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fandomhigh2016-06-19 10:52 pm
sharp_as_knives) wrote in fandomhigh2016-06-19 10:52 pm
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Music Appreciation | Monday, period 1
//Wikipedia,// Jono began, once students seemed to have settled in the music room for the day, blithely skipping past any explanation for last week's absence or the CDs that the office gremlin had left to make up for it, //defines folk music as both traditional music, and the more modern genre of music that evolved from it in the 20th century. The traditional sort is also generally defined either as old music with no known composer, or music that has been passed around orally, or performed according to custom over time.//
Thank you for that, Wikipedia. Jono didn't like admitting that he knew what you were, but you were a godsend when he sucked it up and made use of you.
"In practice," Hannibal added, "that means that most of the medieval and Renaissance music we have, apart from religious music, counts as 'folk music'. It also means we're limited in our knowledge, since so much music wasn't written down. There are chansons - songs that tell stories - and dance music, and many other sorts besides. And to clarify, we are speaking here of Western European music for the most part. It's so broad a topic, we would be lost otherwise, although should anybody have an interest in Japanese folk music, I'm happy to discuss it later."
//Contemporary folk, or folk revival music, is much newer. Creating a new genre based on old styles of music began in the mid 20th century, and really hit its stride around the 1960s. Contemporary folk is characterized by its style more than its history, and uses traditional instruments to accompany vocals that often tell stories that best resonate with the working class of their time.// Jono shrugged his shoulders, looking slightly amused as he added, //It also gets fused with other modern genres in ways that work far better than you'd expect.//
"Some of the same people, you will find, do both - it isn't uncommon for a musician or band to cover traditional music and create more of their own." Hannibal queued up the first song. "This band does a wide range of things, but this is a traditional Medieval dance song. You'll note the main instrument is a pipe," it was very difficult for him to simplify things like this, but if he got into musical theory, they might never leave, "and there is a strong drum, to keep the beat for the dancers."
After they had listened to that, he continued. "Of course, a lot of music was sung as well. Particularly the ones that tell a story. Unfortunately, learning all of the Medieval languages is somewhat beyond the scope of this class," he said, chuckling, "so let's just enjoy the music." And he played another song.
"For my last two songs," Hannibal said, "we begin to move into the more modern. First, a song that has been famously covered by a modern folk group, but in a more traditional version than theirs."
Next, he queued up a video instead of more audio. "And finally, a band that brings a definite modern sensibility into what is, I assure you, a traditional song."
//This week, I've just got some contemporary music that just falls directly under the 'folk' heading, without muddying up the water with all of the little subgenres just yet. That's a rabbit hole that would be difficult to come out of if I were to start heading in that direction during the lecture, but I'll let you explore it a bit more in a bit.// He put a CD into the stereo, and hit play on some Dylan. Pretty textbook folk, really. //Note how straightforward the musical accompaniment is. It's not uncommon to see a contemporary folk artist perform solo, with just an acoustic guitar or a fiddle on hand. And the lyrics generally tend to lean toward introspective questions, such as Blowin' In The Wind, there. Or narratives or political statements. Sometimes all three, tied into one.//
He switched CDs, and this time the music that began to play was purely vocal, no instrumental accompaniment to be heard. But that was fine. The man who was singing, Stan Rogers, had a strong voice and a fairly compelling story to tell.
//While a lot of modern music exists either for the sake of a catchy rhythm or even just venting out into the void, folk is generally written to speak to their audience. It strays a bit from that, again, once you start getting into subgenres such as folk rock and folk punk, but the general feel of it follows a similar tone. It's usually not difficult to figure out when a song was written by listening to the historical context of the lyrics. We've already touched on songs that come out of war time, either singing about the aftermath or about people hoping to avoid being dragged into those conflicts, for example.//
"These sorts of folk music often gain popularity in the face of conflict," Hannibal noted. "The Blues are a sort of folk music as well, easily as vast as most of this." He waved his hand at their examples so far. "A song such as Nina Simone's rendition of 'Strange Fruit' or Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" shows the emotions and tribulation that the singer faced, which a good deal of their audience would have been familiar with."
