MUS 503 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Music Of Africa, Essentialism, Tempo
Document Summary
Authenticity as primality: an expression is authentic if it can be traced back to an initiatory instance. The folk a group untouched by external influence. Authenticity as positionality: refusing to sell out or pander to commercial interests. (does this matter anymore?) As an example : how black music is essentialized. As music of the body (freedom of movement) Music that is performed rather than composed, recorded, written down, read. Immediate and improvised rather than thought about in advance. Emotional rather than intellectual- no strong message governing music. A dialogic call and response between performer and listener. Africans brought to north america to work in the tobacco, cotton, and sugar fields. Bring their own music, which like the people themselves blends with the music of the colonizers. Early african music in america (centered around church): ring shouts, spirituals, blues. These are the foundations of all american music to follow.
