Corridos

Chalino Snachez Corrido about Pancho Villa:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ltXyo7s2fQM

Valentin Elizalde: "Ebrio de Amor" (Love story corrido)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gZjb6AvW2Lw

Narco Corrido about the typical scene of the Mafia, where they try to strike a deal but they end up shooting people anyway.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=p-FgII7vHk4

Week 9 Blog

Week 1: 05-31-2007
QUESTION: You are an ethnomusicologist giving a 2-hour lecture on American music in a foreign country. What artists, music, genres, and concepts would you choose to represent American music and culture? From what era? Would you choose to give an historical overview since Europeans and Africans arrived, or would you choose to cover contemporary music or one type of music (such as Jazz) or music of various ethnic groups such as Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, etc.? Give an outline of your lecture including listening examples you'd play, and the reasons you chose these musics, genres, artists, etc. to represent American music.

Hispanics have been shaping American culture for centuries, especially Latin pop music. It begins in the 19th century with the influence from Vaqueros, the Old West's cowboy culture influenced greatly by the Mexican horsemen as well as Valentino, the movie icon who popularized the Latin lover stereotype and Xavier Cugat and Tito Puente who introduced the Latin rhythm by the 1950s. Latin pop began reaching the public audience with Ritchie Valens and later with Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Gloria Estefan. Although it is music of Latin America and Mexico, it has its origins in Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Most of the Pop latino we hear in America is in Spanish or Spanglish. Today more than ever, no single style defines Latin music. This is because music is an expression of ethnicity and ethnic identity among Latino peoples of the United States which is becoming a predominantly large majority of the population in the United States. Latin artists will continue to be major players on the world stage.
A. Why Study Latin Pop?
1. Regardless of the genre, there is a palpable joy at the heart of Latin America's vivacious music.
2. It has influenced the music of American singers without a Hispanic Background.
a. Beyonce's “Irremplazable”, a Spanish version of her “Irreplaceable”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZeR-azXLmuM (I like this one in Spanish, I recommend you watch it)
b. Madonna's "La Isla Bonita"
c. Spice Girls' "Spice up Your Life" with a hint of Latin pop rhythm
d. Some singers who have released such remixes are, besides the ones already mentioned, include Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, and the fresh prince Will Smith.
3. Latin pop is the formal or informal expression of the peoples of Latin America
B. Historical Origins: origins come from Latin America
1. Early 19th century: the Latin lover stereotype with Xavier Cugat
2. 1950’s: Tito Puente introduces the Latin Rhythm
Watch Tito Puente on the Simpson’s: Latin music being showed on popular American T.V. show: http://youtube.com/watch?v=NzRMkBjJ3mI
3. 1980s-90s: Julio Iglesias (Iglesias won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album in the 1988 Grammys) and Emilio and Gloria Estefan
Watch one of Cuban born Gloria Estefan’s song that traces her roots back to her native country: http://youtube.com/watch?v=mH0nV2vmBrY
Current: Current Latin pop revolves around younger singers and teen group idols as such as the famous RBD (Rebelde) who also had three season of a Spanish soap opera that aired here and all over Mexico. Other singers include Luis Miguel, Thalia, Chayanne, Enrique Iglesias (Julio Iglesia’s son), and the famous Shakira with her hit “Hips don’t lie”, one of the most famous Latin pop songs.
Get a dose of the famous Latin Pop teen idols, REBELDE (rebels): http://youtube.com/watch?v=njRtLAgKViI and an English song that has aired on the famous station 102.7 Kiis FM: http://youtube.com/watch?v=amgDTRt9z_E
RBD has had a huge impact in Latin American youth.
The 90s also saw the beginnings of pop in Asia. It is known as J-pop, a style of music we studed in class.
5. Latin music has been around a lot longer than rock, pop, country and a lot of other styles of music. It consists of many different styles and tempos, a danceable beat and repetitive structure
C. Types of Latin Pop
1. Salsa, samba, cumbia, nortenas, merengue, tex-mex, tango, reggaeton, regular Spanish pop, and the most recent hip hop
2. Latin Hip Hop: Seeks to rectify the profiling of some of the most important Latino figures in rap. Among those whose voices are heard are Kid Frost the "godfather" or Latin rap’s famous Cypress Hill.
D. Musical Context: Latin pop songs are often emotional or relating to love, a lost one, their native country, and environmental and political issues with artists like Juanes and Mana.
E. Istruments: Wood blocks, cowbells, toms, timbales, bongos, congas, tambourines, piano, synthesizers, guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, drum kits, keyboards, turntable and just vocables.

