Walking down the busy brick and cobblestone streets of Boston, Massachusetts, a melody plays in the distance. Thousands of people hear the music, however, in their busy lives, they ignore it. Occasionally, a person glances over and in either a combination of shock or ignorance- or awe- they start to make assumptions about the street musician. In Boston the diversity in our community is very vast and constantly expanding. Even with this constant expansion everyone in society belongs to their own subcultural group. The street musicians express a multitude of things with their music; it is how they speak. Buskers can play music and change the tone, tempo, rhythm, melody and even genre of their music. This change is brought forth by their emotions, their daily lives, interactions with others and coming in contact with their inner self. With such an intriguing and talented group, we decided to investigate further and gain insight to stereotypical evaluations and assumptions of the performers..
Assumptions can be made about these groups by either personal experience, observations, or cultural influences. The subcultural group of musical street performers consists of those who make the streets their stage by taking part in an activity called busking. Buskers are people of all ages and they have been around for a relatively long time. With buskers being diverse both in age and in a historical context, many assumptions have been made about buskers. For example, many of these performers ask for money when they have finished playing, thus making the impression that they are desperate for money or are jobless. When observing the population from afar, general qualities are easily noticeable. For example, normal observations can conclude that t...
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... communication, many of the subjects tried to answer all questions they could to their full ability. All but one were willing to do the interview, and everyone gave highly personal answers. This was a very social group of people who were willing to share even the most intimate of details.
Next time you hear the melodies reverberating across the cement walls of the subway station; next time you see a man in ragged clothes, with a guitar in his hands, with this eyes closed, bobbing his head back and forth to the rhythm of the music that he is emanating- listen. Most passersby or frequent commuters do not appreciate the obvious, and if they even glance in the musicians direction, they make drastic, stereotypical assumptions about them. Be a colored speck in the sea of grey, listen to the music, strike a conversation, and fuel their passion for the music that they play.
For centuries, music has been defined by history, time, and place. To address this statement, Tom Zè, an influential songwriter during the Tropicália Movement, produced the revolutionary “Fabrication Defect” to challenge oppression as a result from the poor political and social conditions. On the other hand, David Ramsey discusses, in mixtape vignettes, the role of music to survive in New Orleans’ violent setting. Furthermore, “The Land where the Blues Began”, by Alan Lomax, is a film and perfect example to understand under what musical conditions profound ways of communication are made to stand the hard work of cotton plantations. As a result, music plays a crucial role in the sources’ cultures and its creation relies on particular conditions such as the social
1. Music is a strictly local expression, rich in variety since each culture expresses affective differences through art, 2. Music is a poetic process--complex, vague, and irrational--based upon borrowed traditional musical materials (melodies, rhythms, forms, etc.), 3. Music is for a religious, elitist-class performer who can understand and appreciate its mysterious nature and power, 4. Music is played softly in intimate gatherings, 5. Music making is the activity of Everyman, exacting the talents of variously trained amateurs who, with industry and practice, decorate their recreation and leisure in moments of social intercourse.
McClish, Mark. “Susan Smith” http://www.statementanalysis.com/susan-smith/ Advanced Interviewing Concepts. May 6, 2002. Web, Feb. 7, 2012
The documentary “Rize” by David LaChapelle, focuses on the lives of Black Americans who live in South Central Los Angeles and the struggles they go through in their daily lives. Moreover the film also introduces two types of dancing groups that they have in the community. These dance groups are meant to keep the youths and children occupied and distracted from all the problems that have been going on in their community, such as the LA riot. The two styles of dancing are Clowning and Krumping. Clowning was created by Tommy the Clown in 1992. Tommy used to be a formal drug dealer, he went from having his life together to losing all his money and house. However, instead of doing nothing productive with his life, he decided to help his community by changing the lives of others through entertainment. In addition, not only did this dancing group help him get to a better place in life but also the group members are like his family. His main goal was to help put similes on people’s faces and help get some of these children and youths away from gangs. On the other hand, Krumping was also generated from Clowning, however Krumpers believe that their form of entertainment is different from clowning. Moreover, these dancing groups main focus is to distract the youths and children in the community by giving them the opportunity to do something they love, which is dancing. Furthermore, passion, spiritual connections and connection to the African culture are conveyed through the film by Clowning and Krumping.
