Musicking: A Connection to the World of Music

Jui -Ching Wang王瑞青 (jcwang@niu.edu)

School of Music, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

June 8 2012

Introduction to World Music Pedagogy

(1) Why music?(2) Musicking

(3) Soundscapes

Sociology…what is it? the science or study of the origin, history, and

constitution of human society the study of social organization and institutions

and of collective behavior and interaction, including the individual's relationship to the group

the application of sociological concepts and analysis to the social context of other disciplines or fields; a particular sociological system

Sociology of Music… The study of the role of music within society:

its (music’s) dynamic as a mode of human communication

its position within established social structures. Initially the discipline concerned itself largely with

Western art music, but more recently greater attention has been paid to popular music of all forms, the role of music within mass culture, and musical cultures around the world.

Contributions from anthropologists, sociologists, ethnomusicologists, and cultural theorists help grow the awareness about the sociocutural and sociopolitical contexts of music.

Anthropological perspectives of music

Alan P. Merriam & John Blacking

The Anthropology of MusicAnthropology of music- a discipline to study How all music sounds are produced What the framework within which all music sounds and

processes of sounds is What the products and processes of man’s life are

(precisely because music is simply another element in the complexity of man’s learned behavior),

Without people thinking, acting, and creating, music sound cannot exist.

Purpose of the book …to “provide a theoretical framework for

the study of music as human behavior, . . ., and to clarify the kinds of processes which derive from the anthropological, contribute to the musicological, and increase our knowledge of both conceived within the broad rubric of behavioral studies.”

The Anthropology of Music, cont’dUses and Functions (of music) In examining music as a type of human

behavior, we have to ask not only for the descriptive facts about music (musical elements, musicological facts), but more important, for the meaning of music, i.e., “what a thing is” and “what it does for people and how it does it.”

The Anthropology of Music, cont’d Uses

The ways in which music is employed in human society, to the habitual practice or customary exercise of music either as a thing in itself or in conjunction with other activities.

E.g., the song sung by a lover to his love; a sung invocation to the gods, or a musical invitation to the animals to come and be killed.

Functions The understanding of what music does for human beings as

evaluated by the outside observer who seeks to increase his range of comprehension by this means.

E.g., the function of a “sung invocation to the gods” (using songs to help reach the divine” is religious.

In Merriam’s own words: Use : the situation in which music is employed in human

action; Function: the reasons for its employment and particularly

the broader purpose which it serves.

The Anthropology of Music, cont’d Music in the western world

With different hierarchies/status Pure art vs. applied art Artist, commercial artist, and craftsman Gifted artists and the audience Composer, performer, audience

Music in other cultures (or in Merriam’s words in the 1960s context, non-literate societies) Music is an everyday and all-pervading aspect of life Art is a part of life, not separate from it, and thus, there is

distinctions of “pure art,” “applied art,” “artist,” “craftsman,” etc, which does not mean that “specialization is absent in the music of the non-literate peoples, but rather that relatively large numbers of people in non-literate societies are competent to participate in music.”

Music is held to be functional in the sense that it draws from a large proportion of the people of any given non-literate society and that almost everyone participates in it, thus emphasizing the lack of basic distinction between “artist” and “craftsman” or between “artist” and “audience.”

John Blackingin How Musical is Man?

(1928 – 1990)

a British ethnomusicologist and social anthropologist

Music is a product of the behavior of human groups, whether formal or informal: it is humanly organized sound. Although different societies tend to have different ideas about what they regard as music, all definitions are based on some consensus of opinion about the principles on which the sounds of music should be organized.

Humanly organized sound intended for other human ears and possibly enjoyed by the composers’ friends, and thus concerned with communication and relationships between people.

Musicking

Christopher Small

Debates & Problems (in Small’s own words)? Debate:

Musical performance plays no part in the creative process?

Problems: Only those who can read a score have access to the

inner meanings of music Why should we bother performing musical works at

all when we could just sit at home and read them as f they were novels.

Musical action (performance) the medium through which the isolated, self-

contained work has to pass in order to reach its goal, the listener.

Musicking Performance does not exist in order to present

musical works, but rather, musical works exist in order to give performers something to perform.

The fundamental nature and meaning of music lie not in objects, not in musical works at all, but in action, in what people do.

It is only by understanding what people do as they take part in a musical act that we can hope to understand its nature and the function it fulfills in human life.

What is musicking?

To music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called composing), or by dancing.

Musicking… Musicking is an activity in which all those present are

involved and for whose nature and quality, success or failure, everyone present bears some responsibility.

It is not just a matter of composers, or even performers, actively doing something to, or for, passive listeners.

Whatever it is we are doing, we are all doing it together—performers, listeners, composers, dancers, ticket collectors, piano movers, roadies, cleaners and all.

Composing, practicing, and rehearsing, performing, and listening are not separate processes but are all aspects of the one great human activity that is called MUSICKING.

Questions to be examined by musicking approach… why members of one social and cultural group

differ in their ways of musicking from members of another group;

how it is that members of one culture can come to understand and to enjoy, and perhaps creatively misunderstand, the musicking of others;

how some musical cultures become dominant, sometimes across the whole world, while others remain confined to the social group within which they originated;

why people like to music at all

Musicking as a social, political, and human activity The studies of series of interactions, fusions,

crossovers, and hybridizations that are taking place everyday…

A framework for understanding all musicking as a human activity, to understand not just how but why taking part in a musical performance acts in such complex ways on our existence as individual, social, and political beings.

