music is able to elicit many ideas and emotions at the same time. Meaning shapes our perceptions of music's importance in our lives in three ways: Accessible for an evening or through the media Sound can also signify entities or ideas within a soundscape. Musical sound can also communicate specific meanings within individual cultures or subcultures. Importance is determined by the understanding of a given music's meaning. CASE STUDY: MEANING IN SOUTH INDIAN RAGA Ragas are the Indian system for organizing melodies. May be associated with the time of day or the season of the year Each raga also has emotional connotations within an aesthetic system known as rasa. Raga nilambari is closely associated with lullabies. Can best be represented in Indian sargam notation. Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni Each scale degree within a raga is termed a svara A scale degree is combined with a type of ornament called a gamaka. The Tamil word for lullaby is talattu, or "tongue rocking." Vocables, "araro ariraro," symbolize the motion of rocking a child. Raga nilambari is mostly used as a lullaby CASE STUDY: THE QUINCEAÑERA La quinceañera, celebrated in Latino communities, marks the passage of a teenage girl into adulthood. Celebrates a chronological passage while acknowledging a particular cultural or ethnic identity and religious affiliation. Celebrated with a party or ball A group of female and male friends acts as a court of honor (damas and chambelanos). Urban Mexican American women are more likely to perceive the quinceañera less as an initiation into adulthood than as a symbol of historical limitations on women and their choices in society The music for the celebration depends in part on whether the family is of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, or of another specific background. Mexican American Often hire live mariachi bands for the celebration Mariachi is a Mexican instrumental ensemble combining trumpets with plucked and bowed instruments of various types. Common in Mexico and the southwestern United States Mariachi musicians often dress like charros, the traditional Mexican horsemen or cowboys. CASE STUDY: BAGPIPE MUSIC The bagpipe is a wind instrument with an air reservoir squeezed under one arm, a blowpipe, and one or more sounding pipes fitted with. The history of the bagpipe extends well beyond its Scottish and Irish roots. Archeological evidence of bagpipes in the ancient Middle East The first known mention of a bagpipe (then called the utricularius) dates back to the reign of the Roman emperor Nero,. Scottish bagpipe mentioned in the prologue of The Canterbury Tales. Sound The instrument most widely played today in Irish and Scottish bagpipe bands is the Scottish highland bagpipe. Uses characteristic bagpipe ornaments called grace notes or gracings The term cutting refers to the insertion of grace notes to literally cut or divide a sustained sound. Doubling describes a group of several grace notes. A birl is a one type of doubling. Grips are several rapid grace notes in the lower part of the chanter's range. Ireland has its own pìob mhór or "great pipes." Smaller than the Scottish highland pipes Uses bellows rather than a blowpipe Also known as the uilleann or "union" pipes. In Ireland both highland (outdoor) and uilleann (indoor) pipes are played. Only Scottish-style pìob mhór are allowed in international competitions. Canntaireachd is a vocal style that imitates the pipes. Voice uses vocables to indicate bagpipe melodies and their gracings. There were several systems of canntaireachd. Setting Death and commemoration Bagpipes have been linked symbolically with warfare and death since 1549. Piobaireachd (pibroch) is a repertory of compositions that emerged through the family of pipers, the MacCrimmons. Consists of: The air, or melody with extended variations Termed ground in English, is always slow and longer than a march or dance tune Bagpipes have been associated with English imperialism. Traditional dress, the kilt Heard throughout the English diaspora Entertainment and dance Today the pipes are still heard at ceilidhs, festive gatherings that include music, socializing, and dancing. Rooted in public dances that flourished in the eighteenth century First consisted of a reel, a dance played by the bagpipe in combination with a strathspey. The term ceilidh now refers to any social-musical event associated with Scottish or Irish traditions. Competition and concerts Occasions of competition and public display have long been an important part of the history of piping. William Cummings Competitive performances featuring several bagpipe bands became common. The bagpipe thus sustains a large musical repertory rooted in its history in Scotland and Ireland, but has also traveled widely over the last. Significance Many meanings have accumulated over time, inspired by the pipes' presence in a range of settings. Bagpipe music continues to accrue new layers of significance. The 1979 film The Onion Field provides a fine example of the multiple meanings of the bagpipes, as constructed through the lens of literature and film. CONCLUSION

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