Gretchen--Post 2--World Music

The limitless variety of music from across the globe—as well cultural practices, traditions, religions, clothing styles, foods, and languages—is fascinating. To me, just the awareness that so many different cultural aspects exist is humbling. There is no way any one person can learn and understand everything about every other human culture. However, such an absence of knowledge is what makes disciplines such as anthropology, cultural studies, and ethnomusicology so valuable. It makes sense that ethnomusicology has also been called comparative musicology, for it can never be an unbiased scientific study. Regardless of whether we are ethnomusicologists, musicians, or engaged but music-illiterate listeners, our understanding of music (or any other cultural aspect) within our own culture will always shape our understanding of music within the context of another culture. As a result, it is essential that we as global citizens make an effort to expand out of the boundaries of our cultural blinders, allowing us to engage with the incredible depth of musical material available.

Tying back to the idea of improvisation, how can we objectively study the presence of improvisation in musical styles throughout the rest of the world if we are limited by the understanding of our own musical culture? Certainly the term “improvisation” doesn’t have the same meaning to Charlie Parker that it does to a ritual drummer in Africa. For that matter, improvisation probably doesn’t even have the exact same meaning to any two people in our class. In the first day of class, we compared two different encyclopedia definitions of the term, and even they did not present the same results. As noted from some of the readings, what might be considered improvisation to ritual percussionists in African cultures may seem no more than a slight variation on an established beat to a jazz musician from NYC. In the same way, differences in musical understanding can occur regarding tonal systems, instrumentation, personal expression vs. tradition, etc. As a result, it is not only enlightening, but essential to consider different world musics within their original context. Then, the “comparative” aspect, applied to our own cultural understanding, is what reveals the beauty of the endless musicality throughout this world. Just like in music itself—it is the variety (in rhythm, harmony, instrumentation, etc.) that makes it interesting and worth listening to.

However, in spite of all the perceived differences in musical styles across the globe, it also amazes me how many similarities exist as well. As we discussed, Indian ragas are a sort of variation on a Western scale. Similarly, I’m sure many other musical traditions draw from a framework of selected tones in order to create particular songs. Other musical similarities across the globe reflect human interaction and expression through percussive playing and singing. Many communities of people seem to engage each other through dance, which is often accompanied by a strong beat, created either by percussion or some type percussive instrumental playing. In terms of both personal and community expression, the voice still seems to serve as the most expressive instrument internationally. These examples, along with many I’m sure I am not aware of, suggest that there still remains a link through the vast diversity of human culture.

I must admit, part of the reason jazz appeals to me so much is its constant existence in a state of acculturation or hybridization. At its origins, it was highly influenced by not only African-Americans, but also the French-Creoles and Spanish in New Orleans, along with the European-influenced musics that were present in America at the time. As we discussed, there is now a very large Latin influence within the jazz community, as well as experiments with Indian music, African music, and other styles within our own borders—rock, hip-hop, funk, etc. It is also interesting that jazz has taken a universal concept (though not a universal term)—improvisation/variation/spontaneous composition/--and transformed it into a highly developed musical form that can be appreciated and adopted throughout the world.