//More recent songs often carry a more environmental message, as the fact that we're more or less ruining the planet starts to become more unavoidable. Every major event since the mid 20th century almost certainly has a folk song written about it, reaching out to the audience with a message, a warning, or an emotion.//
Jono nodded out toward different seats around the room, set next to listening stations, mp3 players, mostly, with headphones attached, of course.
//Today's activity is to listen to different examples of the various types of folk that have been set out for you to sample. Some are more traditional than others, some have strayed far enough from the classical definition of the genre that you might wonder what the connection to folk is at all. Listen to as few or as many as you'd like, then feel free to discuss the songs you heard. How they made you feel, what they're talking about, whether or not they spoke to you or turned you off, flat-out.//
"And if you have any examples of your own," Hannibal added, "we would love to hear them. And, as usual, please feel free to ask questions."
[Open! So, so, so many YouTube links within.]
Thank you for that, Wikipedia. Jono didn't like admitting that he knew what you were, but you were a godsend when he sucked it up and made use of you.
"In practice," Hannibal added, "that means that most of the medieval and Renaissance music we have, apart from religious music, counts as 'folk music'. It also means we're limited in our knowledge, since so much music wasn't written down. There are chansons - songs that tell stories - and dance music, and many other sorts besides. And to clarify, we are speaking here of Western European music for the most part. It's so broad a topic, we would be lost otherwise, although should anybody have an interest in Japanese folk music, I'm happy to discuss it later."
//Contemporary folk, or folk revival music, is much newer. Creating a new genre based on old styles of music began in the mid 20th century, and really hit its stride around the 1960s. Contemporary folk is characterized by its style more than its history, and uses traditional instruments to accompany vocals that often tell stories that best resonate with the working class of their time.// Jono shrugged his shoulders, looking slightly amused as he added, //It also gets fused with other modern genres in ways that work far better than you'd expect.//
"Some of the same people, you will find, do both - it isn't uncommon for a musician or band to cover traditional music and create more of their own." Hannibal queued up the first song. "This band does a wide range of things, but this is a traditional Medieval dance song. You'll note the main instrument is a pipe," it was very difficult for him to simplify things like this, but if he got into musical theory, they might never leave, "and there is a strong drum, to keep the beat for the dancers."
After they had listened to that, he continued. "Of course, a lot of music was sung as well. Particularly the ones that tell a story. Unfortunately, learning all of the Medieval languages is somewhat beyond the scope of this class," he said, chuckling, "so let's just enjoy the music." And he played another song.
"For my last two songs," Hannibal said, "we begin to move into the more modern. First, a song that has been famously covered by a modern folk group, but in a more traditional version than theirs."
Next, he queued up a video instead of more audio. "And finally, a band that brings a definite modern sensibility into what is, I assure you, a traditional song."
//This week, I've just got some contemporary music that just falls directly under the 'folk' heading, without muddying up the water with all of the little subgenres just yet. That's a rabbit hole that would be difficult to come out of if I were to start heading in that direction during the lecture, but I'll let you explore it a bit more in a bit.// He put a CD into the stereo, and hit play on some Dylan. Pretty textbook folk, really. //Note how straightforward the musical accompaniment is. It's not uncommon to see a contemporary folk artist perform solo, with just an acoustic guitar or a fiddle on hand. And the lyrics generally tend to lean toward introspective questions, such as Blowin' In The Wind, there. Or narratives or political statements. Sometimes all three, tied into one.//
He switched CDs, and this time the music that began to play was purely vocal, no instrumental accompaniment to be heard. But that was fine. The man who was singing, Stan Rogers, had a strong voice and a fairly compelling story to tell.
