Ethnomusicology Commons^™

All Roads Lead To Darrington: Building A Bluegrass Community In Western Washington, James W. Edgar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through the mid-twentieth century, a significant pattern of migration occurred between Appalachia and the Pacific Northwest, with Washington’s thriving timber industry offering compelling economic opportunities. Many workers and families from western North Carolina settled in the small mountain town of Darrington, Washington, frequently accompanied by their banjos and guitars. As a group of young bluegrass enthusiasts from Seattle established relationships with Darrington’s “Tar Heel” musicians, a collaborative music community formed, laying the foundation for the region’s contemporary bluegrass scene.

Drawn from a series of ethnographic interviews, this project illuminates the development of a bluegrass community in western Washington, while identifying …

Vatican Ii, Liberation Theology, And Vernacular Masses For The Family Of God In Central America, Bernard J. Gordillo

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) instituted reforms in the Catholic Church that included changes in language and music employed in the liturgy, inspiring a proliferation of sung vernacular masses throughout Latin America. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research undertaken in Nicaragua and the United States, this article examines three Central American vernacular masses—Misa típica panameña de San Miguelito (1967), Misa popular nicaragüense (1969), and Misa campesina nicaragüense (1975). Each mass emanated from communities founded as part of the transnational Familia de Dios (Family of God) movement, which established programs of religious education, leadership training, and community building among impoverished …

Sankyoku Magazine And The Invention Of The Shakuhachi As Religious Instrument In Early 20th-Century Japan, Matt Gillan

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

The early 20^th century was a period in which understandings of music, religion, and the nation-state underwent rapid change in Japan. In this article I examine Japanese cultural discourse from the first decades of the 20^th century in which the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, was frequently portrayed as a religious instrument. In some cases, this discourse referenced pre-20^th century historical affiliations of the shakuhachi with the Fuke-sect, an organization that was loosely affiliated to Rinzai Zen Buddhism. But the article also explores how religio-musical discourse surrounding the shakuhachi intersected with developments in modern Japanese religious life, …

Moving Beyond World Music: An Exploration Of Non-Western Music Cataloging Practices In Higher Education And Where To Go From Here, Alastair L. Canavan

New Librarianship Symposia Series: Fall 2021

The term “world music” has been used for decades as a catchall genre to describe any form of music outside of Western classical. As a byproduct of the eurocentrism pervasive throughout academia, its use furthers a bubble that others or ignores Non-Western cultures and their music. By examining the public-facing catalogs of 13 university libraries across 10 different countries to determine to what extent Non-Western music is included in their collections, how it is cataloged, and if the term “world music” is used to do so, the specific cataloging practices and norms that perpetuate a bias toward Western classical music …

The King With The Vīṇā Flag – Perspectives Of Rāvaṇa In Film, Achintya Prahlad

Journal of Religion & Film

Rāvaṇa, the ten-headed Rākṣasa (‘demon’) king of the epic the Rāmāyaṇa, is the most fascinating of all the antagonists in films based on Hindu mythology, so powerful that even the Sun cannot rise without his orders, and celebrated as an unparalleled musician-scholar and great devotee of the god Śiva. His passion for the vīṇā, a string instrument with divine associations, is so great that this instrument adorns his royal flag as its emblem. His consciousness of his supreme powers and great knowledge soon gives way to ahaṅkāra (hubris) and lust, which leads to his eventual downfall and death at the …

Performing Empowerment: Children's Rights And Musical Participation In Dakar, Senegal, Lynne Stillings

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation provides a critical examination of how music is used to introduce concepts of children’s rights to children and youth in Dakar, Senegal. I explore why music has been chosen as a tool of engagement and promotion, building on Senegal’s history of youth activism and music as a grassroots tool for inspiring social change and sparking political movements. Both international NGOs and local programs use musical activities, centering children as performers and songwriters, to address rights in Senegal including girls’ equality, the right to education, early marriage, violence towards women and children, access to healthcare, and street children. Outside …

Travelin' To The Promised Land: Symbolism Of The Jordan River In African Spiritual, English Hymn, And American Folksong Selections, Hope V. Dornfeld

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

These program notes originally accompanied a performance of three vocal pieces: Deep River, On Jordan's Stormy Banks, and Poor Wayfaring Stranger. The notes analyze the role of the Jordan river in each piece, focusing on their historical context, first performances, and issues of authorship. As part of a performing arts research project, the program notes also address the method of expression and creative process that went into preparing the performance of these pieces.

