It is impossible to assume that music and religion are not linked in some way or another in any society or culture on earth. This is not to say that all religions embrace the use of music in their worship to their god or gods, in fact it is quiet the opposite. While some religions use music to praise and worship, other religions believe music diverges the attention of followers away from their god, and even see it as a tool of the devil.
Let's first identify some cultures that embrace music into their religion and beliefs, as most religions do. In Malagasy society (Madagascar) negative attributes such as sickness are often associated with spirits. To identify these bad spirits the people hold ceremonies, Tremba, to communicate with the spirits through a medium. The ceremony begins with music and is accompanied by participation from others to call the spirit out. "Increased hand-clapping called rumba and shouts of encouragement are specially suited to call the spirit out." (Schmidhafer, p. 4). When the spirit has entered the medium the music stops and the spirit greets the people surrounding him and answers question. More music is played between questions to the spirit and again when the spirit exits the medium.
Another similar ceremony, called bilo, is held to heal the sick by dancing. It is believed that these ceremonies would hold no purpose and would not allow communication with the spirits if it were not for the music. "The musicians are the ones that induce the trance; even the most competent healer cannot do any good without the musicians." (Schmidhafer, p. 5).
Other cultures, mainly in South Asia, also use music in trance ceremonies to communicate with the spirit world. Nepoli Shaman use music in t...
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...pecific needs of the participants in the ceremony. At the beginning of the ceremony the music may start off slow and mellow. As time progresses, the tempo and volume will increase to lure the spirit into the medium's body. When the spirit and medium become one the music may stop abruptly or became very soft, until it is time for the spirit to leave again.
Works Cited
Ellingson, Ter. "Music and Religion." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Collier MacMillan. New York: MacMillan, 1987.
Roche, David. "Music and Trance." Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Ed. Alison Arnold. 5 vols. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 2000.
Schmidhofer, August. "The Great Island."
Shiloah, Amnon, Music in the World of Islam : A Socio-cultural Study. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995.
Storr, Anthony. Music and the Mind. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992.
As the sunrises over the crisp fall horizon, followers begin to surround the sacred space in anticipation for what is about to take place. The sacred space is soon surrounded by people who are dressed in the sacred colors, some wearing necklaces of their totem, while others wear headdresses that adorn with their sacred symbol. People begin to drink, play music, and prepare a banquet feast for each other, creating a festival atmosphere in hope that today’s ritual will be a success. As the ritual gets set to begin followers begin to crowd into the sacred space, surrounded with pictures and names of those who have reached greatness. As the ritual begins, music is played in order to bring everyone together and prepare for the events that are about to unfold. It is now that the followers have a very simple focus, to aid in the success of the ritual. Those who celebrate the ritual take there places in the middle of the sacred space, with the followers surrounding them; now that the ritual has begun the celebrants begin to perform and focus on certain actions in order connect themselves with the transcendent sacred. The followers who look on begin to aid by chanting, allowing themselves to also transcend. In hopes that the ritual was a success, everyone does their part until the last second of the ritual is completed, it is only then that it can be decided if the ritual was a success and they can either celebrate or grieve by signing in their most sacred song, bonding them once again with each other.
Miller, Terry E., Sharhriari, Andrew. World Music: A Global Journey. 3rd ed. New York & London: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Religions is an important way for people to spirit rely on, it make people feel full and don’t afraid about the future life or something they don’t know. Slave music use on these religious ceremonies and celebrations,that make people feel their spirit rely
It is difficult to show the effects of music on the individual, but it is easy to see how the individual chooses genres of music based on mood. The soldiers in Iraq, for instance, listened to a song by the band Drowning Pool titled, “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor,” over the speakers in their tanks. After listening to the song it would be easy to see that they didn’t just choose the song because they thought it pertained to their current situation. The song is loud, fast, and hard. The song fueled the soldiers. I don’t think that it made them into bloodthirsty savages, but I do think that it pumped them up with adrenaline. Walk into any random Gold’s Gym and I’m sure you will not hear classical or new age music, but instead some sort of rock. David in the Bible played music to soothe Saul. Due to David’s harp and voice Saul calmed down and fell asleep. This is present even in today’s society. After work, school, or any other long, exhausting event, it isn’t uncommon for people to go home and put on some soothing music in order to cure them of their horrible day.