Week 7 Blog

Week 7: 05-17-2007
In these two Eastern European scenes, talk about the similar and different instruments (like your previous assignment), and then discuss other interesting things you noticed in the film.
The Ottoman Empire plays a major role in the music of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The various styles of music found in these have been influenced by the culture of the Ottoman Empire. The overarching principles that have made the music of the people from the Middle East and Eastern Europe include local variation, expanding ethnic groups and the similar instruments. In both areas, their musical elements focus on melody (makam), and they place great importance on improvisation.
In the remainder of the film, we explore the music of Eastern Europe, which compares largely to the instruments we saw being used in the Middle East. We see similar chordophones. Middle East has the rebabah and Eastern Europe has a more modern version, what we now know of as the violin. Men played the violin as women danced and sang (more like screamed, but that’s their definition of music…remember, not everyone defines the term music the same way). I thought their music was catchy and unique, especially since I saw mostly older women doing the singing. Another chordophone we saw was the cello and an accordion, all following the same melody. In Romania, an old man sings about the dictatorship and plays a violin, and does something I had never seen before in other countries. He pulls a string through the violins string to create a scratchy note. The women on the train sing about how the whole world hates them referring to the persecution in Nazi Germany. These gypsies use their music as a means of communicating and expressing their sorrows and feelings towards the dictatorship the way that other cultures use music to tell history or a lost love like the narrative songs of Eastern Europe. In Germany, we see the chordophones again: the violin, cello, and accordion. But we also see, like in the Middle East, membranophones, or better yet, an idiophone in replacement of the drum in other cultures. It looked like a canteen to put cows’ milk and the man was banging the inside of it. Another funny instrument I saw them use was two spoons put together and clapped together to the same melody. This was very similar to the Middle Eastern instrument composed of two pieces of what looked like wood and was also played in the same way. Further, we have the lute which is relatable to the UD in the Middle East. Finally, also another chordophone we see for one of the last scenes at a church, was a guitar, again very similar to the plucked chordophones we see in the Middle East.

Week 6 Blog

Week 6: 05-10-2007
After the midterm, we viewed a film entitled Latcho Drom ("Safe Journey") made in 1994 by director Tony Gatlif. He recreates the journey of a group of nomadic people, who eventually come to be called, usually in a derogatory manner, "gypsies." They are depicted traveling from the northern part of S.Asia into the Middle East and Europe. We saw three main scenes of music: 1) the nomads celebrating under the full moon 2) a celebration with a couple dancing in Egypt 3) a takht ensemble playing in a teahouse in Istanbul, Turkey*What were the common instruments found in all three scenes? How were they similar and different in each scene? Can you compare them to other instruments we studied from other parts of Asia? The director was trying to demonstrate how the "gypsies" absorbed the various music cultures they encountered into their own music. How did the director depict this? What else about this film interested you?