//While a lot of modern music exists either for the sake of a catchy rhythm or even just venting out into the void, folk is generally written to speak to their audience. It strays a bit from that, again, once you start getting into subgenres such as folk rock and folk punk, but the general feel of it follows a similar tone. It's usually not difficult to figure out when a song was written by listening to the historical context of the lyrics. We've already touched on songs that come out of war time, either singing about the aftermath or about people hoping to avoid being dragged into those conflicts, for example.//
"These sorts of folk music often gain popularity in the face of conflict," Hannibal noted. "The Blues are a sort of folk music as well, easily as vast as most of this." He waved his hand at their examples so far. "A song such as Nina Simone's rendition of 'Strange Fruit' or Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" shows the emotions and tribulation that the singer faced, which a good deal of their audience would have been familiar with."
//More recent songs often carry a more environmental message, as the fact that we're more or less ruining the planet starts to become more unavoidable. Every major event since the mid 20th century almost certainly has a folk song written about it, reaching out to the audience with a message, a warning, or an emotion.//
Jono nodded out toward different seats around the room, set next to listening stations, mp3 players, mostly, with headphones attached, of course.
//Today's activity is to listen to different examples of the various types of folk that have been set out for you to sample. Some are more traditional than others, some have strayed far enough from the classical definition of the genre that you might wonder what the connection to folk is at all. Listen to as few or as many as you'd like, then feel free to discuss the songs you heard. How they made you feel, what they're talking about, whether or not they spoke to you or turned you off, flat-out.//
"And if you have any examples of your own," Hannibal added, "we would love to hear them. And, as usual, please feel free to ask questions."
[Open! So, so, so many YouTube links within.]
Sign in!
Listen to the lecture!
Listening stations!
Medieval/Renaissance examples:
Dead Can Dance, "Saltarello (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcmpBCXOgVI)"
Wolfram von Eschenbach, "Sigunes Klage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBUyA-8T7Sw)"
Mediaeval Baebes, "Scarborough Fayre (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lTDDf9NoLg)"
Corvus Corax, "Ballade de Mercy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGYYiOSkCSY)"
Annwn, "Douce Dame Jolie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adCO1TRBjRQ)"
Guillaume de Machaut, "Je vivroie liement/Liement me deport (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ti59NdbG1c)"
pavane (dance music) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B10z9b_PRXw)
Montedoro (medieval Sicilian music) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO_frlQsfZU)
Folk Revival - Simon and Garfunkel, "Homeward Bound (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z9wd9bS1FM)"
Pete Seeger, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pZa3KtkVpQ)"
Billy Bragg, "Tender Comrade (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1MPF6gOHXc)"
Folk Metal - Ensiferum, "Lai Lai Hei (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEekU065iw0)"
Country Folk - John Prine, "Illegal Smile (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmjnQjRvPUQ)"
Indie Folk - Mumford & Sons, "Little Lion Man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLJf9qJHR3E)"
Folk Punk - Flogging Molly, "Devil's Dance Floor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSwaVvF7rdU)"
Gypsy Punk - Gogol Bordello - "Start Wearing Purple (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkkIwO_X4i4)"
Cajun Folk - Jo El Sonnier, "Jambalaya (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUgLafbQtc4)"
Folk Rock - Joni Mitchell, "Big Yellow Taxi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20)"
Richie Havens - "Freedom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynxqdNMry4)"
Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTIB10eQnA0)"
Ashley MacIssac, "Sleepy Maggie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoApELfgWcg)"
Arlo Guthrie, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPx2t7xoF1k)" - And, as if to say you might as well get comfortable here and make yourself a sandwich while waiting for the song to end, once again Jono had put sandwich fixings at this particular listening station.
Blues: Leadbelly, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6yCEsDsGx4)"
Howlin' Wolf, "How Many More Years? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpKB6OZ_B4c)"
John Lee Hooker, "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-fSZRYeBWk)"
Muddy Waters, "Mississippi Delta Blues (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0_eRVroLqs)"
Gladys Bentley, "Wild Geese Blues (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkEouYyNtcs)"
Discuss!
Alternatively, share any folk songs that you might be familiar with. The teachers are well aware that they only scratched the surface of the wide spectrum that is folk music.
Talk to the teachers!
OOC!
Llwyden: ...huh? Wha? Um. Sorry. Wasn't listening. *hides Muddy Waters*
Re: Talk to the teachers!