Music is magical: it soothes you when you are upset and cheers you up when you are down. To me, it is a communication with souls. I listen to different genres of music. When appreciating each form of music, with its unique rhythm and melody, I expect to differentiate each other by the feelings and emotions that it brings to me. However, I would definitely never call myself “a fan of jazz” until I witnessed Cécile McLorin Salvant’s performance last Friday at Mondavi Center. Through the interpretations and illustrations from Cécile’s performance, I realized that the cultural significance and individual identity are the building blocks of jazz music that create its unique musical features and support its development.
Moreover, the task at hand is not one that is easily accomplished. In order for music to be a hit, it had to be a hit within the white community. The ...
This ethnography, written and told from Campbell’s point of view, shares her experiences as she sets out on her goal to study the musical culture among children in hopes to provide insight into how music plays a role in the lives of children of all different ages. This ethnography is split into three different sections, the first detailing Campbell’s different periods of observation. During her studies on the subject, Campbell spent time in different settings (such as a school bus, a cafeteria, a music class, and at a playground) in the hopes to observe their behavior and create detailed field notes in order to provide details into their interactions and their usage of music. In the second section, Campbell shares her conversations with several different children. Through these conversations, we get a taste of how music can be integrated within many different aspects of children’s lives. The third section focuses on what music means to children as well as how it can play a role or be integrated into diff...
If one were to look back into the world’s history, one would find that an important and consistent element is the world of music. Music has presented itself in various forms throughout its spread and through our identification of its magical realm, people have been fortunate enough to come across a means of relation. Whether it is blues and reggae or rap and pop rock, there is music out there for everyone. Music can serve as a stabilizer for some, a relaxant to others, and to many a form of inspiration.
“Together the matrices of race and music occupied similar position and shared the same spaces in the works of some of the most lasting texts of Enlightenment thought..., by the end of the eighteenth century, music could embody differences and exhibit race…. Just as nature gave birth and form to race, so music exhibited remarkable affinities to nature” (Radano and Bohlman 2000: 14). Radano and Bohlman pointed out that nature is a source of differences that give rise to the different racial identities. As music embodies the physical differences of human, racial differences are not only confined to the differences in physical appearances, but also the differences in many musical features, including language, tonality and vocal expression. Nonetheless, music is the common ground of different racial identities. “In the racial imagination, music also occupies a position that bridges or overlaps with racial differences. Music fills in the spaces between racial distinctiveness….” (Radano and Bohlman 2000:8) Even though music serves as a medium through which different racial identities are voiced and celebrated individually, it establishes the common ground and glues the differences
In the words of rapper Busta Rhymes, “hip-hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal. It’s a platform where we could offer information, but it’s also an escape” Hip-hop is a culture that emerged from the Bronx, New York, during the early 1970s. Hip-Hop was a result of African American and Latino youth redirecting their hardships brought by marginalization from society to creativity in the forms of MCing, DJing, aerosol art, and breakdancing. Hip-hop serves as a vehicle for empowerment while transcending borders, skin color, and age. However, the paper will focus on hip-hop from the Chican@-Latin@ population in the United States. In the face of oppression, the Chican@-Latin@ population utilized hip hop music as a means to voice the community’s various issues, desires, and in the process empower its people.