The songs included in this presentation all speak to the journey from earth to heaven. In each piece, the Jordan River is found to symbolize a …

The Rougarou Concerto And Initial Observations Of The Flex Ensemble, Thomas Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the immediate impact of the coronavirus pandemic through a composer’s lens. It will examine the impact through a variety of means, considerably: interviews of those with first-hand experiences, analyses of prominent adaptable works, and self-analysis of how my own process adapted to meet the moment.

After discovering the Composers Repertoire Initiative and being commissioned to write a concerto by Eduard Teregulov, I wrote a cello concert. The central chapter features the Rougarou Concerto, a cello concerto with accompanying flex ensemble, written for Eduard Teregulov. The work was written over ten months …

On Displacement And Music: Embodiments Of Contemporary Nubian Music In The Nubian Resettlements, Fayrouz Kaddal

Theses and Dissertations

Between 1961-1964, an estimated number of 113’000 Nubians, who were living south of the site of the Aswan High Dam, the area now beneath Lake Nasser, and Wadi Halfa, north of Sudan, were displaced to an area near Kom Ombo, 20 kilometres away from the Nile and 50 kilometres north of Aswan. This major project of resettlement occurred for the construction of the Aswan High Dam, Nasser’s signature mega-project. The 1961-1964 displacement was the culmination of earlier waves of relocation that Nubians witnessed during their recent history. In 1902 the British constructed the Aswan (lower) Dam by the first cataract …

Tanavors, Irada Ganieva

Eurasian music science journal

Tanavor is a unique phenomenon in the cuiture of Uzbek people. Tanavor in the minds of the people is a philosophical category that incorporates history, originality, social, emotional, national-specific features. This creation is an example of the oral and professional creativity of Uzbek people, it can be attributed to high samples of musical folklore, which declared currently at the end of nineteenth century, and which continues to evolve to this day in music, in danse.

Higher Ground: Rev. Dr. William Barber Ii And The Political Content Of Prophetic Form, Braxton D. Shelley

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This essay argues that Rev. Dr. William J. Barber’s message on “Higher Ground,” a speech delivered at a massive 2014 protest rally, reveals his intentional problematization of distinctions between the sacred and the secular. As Barber’s articulation of what Ashon Crawley calls “Blackpentecostal breath” spill over the boundaries posited by conventional categories—they are too ecstatic to be ordinary speeches, and too political to be traditional sermons—these plural expressions identify themselves as sounds that come from another world. If both content and form are understood as thought, it becomes apparent that these prophetic utterances critique the oppression wrought by contemporary social …

“Beer & Hymns” And Community: Religious Identity And Participatory Sing-Alongs, Andrew Mall

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

As a series of loosely-organized events, “Beer & Hymns” started at the Greenbelt Festival in England in 2006 and migrated to the Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina in 2012. Local Beer & Hymns gatherings meet at bars, breweries, clubs, and pubs across the U.K., the U.S., and around the world. Most are not affiliated with a church or Christian denomination, instead relying on the energy of independent local organizers. Some attendees are regular churchgoers, other are not, but all find community in these sing-alongs—congregational singing, that is, outside of traditional congregational contexts. Beer & Hymns is exactly what it …

Sacred Music In Colonial Era Hispaniola: The Evangelization Of The Taino People, Tito J. Gutierrez

Student Theses

During the 15th-18th centuries, the major European religious orders; the Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, and Jeronymites, journeyed to the newly colonized American territories in an attempt to convert the multitudes of natives peoples living there. Along with prayer books, crucifixes, and religious images, these missionaries brought sacred European music to American shores in an attempt to attract the native people to the Catholic faith.The use of music as a tool for conversion of native people in places such as Mexico, South America, California, and the South West United States, have been well researched and documented. However, the research of the spiritual …

A Critical History Of Adonis’ “No Way Back, Marvin J. Gladney

Third Stone

No abstract provided.