In Native American culture, the ceremonies and performed in kivas. One ceremony is the Whirling Log Sand Painting. In the Navajo tradition, healing requires the ritual restoration of hozo, or the beat of the harmony of the world. Following the sand, painting is destroyed. Another ceremony found in Native American cultures is the corn dance. The intention is for the rain to come down from the sky and nourish the sprouting of the corn. In African ceremonies the use of drums is common. The drums evoke the passion of the different dancers by the spirits and their ancestors. Masks are used to represent the ancestors that are called by the drum into the bodies of
Drumming, over the ages, had been depicted in healing rituals, rich with images of figures holding drums embellished on cave walls and archeological sites all over the world. More recently, the therapeutic effects of group-drumming have been explored which has led to research studies providing an evidence base for considering drumming as a therapeutic intervention in its own right or as part of other programs (Blackett & Payne, 2005). In addition to being regarded as one of the oldest instruments in world history, the drum has also held different values and benefits across a diversity of cultures. For instance, drumming in American Indian culture is a traditional-based activity that has been cherished and utilized over centuries to promote self-expression and healing (Dickerson, et al., 2012).
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
The problems with some rituals are that if it is not on symbolism it is not highly, visible and therefore, very hard to interpret, this can be a secular ritual.
Since the earliest days of human civilization music has been a key tool for communication of stories which carried emotions through them. If we think back to our youngest years of life music has surrounded us whether it was from our parents singing us lullabies or from some sort of toy that played music we can say that musical melodies have helped shape or lives one way or another. Once we start growing up and figuring out who we are our musical preferences change; some people like classical and some like punk. We start to befriend people who like the same music as us and eventually we may attend a musical event. Our lives somewhat revolve around the music that we listen to.
"Music is a common experience and a large part of societies. In fact, anthropologists note that all human communities at all times and in all places, have engaged in musical behaviours. Music as a mode of human activity is a cultural phenomenon constituting a fundamental social entity as humans create music and create their relationship to music. As cultural phenomeno...
...mbolism and ritual involved with the Sun Dance we can more fully understand the character of the Plains Indian cultures. The Sun Dance shows a continuity between life. It shows that there is no true end to life, but a cycle of symbolic and true deaths and rebirths. All of nature is intertwined and dependent on one another. This gives an equal ground to everything on the earth. "Powerful animals exhibit both physical and spiritual powers, just as the medicine man and shaman do, and as do the grains of tobacco in the sacred pipe." (Smart p. 527) However, just like the rest of nature, humans must give of themselves to help keep the cycles of regeneration going.
Music plays a huge role in the structure of a society. It can have both negative and positive influence on cultures and communities. First, musical sounds and instruments can be a dividing factor between the people within the same culture. These opposing social and economic identities within these cultures can lead unnecessary animosity between the members. However, music can also be one of the forces that unite members of a culture and provide a sense pride for everyone. This makes it easier for people to display their identification to that culture.
Throughout the semester, various styles of music and the aspects of culture associated with these styles have been analyzed. Musical elements such as dynamics, texture, form, timbre, melody, instruments, etc., have been used to thoroughly explore each kind of music from different areas of the world, with an emphasis in music from Africa, India and Indonesia. These aspects of music go far beyond just music itself. Culture also plays a huge role in music and the accompanying musical elements. Each country and culture has a different style and distinctiveness that add to what makes the music of that certain culture unique. Music in Africa may differ dramatically from music in Indonesia or India not only due to those certain elements but also due to how it is interpreted by people and what it represents for those people. In addition to this, what one may consider music in one culture may not be music to another. These differences have been made apparent in the several demonstrations that we have been exposed to in class.
Japan is a country that has a great impact on the world from many perspectives. Not only because of their strong economy and great technology, their culture also gives people extraordinary impressions. Japanese music as an indispensable part of Japanese culture, it is also being popular in different continents. However, “Japanese Music” is a broad topic and there are far more things we need to study and observe to completely understand beside to listen the music itself. Although Japanese music is a big topic, it can specify to different Japanese Music style or genre. In my opinion, Japanese music between religion worship and entertainment are highly linked together. Comparing the Japanese court music “Gagaku” and the Japanese folk music of religion “Shinto” Can show many similarities between these two as well as some differences.
Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.