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Impact of culture by music
The effect of music on culture
What are the similarities between sacred and secular music
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Recommended: Impact of culture by music
Discontent Expressed through Blues, Jazz, Reggae, and Hip-hop
In cultures all over the world, music can be seen encompassing many aspects of life for many individuals. It is a form of mass communication that"speaks directly to society as a cultural form", and often reflects a collection and pattern of personal experiences (King 19). Music is so influential because it communicates on three different levels: the physical, emotional, and cognitive. Not only does it operate in a nondiscursive way, by affecting the physiological mode of the body, causing one to move and dance, but it also encourages one to think. This paper will explore music as a form of protest; showing how a political message, in general form, is presented through music. Protest music addresses the social, political, and economic conditions of the times and often speaks directly to the listener's experience (King 20). In the following pages, a general comparison will be made between the evolution and effects of the blues, jazz, reggae music, and hip-hop, with a focus on reggae and hip-hop.
According to musicologist Rod Gruver, life for the lower-class Negro in America in the early 1900's was completely characterized by a sense of alienation:
He had no place to go, no one to turn to. He had no country, no home, no ideology, no art to call his own. History had forced upon him the awful realization that if a black man wanted to have a home of his own in America, he would have to create it himself out of elements of his own culture. (Spencer 61)
There was an obvious split between the lower-classes and the middle classes; between the religious people and the secular. During slavery, secular music was considered blasphemy and forced underground. What emerged from thi...
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King, Stephen and Richard Jensen."Bob Marley's 'Redemption Song': the rhetoric of reggae and Rastafari."Journal of Popular Culture. 29.3 (1995): 17-37.
Leland, John and Allison Samuel."The generation gap."Newsweek. 129.11 (3/17/97): 52-57.
Melane, Daisann."The Forgotten Caribbean Connection."The New York Times. 2H: 22.
Manuel, Peter Lamarche. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean music from rumba to reggae. Philadelphia: Temple University Class, 1995.
Oumano, Elena."Reggae says no to politricks.' The Nation. 265.6 (8/25/97): 24-27.
Patterson, Orlando."Ecumenical America: global culture and the American Cosmos."World Policy Journal. 11.2 (1994):103-117.
Regis, Humphrey A."The American Appropriation of Reggae."Caribbean Review. 16.3-4 (1990): 7, 74-75.
Spencer, John Michael (ed.). Sacred Music of the Secular City: from blues to rap. 6.1 Duke University Press, 1992.
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
Gottschalk’s unique blend of exotic cultures was key to perpetual fame during his time. By examining the compositions Bamboula (Op. 2) and Souvenir de Porto Rico (Op. 31), I will demonstrate how Gottschalk’s musical style represents an integration of Creole, New Orleans, West Indian, and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds he was exposed to throughout his life.
African American religious music is the foundation of all contemporary forms of so called “black music.” African American religious music has been a fundamental part of the black experience in this country. This common staple of the African American experience can be traced back to the cruel system of slavery. It then evolved into what we refer to today as gospel music. The goal of this paper is to answer three main questions. What are the origins of African American religious music? How did this musical expression develop into a secular form of music? What is the future of African American religious music? These questions will be answered through factual research of African American traditions, artists, and various other sources.
Therefore, to endure the pains and sufferings the slaves had to use music. As illustrated above, the advent of music had far reaching results as it encouraged and gave them hope to continue working. The early music composers are the evidence of existence of early music which in turn has shaped today’s music like the blues and pop lyrics. In this case, the culture of the past has been rescued from getting lost.
A beautiful precious diamond can last forever, but what most people do not know is that a majority of our diamonds come from Africa. The civil wars in Africa over diamonds began around 1961 and ended in 2003. Conflict diamonds were rampant and it would be difficult to say if any jewelry sold prior to 2003 was conflict free. Conflict diamonds are diamonds that have been mined and were controlled by African rebels. The rebels would use the profits from selling conflict diamonds to fund illegal activity and to purchase more weapons for their armies. While rebels had control of the diamond mines they killed approximately 4 million people and countless families were displaced.
African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans. First is about the effect of slave music on American history and African American music. The slave music’s
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral could be fueling wars and funding corrupt governments. This mineral can be smuggled undetected across countries in a coat pocket, then be sold for vast amounts of money. This mineral is used in power tools, parts of x-ray machines, and microchips but mostly jewelry. Once considered the ultimate symbol of love, the diamond has a darker story. "Blood" diamonds or "conflict" diamonds are those mined, polished, or traded in areas of the world where the rule of law does not exist. They often originate in war-torn countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire were rebels use these gems to fund genocide or other questionable objectives. Even with a system known as the Kimberly process which tracks diamonds to prevent trade of these illicit gems, infractions continue as the process is seriously flawed. The continuation of the blood diamond trade is inhuman, and unethical, and in order to cease this illicit trade further action to redefine a conflict diamond, as well as reform to the diamond certification prosess is nessasary.
Contemporary, as well as older, Gospel music originated from the “Spirituals.” The spirituals, also known as the “Negro Spirituals or African-American folk songs,” were religious songs sung by the African Americans slaves in Southern America. The spirituals spawned from teachings of Christianity from slave owners, the church and even hymns. The songs were usually about love, hope, peace, oppression, freedom and even used as a secret code. The African American slaves would sing while working so much so that slave o...
People are now starting to take small steps in an effort to eliminate conflict diamonds. Recently, the entire diamond industry made clear to the international community of its intolerance towards blood diamonds. An example of this is their introduction of the Kimberley Process, a certification system for tracking the diamond’s origin. The United States is currently working on legislation for the Clean Diamond Act, in order to ban any diamonds from an unidentified origin. Both of these policies are attempts to create a paper trail for the diamonds and to eliminate conflict diamonds from the ma...
“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.
Music played a very important role in the lives of people is diaspora communities. It served as a reminder for the immigrants of their homeland, which allowed them to proudly express their national and cultural identities. Diaspora refers to an international network of communities linked together by the identification of a common ancestral homeland and culture. People in these communities are no longer living in their homelands, with no guarantee of a return either. (Bakan, 19). Music played a large role in African diaspora communities. This was first started by the slave trades many years ago when slave traders traveled to the coast of West Africa to capture Africans and brought them back to the United States to be slaves on plantations. Slaves were more prone to loose a sense of their own culture because every new aspect of their lives was forced upon them, therefore they were undoubtedly forced to abandon their n...
Santarossa, B. (2004, January 13). Diamonds: Adding lustre to the Canadian economy. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2004008-eng.htm
...er’s diamond cartel, the world’s most powerful monopoly, no longer exists, the company itself is still a billion-dollar business. The demand for diamonds is still great and the supply scarce. Diamond engagement rings are no longer seen as the only accepted form of engagement rings; therefore people look to cheaper alternatives. Although substitutes for diamonds are increasing in popularity and diamonds are no longer seen as the only symbol of love, are still in high demand. The interdependence of firms in the oligopoly market structure stabilizes diamond prices and still allows for the firms’ profits to be maximized. De Beers and the Central Selling Organization monopoly managed to set the price of diamonds extremely high. Although the oligopoly market structure regulates diamond prices, in relation to the useful value of a diamond the price of diamonds is too high
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.
Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.