The Chinese Guzheng

The Chinese Guzheng

      The Chinese Guzheng is a Traditional Zither Style of instrument that has been played for thousands of years and has a long history as an instrument of enlightenment in Chinese culture. This particular zither has a large wooden resonating chamber with 16 or more silk strings that are strung across numerous moveable bridges.  In traditional Chinese culture, this instrument was played mostly by elite male citizens in the a solo fashion as a form of higher learning.  In many cases, the performer would simply practice and play the instrument alone for their own benefit and was rarely played in what western culture would label as a performance setting.  The instrument is played by plucking the string on the playing side and bending on the other side of the bridge to create pitch ornamentation.  The instrument is primarily played in an explorative style featuring peaceful, calming melodies that are meant to balance out the energies of the player.

     This First video is an extremely great representation of how the Guzheng is traditionally played and features a lot of pitch bending in the left hand and finger rolls on the right hand.

      The Next Example is how this instrument has even moved into extremely modern style of western music and features the Guzheng as the soloist overtop a backing track.  It definitely adds an interesting take on the pop song.

   

 the following video is of a Group called the Harmony Guzheng ensemble and features mostly the Guzheng and includes a couple of percussionists as well.  This ensemble does a great job of adding layers to the traditional style of music.

      This next performance is a duet between the Guzheng and the Pipa and does a great job of showing off the melodic capabilities of the instruments.  All in all, it is an incredibly beautiful piece performed by two fantastic players.

     This last video is just a nice solo done by a Gushing player and just bring this list full circle taking the instrument back to its roots.

references:

http://www.chinesezither.net/guzheng.html

http://www.philmultic.com/guzheng/

The North Indian Tabla

The tabla is an Indian percussion instrument consisting of a small high pitched drum called the tabla, and a larger lower pitched drum called the bayan. In North Indian classical music, the tabla is used to control the Tala, or rhythmic cycle of the performance. The tabla is played by striking the head of the drum with the fingers, and using the meat of the palm to slide against the head and change the pitch of the drum once stuck. Each drum features a starch-based circle of “Tuning Paste” that is used to bring out the fundamental frequency of the drums and give them there unique piecing timbre. The tala is a cycle of rhythms that is underlying in all North Indian traditional music, and the tabla is the instrument that most clearly outlines this cycle. Before being able to play the tabla drums, students must learn syllables from their guru that correspond to different strokes that can be preformed on the drums.

This video is a beginning lesson in the tabla playing techniques. It also goes over the basics of the common tala “Tintal”. 

We can clearly see, at around the 2:16 mark of this video, the importance that the sylables play in the tabla tradition. The performer can express his ideas not only by playing the drums, but also by reciting the syllables while he is playing. 

One of my favorite examples of the tabla, this is Talavya, a tabla ensemble, playing one of their compositions and giving a short lesson on the tabla. 

This video shows the tabla in a more real-world application. 

And, just for fun, one of the many tabla pop covers that can be found on the internet. 

Instruments of the Javanese Gamelan

Gamelan music in Java is characterized by it resonant sound and unique texture. The Gamelan will generally consist of an assortment of gongs of different shapes and sizes. These are the Gong Ageng, the Gong Kenong, and the Gong Kempyang. These gongs and others are joined by many different types of Metallophones and drums to form a Gamelan ensemble.

The Gong Ageng is the largest of the bronze gongs that make up the gamelan. These gongs, along with the other gongs in the Javanese and Balinese traditions, are quite unlike gongs as we know in western music. While gongs and tam-tams of China and Japan (The gongs most comonly used in modern western percussion), the gongs of the Javanese and Balinese traditions are tuned to a specific fixed pitch. 

The gong ageng is specifically used to control the length of rhythmic cycles, as it is always played on the final beat of the rhythmic cycle. 

Here we can see the Kenong. Unlike the ageng, which is played from a hanging vertical position, the kenong are played lying on their side. A full sized gamelan would have enough kenong to be played in either slendero or pelog.