I really enjoyed this film, at least the parts that we were able to see. I had a hard trouble figuring out the names of the instruments after Professor Talusan asked us to identify any instruments that we see during the journey of the nomadic people. Despite that aspect of the film, I found it really interesting to see the journey of the people as well as the journey we take in watching the progression of the types of instruments from the Middle East to Europe. I loved loved loved the Egyptian woman dancing and the way she moved her hips. Reminds me of Shakira, and her song “Hips don’t lie”!
For the nomads celebrating under the full moon I noticed that they were playing some sort of mini cymbals on their fingers that gave a chimmy bell-like sound. They had an Ud, a plucked lute with five strings similar to the sitar. I described it in my notes as “the violin-looking one”. I’m also pretty sure I saw another stringed instrument but this one was played like a guitar. In addition, I saw something that I had never seen before, a man blowing into a pot looking thing, hitting it simultaneously. Finally, a lot of them including one of the little girls dancing as she walked and sang had a hand held instrument composed of two thin pieces of wood held together with something black. This one produced a clappy sound an I know my descriptions for these instruments are horrible but will do until we have lecture on these instruments.
Before the celebration where the couple was dancing in Egypt, a little boy played the Egyptian Rebaba, the violin-looking instrument that had a coconut in the middle and three strings, played how the violin is played. It is more like the fiddle instrument played during the actual dance with the couple dancing, which is very similar to what was played with the nomads playing under the moon. There was also a membranophone that was tapped both with a thin wooden stick and with the hands.
Finally in the Tahkt ensemble playing in a teahouse in Istanbul, Turkey, we see more modern type instruments like the clarinet, the tambourine (Riqq), a drum with a clear membrane, played similar to the drums in the previous ensembles, as well as the Ud, and my favorite, the Qanun (Zither) wit 81 strings stretched in groups of three. It reminds me of the harp! This instrument was not in either of the other ensembles. Finally, there was a Nay (end blown flute with 6 holes plus one more in the back for the thumb, which we were able to hear a sample with guest speaker Rami. His set of Nay were made out of reed from the Nile River.
All these instruments if played in more than one ensemble were played in similar fashions although some might have been made from different materials like the Rebabah the boy was playing which was made out of a coconut for the center of the instrument. The membranophones all pretty much look the same and even resemble certain instruments like the tabla from India and the Dabakan drum from the Kulingtan from the Philipines.
The director tries to demonstrate how the "gypsies" absorbed the various music cultures they encountered into their own music. He depicts this by showing to us the journey that the gypsies are making and how they relate with the townspeople for their time being there. For example, the boy watches intently as he plays the rababah to the sounds of the music of the dancing couple in Egypt. Also, there is a little girl who sings and plays the little wooden clapper things with her hands before arriving to Egypt. Finally, although we didn’t see a lot of the tahkt ensemble in the Istanbul teahouse, we could tell that they adapted the use of their instruments like the rababah to the violin or the Ney to the clarinet.

Week 5 Blog: Happy Cinco de Mayo!!! :)

Week 5: 05-03-2007
1. Can you think of any examples in our day and age in which real life influences theater (or film or music or music video) and in turn these representations influence society?
First I want to apologize for turning in the blog late. I didn’t realize I had work today and it took away my entire evening. Anyway, I wanted to respond to both of the questions since they’re both interesting and I have a story for both. When it comes to the relationship between society and theatre or music or videos, Mexican “corridos” immediately come to mind. Corridos are narratives in song or poem form that originate mostly from the Southwestern regions of Mexico like Sinaloa and Michoacan. Corridos are basically stories about romance or about someone’s death, about crossing the border, or even about drug trafficking and getting caught and the gunshots that come with it, but this is the more current stuff! They can also be stories of old legendary heroes like Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution and how he was a friend of the common people—maybe to influence the politics of today. They came to influence society during the Mexican Revolution because a lot of people were illiterate and the corrido was used to sing the message to people whether it was something that had to do with religious movements of the time or about the corrupt Porfirio Diaz government. Everyone knows the “La Cucaracha” corrido, Im sure. The meaning of this song was rephrased to talk about Pancho Villa’s abusive army against Venustiano Carranza during the Mexican Revolution. It isn’t actually about a roach that cant walk! The old corrido style was more educational, imformative, romantic, and religious but a lot of today’s corridos are automatically associated with drug dealing and shootings and violence, which sure it does reflect some of the unfortunate realities of Mexico today but it is unfortunate that its losing its primacy as a means of mass communication. This has a tremendous influence on society because what you hear on the media or in music for one, is what people are going to go out and do and in this case, some of the effects may be unfavorable.