The act of musicking establishes in the place where it is happening a set of relationships, and it is in those relationships that the meaning of the act lies.

Small, 1998, p. 13

•Listen to this and determine if it is “MUSIC” ?

•If so, what kind of music may it be?•What setting could this type of music

be found?

Originally, Inuit throat singing was a form of entertainment among Inuit women while the men were away on hunting trips. It was an activity that was primarily done by Inuit women although there have been some men doing it as well. In the Inuit language Inuktitut, throat singing is called katajjaq, pirkusirtuk or nipaquhiit depending on the Canadian Arctic region. It was regarded more as a type of vocal or breathing game in the Inuit culture rather than a form of music.

Inuit throat singing is generally done by two individuals but can involve four or more people together as well. In Inuit throat singing, two Inuit women would face each other either standing or crouching down while holding each other's arms. One would lead with short deep rhythmic sounds while the other would respond. The leader would repeat sounds with short gaps in between. The follower would fill in these gaps with her own rhythmic sounds. Sometimes both Inuit women would be doing a dance like movement like rocking from left to right while throat singing.

More about Inuit Singing

SoundscapesAn approach to study music

cultures

Kay Kaufman Shelemay

A term derived/borrowed from the concept “landscape.”

What do we know about landscape? A tract of land with its distinguishing

characteristics and features, esp. considered as a product of modifying or shaping processes and agents (usually natural).

Inland natural scenery, or its representation in painting.

Landscape architecture It involves the investigation and designed

response to the landscape. The scope of the profession includes master-

planning, site planning, environmental restoration, town or urban planning, urban design, parks and recreation planning; green infrastructure planning and provision, all at varying scales of design, planning and management.

Using Soundscape approach to explore music in a changing world Kay Kaufman Shelemay

Using the concept of soundscapes to examine music and music’s meaning in particular social contexts. Her framework was influenced by Anthropologist Arjun

Appardurai’s framework of “ethnoscapes” Using “ethnoscapes” to capture the

shifting and non-localized quality of group identities in the late 20th century.

R. Murray Shafer (Canadian composer, b. 18 July 1933) in 1972, a grant from the Donner

Foundation enabled him to undertake research into acoustic ecology, a field that he virtually invented, combining such disciplines as acoustics, geography, psychology, urbanology and aesthetics. This led to his book The Tuning of the World (Toronto, 1977) and the founding of the World Soundscape Project (now the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology)

Soundscapes Many musicians and scholars use “soundscape” to

refer to different aspects of the musical environment, ranging from a single music tradition to all the sounds heard in a particular place.

The association of specific soundscapes to their places and communities of origin, E.g., jazz with African American musicians in the

city of New Orleans, or didjeridu music with the aboriginal communities in Australia.

Musicians may travel, taking their music traditions along with them. E.g., forced to move by natural disasters or

political circumstances. Music can also travel without the people who

created and performed it, moving through recordings

Soundscape, cont’d

Its ever-changing nature Local factors

Talented musicians appear Shift in generational tastes

Global connections People travel, migrate, and resettle

Wherever the settings, whether in large metropolitan areas or in small towns, most soundscapes come into contact with other soundscapes, sometimes through geographical proximity, at other times through sharing musicians or other participants.

Soundscape in cultural context Like human behavior in general, many of our

interpretations about the significance of music are both shaped by and contribute to those shared patterns of knowledge and experience we call “culture.”

Each soundscape partakes of and interacts with cultural knowledge, sometimes providing windows on music cultures shared by large groups of people (mainstream), and at other times connecting to knowledge sustained just by a few (sub-culture).

Locating a Soundscape

Sound Acoustics-the sound properties of instruments or voices.

How sounds are shaped and conveyed? Timbre (tone quality), Pitches, Duration, Harmony Music: purposeful organization of the quality, pitch,

duration, and intensity of sound. Setting

Musical sound is not conceived or performed in a vacuum.

The setting of a soundscape includes everything from the venue (place of performance) to the behavior of those present (musicians and audience).

The setting of a soundscape reveals much about a musical event

Significance Music means or signifies different things to

performers and listeners from different backgrounds. Certain musical events can symbolize

meaningful moments, evoking emotions, ranging from celebration to sadness.

In other cases, music carries meaning that are hidden, or at least hard to describe.

Music can even convey coded information that cannot be transmitted more directly because of political pressure or active representation.

Fur Elise by Beethoven http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n5ZSq

MU0Jw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTCJQpb

Y6Q4

Watch these two sets of clips and ask… What’s the major difference between the

two settings in each of the music selection?

Something to think about the significance of music and its setting…

Why do people listen to/play music in general? To which extent, cultural settings determine how people make (playing and listening to) music (or

musicking)?

Based on Chapter XI “Uses and Functions” of Alan P. Merriam’s The Anthropology of Music:, music can be a tool for … Emotional expression Aesthetic enjoyment Entertainment Communication Symbolic representation/Validation of social

institutions and religious rituals Physical response Enforcing conformity to social norm:

Contributions to the integration of society Contributions to the continuity and stability of

culture

Assignment Locate the soundscapes

Pick one day and record every sound (both organized and non-organized) appearing on that day.

Analyze the sounds from musicological views, i.e., the study of musical elements (rhythm, melody, texture, timbre, form, and anything you can remember from music history/theory classes).

Describe the “setting” (everything from the venue to the behavior of those present).

Discuss the “significance” by using Merriam’s list to analyze all the sounds appearing on that day of your life.

Documentary presentation David A. Amanda F-L.