Alyssa's Creative Thoughts

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...

  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...

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...