Musics of India and West Asia - Complete Study Material PDF

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Musics of India and West Asia, Prof Hicham Chami
Grade in Class: A (highest)
These notes are extremely comprehensive and are more than enough to study from to ace all exams, even if all the external readings are skipped. They were taken to be submitted to Columbia Services for their arch...

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Course info Wednesday, September 4, 2019

6:30 PM

Weekly discussion posts, must do 10/14 for full credit. Readings assigned online Only Indigenous scholarship in this class!!!! :))) Midterm 15%, listening, questions, def.s, short essay Final 25%, same style as midterm. Written assignments 20% (1000w each) :( PARTICIPATION!!!! 20% DISCUSSION POSTS!!! 20%

Ethnomusicology Monday, September 9, 2019

6:11 PM

Chance music 433 music - silence vs sound Issues behind ethnomusicology: are you helping the people you're studying? Theft? Intruding? The right to study someone else's culture? ----------KEY POINTS: 1. What is ethnomusicology, how difficult it is to define it 2. How difficult field work is 3. Ethnomusicologist: a. alan merriam - 'ethno-musicology' the study of non-western music //are you sure? b. Jaap kunst - a violinist. Was touring indonesia and starting collecting artefacts and writing about it. wrote volumes of books but couldn't play it himself. Comparative musicology c. Mantle hood - to be considered as a scholar of some kind of music, you need to be able to actually play that music. Made it a point to be fluent in a kind of music to study it. You need to develop bimusicality 4. Dubious origins of ethnomusicology 5. Different kinds of musical data: scores, pictures of bodies for dance, lyrics, transcripts of interviews

Bimusicality - like bilingualit

Orientalism Wednesday, September 11, 2019

12:05 AM

European creation. Colonial, NOT free thought and action British and french cultural imposition Occident and orient A sign of euro-atlantic power over the Orient than a discourse about the orient Hegemony of culture as well as ideas of what the Orient is Part of its power and strategy was the positional superiority of europe over the orient such that it offered little resistance to being studied.

-------A tool in the hands of colonialists. years ago, not a pejorative term at all. Today, no one is because it's colonial, insulting. The cover of orientalism: late 19th century. The primitive way in which the oriental is portrayed. 1. Orientalism as an academic discipline - respected 2. As a worldview or particular representation of the east 3. As a tool of domination. a. An issue of representation from the outside (but also… see next pt) b. A huge issue for Said: How the east ended up seeing itself as subjugated, inferior. Epistemology - ways of knowing. For instance, some of the manifestation of epistemic domination: the terminology we use, notation systems. Who has the onus to fix this epistemic domination? Govt. cultural agencies. Why isn't that done? Political agenda. Who perpetuates this quasi european domination in music? The rich elite. In morroco, that's the french, in india, the british.

Exoticism vs. Orientalism. Its not just east vs west. America doesn't even perpetuate its own native music like appalachian musics. Bach, beethoven, etc.. French and germans. So we define indigenous as 'not foreign'

------------------------KEY POINTS: Motion of the 3 definitions of Orientalism Edward Said's deep issue with the musical colonialists of today, i.e., the 'elites'

French prime minister 1884 quote: Gentlemen, we must speak more loudly and more honestly! We must say openly that indeed the higher races have a right over the lower races .... I repeat, that the superior races have a right because they have a duty. They have the duty to civilize the inferior races .... In the history of earlier centuries these duties, gentlemen, have often been misunderstood; and certainly when the Spanish soldiers and explorers introduced slavery into Central America, they did not fulfill their duty as men of a higher race .... But, in our time, I maintain that European nations acquit themselves with generosity, with grandeur, and with sincerity of this superior civilizing duty.

From

How 18th c france depicted the mid world. Savage, primitive. (dance video)

Touma - Arab Music Monday, September 16, 2019

Bold- likely exam material

5:43 PM

Class notes Touma - a traditionalist, Purist. Arab Palestinian, living in Germany. NO FOOTNOTES!! - is there truth to everything he's saying? Or approximation? Chapter organization - 'Periodization' - not arbitrary periods, but subjective. JAHILIYAH - 1st period - Qiyan: sang the Sanad(more serious songs) and Hazj(mostly just for enjoyment, entertaining) - Bedouins: Huda and nasb EARLY ARABIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC TRADITION - Mukhannath - Yunus al-Katib ○ Al ghinae al mutqan: post jahiliyah, pre-islam. It mean 'the flawless', 'the one with rules'. When music became more organized. in the rhythm, people started playing patterns on the percussions. THE REVIVAL - West: Andalus - East Baghdad THE DECLINE THE AWAKENING, Alineation (liberation from Turks)

