An introduction to Music from the following regions: Africa The Caribbean India Greece Middle East Palestine Israel

1. Introduction to
World🤣 Music
christopher baker
musicstudentinfo.com

2. World
Music
An introduction to music from
the following regions
Africa
India
The Carribean
Greece
Brazil
The Middle East
Palestine
Israel

3. Definition &
Terminology
• The term “world music” is a complete misnomer
and outright racist.
• It effectively categorizes most non-Western music
into an outcast group destined for the fringes of
music festivals and the corners of music shops.
• The term has also added stereotypes of the music
being less developed and more primitive.

4. RHYTHMIC
features
used in all
World
Music
Syncopation off-beat rhythms, syncopated
rhythms
Dotted Rhythms usually a pair of long then
short beat patterns
Polyrhythms many rhythms played at the
same time
Cross rhythms a cross-rhythm is the effect
produced when two conflicting rhythms are
heard together.
Accented beats different beats are played
louder to make them stand out

5. AFRICAN
Music
features
1
Performed at weddings, funerals, festivals and other
public ceremonies
Djembe Drum with 3 main sounds (Bass, Tone and
Slap), played with the hands/fingertips.
Dundun Lower pitched drum that often plays an
ostinato rhythm giving the pulse. Played with a stick.
Talking Drum A drum that can change pitch by
squeezing it
Agogo/Bell Bell sound that sets the pulse for another
performer
Shakers hand percussion
Balafon African Xylophone made from wooden bars
and gourds, played with beaters

6. AFRICAN
Music
features
2
Mbira or thumb-piano, made from thin metal bars
which are plucked giving a unique sound
Polyrhythmic texture different rhythms combined in
layers
Cross rhythms two against three feel
Call & Response drumming or singing
Master Drummer leads the group, plays the core
rhythm as well as improvises and controls the
structure of the music
Strong sense of pulse/cyclic repeated sections

7. African
Listen & Watch

8. Balafon & Talking Drum

9. INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC features 1
3 LAYERS 1.Raga 2.Drone 3. Tala
Improvised music based on the Raga and Tala.
Raga the name given to both the main melody and different scales used in Indian
Classical music
Tala the main drum pattern ‘cycle’ used in Indian Classical Music.
The Tala is cyclical repeated.
Tabla the pair of drums that are used in Indian Classical Music.
A pair of drums played with hands and fingertips.

10. INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC features 2
Sitar – a plucked string instrument used in Indian Classical music responsible for playing the
melody
Performance techniques on the sitar include slides, pitch bends, fast moving sections ‘runs’
repeated notes
Bansuri Flute – a wooden flute made traditionally from Bamboo, is responsible for playing
the melody
Tambura/Tanpura – Long-necked string instrument that is plucked. The notes are left to
play/sustain accompanying the main melody. This is known as a drone a harmonic device.
Structure - Alap slow melody & drone – Gat table added– Jhala grows more complex.

11. India
Sitar
&
Tabla Drums

12. BHANGRA MUSIC features 1
Melody & Accompaniment texture
Bhangra started in the Punjab region of India (now split between India and Pakistan).
Chaal – the basic repetitive bhangra rhythm, usually played on the Dhol
Dhol – a double headed drum played with sticks
Tumbi – single string instrument thar often plays the chaal riff too.
4/4 Time Signature, steady tempo
Bpm 140-195
Hoi shouts on beats 2 & 4
Hand claps
Drum fill
Harmonium/synthesizer, guitars, drum machines or drum kit, sampled sounds
Singing in Punjab
Pitch bends/microtones
Simple harmony – often just two chords!
Structure; Verse/chorus/instrumental sections
Riffs/repetitive melodies
Interplay between lead vocalist & backing singers

13. Bhangra Listen & Watch

14. Traditional Eastern Mediterranean and
Middle Eastern Folk Rhythms
General Arabic features
Mode an Arabic scale which contains microtones
Microtones the notes between a semitone
A Wazn a rhythmic pattern (similar to Indian Tala). There are
hundreds!
Doumbek a drum similar to a Djembe, played with
hands/fingertips
Oud a pear shaped string instrument, played with a pick
(mainly Palestinian music)

15. Traditional
Eastern
Mediterranean
and Middle
Eastern Folk
Rhythms
PALESTINIAN MUSIC features
Palestinian music contains
only melody and rhythm No
chords/harmonies
Improvisation – is an
important feature

16. Mediterranean & Middle Eastern
Oud
Doumbek

17. ISRAELI MUSIC features
Music for dancing at weddings and bar mitzvah celebrations
2/4 or 4/4 time signature
Bass guitar crotchet Tonic & Dominant pulse
Off-beat chords (played on 2nd & 4th beat)
Fast tempo
Gradual accelerando
Ornaments (pitch bends & grace notes) added to melody
Clarinet, violin or accordion often play the melody

18. Israeli Traditional Music

19. GREEK MUSIC features
Greek music- for dancing at
social occasions
Simple melodies with lots
of ornamentation (e.g.,
melisma)
Often add a parallel melody
a 3rd above
Greek harmony uses
diatonic major & minor
chords
Chords are usually on the
off-beat (beats 2 & 4)
Tonic & Dominant are
emphasised by bass
instrument
Bouzouki – a Greek stringed
instrument, usually used as
a melody instrument and
for playing slides &
tremolos in 3rds.
Defi – a hand drum with
bangles attached
Lots of string instruments –
bowed or
plucked/strummed
Wind instruments are like
recorder & clarinet
Irregular time signatures
5/8 or 7/8
Structure – short sections,
repeated

20. Greek
Bouzouki & Defi

21. CALYPSO MUSIC features 1
• Lively music from the Islands of Trinidad and
Tobago (Caribbean)
• Verse/Chorus/Instrumental structure
• Simple harmony – Tonic, Subdominant, Dominant
(e.g. C, F, G - if in C major).
• Major key tonality
• Melody & Accompaniment texture
• 2/4 or 4/4/ Time Signatures

22. CALYPSO MUSIC features 2
• Syncopated rhythms
• Steel Band music – made from old oil drums
• Steel pans are pitched – alto (chords) tenor
(melody) & bass pans
• Tremolo performance technique
• Bass guitar and Drum-Kit
• Any lyrics will be concerned with social issues or
events

23. Steel
Pans
Trinidad
& Tobago

24. SAMBA MUSIC features 1
• Samba originates from Brazil and is commonly associated with
street parties called carnivals. It uses lots of percussion
instruments and is very lively and upbeat, as people often
dance to it.
• 2/4 or 4/4 time signature
• Polyrhythms (layers of different rhythms)
• A huge range of percussion
• Improvisation the Master drummer sometimes improvises over
the ostinato rhythms
• Structure no set structure. The master drummer decides where
to change rhythms and breaks.

25. SAMBA MUSIC features 2
• Layered ostinatos of different rhythms
• All players playing the same rhythm in unison
• A Solo section
• A Call & response section

26. SAMBA MUSIC features 3
• The Master drummer leads the group giving signals to change the
music (rhythms, sections, tempo etc.)
• Call & Response a rhythm played by the leader, which is then copied by
the rest of the group
• Repinique a small drum, often played by the leader of the Samba band.
Tuned very high to be heard clearly.
• Whistle a samba whistle is used by the leader to give instructions and
signal to the rest of the band. It often has three different pitches
• Surdo large drum with a deep sound helps give the music a strong
pulse, played with a soft beater.
• Agogo Bells like a cowbell but has a high and low-pitched bell. Plays
complex and syncopated rhythms
• Shakers, Guiros and Claves.

27. Brazilian
Samba School & Batucada