Digital Commons Network^™

“The Great Speckled Bird”- Early Country Music And The Popularization Of Non-Secular Song, Kris R. Truelsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perhaps no melody in the country music canon has been as widely recognized and borrowed from as that of the song “The Great Speckled Bird.” This significant song has become resonant and representative of both country music culture and religious culture of the Protestant South.

Through this historiographical study, I have traced the influences that helped shape “The Great Speckled Bird” and in so doing have illustrated distinct movements that led to popularizing the non-secular song through commercial country music. The composer’s use of sentimentality, neo- traditionalism, and religious ideas made it appealing to a rural southern culture struggling with …

A Jamaican Voice: The Choral Music Of Noel Dexter, Desmond A. Moulton

Dissertations

As we approach the twenty-first century, the world generally is moving away from the dominance of the European aesthetic towards a world music that owes much to the musical resources of the African-American tradition. Jamaica’s social and philosophical music belong mainly to that tradition, which includes the use of rhythms, and timbral and melodic resources that exist independently of harmony. Already in this century, Jamaicans have created two totally new music - Nyabinghi, which performs a philosophical function and Reggae, which performs a social function. The choral music of Noel Dexter is important because it is uniquely Jamaican/Caribbean in its …

Sounding Identity: Soundscapes, Music, And Technoculture In The Chinese Diaspora Of Panama, Corey Michael Blake

Masters Theses

Present in Panama since the 19^th century, the Chinese diaspora in Panama City, Panama represents an empowered community of individuals who identify as both Chinese and Panamanian. These Chinese Panamanian hybrid identities emerge within sonic environments through an engagement with transnational media and digital technologies, notably within retail stores. Specifically, music surfaces as an especially important sonic marker of the Chinese Panamanian hybridity. Within the mall of the Panamanian Chinatown of El Dorado, an interesting mixture of both Chinese and Latin American popular music genres sounds throughout the various stores. This mixture of music genres demonstrates Chinese Panamanian agency …

The World Is Yours: The Radical And Deterritorializing Nature Of Hip-Hop, Ethan Pearce

Honors Theses

Since its inception in the early 1970s, Hip Hop has been defined as a cultural movement that is firmly grounded on the principles of socio-political radicalism, subversion, and change. Rap, which is often synonymous with Hip Hop, is the most recent example of the disenfranchised African-American community’s attempt to gain equality through musical stylings.1 Hip Hop has followed in the footsteps of the negro spiritual, the blues, jazz, and rock and roll. While each one of these musical genres has undeniably black roots, Hip Hop, in the words of the influential sociologist Michael Eric Dyson is, “emblematic of the glacial …

Une Génération S’Expriment: Le Mouvement Social Du Rap Et La Culture Hip-Hop Pendant Les Années 1990s En France, Robert Hazzard

Honors Theses

A study of the emergence of rap and hip-hop culture during the 1990s in France.

Kaze No Daichi Taiko: Convergent Thoughts Colliding Sounds, William Gruber

Honors Projects

By composing original works for kumi daiko, a Japanese group drumming musical style, I answer questions about authenticity and appropriation as an outsider playing this world music.

Music Streaming Services, Programming Culture, And The Politics Of Listening, Walker Kennedy

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

I Want To Be In That Number: A Song Profile Of "When The Saints Go Marching In", Gregory H. Jacks

Honors Capstone Projects - All

“When the Saints Go Marching In” has never been subject to a sustained study of its origins, disseminations, and current manifestations. A study like this, focused on a song’s perceptions via various viewpoints through time, is typically referred to as a song profile; a form of reception history specifically concentrated on a single musical composition. “When the Saints Go Marching In,” also known as “Saints” or “The Saints,” is an African-American spiritual typically listed as a traditional in most songbooks without a composer.[1] I have laid out this paper into four sections, one for each period of the song’s …

The Creation Of Fear Through Censorship: Repression Of Artistic Freedom In The Music Of The Syrian Revolution, Rebecca Aliah Ajamoughli

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

"God, Syria, freedom, and that is all." These four words embody the goals of the Syrian Revolution. Yet, there is one key element of this chant that raises questions surrounding its meaning: freedom. For decades, the people of Syria have been subjected to restricted freedom by the Assad regime-especialIy musicalIy. The regime has artfulIy used music to legitimize its claim to the country. This utilization varies from early-learned pro-Baath chants to the monitoring of all performances held in the country. As Lisa Wedeen says in her work Ambiguities of Domination, "[this control of culture] isolates Syrians from one another, and …

Lifting The Veil On Hindi Film Song Sequences: An Approach To Analysis, Maria A. Souliotis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to augment previous scholarly research on Hindi film song through the presentation of a multivalent approach to thoroughly understanding and interpreting Hindi film song sequences. In a case study of the song sequence “Pardā Haı̃ Pardā” ("There Is a Veil,"? from Manmohan Desai's 1977 film Amar Akbar Anthony), the three essential elements of these sequences (on-screen visuals, text, and music) are connected to the context of South Asian history and culture to demonstrate how scholarly approaches to music, film, and cultural studies can be united to create a more interdisciplinary approach to analysis. The approach also …

Adapting Traditional Kentucky Thumbpicking Repertoire For The Classical Guitar, Andrew Rhinehart

Theses and Dissertations--Music

During the first half of the twentieth century, a unique style of guitar playing known as Kentucky thumbpicking was developed by a handful of musicians in the western coal field region of Kentucky. This guitar tradition was elevated to national prominence by country guitar virtuoso Merle Travis. Subsequently, this style became characterized as "Travis Picking."

Kentucky thumbpicking incorporates a steady and muted bass line that alternates between the root, fifth or third of a chord. The bass is also accentuated with the use of a thumbpick worn on the right hand. Simultaneously, the index, occasionally middle and ring fingers, play …

Exploring Latin Rhythms, Loree V. Campbell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

ABSTRACT

Campbell, Loree V., M.A., December, 2014

Exploring Latin Rhythms (50 pp.)

Director: Karen Kaufmann (Theatre and Dance) K. Kaufmann

Exploring Latin Rhythms was a project that I undertook with the intention of broadening my base of cultural knowledge, enhancing my musical skills in piano performance and composition, and rhythm instrument familiarization and proficiency. I was able to bring Latin percussion into my classroom for both cultural exploration and as a means of learning language. In this year long journey, I experienced two very different teaching styles from two different mentors, attended the World Rhythm Festival in Seattle, and greatly …