下面为大家整理一篇优秀的essay代写范文-The Indian music,供大家参考学习,这篇论文讨论了印第安人的音乐。印第安人的歌曲不仅仅是表达情感的方式,而且也融入了的不同社会活动中。对于典型的Chippewa歌曲来说,它的仪式功能比歌词更重要。在Chippewa音乐中另一个特殊的地方是鼓和声音都是独立的。而印第安土著演唱的歌曲没有固定的形式,几乎都是即兴创作的,所以来自大自然的灵感是土著音乐的一个重要因素。
1. Introduction
In this essay, several studies in the ethnomusicology will be analyzed in terms of research objectives, law of music, as well as the method to achieved objectivity. The analysis will be categorized into three groups, by the different approaches and the scopes of study. From the studies that specialize on specific characteristics of Indian aboriginal songs, to the ones that try to find a pattern for primitive music, and finally to studies that look at different cultures comparatively. It can also be seen that a rough geological order aligns with the categories.
2. Elements of Songs
The songs of Chippewa Indians in reservations in Minnesota is recorded and analyzed in a systematic way by Densmore (1910, 1). The songs of the Chippewa Indians are more than just vent for emotional expressions, but is also integrated in different social activities of the tribe. Interestingly, for a typical Chippewa song, the melody is considered more important than the lyrics despite its ceremonial functionalities (Densmore, 1910, 2). Like Fewkes, Densmore has also discovered the lack of a definite system and exactness in aboriginal Indian music. Another peculiar point in Chippewa music is that drum and vocal are separate and independent expressions in a piece (Densmore,1910, 6).
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Fewkes (1890, 687-691) has constructed an objective foundation of knowledge of Zuni Indian music through phonographs that recorded their songs, rituals and prayers. It is found that many of the songs sung by the Zuni Indians did not have a fixed form, but were improvised every year. Inspirations from the nature is an important factor in the aboriginal music. For example, some of the Zuni songs were originally imitations of the wind blowing down the fireplace or around the house,
More detailed studies on Indian music is done years after Fewkes, with Fillmore’s ten years’ experience in studying Indian songs. Despite the high degree of freedom in aboriginal music, Fillmore (1899, 297-304) has found that there are laws that determine the formation of aboriginal melodies. In fact, the western music and Indian music may have more in common than expected: the composition of a song, even a spontaneous one, follows the line of least resistance, which is found to be a chord line and harmonic line. Fillmore has also added his touch of historic views when he explored the origins of the songs, which can be traced back for hundreds, even thousands of years.
3. Attempts of Generalization
Groups of observational data is presented in the research of Densmore (1909, 3-12) to figure out how scales are formed in primitive music. Densmore tries to explore the process of development of primitive music and the contributing factors that shaped it into the pentatonic scale dominated status today. According to Densmore, the origin of music is the emotional needs of men to communicate with each other. Through time, different melodic trends were established for different cultures, which then developed into the uniqueness of different primitive music styles.
Some of the general characteristics of Indian music is summarized in the studies by Densmore, (1927, 77). From the utilitarian perspective, the songs of the Iroquois Indians are categorized into seven groups: Cabalistic, Religious, Historical, War, Mourning, Love, and Social. This again shows that the songs are closely related to every aspect of the life of the Indians. In terms of pitches, a typical male vocalist covers two octaves. Different from the neighboring tribes, here is no love songs or historical songs in Iroquois music, which shows that each tribe maintains a high level of cultural identity closely tied to music expressions.
Further generalizations of the data are possible based on the previous studies of song from specific Indian tribes. Nettl (1954, 36-42) has concluded that there exist six Indian musical areas in the North America continent, which roughly coincide with the cultural areas geographically. By connecting the evidence and data and looking at the big picture, the author is able to establish a holistic view of the Indian music in the continental scale. It is also noted that none of the musical areas stands detached with the surrounding ones, each with certain level of connection and interactions with the neighboring areas, which makes the result more realistic and reliable.
4. Successes of the Comparative Approach
The research of Ellis (1885, 485-491) focuses on the scale of music, which is defined to be the number of pitches used in a typical piece of music or instrument. Also, the law to find the relative pitch in a scale to establish a system of ratios, that is regarded as the distinctive property of music from different cultures. It is complicated to grasp a whole picture of all the nations studied, even those in Europe, the variations are far too great to be generalized. Heptatonic scales, which mostly consist of seven notes, are prevalent in Europe, Arabia and India. The other type of scales is the five-note pentatonic, which is found in Java, South Pacific, China and Japan.
Von Hornbostel approaches the problem of ethnomusicology through promotion of the comparative method (1905, 249-260). He addresses the importance of the unbiased way to study music from “primitive” cultures, instead of drawing conclusions from their own perspectives only. The problem is further complicated by the correlation between sensation and affect. Despite those difficulties, Von Hornbostel has successfully spotted the key point of comparative musicology, which is the determination of interval sizes. He has also found that in addition to cultures from Asia, many of the European countries also use pentatonic in their ethic music, such as Scotland, Wales and Lithuania.
Through the similarities of musical characteristics, the path of cultural migration can be traced.On the south-east coast of Africa, xylophone used by the local Chopi aboriginals has a seven-note scale, which is the exact same scale arrangement in Siam (Jones, 1960, 36-47). In addition, a different tuning of xylophones used by the Javanese is shared by the BaGanda people in Uganda, who are thousands of miles apart. These evidences point to the conclusion that the Indonesians once sailed to and settled on the East Coast of Africa.
5. Conclusions
The above analysis has shown the path of development in ethnomusicology, from the initial difficulties in documentation and identification, to the later establishment of a systematic way to record data and define the musical elements. Looking at primitive music without stereotyping, there are many characteristics shared by music from different cultures, such as the scale patterns and the preference from harmonic structures. Overall, the path of and pattern of distribution of music perfectly align with the cultural characteristics and activities, which creates new perspectives for the studies of both ethnomusicology and culture.
6. References:
Densmore, Frances. 1909. Scale Formation in Primitive Music. American Anthropologist 11 (1): 1-12.
Densmore, Frances. 1910. Chippewa music.
Densmore, Frances. 1927. The Study of Indian Music in the Nineteenth Century. American Anthropologist 29 (1): 77-86.
Ellis, Alexander John. 1885. On the Musical Scales of Various Nations.
Fewkes, Jesse Walter. 1890. On the Use of the Phonograph Among the Zuni Indians. The American Naturalist, Vol. 24, No. 283 (Jul., 1890), pp. 687-691
Fillmore, John Comfort. 1899. The Harmonic Structure of Indian Music.
Jones, A. M. 1960. Indonesia and Africa: The Xylophone as a Culture-indicator. African Music 2 (3): 36-47.
Nettl, Bruno, 1954. North American Indian Musical Styles. United States.
Von Hornbostel, E. 1905. Die Probleme der vergleichenden Musikwissenschaft. Zeitschrift für Internationale Musikgesellschaft 7:85-97.
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