Siddharth Sharma

9/16/14
MUS 361

Chapter 3 Questions

Swift

1. The nature of identity can be expressed in two main basic components:

1) Human agency and 2) A medium through which to express it. With
regards to human agency, identity requires at least a pair in order to
have some type of frame for identity: A self/given person, and another
person or group. The reason this pair is necessary is that identity is not
only a declaration of who a person/group is, but also how others
perceive that person/group. With regards to a medium, identity has to
be conveyed through something perceivable: An object, an art, a
music, a language, an image, etc.
Identity, particularly class, plays a large role in music. With regards to
music creation, the composition and meaning behind a given work is
carried in both the actual sound of the music and the social networks
that are necessary to sustain its creation and performance. For
instance, during the Middle Ages, composers were often hired by the
clergy and royalty to produce works for them as well as their
respective courts. Since both of the clergy and royalty had much
money and influence, composers would create music in such a way
that satisfied and appeased the wishes of their patrons. Identity and
class can also affect performance and reception of a given piece. Again
with regards to class, in certain levels of society, music was expected
to be performed and received in a certain way that was consistent and
appropriate with the expectations of that given class. For instance, a
classical piece performed for nobility would have to have been
performed in a strict, proper manner with a silent audience, whereas
percussive music played in the streets of a city could deviate from form
a bit through improvisation, and could have an audience yelling their
applause, or even shouting their distaste and disapproval of the music
being performed.
2. There are several factors which have played a part in the development
of music in this country, both in the past and in the present. The first
factor is class. The socioeconomic group that an individual was, and to
this day, is of, is a strong determinant in decoding the meaning of
music realized by the individual. For example, for the working class,
there were working songs created specifically for performing manual
labor, in order to ease the difficulty/strain of the job at hand, workers,
often poor, created songs in order to cope. These songs start as early
back as the advent of slavery. Meanwhile, in the 19th century, certain
opera forms and concert groups performed music that was
predominantly listened to and attended to by upper-class patrons.

Today, those types of boundaries to exist to an extent, but due to the

mass proliferation and distribution of music, it is certainly easier for
people of all classes and all walks of life to have the opportunity to
listen to, at the very least, recorded versions of a given piece, due to
such network technologies that allow for the sharing of music.
The role of race in the development of musical traditions in this
country is profound, particularly the interactions between whites and
blacks. Race is one of the most profound terms that was used, and is
still used to categorize not only music, but the people who perform and
listen to certain forms of music. Throughout our nations history,
Africans in particular were singled out as the weakest of humanitys
links, to the point where being black was deemed as being
intellectually and morally inferior. Because of the heavy isolation faced
by African-Americans, a racially determined Negro music took shape.
This early music contained elements of singing, instrumental playing,
preaching, and bodily movement, that manifested itself in two forms:
1) Music that reflected the abolitionist movement, and 2) Music that
reflected the staged performances of the minstrel show. There were
certain musical elements that separated black music from white music,
such as a distinctive melodic sense, stronger more innate rhythms, and
a greater freedom of improvisation, that over time, especially with the
creation of funk music, a style characterized by relaxation, freedom,
and creativity, jarred heavily with the strict, traditional forms of white
classical music. These types of black musical forms, such as funk, soul,
and jazz, allowed for African American students, particularly college
students, who were being integrated with white students, to feel a
sense of culture, and to help them get back to their roots. Today, this
divide between white and black music still exists, particularly within
the realm of hip-hop, as much of the music produced in that genre is
targeted at young African-American males, in terms of not only the
language used, as there is a good amount of slang used, and
derogatory words specific to their culture, but also issues that many
members of their race face, including poverty, being second class
citizens, being misrepresented, etc.
The role of gender is also responsible for playing a part in the
development of American music. Essentially, within cultural contexts,
gender is the sociocultural reinforcement of biological sexual
difference; that is, what it means to be a male and what it means to be
a female. Differences between men and women in the past often
revolved around the fact that women were often treated as second
class citizens to men. They were often schooled and trained differently
than men were, even in the art of music, as women were taught either
to sing or to play the piano, which was considered to be a form of
womens work, and would ultimately be an integral part of their
home economics training. While women were trained to be musicians,
they were discouraged from seeking out career opportunities in fields

