Digital Commons Network^™

Music In Its Social Context: Fiji In A Microcosm, Alexander Greene

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The music of Fiji flows throughout the country as rich as the food and as omnipresent as the kava. Music touches all aspects of the Fijian way of life. Whether one is Indo-Fijian, Indigenous Fijian, from another pacific island, kylomo, or a kavailagi, there is no escaping music while in Fiji. This paper looks to explore the different social settings and context that music is created and then in turn listened to, and how the social setting of Fiji has shaped what music is created here. This paper also attempts to gather in a cohesive manner, what music is being …

Relájate Y Disfruta: Lecciones De Una Vida Musical Y Temporal En El Zaidín = Relax And Enjoy: Lessons About A Temporal Musical Life In Zaidin, Granada, Laura Westman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the following paper, I describe the volunteer project that I conducted during my fall 2009 semester in Granada, Spain. I spent a few hours each week accompanying voice lessons in a music school located in the neighborhood in which I lived while I was learning Spanish. This paper chronicles the importance of language and communication to my work, including problems that I had with the language barrier in communicating with people in the school before I was comfortable with the language. Though I originally planned to analyze relationships between teachers and students as a major theme in my project, …

Churning The Ocean Of Milk: The Role Of Vocal Composition In Tibetan Buddhist Ritual Music, Gabriel Gordon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ritual music is a significant but often misunderstood aspect of Tibetan Buddhism. Specifically, vocal music serves a variety of purposes that distinguish the genre from Western music. In order to understand and appreciate ritual vocal music from a Western perspective, there must be firm understanding of the importance of melody and the source of its value. The author has studied with members of the Tibetan Buddhist monastic community, focusing on ritual vocal music and the process of composition. Through an examination of the vocal music composition and of concepts of inspiration and creativity, this paper will shed light on the …

The Traditional Wolof Voice: Lessons From A Griot In Pout, Senegal, Lucy French

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This alternative project comprised of a three-week long, intensive study of traditional Wolof singing. I took twenty hours of voice lessons from a griot teacher in Pout, Senegal, with the intention of acquiring a rich knowledge of Wolof vocal music and the skills to perform for an audience. My Wolof teacher, Nar Diop, taught me seven songs by ear throughout our six classes together. In addition to perfecting, memorizing, and preparing for a final performance piece, I translated the lyrics of each song into English and French in order to analyze their content and investigate their origins and significance to …

Learning The Kora In Two Senegalese Contexts: As A Tradition Vs. As A Religion, Emily Merkert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The kora, a traditional instrument rooted deeply in the culture of West Africa, was originally only played for nobility by a caste of oral historians called “griots.” In the past few decades the use of the use of the kora has broadened, and among many more modern venues, has been adapted to the Gregorian Chants of the Catholic monks at the Monastery of Keur Moussa, who have not only changed the instrument’s use but its physical makeup as well. As an artist and musician I set out to explore the methods of instruction of the instrument in the two different …

The Significance Of Music Education In The Primary Curriculum, Mina Won

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I arrived in Ireland with very little knowledge of what the ‘Transformation of Political and Social Conflict’ semester would entail. As music major, I had to be prepared to study and learn about particular subjects that were completely foreign to my normal area of concentration. During my experiences throughout Ireland, however, I was surprisingly able to soak up even more of my two passions in life: music and children. After one afternoon with children from the Foundation Project, I realized how my two areas of interest are universal and that studying about music and children is never-ending. I recognized that …

L’Identité Dans La Musique Occitane : La Conservation De L’Art Pour Exprimer La Culture = Identity In Occitan Music : Expressions Of Culture Through The Preservation Of Art, Christina Lambert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project focused on how identity is expressed and preserved through Occitan music, and what exactly that identity means to whom that identity belongs. The researcher studied and listened to many different bands and artists, all of who had unique styles and sounds. While conducting research on the history of Occitania and of its music, the researcher interviewed several musicians and others who worked with the Occitan culture. These interviews and research led to a greater understanding of Occitania, and of the people who are fighting to keep it alive. By attending traditional dances, concerts, and book readings, the researcher …

“Fusion” Musics And Tunisian Identity In The Age Of The Global Stereo, Rachel Colwell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Introduction (excerpt)

In this paper I will explore how contemporary Tunisian musicians have engaged with and adopted various “foreign” or “external” musics by melded them in myriad intricate and often controversial ways with the tunes, rhythms, and symbolic meanings of their own historically local musics. Equally, or perhaps more importantly, I will address how audiences throughout Tunisia have received these musical “fusion” projects and movements and will touch upon the responses of Tunisian diasporic communities and cosmopolitan cultural formations within and beyond the borders of the country.

I will present two case studies, the work of Anouar Brahem and the …