Folk Music

Folk music consists of the traditional songs of a people. Most folk songs begin in rural communities. One person makes up a song, and other people hear it and learn to sing it. Some folk songs have been passed on in this way for hundreds of years. Many composers, including Edvard Grieg of Norway and Antonin Dvorak of Czechoslovakia, have used folk music in their works.

Asian music sounds different from Western music because the scales, instruments, and composing techniques used are different. The chief types of Asian music are those of 1) China, 2) Japan, 3) India, 4) the Arab countries, and 5) Indonesia.

Chinese music began more than 2,000 years ago. Orchestras with hundreds of musicians performed at early Chinese religious ceremonies and court festivities. Today, all Chinese plays are set to music. Peking opera, also called Beijing opera, is the most popular form of Chinese drama. It combines dialogue, music, dancing, and acrobatics. Traditional Chinese music has no harmony.

Japanese music was influenced by the court music of China. Japanese court music, called gagaku, dates from the A.D. 700's. Japanese orchestras consist of shakuhachi (bamboo flutes), gongs, drums, and such plucked stringed instruments as the samisen and the koto.

Indian music is one of the few kinds of non-Western music that have become internationally popular. It first flourished in Hindu temples and the courts of the maharajahs (great kings) of India.

Arab music is the music of the Arab nations of the Middle East and northern Africa. The main Arab instruments include flutes; drums; and two plucked stringed instruments, the oud and the qanun. Most Arab songs have instrumental accompaniment. However, musical instruments may not be used in Muslim worship. The chief Muslim religious music consists of calls to prayer sung by criers called muezzins and the chanting of passages from the Koran, the sacred book of the Muslims.

Indonesian music is noted for orchestras called gamelans. These orchestras consist of drums, gongs, and xylophones and are used to accompany puppet plays. Gamelan music has a kind of harmony because the instruments play different melodies at the same time.

African music is the music of black peoples who live south of the Sahara. These peoples use music in almost every aspect of their lives, especially religious ceremonies, festivals, and social rituals. Many Africans believe that music serves as a link with the spirit world.

Drums are the most important instruments in African music. Most African music features complex rhythms. Some African songs have harmony. In many songs, a leader sings a phrase and then the chorus repeats the phrase or sings a refrain. Elements of African music appear in jazz, spirituals, and the popular music of Brazil and the Caribbean.

American Indian music is the traditional music of the Indians of North and South America. Much of it developed before Europeans arrived in the Americas. American Indians almost always perform music as part of an activity. For example, music and dancing play an important part in Indian religious ceremonies and such tribal rituals as rain dances and hunting dances. Indian religious leaders called medicine men and medicine women sing songs as they treat the sick. The Indians also use songs in various social situations, such as courtship and trading. Many Indians compose their own songs. In the past, they said that they learned these songs from spirits that appeared to them in dreams. Most American Indian music consists of singing accompanied by drums or rattles.

Although the folk musics of European cultures are extremely diverse, they share some general characteristics. The European folk music is relatively simple, usually consisting of songs with a strophic form—that is, the music repeats in short stanzas with different words.

Поиск по сайту: