Irish Music

This is a video of the wolds largest irish music session. 

Irish is really important to irish culture. Harp was always an important instrument in the 17th century in ireland. But that dies in the 18th century. The belfast harp festival which took place in 1792 took place to preserve the harp tradition is Ireland. 

Other instruments that are associated with irish music are the fiddle, the bodhran, the flute, the accordian and the uillean pipes. 

Traditional irish singing is called sean-nos singing.  It is normally preformed as a solo. it is a highly ornamented type of singing. 

African Music

African Music varies alot as there are so many nations, regions and groups in the continent.

Percussion Instruments are used a lot in african music, hand drumming is used throughout Africa. Rattles, double bells and the xylophone, are also common percussion instruments. Stringed instruments are also used musical bows, and an instrument called the kora(a harp like instrument). Wind instruments like the flute and trombone are used in African music as well. 

In traditional African music there are many different types of songs just like any other music. there are work songs, religious music, and music to be preformed at royal courts, but none of these were preformed outside there context. 

Popular african music is also varied. Most of the genres such as jazz and salsa took there techniques from traditional music. Newer genres get their techniques from Western europe music. 

Indian Music

Indian music is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world. Many legends have been associated with the origins of Indian music, and it plays a big part in Indian culture.


There are two main types of classical indian music. Hindustani music and Carnatic music. Hindustani music is Indian classical music and it formed in notheren India. Carnatic music is based on historical terms.



There are many types of folk music. Some of these are the Bhavagette which is a form of light misic. Bhangra is a livey form of music. Others are the lavani, Dandiya, Rajasthan and Bauls.



Most intsruments used are percussion (dhadh, Udukai, Urumee) and stringed instruments(Sarangi, Sarinda, Rabab). The sitar is a commonly used instrument in classical Indian music. It is a small stringed instrument and is plucked in songs. Here is a picture of a sitar.





http://www.diversehamilton.ca/Pictures/indian-sitar.jpg

Latin American Music

Latin American music includes a lot of countries and and a lot of varieties. And although Spain and Portugal are not part of Latin America they have a big influence on the style of the music.

Latin American music has the characteristics of Spainish song forms, African rhythms and European harmonies. Syncopation which is the emphasis on the off beat is a major characteristic of Latin American music. And is usually expressed using a precussion intstrument.

Latin American music started off when the italians arrived in Latin America. Some of the techniquies used in Italian music were then put into Latin American music. One of the most popular Latin American music is salsa, it is popular across all of Latin America.

Instruments used in salsa are mainly percussional. Apart from those main intruments are the trombone, trumpet and the bass guitar.

Flamenco Music

The Tradiononal music in Spain is most commonly known as flamenco music.
Flamenco music origins from Andalusia, and it was influeneced by Arabic, Andalusian and Gypsy cultures.
The guitar is the main intstrument used in flamenco music. it is played ny plucking the strings with your thumb. The Flamenco guitar is played differently to the classical guitar. It accompannies a singer and a dancer normally. The playing is very impressive, and of a very high standard.
The rhythm of a Flamenco song is really important. They have a person especailly to clap out the rhythm. They use their hands are castinets to clap out the rhythm. the clapper also shouts out words of encouragment to the the singers and daners throughout the preformances.
Dancers are also a important factor of Flamenco music. They can dance slol or with a partner. They interpet the mood of the dance.
But the most important Factor of Flamenco music. they sing with a harsh nasal tone of vioce. But they still manage to do a lot of ornamentation.

Welcome...

Hey!
Welcome to my enviormental studies blog about music around the world. In this blog Im hoping to learn more about different countries music and I will post what I find about the different countries each week.