Unit 6: Folk & Traditional Music p 76. “Folklore ” Folk music, called folclore (folklore) in Spanish, is roughly equivalent to popular or pueblo . Folk music, folk art, and folk culture are traditional, transmitted orally, and anonymous (no known author).
Folk music is part of the culture of a specific country. Spanish traditional music is different from English traditional music. English traditional music is different from American traditional music.
Spanish traditional music & dances: rondo, copla, jaleo, flamenco, jota, fandango, bolero, Romanceiro, sevillana . . .
American traditional music - blues, bluegrass, field holler, spiritual, shanty, mariachi, jug band, Irish ballads, Appalachian folk, jazz, country . . . - dances: barn dance, hornpipe, jig, hambone, juba, reel, clogging, ring dance
The subjects of folk music are traditional, universal, and basic. Traditional songs are used for births, funerals, agricultural rituals, and dances.
p 77. Melodies & songs.
Melody : a pattern of different sounds in a rhythm. Melody and rhythm are inseperable, since any sound has duration. Definition: Melody is a sequence of pitches and durations.
Some melodies are the same notes played in unison (monophony ); some are played with other different melodies at the same time ( polyphany ).
Cultures have traditional melodies that are passed on from one generation to the next.
A song: a musical form that sets words to melody & rhythm. The same music may have different words, or words may have different music. There are traditional songs for every major festival and part of life. p. 79. Traditional Spanish musical instruments
- PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS -
Castanets (castañuelos ) - A percussion instrument used in Moorish, Roman, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American music. There are two wooden concave shells with a string. They are held in the hand and make rapid clicks or rhythmic accents. A player holds one in each hand. The right hand holds the hembra (female), which has got a higher pitch. The left hand holds the macho , which has got the lower pitch. Used in Spanish folk dance and in two flamenco palos, the zambra and the siguiriyas .
Botella labrada – A bottle of anis liquor rubbed with a metal object to produce a sound. Traditional Spanish instrument.
Cajón flamenco (cajón = box ) – A Latin American percussion instrument now used to accompany flamenco music.
Ratchet or noisemaker ( carraca or matraca ) A board attached to a gearwheel with a handle. The board is spun by the handle, making a clicking noise.
Mortar & pestle (almirez ) – A metal mortar with a metal pestle that produces a sound like a bell.
- STRINGS - Rebec (rabel ) – A bowed string instrument. Comes from the Arabic rehab . Used frequently during the Middle Ages. Now used only in folk music in Eastern Europe, Spain, and in andalusi nubah (type of North African folk music).
Lutes, vihuelas, bandurria (laúdes, vihuelas, y bandurrias ) – A lute is any stringed instrument with a neck and a deep round back. A vihuela is a Spanish lute used in Spanish or Portuguese music, of Arab origin. The bandurria is a small plucked string instrument like the mandolin, also used in Spanish folk music.
- WIND -
Dulzaina – The dulzaina is a Spanish double reed instrument in the oboe family. Many varieties exist in different regions of Spain. It is played with the tambourine.
Gaita rociera (n/a ) – A type of wooden flute played with the tambourine in Spanish folk music. Traditional American musical instruments
- PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS -
Washboard – Traditional Appalachian folk music uses a washboard (for washing clothes) as a percussion instrument.
- WIND INSTRUMENTS -
Jug – Appalachian folk music uses a jug as a wind instrument. The player blows air over the top to make a sound. A jug is a big fat bottle.
Bagpipes – Usually associated with Irish and Scottish folk music. Also found in Galicia, for example. Pipes in a bag made out of the skin of an animal – cow, sheep, goat.
- STRING INSTRUMENTS -
Slide guitar – A slide guitar is a guitar played with a slide . You make a slide out of a bottleneck or steel tube and put it on your third finger. You slide it up and down the strings.
Fiddle – The fiddle can be any bowed string instrument (violin, viola, other similar folk instruments). It is usually a violin. It is more a style of playing than a specific instrument. It is used in blues, country, folk, and traditional Irish or Scottish music.
Banjo – The banjo is a stringed instrument invented by African- American slaves in the South and in the Appalachians. It comes from similar African instruments. Used in country and folk music.
Mandolin – The mandolin is a type of lute used in traditional English music and country music.