Pre-class reading notes

Jahiliyah - pre islamic period of the Arabs Qaynah (qiyan pl) - servant + singer. Women sa enticing in their hanat (hanah sing.) played w a 'mizhar' short necked lute + drum + rattle Unchanged for first 3 centuries, 7th - 9th Arabs in Medina used to an extravagant musica life Anyone from any strata of society could sing, women who weren't qiyan too. Azah-al-Mayla great female singer Hijaz - great singers came from here, founders o the school Orally transmittded musical history, not written much Split - Ibrahim Al- Mahdi vs Ishaq al-Mawsili

------------Important Musicians: 1. Ibrahim Al- Mahdi 2. Ishaq al-Mawsili 3. Ziryab (Al-Mawsili's student) 4. Al urtawi -------------------1. Jahiliyah - Translates to ignorance - Qiyan - Slave singers, seductive. Masters of Arabic, bc the main entertainment was reciting poetry to super drunk men. Usually providing services for a PARTICULAR family/group of men. - NOT prostitutes or concubines, but very clearly OWNED. - Instrumental to starting the early arabian music period, bc they would convert poetry into singing and were the ONLY ones doing it. ○ They were literally bought and sold, but because they were the ONLY ones doing this, they could own their own land, possesions. - Lived in cross sections of travel routes, routes of huge caravans (camels used for transport) - HUDA 'simple and naïve' vs 'elaborate; of qiyan: music that caravan traders would sing while on their travel routes. 2. After 632 - ISLAM - HADITH: The record of the prophet Muhammed, his approvals, disapproval, ideologies - whole theology of Islam. So the Hadith were super important, if they couldn't articulate their exact chain of information, they were 'weak' or 'not respected' - Hadith was open to interpretation. - There wasn't much change, except more started singing, including the Mukhannath. - The mukhannath were men that were effeminate, sometimes gay, homo-erotic, taking on the roles of women In qiyan. In sexual acts, they were receivers, like women. They were not persecuted in this period of Islam. Sometimes banished but not killed. Initially owned by wealthy women, later catered to men too. - The Mukhannath were the precursurs/transitional stages before male singing started. - Yunus al-Katib documented a lot of the music in this time, but nothing about the melody. Transitioning between early arabian and revival stages. Islam expanded - a massive expansion in 3 centuries, covering all of the middle east, persia, starting to go towards europe. So lots of money, so PATRONAGE! So there were Caliphs that had orchestras performing for thenm in their palaces ------------THE REVIVAL Musicians. Ishaq - was for the traditional style. Ibrahim - was for innovation. Innovation won. Ziryab was exiled by ishaq and he went to the Andalus (Islam practicing citizens, not ethnically arabian, morrocans mostly.) after coming from North Africa, started a school of music, made a name for himself, was invited to the court in Spain. In the 15th century, Spain kicked out muslims and jews, they populated Morocco, tunisia, brought with them their music and culture. *Morocco is the only one of these countries that wasn't conquered by the ottomans, so pure andalusian music, only there* ABUNDANCE - andalusian music is very elaborate. Instruments now! Bc there is shade, trees, water and rivers. No notation, that relates to the oral tradition Moroccan music - 3/4ths of it is 6-8 tempo

Fyi: Fusha (classical arabic, the language of the quran) the only

ABUNDANCE - andalusian music is very elaborate. Instruments now! Bc there is shade, trees, water and rivers. No notation, that relates to the oral tradition Moroccan music - 3/4ths of it is 6-8 tempo -----------------------THE DECLINE: Essentially, Arab music became more turkish in terms of attire, seating, instruments, etc… Marked by the expansion of the Ottoman empire from the 13th to the 19th Century. 13th century - BAGHDAD FELL! Into the hand of the Ottomans, which was a cultural art Hub. 1492 - Andalusian also fell, fall of Grenada and Cordoba (western hub for arab music) All jews and muslims were kicked out of Spain. For 700 years.

Fyi: Fusha (classical arabic, the language of the quran) the only thing that unites ALL arabian countries from North Africa, from the Middle East.

'Voice of Egypt' documentary (Umm Kulthum)

Touma - Arab Music Continued Wednesday, September 18, 2019

6:35 PM

Class notes

19th c - NAHDA - the AWAKENING. When arabs just decided to revert to Arab culture. Literature, music, fashion, all forms of intellectual life. Started in syr ia (PAN-ARABISM) and spread.

Tangential Discussions 2 things to remember: 1. Nahda as a cultural awakening and 2. Pan arabism happening in the early 1900s

20th century: PAN ARABISM - a nationalistic movement calling for arabs over the world to unite.

