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How music develops cultural
An essay on music and culture
An essay on music and culture
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A rabab is an old traditional instrument found mainly in Afghanistan. It is a piece of wood that is hollow with a membrane across the opening. Nylon or metal strings are pulled across a bridge that is played with a bow. This instrument is referenced in old Afghanistan texts, but is not as common in present day Afghanistan. Like most other Afghanistan instruments, the rabab was deemed un-Islamic and banned. Traditional instruments would not become popular again, even after the fall of the ban on music. The history of the musical development in Afghanistan mirrored that of the instruments. Afghani music has been influenced by Radio Kabul, the Taliban, and the Western impact on Afghanistan music.
In a country whose history has been destroyed by war, the radio in Kabul is one of the few surviving treasures. The Taliban destroyed the ancient stone of Buddhas of Bamiyan and warlords demolished the Kabul museum. Radio Kabul was the focus of popular, modern and innovative music for Afghanistan from the 1940s to 1978, when the civil war began. It was the treasure trove of Afghanistan music. There were over 50,000 tapes that must be wound and rewound one a year to keep them from becoming brittle. William Reeve, a BCC correspondent in Kabul, reported, “In room after room there were endless shelves of radio tapes, all neatly catalogued on the spines of their boxes.” One section, Reeve said, was filled with historical tapes such as recorded speeches of former Afghanistan leaders. Another section was packed with Afghan drama and music, performed by favorite singers and artists. Mohammad Siddiq, the man in charge of looking after the archives, took care to save the tapes from the Taliban’s rampage on Afghani music (2002).
Rising ...
... middle of paper ...
...an artists need support as well as the archive of Kabul to salvage what little the country has left to identify with their ancestors.
Works Cited
Baily, John. "British Ethnomusicologist: 'It Isn't Actually Correct To Say Taliban Have Banned Music'" Interview by Abubakar Siddique. RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. RFE/RL, Inc, 22 June 2009. Web. 07 May 2014. .
Courtney, David. "RABAB." Rabab. N.p., 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 07 May 2014.
Farmer, Ben. "Taliban Behead 17 Caught Dancing to Music at Party." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 05 May 2014.
Qazizai, Fazelminallah. "Musical Afghanistan." - Music. OnIslam.net, 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 05 May 2014.
Reeve, William. "Kabul's Radio Treasure Trove." BBC News. BBC, 16 May 2002. Web. 05 May 2014.
Baker, Jeff. "Tamim Ansary: From Afghanistan to Portland." The Oregonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
Kelly, D. M. (2011). The Kunar Adt and the Afghan Coin Fight. Bloomington: AuthorHouse. Retrieved November 05, 2010, from books.google.co.ke/books?isbn=1456753045
Mousavi, Sayed Askar. The Hazaras Of Afghanistan. A Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political Study. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1997.
After watching the Watch & Think documentary “The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan” I did some more research on the history of Bacha bazi (translated in “boy for play”). What I found is this practice involves men communally, abusing, enslaving, committing sexual abuse as an organization fashion. Moreover, the young boys are chosen from poor families with the exchange for food, clothing, or money to his family “adopt” the child.
In 1996, the Taliban took control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. A report by the U.S. Department of State describes that this takeover was done in a very brutal and violent manner and the Taliban left the proof of their victory hanging in the streets of the city for over a week (par. 2). In Jan Goodwin’s article, Buried Alive, it is written that the men who are in charge of enforcing the laws of the Taliban are called the Department of the Propagation of Virtue and the Suppression of Vice; these men also punish citizens who disobey the laws. The majority of this group is made up of fifteen year old boys carrying machine guns, but also consists of men arme...
Music is a part of everyday life for almost everyone in the world. Music provides us with enjoyment and relaxation, and can be used in many ways by many different people. Some may use it to calm down after a long, hard day, while others use it for religious purposes or still others in and attempt to try and forget something that hasn’t been favorable to them. The possibilities are endless, for music is one language that can be transmitted to all people of the world, no matter their nationality, and it can be understood by everyone. Tibet is no different than any other place in the world, as it has music that serves the purpose of the people who live there. While most music in Tibet is religious, secular music still exists and is still a part of life there. Tibetan music has played an important role in shaping who the Tibetan people have become today by giving themselves different ways to express who they are, through the use of differing instruments and styles of music, and has allowed other people from around the world the opportunity to look at Tibetan culture through their music.
In the novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, the author Steven Galloway explores the power of music and its ability to provide people with an escape from reality during the Siege of Sarajevo. A cellist plays Albinoni’s Adagio for twenty-two consecutive days to commemorate the deaths of twenty-two citizens who were killed by the mortar attacks on the Sarajevo Opera Hall while waiting to buy bread. Albinoni’s Adagio represents that something can be almost obliterated from existence, but be recreated into something beautiful, since it was recreated from four bars of a sonata’s bass line found in the rubble of the firebombed Dresden Music Library in Germany in 1945. The Sarajevans listening to the cellist are given respite from the brutal reality
Walker, Jesse. Rebels on the air: an alternative history of radio in America. New York: New York University Press, 2001. Print.
Paxton, Tom. (2011). "Music as a Tool of Social Protest." Squidoo: Welcome to Squidoo. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from .
The Web. 11 Feb 2014. Mondloch, Chris. A. “Bacha Bazi: An Afghan Tragedy.” Foreign Policy.
The Afghanistan National Emblem that is directly in the middle of the flag contains a mosque, beneath the mosque says the word "Afghanistan." There is also a date on the emblem, the date is the year 1298 (on the Islamic solar calendar) and 1919 when Afghanistan won Independence. The Emblem also contains the Shahada. Underneath the Shahada are the words "Allah Akbar"(God is great).
One of the very first things taught in this class was the concept of the Qur'anic recitation. It is a practice reciting different passages in the Quran. Much to the frustration of those who take part in this practice, it is often mistaken for music by those who are not very familiar with the idea. Music in this culture, however, is considered a nonreligious thing and is thought to be “secular” and “profane”. I found this extremely different from music in Africa, for example, where music plays a huge role in religion. Praise dances are very common in West African cultures where music and religion go hand in hand. Music is most often present in worship and passage rites, as well.
Nuzum, Eric. "Sound Off: Our Attitudes Toward Music Parallel Our Belief in Freedom." Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America. 30 Oct. 2001. 12 Feb. 2005 .
The ‘folk’ genre has roots all the way back to the 19th century. Put simply, ‘folk’ is “ballads and songs which are composed and transmitted orally, without ever being written down at all.” (http://www.balladtree.com/folk101/002a_origins.htm) Though what we perceive as ‘folk’ today is stylistically very different to what ‘folk’ was during the 19th century. At its core, it still holds the same values and ideas, lamenting the simpler times. In the coming speech, we will discuss the genre of ‘folk’, it’s origins, the changes it underwent in the 20th century and the factors that influenced each development and also the characteristics of the genre, including singing styles, rhythm and instrumentation.
Music generally plays an important role in all of our lives. Western music reflects all of our supporting cultures. It is commonly passed down from generation to generation like any other type of music. Western music is shared among different religions, dance, and drama. All of which is used to reached out to a certain group of people that relates traditions. Western culture is shared among genres like: Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Rap, Reggae, and so much more. Each genre shares characteristics and beliefs of their own. “According to Kerman, long before European settlers and African slaves arrived here; Native Americans had their own music style (Kerman, 2012).” Native Americans as well as other nationalities would create music to tell their