Pathing The Ṭubū': Modal Theory In The Modern Tunisian Conservatory, Drew Garret Minaker

Masters Theses

While the eastern Arab modal system of maqāmāt has been amply explored by a variety of scholars and practitioners, the systems of melodic modes which underlie North African- Andalusian music traditions colloquially called the ṭubū‘ (s. ṭab‘) are relatively unknown outside their native regions (even within the Arabic-speaking world), and their features have not yet been explored in Western ethnomusicological literature. This thesis attempts to represent the modal theory of the ṭubū‘ found in one style of North African-Andalusian music, Tunisian ma’lūf. It offers a summary of pedagogical approaches used for teaching the ṭubū‘ in a typical conservatory and describes …

Indian Classical Music In The New York Metropolitan Area: The Development Of A Transnational Ecosystem, Andre Fludd

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigates the development of North and South Indian classical music communities in the New York metropolitan area from the mid-20^th century to the present. In this investigation, I primarily focus on local musicians from diverse backgrounds and communities rather than internationally recognized stars. In the instances where I discuss famous musicians such as Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussain, I focus on how they impacted New York metropolitan area communities particularly and what their success can teach about international Indian classical music careers. The dissertation is organized chronologically, and I highlight vital people, non-profit organizations, historical moments, and …

A Roda De Choro In New York City: The Regional De Ny In A Global Imagined Community, Maurice Restrepo

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates two pillars of the NYC choro community: The Regional de NY and their roda de choro. It situates the group within a global community for whom choro has materialized a shared identity, explores instruments and their agency, and presents cultural themes and aesthetic priorities as conceptualized by the ensemble’s members.

Palestinian Evangelical Christian Music In Bethlehem, Israel/Palestine, Abby Smith

Senior Honors Theses

Often the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is portrayed as Jewish vs. Muslim, Hebrew vs. Arab. There is little room in the international dialogue for minorities such as Arab Christians. Though Palestinians have a rich culture of Arabic musical and poetic heritage, they are unable to produce their own new songs. In this study I interviewed three members of Immanuel Evangelical Church on their experiences and opinions on local Christian worship. The findings show that Palestinian Christians may feel unable to write worship music because of a prevalent feeling of inadequacy and a lack of musical training. I propose several …

"I Can't Breathe": Toward A Pneumatology Of Singing And Missional Musicking For Racial Justice In Jacksonville, Florida, Thomas Shapard

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

This thesis develops a philosophy of musicking that intersects with missional ecclesiology and expands the role of music-making beyond the church walls. The central hypothesis assumes that predominantly white congregations in the Free Church tradition located in the southern United States incorporate ways of singing that reinforce, albeit inadvertently, attitudes toward others that buttress white ethnocentricity. Musical practices arising from a Western European heritage can promote cultural exclusivity as well as a perceived—yet false— sense of superiority. Is there an implicit theology of singing in white churches that engenders a culture of complicity and apathy in matters of racial injustice, …

Sound Healing, Devina L. Pulido

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Most people would imply that music is used for solely entertainment, artistic expression, celebration, ceremony, or communication. Whether we are musically inclined or not, music is the one thing that genuinely connects humans from all cultures and corners of the earth. Another application of music is sound healing, a therapeutic practice that utilizes different signals and vibrations to improve the physical and emotional health of individuals, groups, and cultures. This can entail listening to various musical experiences (such as a concert), singing along to a favorite song or chant, dancing to the beats of other music, meditating, or playing an …

Marine Melodies: Traditional Scottish And Irish Mermaid And Selkie Songs As Performed By Top Female Vocalists In Contemporary Celtic Music, Olivia H. Phillips

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mermaids and human-seal hybrids, called selkies, are a vibrant part of Celtic folklore, including ballad and song traditions. Though some of these songs have been studied in-depth, there is a lack of research comparing them to each other or to their contemporary renditions. This research compares traditional melodies and texts of the songs “The Mermaid,” “The Grey Selchie of Sule Skerry,” and “Hó i Hó i” to contemporary recordings by top female vocalists in Scottish and Irish music.

