MUS116

Dr. Munarriz considers the label “Latin American Music” problematic because within that label there are many diverse styles of music with different backgrounds. To clump them all together in such a broad term does not do all the different styles justice. I absolutely agree with this position. It would be as if people referred to all traditional music from Britain “British Music”, as if there are not many different types of music coming from what is now known as Britain.

Percussion (typically drums) uses ostinatos in Caribbean and Latin American musical expressions.

The Habanera Pattern is when you play on 1, the & of 2, 3, and 4 and is common in Latin American music.

Musicians face lots of challenges because of Covid. What many musicians love most is performing in front of a live audience. A way to deal with this is livestream concerts. Earlier in the pandemic, my girlfriend and I paid for tickets to a livestream concert and it was really fun, even though we were just watching on our couch at home. It does not replace live concerts, but it certainly a good alternative, and it is cool to know that there are many other people watching and enjoying the live music at the same time as you. Another challenge for musicians is teaching. Many musicians make a good portion of their income from teaching. I teach 11 students, and during the summer I taught my students over Zoom. It again, is not an ideal situation, but it allowed some continuity in my students’ lives and allowed me to keep earning money as a musician when there were not many other ways to do so.

There are many ethical implications of playing music exclusively of the past. As is so commonly seen, the oppressors always get to decide what things get to stay known and which things get hidden or destroyed. Because of this, many musical works and styles will have been erased or at least subdued and hidden away and seen as not as important. Another issue with this is that not every culture wrote down their music as some cultures did.

I think I would play without sheet music and explore improvisation and playing more by ear. Of course I would be influenced by the music I have been exposed to until now, but I would do this because I would be curious to know what I can come up with just with me and my instrument.

In ‘Polacca’ by OOIOO, the voices and drums are not perfectly in time. It sounds messy, which is definitely a cool sound, especially since especially in classical training there is so much focus on perfection that sometimes it is hard to just let yourself get lost in and enjoy the music. It sounds like many different sounds and ideas coming together to make one piece of art, rather than one unit focusing on unity. The difference of styles that one would usually associate with a certain instrumental are mixed in with others, such as the traditional acoustic sounding chorus and percussion, mixed with the rock drums and electric guitar sounds.

In ‘Spaced Cowboy’ by Sly & The Family Stone, the vocals do not really follow exact rhythms or timing, and are not always fully ‘in tune’. This song has a very laid back and casual feel, which makes it feel very accessible and enjoyable. His instruments (especially the bass) and his vocals do not use what would be considered ‘good musical techniques’, in terms of ‘good tone and sound quality’, but that is part of the charm of the song.

‘Agua Que Va A Caer’ is similar to ‘Polacca’ in terms of the timing of all the parts not being fully in sync. The singer who leads is not always fully in tune all the time, and the style of singing by the chorus is not very annunciated and is not always exactly in sync. Again, to me it gives off a feeling of accessibility and charm that comes with music that is ‘imperfect’. Sometimes I feel that music that is supposed to be complicated and perfectly in tune and in sync all the time can leave people out and become exclusive.

A university music school of the near future should include a much wider range of content and ways of teaching. Only recently have some female composers been recognized and taught in classes/played in music groups, but these women are almost all white and most likely upper-middle class women. University music education should include many more composers of marginalized groups. There should be a bigger effort to bring compositions by black people to the forefront of music education to be learned and appreciated. It should include music that might not be considered ‘traditional’ classical music or that some might not see as ‘authentic’, which tend to be terms that people use to excuse the fact that they are being discriminatory in choosing which composers or artists they want to draw attention to.

In terms of music theory, there needs to be much more education of different musical ‘rules’ and structures other than white-centered European musical standards. These lessons need to not just be one or two lessons within a semester long class, but rather given equal attention and respect as Euro-centric music theory ideals. In terms of music history, European music history needs to not be considered as ‘the main’ history. Non-European music history needs to be included in all the different time periods of music history, and not just as a ‘other’ category.

In terms of my instrument, the viola does not have that many super well known pieces, at least in comparison to the violin. Of all the well-known pieces amongst violists, I have only come across one by a female composer (Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata), and all the rest are by white men. Universities need to commit to buying works by non-white composers and teaching them to their students. Right now there seems to be just a few ‘go-to’ composers, who are all white men, and that needs to change.

I chose to compare the first variation of Gould’s 1955 and 1981 recordings of the Goldberg Variations. (1955 — 0:00-1:55 / 1981 — 0:07-2:58)

In his 1955 recording, Gould has a significantly faster tempo, and his style of playing is snappy and his tone is bright in comparison to his later recording. His ornaments are faster and he doesn’t do much stretching of the tempo or rubato. In contrast, his 1981 recording is much slower and more mellow. He uses a lot more rubato, and he spends much more time on his ornaments. He really uses dynamics to create a intimate and heartfelt sound, playing much quieter at some parts than he did in his other recording. He sits for longer on his dissonances and enjoys where the music goes, taking more time to draw attention to different directions that the music is leading to.

 

The 3 pieces or sounds of my golden record are:

1. Shostakovich Piano Concerto no. 2 – II – Andante. This movement is my favourite piece of classical music. Although it is slow and romantic, it showcases a melancholy feeling throughout the piece. It is not as well known as many of his other works, but I personally feel as though it showcases his talent very well, since in such a short and simple piece of music he expresses so many different emotions.
2. Sounds of the ocean waves. I would include the sound of ocean waves crashing onto the sand in my golden record. This sound is very important to me as I have always lived by the sea, and it is an important sound to me that I miss very much whenever I am not near the ocean.
3.  Pink + White – Frank Ocean. When I saw the prompt, this was the first song that popped into my head. It feels almost ethereal, like it’s floating above the clouds. When I listen to this song, it makes me picture scenes in nature, like a rainforest and towering mountain ranges.

I think these 3 things that I listed are worthy of being sent into space for extraterrestrials to hear because they make me feel in tune with myself and the earth when I am listening to them. The Shostakovich Piano Concerto makes me feel calm and in tune with all of my emotions and what is around me. The sound of sea waves on the sand makes me feel at home, like I am in a familiar place. It makes me remember all of the generations before me who sat on the same beaches that I do now, listening to the same sound as I am. It makes me feel connected to the earth and all others who have been there. Pink + White makes me feel at peace, and allows my mind to wonder freely, picturing my favourite and most beautiful parts of the earth that I have seen. I would like extraterrestrials to be able to experience those things too, and I hope that they would feel even partially some of what I experience when I hear these things so that they might understand what life on earth sounds like – even just from my perspective.

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