2. Can you think of an encounter with some type of representation in the mass media (give a musical example if possible) that you felt strongly about? It doesn't have to be about ethnicity--you could choose to write about gender identity, religious identity, or something else. I will write very briefly on this one. I liked the presentation with the episode of The Simpsons that showed to us how the mass media tries to represent the cultures, ethnicity, identities, etc of a certain population. The infamous George Lopez does this with the Mexican/Latino culture. He is a stand-up comedian meant to be for the Latino audience who understands exactly what he is talking about when he brings out these “inside jokes” of Hispanic people. He talks about how we are “afraid of the cucuy (monster)” and that we run as little kids when we get something from the closet; we never want to admit that were getting old, we don’t go to the doctor because we think were fine and are afraid of finding something wrong; how parents always have “no” as an answer and how we get “spanked” or “hit” for whatever reason; how we take our own food and lunch to Dodgers games for example because food there is too expensive; this and other things (including religion, foods, values, dress, jobs, etc) that you can hear about by typing George Lopez onto the search engine on Youtube.com. I didn’t want to put it up because it might offend some people. This is just one example. I personally don’t have a liking for this comedian even though a lot of the things he says are true and they give us a good laugh if we are able to understand the inside joke.

Week 4 Blog

Week 4: 04-26-2007
Our questions come from your reading--Prof. Helen Rees discusses two contexts in which "authenticity" is contended. First, she describes tourists' fascination with "Ancient Naxi Music." Question 1: Why does she say that this music is not as "ancient" as it is marketed to audiences? (Just answer in one paragraph)
When it comes to the substances of music, I think that every element of it plays an important role in defining the style and type of music. This includes dresscode, like in music of the Naxi, which although Professor Helen Rose contends that it is not as “ancient” as it is marketed to audiences, the Naxi women still wear their traditional sheepskin cape for Naxi music concerts and it eschews non-native instruments (136, 138). A reason why Rees believes this to be not as ancient is because, the Chinese have adopted a modern style of music derived from the Han Chinese, using the vocals and the words sung, tune titles, melodies, and the way the instruments were used were all adopted from the Han Chinese. She raises four questions regarding the music not being as ancient as it is marketed to tourists: What were those other origins and uses? What elements have been abstracted to create this traditional display? How do these presentations differ to tourists and to the local population? What is the nature of the “authenticity” marketed to tourists?
This leads me to the second question: Question 2: In a different way, why did Western scholars accuse the modern Chinese orchestra as not being "authentic" enough? What do you think of these arguments? Does authenticity exist on a continuum like identity? In other words, are there a lot of gray areas?
First of all, western scholars accuse the term authentic as not being indisputably defined. In a sense it can mean that it is credible and convincing and tourists do seem to find it convincing (since they probably don’t know better). Another sense of something being authentic is having present validating figures like in the Chinese Orchestra, the Xuan Ke is the only one who allows interpretation possible for the tourists. This kind of figure is a validating figure that makes it more believable that the orchestra is really “authentic.” The reason why tourists find it believable is because they compare it to other performances they’ve attended. The Western scholars, however, don’t think its authentic enough arguing that foreign tourists are not culturally informed and thus don’t know the kinds of traditions in Chinese orchestra. They actually recognized the western style influence on the music and that’s unacceptable for something to be “authentic” traditional music. They set conditions for something to be considered traditional: it should have come down from earlier people and its quality should be so outstanding that it influences future music—“In order to understand traditional music, it is not only necessary to understand its classical and folk origins, but also necessary to understand its modern evolution”(151).
One can say that these arguments are both legitimate and not. The reason why I say this is because when we think of identity and individuality, we all think that we are being as unique and individual as possible but in reality, we are who we are because of past influences and current ones too including fashion, music, traditions, and even certain personality characteristics. This is the same for the authenticity of music. When a new artist begins to develop “his/her own music” they think that just because they are composing it, it is authentic and original and contemporary but its not! Every style of music has some roots in past styles of music whether it be on the instruments, surroundings where the song is played, or the vocals and themes of the songs. Although the artist might not know this at first, doing a little research on similar styles of music will open up an array of similarities with other styles of music. I don’t quite understand what you mean by “gray areas.” It seems like it means fuzzyness in the field of recognizing the origins of a certain style of music. If this is the case, then I definitely think that amongst listeners of the styles of music there is a lot of gray areas. Some (not all) musicians/singers, though, do know the background of the music they compose and recognize the scholarly musicians critique on the authenticity of their music.

Week 3

Week 3: 04-19-2007
1. Go to www.youtube.com and watch two videos:
a. "Ratna Ayu," performed by the California Institute of the Arts' gamelan Balinese gamelan ensemble
b. "Gamelan Bali Nyepi"
2. In your blog, compare as many elements of the performance as you can. Particularly focus on the setting of the performance and how this influences the portrayal of gamelan.