Other than Syria, Egypt was the next arab powerhouse, with radio stations, printing press. Huge penetration of music, instruments, seating, etc… all transmitted over Egyptian radio and TV stations. UM KULTHUM!! - HUUUGEEE name in the world of Arab Music, Egyptian singer, very traditional Arab singer, composed 90m pieces once a month --TAKHT - most traditional Arab ensemble,INSTRUMENTS: 'Ud (MAIN instrument in Arab world) a kind of plucked guitar looking 'lute', Kamanjah (a violin), tabla/riq (percussion), qanun, ney (a flute) FIRQA - takht but much larger orchestras, mimicking the west. And now, a typical arab concert

1932 CCAM - a congress/meeting on how to perform music. Diff countries sent a couple scholars each. ---------Post pan-arabian movt, turkish influence disappeared for a short while, but as one oppressor left, another came. European music was the most damaging. Arab music is similar to persian, turkish, armenian, etc… When the french came, their music, their textbooks, their culture was all replaced by french teaching. Algeria - starkest conquest, over 100 years of occupation, bloody war to leave, etc… So Revival movt. Was like 3 decades max. nahda was like 50 years pre the pan -arabism mvt. In the 1940's, pan-arabism happened. Tarab - the musical experience that happens spontaneously onstage, experienced by the audience as well as the performers. Between performers themselves, but also between permorfers and audience.

Traditional: Folk, Classical Music traditional, the people's music

Free

Structure

Accessible

Elite Canon European

Amit Chaudhuri - performance Monday, September 23, 2019

6:13 PM

1. Tambura - today played an F 'seventh' tonic? 2. 48 beat cycle to explore the raag, by going from the lower to upper tonic. a. Ektal - 12beats. In the 30s, this was slowed down by a lot. To slow it down and keep w the time signature, the words are torn apart into syllables. So the devotional aspect of the meaning becomes secondary. b. Jhaptal - 10 beats 3. Ghamak - a 'bent' note done with greater force.

Nom, tom, tana - nonsensical sounds often used to explore tones of the 'aalaap'

'Pentatonic' - ties sumertime and the raag together.

Continuing Arab Music Wednesday, September 25, 2019

6:14 PM

CLASS HOUSEKEEPING: MUSICAL TERMS: Interval: distance between 2 tones Pitch: how low or high a note is. Tone: the difference/distance between 2 notes. One tone is the difference between 2 white keys on a piano. Semitones: white to black key. (half tone)

Citations for paper: any format as long as you're consistent. Including sources not discussed in class - absolutely allowed, (encouraged?) - treat this like a research paper. The next week: Um Kulthum documentary, maybe some pearl diving

Note: no real diff between note and tone. Note is used bu musicians, tones by physicists

So, microtonalities (which are a huge part of arab music) are half a semitone (a quarter of a tone) these are not tones you can play on a piano. But you can play these on instruments used in a takht (Ud, Kamanjah, Riq, Ney, Qanun) SCALE - a set of tones that are organized (usually 8 on the western scale) So the W. Scale only has tones and semitones. MAQAM - the joining, juxtaposition of a few, at least 2 Jins put together. which are about 4 notes. (like a tetrachord) a maqam is not really a scale, but also HOW you play the note. About 400 maqams, 20 are used in everyday life. Great maqam book: scott marcus - jihad rassi's student. His dissertation 'the evolution of maqam, 800 pages'. Also a good author to look at for bimusicality, organizing the arab music orchestra, arab cultural scene in the US. (currently at UCSB)

KEY CONCEPTS OF THIS UNIT: Concept of takht Takht instruments Theoretical concept of maqam Microtonalities Evolution of huda to large concert with trumpets and accordion

Takht & huda

WASLA - a suite. A collection of pieces. all the pieces in a wasla are technically in the same maqam, but you do have modulation/improvisation. Percussion into 10 beats, bc more spoken poetry was 10 syllables, starting on the 1st and 6th beats WHO IS A GOOD MUSICIAN IN THE ARAB WORLD? - someone who can IMRPOVISE. The score is easy to read. So what differentiates a musician is the tarab they can evoke by improvisation, changing things up, surprising the audience - pick something common b/w makam's to move from makam to makam. Someone who is good at Taqsim (improvising on a particular maqam ) can do this well. So for instance, moving between different jins in 2 maqam's.