The texts and melodies I have identified as “source” material are those most thoroughly examined by early ballad and folklore scholars. The …

The Arranging Techniques Of Leon “Smooth” Edwards And Their Application To Calypso-Styled Classical Music Arrangements For Steel Orchestra, Michelle A. Rudder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The steelpan was invented in the 1930s in Trinidad and Tobago. It has evolved over the past eighty years. Although steelbands are now found across the globe and at all levels of music education, academic research regarding the music of the steelpan and its composers and arrangers is scarce. This paper examines six works for steelband by Leon “Smooth” Edwards, a prominent arranger of indigenous steelband music for the Panorama competition in Trinidad and Tobago. Music scores for four of the works have been notated for the first time. The paper documents Edwards’ variation development techniques, voicing, and orchestration. The …

Ja Rusyn Byl (I Am Rusyn): Household Folk Music As Resistance To Oppression, Spencer Mcneill

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

The Rusyns are a people indigenous to the Carpathian Mountains and its surrounding areas. Despite attempts by the Ukrainian government and surrounding nations to silently erase Rusyn culture from history, the Rusyn people have a distinct identity independent from that of any bordering nation. This unique identity is best outlined through Rusyn folk songs which depict pastoral images of the Carpathian homeland and patriotic tales of Rusyn ancestry. Much work to date has already been done documenting post Velvet Revolution revival of Rusyn culture. Because of this, I will instead focus on the lesser-known time prior and leading up to …

Contemporary Monacan Nation Identity Expression: A Music And Cultural Arts Study, Gretchen Cline, Katherine Morehouse

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

Songs Of The Sea And The Sailor: Demystifying The Mythology Of British Sailing Culture, Henry Strobel

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Sea shanties have generally been accepted as the main relic of the culture of British sailors: a mythology that permeates the 19th and 20th century describing the harsh, unforgiving and yet in many ways romanticized life at sea. The repertoire of this time was eventually written down and catalogued by folk music collectors such as Cecil J. Sharp, who were hoping to record and preserve the British identity for generations to come. However, in researching the etymology of these songs as well as the first-hand accounts of sailors, there is a significantly greater layer of complexity to this history than …

Introduction To World Music, Antoni Piza

Open Educational Resources

MUS102 Syllabus & weekly course schedule

Japanese Popular Culture Influences In Contemporary Black American Rap And Hip-Hop, Rodrianna Gaddy

Senior Theses

Since hip-hop’s emergence in New York during the early 1970s, there has been an increasing amount of Japanese popular cultural references in Black American rap and hip-hop. This increase is made possible through globalization and innovations in communication technology. Most previous research on the trend has focused primarily on the impact hip-hop has had on Japanese culture, and how Afro-Asian collaborations have shaped music produced in the East and West. However, this thesis focuses on the influence various forms of Japanese media and history have had on contemporary Black American rap and hip-hop. I evaluate how artists can display these …

Extracting Theory From Practice: A Computational Analysis Of The Persian Radif, Sepideh Shafiei

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation studies radif, the repertoire/system of Persian classical music, by developing a framework for computational research on vocal music performance. The radif consists of seven dastgāhs and five āvāzes (secondary dastgāhs). Each dastgāh consists of several pieces (gushes). Throughout this research, I draw on three areas of knowledge to study each subject: the historical aspects, the current theories, and the practice. When possible, I attempt to bridge the gap between theory and practice by extracting the relevant information from practice. To this end, I use and modify existing computational methods for analyzing audio and symbolic data. The main subjects …

The Alphorn In North America: “Blown Yodeling” Within A Transnational Community, Maureen E. Kelly

Theses and Dissertations

Musicians in North America have adopted the alphorn as a tool that builds community, enhances musical training, and interprets the Swiss tradition for a new generation. Meaningful combinations of experiences and identities combine to create a robust relationship and kinship among alphorn players in an intentionally international community.

01 Traditional Songs Introduction, William Donner

Sikaiana Traditional Songs

This is an introduction to Sikaiana songs. It includes a discussion of the social cultural context of song composition and singing. There is a discussion of the different features of song production and a list of different song genres. Most of the discussion is concerned with traditional song expression that are part of derived form changes associated with colonialism and modernization.