The Gender barung is one of many keyed metallophones that make up a gamelan. The barung is a middle sized gender, and is played with one mallet in each hand, with the fingers muting bars.

The drummers of the gamelan traditions play three drums, with the Kendhang gendihing being the largest. The player uses these drums to control tempo, and to notify players of a change in meter or tempo.   

One of the “Extra” instruments of the gamelan, the Siter is a simple plucked zither that is used to help bring out the shimmering texture of the gamelan. 

The Irish Bodhran

     The Irish Bodhran is a frame drum that was essentially thought to be a cheap version of the tambourine.  This simple drum was primarily used festival and ceremonies before its revival in the 50's and 60's.  The most important of these festival was St. Stephens day where the player or Wren boys would play the Bodhran and penny whistle for the dance and entertainment and then go wren hunting in the hopes that there would be a good harvest the following year.  The drum itself is a simple one with only one head and up to two crossbars on the back for support. Traditionally the right hand plays the drum with an implement called a tipper while the last hand controls pitch and dampens the head for timbre control.


     The first example is a few pieces that exemplify the Bodhran and tin whistles role in playing traditional Irish jigs and reels.  Both instruments take a very minimalistic approach in order to accompany the dancers.




     This next player is a soloist who plays the drum on the opposite side of the spectrum from the last.  This video highlights a lot of the new age techniques that Bodhran players are utilizing and does a great job of showing off the role of the left hand.




     This next performer also plays a fairly modern solo but in a much more traditional style. The important thing to note is the differences in playing technique from the last soloist.




     This video does a great job of showing off the Bodhran in its current position in Irish Popular music.  This group takes a much more modernized approach to the traditional Irish folk tunes Using many "non-traditional" instruments in a traditional music style.  These usually include the piano, fiddle,  guitar, pipes and whistles.




This last video is mostly for comic relief.  These player put on a great performance and do a great job of utilizing the various styles and ranges of the instrument.  One performer even goes as far as playing a recognizable tune on his drum.

Sarod

            

            The sarod is a melodic instrument from the northern Indian music tradition. It is a fretless, steel stringed lute that has skin covered (traditionally goat-skin) resonating chamber. Sarods vary in length, size, and number of strings dependent upon if the musicians ascribe to the playing style of Ghulam Ali Khan or Allauddin Khan. The sarod has five to seven strings on the front and nine to eleven strings on the back. The front strings are melody and drone strings that are plucked with a plectrum made of polished coconut shell. The strings are pressed with the fingernail to aid in the metallic timbre of the instrument. The strings on the back are sympathetic strings that sound when different overtones sound. These strings are rarely plucked themselves. Sarod players constantly glide their fingernails across strings bending pitches.

            The sarod descends from the rebab, a fretted, stringed instrument, when Pashtun invaders came to India in the 18^th century. India is known to invent instruments and sursringar was a fretless version of the rebab that added a metal fingerboard which eventually morphed into the modern day sarod. Ghulam Ali Khan and Allauddin Khan are inventors that are credited with the modern day sarod, both claiming to be the true inventor.

This is the sursringar, the predecessor to the sarod. It is fretless and has a metal finger board like the sarod but is much larger and has no sympathetic.

Video of a Divya Music school academy Guru giving a lesson over skype. Using play and repeat as well as solfege to instruct student.

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan is a sarod master and founder of the Ali Akbar College of Music.

Sarod master Amjad Ali Khan.

Performance of Amaan & Ayaan Ali Khan (sons of Amjad Ali Khan) and classical violinist Elmira Darvarova play as part of a collaborative project of western and Indian music.

"Sarod." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Aug. 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Kippen, James. “Yearbook for Traditional Music.” Yearbook for Traditional Music, vol. 38, 2006, pp. 133–135. www.jstor.org/stable/20464976.