I’d like to start this blog with the realization that struck me this week both with the presenters and with the different Philippine instruments that we learned about. My close-mindedness about music made me believe that only the drum, guitar, piano, violin, etc existed. I’m excited about doing my presentation about Mexican music now since now I know how it feels to learn about music one has never imagined or heard about!
As for the Ratna Ayu presentation I paid more attention to the dance than to the music for two reasons: the camera shot was shooting mostly to the center of the stage where the dancers were and also, this video gives the impression that the ritualistic dance is of more importance than the music itself since at one point, four of the five women pick up large blue umbrellas and carry one of the women as if she was of more importance or was more royal than the other four. I also noticed that for this dance, there were obviously only women dancing and these women, as well as the musicians, wore fancy embroidered clothing (Gamelan Bali Nyepi people didn’t). I guess this has to do also with the setting of the performance. Ratna Ayu looks like it takes place in a concert hall or little amphitheatre because it was spacious enough to even have dancers and an audience. As for the musicians, there were both men and women, and there were many of them! They too were wearing fancy clothing/robes. As for the music, I heard two different beats/rhythms, one louder and predominant than the other. I heard hand drums, a chimmy bell sound probably by the sound of the set of gongs, which were on either side of the dancers and looked like they were made out of bronze since they were really shiny. At around the 2-3 minute point the music was really slow and melancholic and the dancers reflected the rhythm of the music with their dance movements. The dance seemed sort of ritualistic, especially with the usage of the long white piece of cloth. The music gets faster then slower and also goes from soft to loud. The women are barefoot and they walk away at the end of the song with slow music.The Gamelan Bali Nyepi music was less formal than the Ratnu Ayu. The men wear simple white robes and they look like commoners or people from the village celebrating some sort of festivity or carnival. It takes place on the seashore and the men sit while there are people in the background that are either passers-by or are merely joining the celebration. I didn’t notice any main performers like there was with the women dancing. The camera is also closer so we get more detail of the musicians and their instruments. Some are playing the gong, others are playing hand drums, a set of hanging gongs (Agung or Gandinga?) which are used to communicate within tribes or used for competitions, and I also hear some sort of rain-stick or maraca like instrument. I may be mistaken but I see cymbals in some of the men decorated with yellow, red, and green pompom looking things. Again, like with the Ratnu Aya, I hear one main rhythm played by most of the men and a softer one in the background.

Week 2 Blog

Week 2: 04-12-2007
Question 1: Can you think of some instances in which you were/are an insider but an outsider at the same time? From the Herndon reading, I wanted you to ask questions about how being an insider/outsider to the culture played out in Chris' fieldwork, but we didn't have time. Can you think of several different contexts in your life in which you accentuate different parts of your identity (remember we talked about family culture, religious culture, student culture, etc.)? How has music played a role in these various contexts? Please write in a way that reflects your critical thinking skills (and read each others' blogs) and good writing skills. Don't simply give me a "report", but really reflect on what it all means.
I definitely knew what Herndon was talking about when she felt an outsider of the Cherokee Indian Tribe culture. She said she was “more ignorant of much of Cherokee culture and society than a total outsider, because of tacit assumptions, unspoken family taboos, and general cultural climate.” She says she was never a total outsider to Cherokee culture but she was also never an insider. This is the way I feel about Mexican culture, and I know I talked about this in the last blog but I can’t help it, it is who I am. I feel an insider of the Mexican culture here in UCLA but when it comes down to it, I am an outsider when I visit Mexico where the culture is obviously more celebrated and predominant than it is here.
I often feel I am in an insider but an outsider at the same time when I visit my family in Mexico every year or two. When I’m there, I feel like my cousins and other family members don’t interact with me the same way that they do with other members of my family. I’m not sure if its because they think I don’t speak the language, even though I speak almost perfect Spanish, or because they think I might not appreciate whatever it is they want to share because I’m not as exposed to the Mexican culture and traditions as much as the other family members are. I might come off as ignorant in my culture when Im around people/family who know it more than I do but I can definitely speak of times when I accentuate different parts of my identity here in L.A. This has occurred in many instances in which some are ashamed of their roots and thus, hide their background and cultural traditions and values but I try my best to let it out by sharing the language, traditions, history, dress, and music of the Mexican culture. Why do I do this? To differentiate myself from others. I love it when I see the dress code and accent and hear the language and music of other cultural backgrounds and so I would like others to experience it as well. It is an important part of cultural assimilation in society.


