This song is called Songhai Piece. It comes from Mali, in North Africa:
And here is one you should know by now, if you have the right stuff. (It is from a country to the East of Mali. Or West, if you go the long way):
World Music
Tag: world music
A Raga For You
Like I said up there.
This is called Raga Kamaj:
And this is a mix of sixteen different Ragas:
This one is called Raga Bageshri:
According to Wikipedia, a raga or raag (IAST: rāga; also raaga or ragam; literally “coloring, tingeing, dyeing”) is a melodic framework for improvisation akin to a melodic mode in Indian classical music. The rāga is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a result has no direct translation to concepts in classical European music.
Each rāga is an array of melodic structures with musical motifs, considered in the Indian tradition to have the ability to “colour the mind” and affect the emotions of the audience.
Each rāga provides the musician with a musical framework within which to improvise. Improvisation by the musician involves creating sequences of notes allowed by the rāga in keeping with rules specific to the rāga. Rāgas range from small rāgas like Bahar and Shahana that are not much more than songs to big rāgas like Malkauns, Darbari and Yaman, which have great scope for improvisation and for which performances can last over an hour.
Rāgas may change over time, with an example being Marwa, the primary development of which has been going down into the lower octave, in contrast with the traditional middle octave. Each rāga traditionally has an emotional significance and symbolic associations such as with season, time and mood. The rāga is considered a means in the Indian musical tradition to evoking specific feelings in an audience. Hundreds of rāga are recognized in the classical tradition, of which about 30 are common, and each rāga has its “own unique melodic personality”.
There are two main classical music traditions, Hindustani (North Indian) and Carnatic (South Indian), and the concept of rāga is shared by both. Rāga are also found in Sikh traditions such as in Guru Granth Sahib, the primary scripture of Sikhism. Similarly, it is a part of the qawwali tradition in Sufi Islamic communities of South Asia. Some popular Indian film songs and ghazals use rāgas in their composition.
Every raga has a swara (a note or named pitch) called shadja, or adhara sadja, whose pitch may be chosen arbitrarily by the performer. This is taken to mark the beginning and end of the saptak (loosely, octave). The raga also contains an an adhista, which is either the swara Ma or the swara Pa. The adhista divides the octave into two parts or anga – the purvanga, which contains lower notes, and the uttaranga, which contains higher notes. Every raga has a vadi and a samvadi. The vadi is the most prominent swara, which means that an improvising musician emphasizes or pays more attention to the vadi than to other notes. The samvadi is consonant with the vadi (always from the anga that does not contain the vadi) and is the second most prominent swara in the raga.
That last sentence goes without saying.
Just Two Songs Left
All good things come to an end sooner or later. This is the second to last song on our trip around the world, musically speaking. It was written in the Rai style of music popular in Northwest Africa.
This song is called 2:30 AM.
And this one is called Rosh Shel Lee (My Head)
According to liveabout.com, Rai music is a popular genre of world music from the Northern African country of Algeria. Rai is pronounced “rye” or “rah-AY” and translates as “opinion”. Rai music began in the early 1900s as a combination of popular music and traditional Bedouin desert music.
Rai transformed throughout the 1900s but really came into its own in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when artists such as Ahmad Baba Rachid blended traditional Rai with modern pop sounds.
Another Dilemma
As we continue on our exploration of Middle Eastern music, I must remind you all to remain seated, and keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. We don’t want another incident like the one last week.
I will be adding more songs to this page later today. At least that is the plan.
This song is called Dafne’s Dilemma.
And this is called People of The Dark.
This is called Temple of Dum 15. The sheet music said “Add low-D drones freely throughout.” I think I got it right……..
More Fun Facts
According to https://www.worldbellydance.com/history/ the origin of the name ‘belly dance’ comes from the French Danse du ventre, which translates as “dance of the stomach.” I did not know that!
But I do know that I like the music that comes from that part of the world. Here is another “Belly Dance Excerpt.” Or should I say “Dance of the Stomach Excerpt.”
This next song sounds different because I didn’t put the key signature in when I entered the music into my music making machine, which makes it C Major, instead of D-Minor. Any questions? You, in the back…….
Here is a song called Moroccan Dance, which came with only one line of music, so I added two more. It is written in 12/16 time:
Here is a song called Sama-1. The second and third versions have added layers. It is written in 10/4 time.
This one is called People of the Dark. There is no time signature in the written music. So I had to do me some calculatin’
World Music
Fun Fact: Today’s song comes from Turkey, and is used often by belly dancers.
It is entitled Cafe Shohor 9.
More Music
This concludes our study of African Music. We will continue on our journey through the music of the world when we visit the Middle East.
If you have questions refer to your syllabus or any of the online resources I discussed in our Zoom Meetings in May.
The Write Stuff 