World Music Exploration - Traditional Malaysian Music

This month, my students and I are taking a musical trip to Malaysia. The music of Malaysia reflects a mix of cultural influences, from the Indonesian gamelan to Western music forms, and everything in between. This clip is a prime example of this:

Want to explore more music from Malaysia? Check out this CD:

It appears to be quite popular.

(c) 2012 by Musespeak(TM). All rights reserved.

World Music Exploration - Jai Ho

Around this time of year, things get really hectic. That final crunch before music festivals and exams means that my students and I are in performance mode for the rest of the year. Blogging, sadly, falls to the back burner.

But not forgotten! Here's last week's clip.

My students and I concluded our musical journey to India with some Bollywood fusion. Here's Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny) from the Oscar-winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire:

When I asked my students what makes this a fusion, some of them (accurately) cited instrumentation and rhythm. 

(c) 2012 by Musespeak(TM) . All rights reserved.

World Music Exploration - Anoushka Shankar

After a whirlwind Easter Break, my students and I return to lessons this week (the final leg before June). This month, I am whisking them away - musically - to India.

The sitar weaves an exotic melody against the backdrop of the tabla. Our featured artist, Anoushka Shankar, is considered a leading figure in World Music today. Her early music training was in Indian classical music, under the tutelage of her father Ravi Shankar. Shankar is a composer as well, exploring crossover music, e.g. Indian music and flamenco or electronica. A Grammy nominee, she was the first Indian woman to perform at the Grammy Awards (2006). Anoushka Shankar is also the first female (and the youngest) to receive a House of Commons Shield from the British House of Parliament (1999).

Check out more of Anoushka Shankar's music here:

(c) 2012 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

World Music Exploration - Spanish Flamenco

This month, we are exploring the music and culture of Spain. I have some relatives there whom I hope to visit someday.

Flamenco music is very old. Some pundits believe the style "evolved out of a mixture of early Byzantine, Arab, Jewish and Gypsy cultures in Andalucía". That makes sense historically, considering some of the cultures Spain traded with (or conquered).

You only have to listen/watch a few bars to see how rhythmically and technically challenging it is. This type of traditional Spanish music is played by guitar and castanets. And I understand that the cajón is used as well.

(c) 2012 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

World Music Exploration - Tarantella

Now that the ensemble classes and Virtual Choir 3.0 (that's another story) are behind us, we can resume our world music exploration. This month, my students and I are exploring one of my favourite countries in the world: Italy.

Italy is rich in history, food, culture and of course - music! This is perhaps one of Italy's most famous folk dances, the Tarrantella:

It translates to "tarantula". It's a circle dance which features changes in direction and tempo. This recording features the mandolin. The above version is Neopeltana one. There is also a Sicilian and Calabrese Tarantella.

All this talk of Italy has given me a huge craving for Italian cuisine and limone gelato.

(c) 2012 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.