Because sandwich makings don't count, Jono.
Re: Talk to the teachers!
For nearly twenty minutes of your life.
It was not a short song.
Re: Sign in!
Re: Listening stations!
Which, of course, led to her nearly choking on a bite of sandwich at various points later in the song, but she wouldn't hold that against her teachers.
Re: Discuss!
Re: Talk to the teachers!
They could save that for another class.
Re: Talk to the teachers!
RE: Re: Talk to the teachers!
Iiiii can't comment on the differences between the two versions because YouTube doesn't know what to make of American licensing on Canadian phones halp.Re: OOC!
"I looked at Chip [Carter], I looked deep into the man's soul, and I said 'Chip: was it open?' And he slow-motion nodded yes, it had been opened. I want you people here to know I did not think about that for a loooong time. Until just recently when we was all thinking about Richard Nixon when he passed away. I see some young people here who may not know. You see, Richard Nixon was a president here of the United States, and he used to like to tape stuff. I mean, if you can imagine a world before VCRs and cassette decks was everywhere, you can imagine a man who was truly ahead of his time! He taped everything that was going on in the White House, and everything was fine until one day, they started playing back the tapes. People found out what was going on in there. But it wasn't anything that was on any tape that got the man in trouble, so much as it was what he had erased from the tapes. There was one particular famous gap in one of those tapes that I was thinking about one night.
"When I said to myself: Arlo. How many things in the world are 18 minutes and 20 seconds long?"
Re: Talk to the teachers!
Re: Talk to the teachers!
Re: Sign in!
Re: Listening stations!
Which was mostly the punk end, yeah. And the metal. And... okay, most of the stuff that wasn't medieval or Blues, but don't tell the teachers that.
Re: Discuss!
RE: Re: Sign in!
Re: Discuss!
Which was why the number of listening stations had gotten a little nuts, back there.
Re: Discuss!
One big folk hole.
Re: Talk to the teachers!
//Even jazz has a few roots in traditional folk,// Jono offered, //but you are right, 'Sinnerman' would've been a good choice if we wanted to be more representative of what made Nina stand out, in particular. The song itself existed before Nina recorded it, but she definitely made it her own.//
Re: OOC!
Basically, Arlo is an insane genius who sings about colour photos and pickles, and the man is a treasure, dammit. I keep hoping he'll tour around here so I can see him perform live again, but let's be real, no Americans come to perform in Nova Scotia.
Edit: And then I went to look at his tour dates and HOLY SHIT HE'S PLAYING AT STANFEST THIS YEAR IN CANSO AND DAMMIT I CAN'T GO.
Re: Discuss!
He shrugged.
//Hence the black hole of folk-other branches of the genre that spins off into forever.//
Re: Discuss!
Re: Discuss!
Hell, there was even more now than there had been the last time he and Hannibal had taught a class on folk, for that matter. It was a mighty beast that constantly demanded more tribute.
Re: Discuss!
Re: Discuss!
Re: Discuss!
Re: Discuss!
So there.
Re: Discuss!
Going by that grin, not so much.
Re: Sign in!
Re: Sign in!
Re: Listening stations!
Except Alice's Restaurant, maybe, but only because there wasn't enough time in class for her to fit that in along with everything else.
Re: OOC!
Re: Listening stations!
She gave up on the song called "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" after a few minutes.
Re: Discuss!
Not letting on how she felt, she smiled. "I suppose this song would suit the subject today."
Let the wind blow kindly
In the sail of your dreams
And the moonlight your journey
And bring you to me
We can’t live in the mountains
We can’t live out at sea
Where oh, where oh, my lover
Shall I come to thee?
She sang softly, and added quickly when she had finished: "It's a lullaby."
Re: Sign in!
Re: Discuss!
Re: Talk to the teachers!
"I realize that Ms Holiday's is the more commonly known version, but Ms Simone's seemed to me to better fit the class today. Had the class been focused on jazz, Billie Holiday would almost certainly have taken precedence, but the rawness of this version brought it closer to folk."
Re: OOC!