Week 2

Title of Piece: The Butterfly Lovers
Performer: Bei Bei
Culture of Origin: Chinese
Instrumentation: Guzheng (Chinese Zither)

This piece is written by Bei Bei, a well known guzheng performer, in both China and the United States.  She currently resides in Los Angeles, California.  The Butterfly Lovers is based off of the Chinese folktale that shares the same name.  The story of The Butterfly Lovers is similar to the well known Shakespeare work, Romeo and Juliet.  This song depicts the Chinese folk legend about a tragic love story of a pair of lovers,  Liang Shan-bo and Zhu Ying-tai. They could not be together while they were alive as various life events kept them apart. Therefore, similar to Romeo and Juliet, Liang Shan-bo and Zhu Ying-tai chose death. Both of them turned into butterflies, finally ran from the rules and expectations of society and were free to love and be with each other for eternity. 

Reflecting back on this week's reading and looking at the instrument classifications that Wade (2013) talks about, she states the "Chinese classified their instruments according to the natural material that produced each instrument's sound" (pg. 35).  China and India were the two oldest countries to classify their instruments through this mean and their instruments were thought to be significant items to their culture.  According to figure 2.1, the zither is a summer instrument and reflects the silk type of instrument in terms of the eight sounds.  Thinking about the symbolism that The Butterfly Lovers holds and the idea that it symbolizes two lovers, choosing death over life to be together for eternity, I personally think that the choice of instrument is appropriate, knowing how the eight sounds are organized.  The seasonal classification of summer for the zither and the beliefs of the Chinese culture for the eight sounds of natural materials help make the connections with the cultural importance and significance of this piece.

I do find it helpful to be able to classify and organize instruments from different countries into pre-existing, known groups.  Having an instrument classification system makes it possible for everyone, regardless of where they are in the globe, to get a clearer picture of unknown/unfamiliar instruments.  With a classification system, it is possible to compare and connect them with familiar instruments.  In terms of Western music classification, a listener would consider the zither to be a chordophone.  The western instrument classification system is derived from the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of instruments  (Wade, 2013).  A chordophone is a musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points.  When considering the idea of instrument classification, it is best to look at how other cultures develop their own classification systems for instrument types when listening and evaluating music from a different culture.  Knowing that a zither is a string instrument, and the closest western instrument in comparison would most likely be the harp, it is possible to make connections within our own culture and experiences.  By being able to make connections within our culture and instrumentation knowledge, we can help deepen our understanding of others culture's music and instruments.

Wade, B. (2013). Thinking musically: Experiencing music, expressing culture. New York, New York: Oxford University Press

Week 1

The video above is of the Horlick Lady Rebels from Racine, WI singing "Doraji".  The Horlick Lady Rebels are a group of freshman and first year singers, who spend the year focusing on development of fundamental music and vocal skills, singing a variety of different genres and styles of music from throughout the world and participate in multiple performances throughout the academic year (Horlick Vocal Music).   "Doraji" is a pentatonic Korean folksong, which depicts about a white flower that grows in the mountains of Korea.   This particular arrangement is written for three-part treble voice.

I chose this song this week after reading the article by Bond (2014).  After reading about culturally responsive teaching in the classroom, I wanted to find a performance that captured the ideas that Bond discussed about working with students in the vocal setting.  Although I have limited experience with teaching choir, I found many of the things that she discussed could either be applicable to the instrumental setting or slightly modified/altered to fit the setting.  The importance of programming a wide variety of music genres and styles is stressed in this article.  Bond (2014) states, "due to students' varied musical histories, there is bound to be a range of musical awareness and preferences in each ensemble.  By including a wide variety of musics in selected choral repertoire, one can validate the preferences of many while expanding the soundscape of all (pg. 12).  I personally believe that this is very important from both a vocal and instrumental standpoint.  As music educators, we should be exposing our students to as many different musical experiences as possible in the time that we have to teach them.  Students will always listen to their preferred type of music, however will they always explore outside the box and look for new genres and styles?  Yes, some may because they are naturally inquisitive and curious, however, many others will not and they will only stick with the music that they know.  Bond (2014) specifically makes note of "when world music is programmed independently of musics from the Western European art music tradition, it relays a message that this music only belongs on special programs (pg. 12).  I believe that is a valid concern and that it brings up a good point regarding programming.  Directors should be aware of the choices they are making and messages that are being sent in regards to their programming choices.  If directors only select world music pieces for concert themes of "multiculturalism" or "music around the world," are we sending a positive message to students and families regarding the importance of world music?  Personally, I don't believe that we are.  If we only showcase these pieces at specific times or events, we are not giving this music the importance that it deserves and we are not providing our students with a diverse, quality music education.

In terms of looking at this from the perspective of how the study of ethnomusicology informs world pedagogy, I believe that there is a clear connection.  While the definition of ethnomusicology and ethnomusicologists may not be completely black and white, I do think that they play a significant role in the research and discovery of non-Western music and pedagogy.  Nettl (2005) defines ethnomusicology as "the study of non-Western and folk music" and ethnomusicologists as those who "carry out research about non-Western, folk, popular and vernacular music, taking into account both the music itself, as sound, and how it interactions with other things that people do" (pg. 7).  The research that ethnomusicologists complete is critical to the development of music pedagogy throughout the country.  Studying world music provides opportunities to look at different cultures, religions and societal norms.  By doing this, we are expanding our personal musical knowledge and understanding and as educators, we are able to bring this back into our teaching.

References

Bond, V. (2004).  Culturally responsive teaching in the choral classroom. Choral Journal, 55(2), 9-15.

Horlick Vocal Music. Retrived October 21, 2017, from http://www.horlickchoirs.org/lady.htm

Nettl, B. (2005). The harmless druge: Defining ethnomusicology. The Musics of the World, 3-15.