Percussion: 2 beats

Umm Kulthum Documentary Monday, September 30, 2019

6:14 PM

Nothing mentioned in the documentary will be new. They spend some time discussing 'history' not super important for us. The article review of this doc we'll be reading by Prof. Chami for Wednesday will be enough. ---Her father was a Sheikh (religious teacher), really helped for her experience with reciting poetry. ---The anti UmK composer: You really get to see tarab thru the audience. She does a hell lot of taqsim (improvisation) mawwal (vocal improvisation) She sings poetry, this one in the documentary is called a qasidah (don't need to know) Her excellent handle on tarab (improvisation) also depends on "drones", or a single note that the instrumentalists play around the maqam currently in use that gives her the freedom to play around w the melody.

Imp notes - if you don't have time to watch the documentary: - Umm Kulthum started singing for money, not passion - Her dad was a sheikh (religious leader) - Her dad dressed her as a boy initially bc she would be singing in front of stranger men. - After her rise to fame, her popular support was immense and political status was Unmatched.

Um Kulthum vs Abd el' Wahhab Wednesday, October 2, 2019

6:17 PM

Um Kulthum = UK; Muhammed Abd el' Wahhab = MAW 2 very famous household names, but absolutely polar opposites. Um kulthum was a traditionalists vs el wahhab who wanted new music Even though both came from similar rural economic backgrounds, barely collaborated. 10 times in all of their careers. UK

MAW

Traditional

Innovative

Sang classical poetry in classical arabic

Used orchestras, FILM MUSIC

Singer

Composer

Taqasim (improvisation)

'notated' taqsim - extremely rehearsed (which traditionalists think destroys tarab)

Maqams, quarter tones

Didn't want quarter tones, said it sounded 'too oriental'

What finally got them to work together? Nasser - the president of Egypt. A military general with a HUGE aura. One of his dreams was to unify the arab nation. Reception? Huge commercial success, the people loved it. But critics said both brought each other down, so wasn't very special.

Finished the documentary - Noted UK's extensive touring as part of pan arabism - Her involvement w the govt of egypt, raising the equivalent of $2mill for th military after the decimating war of 1967 - Very close to Nasser

Music in Conflict Wednesday, October 9, 2019

6:14 PM

Keyword for this text: process of articulation. Especially in cultural studies. 1 song from one context to another could have completely different meanings. Syrian example: lyrics are very important, whereas Palestinian songs were just about showing your Palestinian -ness. Dabka - levantine dance form, line dancing, all people linked by hands, lots of foot stomping, does have a leader. Scarf on head - came to symbolize Palestinian identity. Mijwiz - a louder double reed wind instrument (louder than the ney) used for outdoor performances. Indexing - Symbol - a random image that everyone recognizes and associates w something - Icon - literally visually represents the thing - Indexing - a symbol that signifies something connected. Ex: kuffieh (the scarf) which symbolizes a political statement against oppression. Another example: a wind vane. Not a full representation of the full thing but has a substantial connection to the thing it represents. Arab Spring: bunch of regimes fell - egypt, Tunisia, almost Syria Author: not a musician, a syrian lit major who writes because of how gory Ibrahim Qashoush's punishment of vocal chords ripped out and killed was. Israel came to be in 1948 - granted land by the british, land that they did not own - Palestine. People were forcibly dislocated. Villages wiped out and maps redrawn overnight. SLI - songs of the land of Israel - to unite all the people of different ethnicities.

Key Points on Dabka Levantine Came to symbolize palestinian oppressio Came to be banned to perform outside.

Review for midterm Monday, October 14, 2019

Mijwiz much MUCH louder than violin.

6:14 PM

Midterm will have a listening portion, we need to recognize the instrument and write a little bit about it. Will be an instrument we've talked about quite a bit from arab music. Write a specified number of bullet points about it. You ca also write about the music piece. Ex: this is the ney 1. We are listening to taqsim bc it seems improvised, its freeform. Mijwiz - much louder than the ney. Reed, Double reed instrument, higher pitched/nasal, dabka dancing Ney - does not have a reed, so its more breathy. Riq - much more commonly found in the takht, softer more traditional sound Tabla - louder, outdoors, dabka or belly dancing. Kamanjah Qanun and ud - plucked stringed instruments. The oud has less going on. 2. Small essay - 3 topics given (2-3 pages) pick one. Topics will be from the reading, specifically things we have spoken about a lot. Example: a. how did the transition from the takht to the firqa happen.

Darboukeh/dumbek other name for tabla The riq is much smaller than the tabla and has zills (the metallic thing) on the sides.

Points to write about: 1. Taqsim or actual piece? (actual melody or freeform? Can you count the timing or not aka is it very metered? Lots of pauses or not?) 2. Takht or not? 3. Percussive or melodic, p...