Title:"Kalinka"

Performer: not specified

Origin: This is a Russian folk tune performed on the balalaika, a traditional instrument

 Orchestration: balalaika

I chose to look for a piece from a country that I have not heard much about in this course thus far: Russia. I pulled up a world map (since I'm pretty bad at geography) and realized I had no idea how close the border of Russia is to some of the Middle Eastern countries. Actually, Russia borders a lot of VERY diverse countries, and it is interesting to hear the sound of its folk music when I keep that fact in mind. I can almost hear a similarity between this piece and some Midlde Eastern music, but then again it is also very different--it sounds like it uses a different scale but at the same time it uses flourishes and quick passages like I have heard in my study of Turkish music. I am always looking for ways to link what I hear with what I already know, but this is a unique sound. 

Title: "Ndakafara"

Performer: Shona people (not specified)

Origin: This is a religious (Catholic) Shona song from Zimbabwe. Shona is the tribe and the language.

 Orchestration: Voices and drums

I chose to post this type of song because my culture bearer interview was with a priest who worked for several years with the Shona people in Zimbabwe. I learned how conservative they are, and how they use music, particularly singing, to worship and express themselves. The way they express through music is much different from how we do in our Western tradition--in a nutshell, they are much more outward and spontaneous with expression of emotions, and singing is a vehicle for that expression. One other thing that my interviewee commented on a lot was the "big" quality of the voices he heard--they were not trained in the traditional sense, but all of the people learned to sing that way. I think it is very interesting how many different parts of music and performing are passed down in aural traditions. 

 Title: "Hepsi Senin Mi"

Performer: Tarkan 

Origin: This is a very current popular song in Turkey, and it was among National Geographic's featured pop music videos from around the world.

According to the National Geographic, "singer Tarkan Tevetoglu is known as the "Prince of Pop" in Turkey."

 Orchestration: Guitar, bass, drums, voice, strings

To continue educating myself about my unit project topic in the process of posting here weekly,  I found another pop tune from Turkey. In something of a contrast to my last post, this one does not so obviously showcase Turkish folk influences. If I was asking students to identify a country of origin, it would not be easy since this seems to fit into a more unified international taste in pop music. And, by the way, I think it is pretty interesting that no matter what country you select on National Geographic to sample pop music videos, you almost as easily see the song coming from the US as from the actual country of origin.  Anyway, in the song that I chose, the rhythms and string parts hint at a Middle-Eastern origin, but much more subtly than my song from last week. The big tip-off, I think, is the vocal style at the pre-chorus.

Title:"Değmen Benim"

Performer:Yavuz Bingöl

Origin: Turkish. This is a Turkish lament. I believe that this fits within the genre of popular music in Turkey. The song sounds more like a folk song, but from what I have learned in my unit project reading so far, folk songs in Turkey ARE popular music to some extent.

Orchestration: Saz, voice, keyboard, bass, percussion

I have begun reading my unit project text (Music in Turkey) and looking for various examples of the music. Something that caught my attention in my search is that the folk songs on the CD that comes with the book and what seem to be songs by popular artists on YouTube sound very much alike. Folk styles are obviously very well-respected and liked by the people in Turkey. Another point that came to mind is one about authenticity. While it is enlightening to include Turkish music and attempts at its performance in my lesson plans, it would be nearly impossible to teach its performance authentically, because I would not have access to a Saz instrument--an integral part of the texture in Turkish folk music.

 

Title: "OVIDIU BAND- Hora de joc acordeon, clarinet, vioara LIVE 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar5iTLv2HJw

Performer: Ovidiu (band)

Origin: Romanian. This is an arrangement of a folk tune by a Romanian band. From the postings they have on Youtube, I gather that they often play at events such as weddings.

Orchestration: Acordeon, clarinet, vioara. The piece has a consistent bass line with solos over top of it. 

This piece made me think of the concepts of informed student performance and improvisation that we have talked about in class and that the readings have touched upon. At a high-school level, I think this type of piece could be used to practice applying knowledge of culture using the three-step process of listening, participating and performing. This song shows both traditional sounds from the culture and improvisational style. If students listen, and then involve themselves in playing and imitating the style of the performers, they can learn how to improvise in this style on their own.