Mexican Corrido

Mexican Corrido derives from the Spanish word correr which means to run. It is known for being a popular song genre during the late 1800's to now. These songs are primarily found along the Texas and Mexican border. This is due to the constant battle between Anglo-Americans and Mexican-Americans on who deserves the rightful ownership of the land. In the late 1800's many Mexicans started singing and creating corridos in order to spread the word of the economic hardships. Mexican corridos are very similar to the Spanish romance songs. The Spanish romance songs are known for the fact that the words of each of the stanzas of four eight-syllable lines characteristic of this genre are sung. On the other hand Mexican corridos the fact that the words of each of the stanzas of four eight-syllable lines characteristic of this genre are sung through without any interruption. Mexican corridos are also known to be called Mexican ballads. There are many different instruments that are common to Mexican music. The Vihuela is a small 5 stringed guitar, and it provides rhythm for the song. The Guitarrón is a large, six stringed acoustic bass, and it also  provides rhythm for the song. Bajo sexton, also known as the “sixth bass”, is an acoustic guitar that has 6 sets of 2 strings; adding up to a total of 12 strings.

 This is an example of the vihuela. Notice the small size of the guitar and how it resembles our acoustic guitar.

I love the bassy sound to the guitaron. You can't really see the size of the body but it is quite large.

This is an example of the Bajo sexton. It has 12 strings that are very similar to our 12 stringed guitar.

This is a very popular song that is a very basic corrido. It follows the structure of the 8 syllables per line except for the first stanza.

Lasty, this is an example of a hero corrido. A hero corrido is a type of the corrido that involves giving praise to larger than life Mexian figures. In this song it is giving praise to Gregorio Cortez and how he shot a Texas sheriff.

 Coates, K. (2016). Corridos. Retrieved December 03, 2016, from 

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/corridos/ 

DeenaR. (n.d.). Musicology Final: Corridos. Retrieved December 03, 2016, from 

https://quizlet.com/22675096/musicology-final-corridos-flash-cards/ 

Pedrick, D. H. (1998). The Mexican Corrido. Retrieved December 3, 2016, from 

http://carriagehousebandb.ca/corido.html#N_3_ 

Shelemay, K. K. (2015). Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World (3rd ed.). New 

York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. 

Tijana Ilich Latin Music Expert. (2014). Corrido - History of Mexican Life in Song. Retrieved 

December 03, 2016, from http://latinmusic.about.com/od/genres/p/PROCORRIDO.htm 

The didgeridoo

The Didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia and is still in widespread use today both in Australia and around the world.  Traditionally didgeridoos were made from eucalyptus tree trunks and limbs hollowed out, while still living, by termites,or from bamboo in the far north of Australia.  Today didgeridoos are made from a large variety of materials such as glass, leather, hemp, ceramic, plastic, solid timbers carved out, logs drilled out, dried/hollowed cactus stems, aluminum and other metals. The average length of a didgeridoo is  of 130 to 160 cm and is hollowed out with a stick or sapling.  The technique on  how to play the didgeridoo is unique among wood instruments. You blow down the tube with loose lips creating a vibration that echoes down the tube coming out amplified as a drone. Similar to a tuba but even looser and more relaxed. As you blow the air through the instrument it is important to stay relax so your lips can buzz  while gently pushing air down the tube. Something that is not a requirement to be able to play but most players uses it is Circular Breathing. Circular breathing is a technique used by players to produce a continuous tone without interruption. This is accomplished by breathing in through the nose while simultaneously pushing air out through the mouth using air stored in the cheeks. The didgeridoo was traditionally used as an accompaniment along with chants, singers, and dancers, often in ceremonies of the Indigenous Australians.  Today the didgeridoo is heard in almost every style of music, rock, pop,hip-hop , electronic, techno, funk, punk, rap. There are truly no limits to the use of this awesome instrument.

The first video is on how to make a didgeridoo out of wood.

Next is a video of a glass didgeridoo.

This is how to play the didgeridoo.

Next video is how to circular breathe.

The last video is 10 hours of non-stop relaxing didgeridoo music. Enjoy!!!!!

Sources:

"Didgeridoo Basics." Aboriginal Instruments. Spirit Gallery, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016. <https://www.spiritgallery.com.au/didgeridoo-basics>.