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Music of Luxembourg

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On the final blog, I picked a topic that is closely related to my family. The topic I chose was the music culture of Luxembourg. The majority of my ancestors came from Germany and Luxembourg. So, to learn more about my heritage, I wanted to discover the music in Luxembourg. First, let me tell you a little bit about this country. It is one of the smallest countries in the world and is bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. Due to the geographical location, Luxembourg was considered a little fortress and even though many countries tried to capture this small country, they have remained autonomous since the 10th century. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, which made it hard for larger countries to ever successfully capture it. . Now once we know where Luxembourg is located, I am going to delve deeper into the culture and history. The majority of the population speak Luxembourgish which is German with some French words. There is a lot of syncretism in this country as many peopl...
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Music of Sri Lanka

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 In this blog, I will be discussing the music of Sri Lanka. This music is heavily influenced by ancient folk rites, Buddhist religion traditions, legacy of European colonization, and some historical influences by Bollywood. The first type of music regarding Sri Lanka is their folk music. This type of music kind of came about similar to the Ghana Postal Workers song. During a day's work, the employees would sing with one another to help the time pass by quicker. As years have passed on, this type of music is not as popular in everyday life. Although, it is still important when discussing Sri Lanka's cultural background. There are still some musicians that only preform the folk music and sometimes these musicians sing in competition with one another. Below is attached one example of what the folk songs sound like.  While researching the Sri Lanka music, I also learned more about the instruments. The first instrument I would like to share is the Rabana. This instrument is a membr...
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Swing Jazz Music

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For my blog this week, I researched Swing music. I have always been drawn to this kind of music as I used to listen to it with my grandparents when I was younger. So, when I had this chance to research swing jazz, I jumped on the opportunity. Now, let me talk to you about this music that has brought so much joy to many Americans including me and my grandparents. Swing is a type of jazz music that was first introduced in the 1930’s through the 1940’s. One distinct difference that makes swing music unique is that you are easily able to groove to the beat. Part of that reason is that the music accentuates beats 2 and 4 and then replaces steady eighth notes with lifting/upbeat eighth notes while adding accents and syncopation. Attached below is an actual piece of jazz sheet music, so you can understand what I was trying to explain.  The history of Swing music is that it was derived from African roots and jazz music that just got started in the United States. Swing music received popula...
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Music and Family

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  For this Music and Family blog, I chose to interview my mom. She is in her 50’s and was able to experience the famous 80’s and 90’s first hand! I had an amazing time with this interview and I am excited to tell you about some of the things I learned. So, first of all, my mom played the flute both through her middle school, high school, and college years. My mom was part of the marching band at her school and at one point played the piccolo. She explained that it was a release of her stress when she played her instrument. In fact, when I was in 5th grade I was also interested in playing the flute and I was able to play hers. Being able to play the flute that she played was special to me because I knew I was playing for her.  Secondly, my mom explained that her music taste has definitely changed throughout the years. When she was younger, she loved Journey the most. She actually went to tow of their concerts and had the time of her life. Now, as she has aged her preferred musi...
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Music of Sub-Saharan Africa

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The first item that I researched for this topic were other instruments in Sub-Saharan Africa. The first musical device that I found is an idiophone and it is called the Balafon. This instrument is similar to the European xylophone. The Balafon is one of the instruments the griots in Gambia will play to share the history of their ancestors. This instrument dates back to the formation of the Mandinka Empire. The first Griot who used this instrument has two stories of how the Balafon came into existence. The first is that it was given to Sunjata by a spirit and he had to play the Balafon because that was the only thing tied to his name. The other myth is that his identity was solely the Balafon, with that, he was injured so he could go nowhere. Therefore, he could only stay in front of the king and play music on the Balafon. A difference between the Balafon and the drums of the village is that it was created in court tradition. This means that it was created to praise the kings and perfor...
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Music of Indigenous Americans

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  After watching the documentary in class I was very interested in the Fancy Dance both the dress and style of music. While researching the Fancy Dance in more depth, I learned that one type called the Fancy War Dance was developed by Gus Mcdonald. He was a Native American from the Ponca tribe in Oklahoma. McDonald had a huge impact on the Native American culture; the current matriarch of the Ponca tribe, Julep Farmer McDonald, presents the trophy to the winner of the Fancy War Dance. Part of the Fancy War Dance is the “feather pull” that Gus McDonald also invented. It evaluates the dancer’s agility and ability to keep time with the drum. One interesting fact is that the “feather pull” can only be done with permission of the McDonald family. Additionally, the Fancy War Dance is used as a form or prayer to respect the ancestors and specifically for the McDonald family. G, About Paul. “Native American Fancy DANCE: What Is Fancy Feather Dancing?” PowWows.com , 1 Feb. 2020, www.powwows...
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My Musical Culture

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Hey everyone! My name is Alyssa Graf.  I am a freshman here and I play on the volleyball team! I intend to double major in Biochemistry and Psychology. I am personally not that great with music or any type of art. I did play the flute for a few years, but ended up quitting when things got too busy. Although, music is a huge part of my life! For example, my sister is a music therapist for a program in Illinois that helps underprivileged children and teens. I am technically from a suburb about an hour and a half outside of Chicago, IL. However, I have lived in both Dallas and Houston, TX too. I have three siblings and they are all older than me (pictured below). I also have a dog named Daisy pictured below! 1. Honestly this is kind of a hard question for me to answer. I listen to a lot of different things depending on how I am feeling. Sometimes it is country, pop, rap, christian, upbeat, or kind of slow.  Therefore, it was hard for me to just pick one song that I like. After s...
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