MUSIC ETHNOGRAPHY FIELDWORK (INTERVIEW OR OBSERVATION)

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MUSIC ETHNOGRAPHY FIELDWORK (INTERVIEW OR OBSERVATION)
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Submit a narrative paper on your observation notes for a musical performance related to your ethnography topic (10 points). You may choose to interview a musician or combine an observation of a musical performance with an interview of the performers. A “live” performance will no doubt be much more engaging and meaningful. If possible, try to enrich your personal experience with the music by getting to know some of your local musicians and enjoying the pulsating rhythms and soaring melodies of their music in an authentic environment. If you are not in a position to attend a concert or go out to a local ethnic club or festival to hear world music, you may locate a video or watch a YouTube video that is related to your music ethnography topic. Fortunately, the web, television, DVDs, YouTube, etc. bring us wonderful opportunities to enjoy multimedia performances at home on our computers or big screen TVs!
Locate your musical venue, video, DVD, or YouTube early in the week. Take notes as you listen to the music. If you are using a video, you will have the luxury of repeating your listening experience several times so that you can catch every detail. You may have to do some research if you are not familiar with the musical instruments or stylistic elements of the music. You may also go through several different cuts of music before you decide on one that you want to share. You will want to answer the same questions that were on the music ethnography assignment description. These responses can be woven into your final paper as well.
When is or was this music performed, composed, or improvised? Is it part of a historic tradition?
Where is it played, sung, or performed?
Who listens to the music? What are the common musical events – festivals, concert, recordings, cultural events, dance, drama, religious, ceremonies, etc.? How important is music to the audience members?
Who are the performers? How are the treated? What do they play or sing? What costumes or dress do they wear? What are their different roles – conductor or leader, chorus, solo, dance accompaniment?
What is the music like? Rhythm? Melody, Instruments, Vocal, Style, Form?
How does the music contribute to the culture?
How does the music make people feel? What is the emotional impact on the music for the performer and for the audience?
What function does the music have in this particular culture or society?
If you are interviewing a musician or a group of performers, you may want to ask other questions related to their choice of instrument, what draws them to this particularly style of music, how they started playing/singing, what it feels like to make music and interact with the audience, etc. Be creative and go with what’s comfortable for you. If you have a planned interview, you will want to write out your questions ahead of time. If you are given permission by your interviewee, you might want to record your interview responses. Write up your observational notes as a narrative academic paper. If you include an interview, you may wish to write out your questions and record the musician’s responses. In the final paragraph of your paper summarize this performance event and reflect on how this experience has influenced you in your study of this particular musical culture. (2 pages, double-spaced)
(This Ethnography Observation/Interview is part of a larger assignment. Below are portions that have been completed so far and may help with this assignment.)

Music ethnography 1. For this discussion, I will focus on the rhumba music culture. Rhumba is a form of music predominant in the Eastern regions of Africa (Titon, 2009). The music is influenced by African traditional music in terms of beats and choreography and dance moves from Cuba, where the word Rhumba has its origins. 2. I chose this topic because it is a culture that I have little to no connection with, and I have always had an urge to learn more about other cultures, and their music styles. The personal reason why this music interests me is that I know very little of Africa and its people. This makes me curious to understand African culture and how the people of Africa interact with music. The main features of this music that I want to find out about is the rhythm and choreography. 3. For information about this music, I will use books and periodicals. One of the books I will use is titled, Zilizopendwa: dance music and nostalgia in East Africa by Birgit Abels, Barbara Titus and Frank Gunderson. I will also make use of periodicals, the main one being, Nationalizing blackness: Afro-cubanismo and artistic revolution in Havana, 1920- 1940. 4. I do not think I can find a live performance of this music. As such, I will locate performances of this music through you tube. I have searched You tube and found several live performances of this music. 5. To best understand this musical culture, I will ask the following questions: ? What is the origin of this music? ? How does this music connect to the people of East Africa? MUSIC 3 Given the difficulty of having an interview with a rhumba musician, I will focus on online interviews to arrive at conclusions on different aspects of this music.

Annotated Bibliography Garnes, S. (2012, April 30). “The Importance of Music in the African Culture:More Than Just a song”. Retrieved from https://blogs.longwood.edu/samiuah/2012/04/30/the-importance- of-music-in-the-african-culturemore-than-just-a-song/ The article “Importance of music in the African culture”, by Garnes explains how Africans value their music, considering that it defines their culture. African culture entirely is defined through music. Despite the entry of western civilization into the region, the Africans still managed to retain their culture through music. Also, the slaves that were relocated abroad struggled to conserve their culture through music. The article emphasizes on the connection between music and the African culture and states that there exist no words to distinguish them. The source is useful in my research as it provides the overview on the extent of how music is connected to the African culture. The videos provided by the author to justify his arguments make the article more resourceful. The credibility of the source is questionable, considering that it has not been published and the author has written few articles on music, thus may lack the required experience. Despite that, the article is resourceful and comprehensively provides the connection between music and African culture. In my view, the content of the source is accurate and useful, hence should be published for future use. Koloko, L. (2012). Zambian music legends. Raleigh, N.C.: Lulu.com.. The book, Zambian Music legends by Leonard Koloko provides a chronological overview of different musical styles in the East African region, and how it spread from one country to another. It further explains how different individuals and musical bands grew to be the best performers within the area. Since my research is focused on the ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 3 Rhumba music, the book will be a useful source since it is a standard music style in Zambia and the neighboring countries. Getting to know the founders of the Rhumba music and their contributions to the industry will clearly inform my research. The source is credible as it is a universally accepted publication with its author being a native , thus boosting on the accuracy of the information. The source is comprehensive and provides a diversified view of music in East Africa, covering most aspects of my topic. The source is useful and hence, recommended for use in research. Perullo, A. (2008). Rumba in the City of Peace: Migration and the Cultural Commodity of Congolese Music in Dar es Salaam, 1968-1985. Ethnomusicology , 296-323 The Journal article by Perullo provides a historical chronology of how the Rhumba genre of music grew and spread through the East African region. Most households in Tanzania adored the music, considering its affiliation to the African culture and believed it was a calm and peaceful kind of music. Most Congolese artists shifted their base to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania due to the hostilities in their country, thus changing the perceptions of many people towards Rhumba music. The article is resourceful in my research as it provides information on how the Rhumba music spread in the East African region, which is related to my topic of research. The source is credible as it is a peer reviewed journal, making the information accurate and reliable. The article is comprehensive and thus worth using in my research. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 4 References Garnes, S. (2012, April 30). “The Importance of Music in the African Culture:More Than Just a song”. Retrieved from https://blogs.longwood.edu/samiuah/2012/04/30/the-importance- of-music-in-the-african-culturemore-than-just-a-song/ Koloko, L. (2012). Zambian music legends. Raleigh, N.C.: Lulu.com. Perullo, A. (2008). Rumba in the City of Peace: Migration and the Cultural Commodity of Congolese Music in Dar es Salaam, 1968-1985. Ethnomusicology, 296-323. Titon, Jeff Todd, Ed. (2009). Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples. Shorter Version 3rd Edition. Schirmer. Cengage Learning, Inc. Belmont, CA. ISBN-13: 978-0-495-5710-3. ISBN-10: 0-49557010-9. In Abels, B., In Titus, B., & In Gunderson, F. D. (2014). Zili(zo)pendwa: Dance music and nostalgia in East Africa. Berlin : VWB, Verlag f ?ür Wissenschaft und Bildung. Moore, R. D. (December 01, 2000). Nationalizing blackness: Afro-cubanismo and artistic revolution in Havana, 1920-1940. Peace Research Abstracts, 37, 6.)l