such a performer, conductor, or even a composer of large scale

symphonic and operatic groups, as these were considered to be
suitable for men only: The musical talents of women were to be
restricted to the home only to provide entertainment for her family.
Over time, women slowly began to be able to have opportunities to be
a part of musical groups traditionally reserved for men, but then were
restricted to what instruments they could play, as anything other than
the piano and the voice was considered un-ladylike, and certain genres
were considered to be off limits, as rock was considered too masculine
for women to be a part of. However, in todays modern times, women
have just about as much opportunity as men do in terms of musical
education, training, and professions. They have the ability to study at
most universities of their choice (barring any all-male institution), and
based on appropriate merit, can perform with just about any musical
group.
Faith and religion have also played an integral role in the development
of musical traditions in the United States. The broad and diverse
number of religions in this country has caused a great number of
musical styles, each often unique to a particular religion, to be able to
infiltrate and influence what is today known as American music. It has
also lead to strong differences and distinctions between cultures.
Mainstream religious denomination, such as Roman Catholicism and
Protestantism are often centralized and standardized and centralized
practices, with music being one of them. Consequently, there is more
of an emphasis placed on the analysis of folk churches and the music
played in them, as these churches can be highly varied in the music
performed. Within the context of folk churches, variables such as
whether these churches are rural or urban, black or white, primitive or
modern in their performance, and composed or improvised in their
creation. These differences led to a diversity in music performed and
listened to, which ultimately proliferated into American music.
Furthermore, the music that we consider to be American is not only a
result of the variety of European/American religions, but world religions
as well. Our music contains elements also found in religions from
African, Central and South America, and Asia. For instance, the
immigration of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean peoples in the 20th
century allowed for the ideals and beliefs, as well as the
instrumentation and technique to integrate itself into American culture.
For instance, the concepts of Zen Buddhism, including meditating in
complete silence, inspired composer John Cage to compose his famous
433 piece, where the composer walks to the piano but plays nothing:
The piece is a summation of the ambient sounds in the concert hall
and the questions in the minds of the listeners.
3. Social categories that can affect music making in the United States are
sexual orientation, social grouping and cliques (geek, nerd, goth, etc.),

and perhaps even political affiliations could affect music making. Each
category, in attempts to project who they are, will often use music as a
tool as well, being highly selective towards the music they feel best
projects their desired image; what these given groups want people to
view them as.
4. Folk music are the traditional songs and dance music of a group of
people, usually passed through oral transmission from one performer
to another. Popular music are traditions and repertoires outside of the
limits of Western classical or concert music, including rock and roll,
ballads, country, klezmer, and other styles. Classical music Classical
music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of liturgical and
secular Western music. It encompasses a broad period from roughly
the 11th century to the present day. Although there have been some
modifications to each term, with the creation of various subgroups in
each genre, the denotations of what each genre of music is hasnt
really changed much over time. What has changed are the
connotations, the uses of the terms. With the exception of classical
music, the terms popular music and folk music have definitely changed
over time. In the past, popular music meant any music that wasnt
western European classical music. Today, popular music describes a
specific style of music, one that seems to be upbeat, lively, melodically
sensible, and pleasing to the ear. These traits allow for the music to be
popular, as they can catch the attention of a listener and have him or
her enjoy the music being played. Likewise with folk music, the
connotation of the term has changed as well. Its original usage was to
describe orally transmitted music, but the word today, at least in
American, can have a connotation of certain locations and
demographic regions, those being primarily Midwest and rural. The
words folk music can bring up visions of a person strumming on a
guitar or banjo singing a very structurally simple song. While this isnt
what folk music truly is, it can be a stereotyped misrepresentation of
the genre of music.