Music Practice Commons^™

The Kora And Korafolaw: A Treatise On The Musical Instrument And Those Who Play It, William Ridenour

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“The kora is what they play in heaven” a friend once told me. I agreed with him, easily. Ever since I first heard the kora played in the United States, my interest in it and the culture that produced it has deepened. Being able to carry out research on it has been a blessing and a pleasure.

All of my fieldwork was done in Bamako, the capital of Mali between April 15th and May 7th 2010. I spent most of my time in the company of the venerable jeli and korafola Dialy Mady Sissoko, who more or less adopted me …

Singing Schools In Southcentral Kentucky, Donald Beisswenger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Singing school teachers, who teach rural church congregations to sing from shape-note gospel songbooks, are still working in southcentral Kentucky, but the demand for them is smaller than it was in the first half of the twentieth century. The interdependence network in which singing school teachers, songbook publishers, and community singing events were key parts began to weaken in the 1940s as a result of the growth in popularity of professional gospel quartet concerts and gospel record albums. Many gospel music enthusiasts who once looked to songbooks as a major source for new material and for developing singing skills turned …