“Music is uniquely wonderful. It is incapable of being touched yet it touches everyone who is capable of hear sounds. It can seemingly evoke any emotion; we instinctively respond to happy tunes, mournful songs, beautiful melodies, inspiring anthems, stirring hymns, and majestic orchestrations.” (Doolan, Robert. 1985) There is no question that music is great part of society; it has been at civilization’s side whether it be the lyres and flutes of the ancient Greeks or how it calms or excites emotions and keeps armies in order during battle. Within society, there has also been social unrest and the desire for change. Protesting is the expression of a society’s concerns on current events of which they feel affected by whether it be through public rallies, picketing, riots or even bombings. Protest through music is one powerful medium for engaging people. Amidst what life throws at individuals, music has comforted the soul, provoked individualistic thought and opinion, and music draws people together through groups alike who have the same attachment or concerns with their surroundings. Whether it be rock, jazz, blues, rap, hip hop, dance, spiritual, or world, music has inspired artists to spill out their expression and views of society. Music is a universally effective tool of protest in generating social change and unrest as it continues to unite those with like ideas.
Conducting an interview is not as straightforward as it may seem. On paper the idea is that an interview is “‘a meeting of two persons to exchange information and ideas through questions and responses, resulting in communication and joint construction of meaning about a particular topic’” (Esterberg 2001:83). In the social sciences, being able to interview individuals allows the research to observe individual experiences, while also speaking to the broader sociological dynamics of a society. In Qualitative Methods in Social Research, Esterberg describes interviewing as a “relationship between two individuals…two individuals come together to try to create meaning about a particular topic. While participating in this relationship, they also draw
Overtime, Hip-Hop artists began to diversify their sounds and rhythms by different influences regarding ethnic backgrounds or creating certain moods for their audiences. Based on the article, “ The Significance of the Relationship Between AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC AND WEST AFRICAN MUSIC,” the author, Olly Wilson elucidates how African slaves used drumming as a way to call out to one another, for camp singing, and for negro spirituals as well (Wilson, 1974). During the Antebellum Period, African slaves would create beats from drums in which Hip-Hop today uses drums to project beats but at much different paces than in the past. Throughout its history, this genre of music has focused on beats instead of the melody, which is a commonality among African tribal music and today’s contemporary Hip-Hop. Depending on the timeframe and area the beat comes from, shows the impact of how those rhythms will sound. For instance, old school beats have different sound patterns than modern beats. Geographically, countries hear and spread music to each other and different ethnicities pick up their unique beats and rhythmic sounds; creating interrelationships of mixed musical cultures and specializations. In the article, “B-Beats Bombarding Bronx: Mobile DJ Starts Something 41with Oldie R&B Disk” by the author, Robert Ford expresses how the Hip-Hop pioneer, DJ Kool herc rose to fame by introducing assorted rhythm breaks (Ford, 2004). Also, as generations passed, Hip-Hop took a turn away from jazz and snappy blues to contemporary rap and R&B which is considered as “ghetto” or “gangsta music.” White critics have this false misconception of Hip-Hop and rap music and believe that they depict the harsh realities of ghetto life, poverty, and vulgarity. When in reality, it is a big phenomenon and apart of African culture because it conveys how they try to rise above the disorders of pauperism and the
There could not exist any real understanding of a specific music culture without firstly examining its concept and meaning of music. It is clearly agreed that every human society has music but the definition differs widely in many cultures. Bruno Nettl presents three ways in finding the definition of a society’s term of music. These are by asking an “expert”, who is the trained scholar of the society, or even a dictionary; by asking the members of society at large; and by observing people with the aid of fieldworking. He claims that dictionaries often avoid the explanation of music, and there are others who do explain it, but having their own Western concept in sight. Secondly, the other alternative is by asking the members of society at large. This approach could also be somehow supernatural as the people being asked could have a plenty of time to consider the question and modify their natural answers. Nettl claims that the third approach, which is performed by getting information from an informal conversation of some friends, is the most reliable one.
Music has been many different things to people, an escape, a revolution, an experience, a feeling, a message, a memory, a single moment, peace, class, etc. Music has played a large role in the lives of many. The story of music and it’s evolution is beautiful, from ancient melodies being plucked on a harp, to the british invasion and the popular revolution. Music has changed, and it has effected so much. In the recent decades popular music has manipulated humanity into acting inappropriately.