Question 2: Although we focus in on the musical sound itself in this class, music is really just part of a whole meaningful event. In what way can you think of is music just part of a whole event you've attended, and what does music reflect about this event (think of a club scene versus a religious setting).
This might be unbelievable but I have never attended a musical concert before. The only thing close to it was a live Beauty and the Beast Musical I went to when I was younger. The music of this event helped me to remember the different parts of the film by associating the movie scenes with the scenes and acting on stage. An event that I regularly attend that does involve the incorporation of music, though, is church. I go to church back at home in South Gate, a predominantly Hispanic community. I love it because it’s the only time during the week where I can feel at home with people with the same background as myself, singing and saying the prayers in the language of my culture. I have also gone to the Student Catholic Center here in Westwood village and the entire atmosphere is just so welcoming and I love how everyone sings to the songs—even the tough macho man football players! Another setting where the music makes up the event and reflects the significance of the event are fiestas. In Mexico, we listen to Rancheras and pretty much, the music makes whatever we are celebrating about 100% more fun! Also, we celebrate Quinceaneras (Sweet 16) and perform a special dance called the “balz” in which the parents, as one aspect of the dance, give the girl the “last porcelain doll” to indicate the end of the girls childhood onto becoming a woman. I cant finish the blog without talking about the setting in weddings and birthdays and babtisms and other really joyful moments that reflect our high spirits and culture through the music by dancing to rancheras, zapateada, banda, other types of music. Its so much fun!
Whereas in a religious scene we feel a sense of solidarity among the other members of the church, in a fiesta setting its more of a cultural togetherness feeling (that probably makes no sense). Its kind of like a feeling when you see your lost cousin or a family member whom you haven’t seen in a long time and then you get together and realize that you share common experiences and enjoy similar aspects of life that involve your cultural background.

Week 1 Blog

Hola! My name is Andrea Gonzalez and I’m a second year Political Science and Sociology double major. Although I love listening to music and different styles of music around the world I myself am not a musician, don’t perform, I’ve never played an instrument, nor do I have the most amazing voice. I’m a quiet one in class and I guess the only times that I do actively engage in music is when I sing at home…or in the shower—one of the rules of life! As I have learned so far in these past lectures and also because it is common sense, an individuals background has pretty much determines the type of music they listen to. I come from an entirely Mexican background so I was excited to hear in Lecture 2 that we would listen to conjunto music because and to learn a little bit of its background.
That type of conjunto music is a little out of date for my liking though. I listen to mostly Latin pop, Spanish Rock, and Banda/Conjunto music. Sometimes I do listen to English genres of music because it’s nice to hear other instruments in the making of such unique styles of music. I really like the sound that drums make and I have always wanted to play the drums since middle school. I never learned though. Folklorico music and Zapateada as well as Mariachi music is a huge part of my culture. Dancing Zapateada when we have family reunions is the best experience ever, although I don’t consider myself a professional dancer sometimes I feel like I’m dancing to an African song just because Zapateada music has so much rhythm in it and I imagine that African beats sound similar because of the incorporation of the drum.See now I’m just guessing what other cultures use in making their music. This is why I chose to take Ethnomusicology as my arts GE. I would really like to be cultured in the music of other cultures since I know I wouldn’t like the music from my background to be confused or just taken for granted—I know that behind the lyrics there is a historic background in some of the songs about the Mexican Revolution and certain Caudillos and Revolutionary heroes like Pancho Villa. Since I took a history of Latin America class, I listen to the lyrics of songs from Cuba for example and they do have a distinct rhythm yet they give to us a message about the Cuban Revolution. This is another reason im taking this class. I want to know if songs and music from around the world has meaning to it or what kinds of songs they use for rituals such as marriages or birthdays or sad moments or celebrations and festivals. All types of music should be appreciated and it’s a shame, as in my case, that we stick only to the music that we are raised with.