World Music Midterm Study Guide

Midterm: March 20, 2019

Lecture 1: Javanese Gamelan and Epistemology

Listening Examples

Gending Kinanti _ Pelog Nem

Palarang Pangkur _ Pelog Barang

Ladrang Wilujeng_Slendro Manyura

Vocabulary

Java: the most populous island of Indonesia, home to the Javanese

gamelan: a Javanese musical ensemble, composed primarily of bronze metallophones

may refer to the music, the players, or the instruments themselves

balungan: skeletal melody, the written portion of the music

colotomy: cyclical structure in music

laras: scale

pelog: 7-tone scale

slendro: 5-tone scale

irama: relative density/speed of balungan to elaborating/flowering instruments

epistemology: the study of knowing

ngelmu: the Javanese theory of knowledge, achieved through the use of rasa

rasa (from Sanskrit): intuition, flavor, ability to sense non-material qualities of things

batin (from Arabic): the internal or hidden meaning of an thing

lahir (from Arabic ​zahir​): external, material qualities of a thing

Lecture 2: Indigenous Instruments of Mexico and the Americas

Listening Examples

Luis Perez Ixoneztli - En el Omligo de la Luna excerpt

(this excerpt uses atecocolli, ayotapalcatl, and tlapan huehuetl)

Jorge Reyes - Baa Wehai demonstration

Jorge Reyes - Tehuehuetl Demonstration

Vocabulary

tawitol: musical bow

baa wehai: percussive gourds placed in water

atecocolli: sea shell trumpet

ayotapalcatl: turtle shell marimba

chililitli: gong

teponaztli: slit drum, often carved to resemble deities

tehuehuetl: stone marimba

tlapan huehuetl: tall drum cut from a single tree, 3 lightning bolt legs

Maya: A Mesoamerican civilization stretching throughout the Southern half of

modern-day Central America from 2000 BC until their murder by Spanish
invaders in the 16th century

Mexica: an indigenous people in the Valley of Mexico, considered to be the rulers of

what is now referred to as the “Aztec” empire

Nahuatl: the language spoken by the majority of indigenous people in the Valley of
Mexico, including the Mexica

Lecture 3: Organology, Bagpipes, and the Musical Bow

Idiophone: body of the instrument is the vibrating material; (includes all percussion
except drums)
 Aerophone: air is the vibrating material; (woodwinds, brass instruments, bagpipes, etc)

Chordophone: strings are the vibrating material; (fiddles, zithers, etc)

Membranophone: membrane is the vibrating material; (drums, kazoo, etc)

Lecture 4: Japanese traditional music

Listening Examples

Classical Koto - Godan Ginuta

Teruhisha Fukuda - Honkyoku excerpt

Ensemble Nipponia - Shamisen solo

Vocabulary

Japan: an island nation in East Asia, located in the Pacific off the East coast of the
Asian continent

Koto: a 13 string, plucked zither from Japan with movable bridges

Shakuhachi: an end-blown bamboo flute; its name means “1.8 shaku,” referring to its
length in an archaic unit of measurement

Honkyoku: compositions for solo shakuhachi played by Japanese zen monks called
komuso

Gagaku: imperial court theater (music and dance) of Japan; the full ensemble may
contain shakuhachi and koto

Shamisen: a three string fretless Japanese chordophone (often referred to as a

Japanese banjo)

Lecture 5: Ethiopia

Listening Examples

Alemayu Eshete - Ambassel

 Asnaqetch Werqu - The Lady with the Krar - (Tizita mode)

Ethiopian Liturgical Chant - Zema

Vocabulary

Ethiopia: East African country located on the horn of Africa

kiñit: Ethiopian musical mode

tizita: major pentatonic mode, 1 2 3 5 6

ambassel: phyrigian pentatonic mode, 1 b2 4 5 b6

azmari: wandering musician storytellers, respected in traditional Ethiopian society, bard

begena: large 10 string lyre with a buzzing timbre, used for meditation and prayer

washint: bamboo or wooden flute

mesinko: one string bowed chordophone

krar: 5 or 6 string small lyre (chordophone)

zema: liturgical chant of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

sistrum: idiophone instrument used for zema, originating in Ancient Egypt

esketsa: Ethiopian dance characterized by vigorous shoulder movement

Sample Question

(Listening example that is played is Palaran Barang - Pelog Nem, unbeknownst to you, the
student)

1. Where is the example you just heard from?

a. Java
b. Philippines
c. Ethiopia
d. Mexico

2. In this style of music, what is the word for the written melody?
a. Irama
b. Kiñit
c. Balungan
d. Mexica

3. What scale is this example in?

a. Ambassel
b. Irama
c. Koto
d. Pelog

4. For the culture that produces this music, what is the word for knowledge?