Introduction
Music genres have the different characteristics which can be heard in any song. Five characteristics can be heard when you listen to the music. These characteristics include call and response, Buzzy timbre, Ostinato, community participation and rhythmic complexity. First, call and response is music that has two different phrases succeeding one another and played by different musicians; thus, the second phrase is usually a direct response to the first phrase. Therefore, the characteristic of music reflects the normal human interactive communication and is one of the basic element entailing musical forms. In African culture, Call and response is a pervasive pattern of direct participation where people meet to address the civic and religious affairs affecting them and use of vocal and instrumental musical expression. Buzzy timbre is sound quality: timbre is characteristic that enables us to differentiate between one instrument and another used in music. Also, helps use different vowel sound in the music (for example “aaaaaaaaaa” or “ooooooo”). There are different terms that can describe timbre in music, for instance, reedy, pure, raspy, etc. Thus, one can describe timbre by identity and name the instruments used in music. Ostinato is a repetition of the phrase in music. The repeating idea can either be the rhythmic pattern or complete melody. Therefore, the music with this characteristic must have the same repetition. Community participation is music where it involves the community in its setting; thus, the music that is culturally based. This paper considers two different videos one based on African culture and other based on Latino culture. Thus, the paper discusses call and response characteristic which is common with both genres of the videos. Therefore, the discussion includes components in the aural analysis.
Video 1 and Video 2 analyses
Ghanaian dance video is community-based music which includes call and response characteristic of music. The dancers respond to music dance and phrase response after one group has already sand and dance. The first group claps and dance and the other respond. Thus, this music characteristic is well featured in the song. Therefore, to understand the song were we should use the elements of music.
Salgueiro 2017 video is a samba musical genre from Brazil but with roots from Africa. The song in the video involves call and response characteristic of the music. Thus, the first musician signs and the second in the chorus respond differently. In conducting the video analysis, we must consider elements of music the song.
Elements of Music in the Ghanaian Dance and Salguiro 2017 Video
Beat and Meter
A beat in music is what gives music rhythmic organization and pattern; it is either regular or irregular, but in this video the beat is irregular. The beats in the songs involve drums beating and hand clapping. There are different danceable beats in the song which acts as call and response. Thus, the group is engaging in an interactive song; hence, contributing to different beats. Meter is defined as rhythmic patterns that are produced by the grouping the beats together. The response beats in the video are weak compared to call beats which are strong.
The Salgueiro 2017 video song is very rich beat and meter. The song has different musical instruments that complement each other in producing the beats of the song. The beats in the song have a regular rhythmic pattern, unlike the Ghanaian video. The meter in the song helps in making the call beats, and responses beat response beats to complement each other effectively.
Dynamics
Dynamics in a song is the volume or intensity of the performance. Thus, dynamics are symbols that signify the appropriate note to be played or sung. Therefore, dynamics emphasis on precise and accurate moments that right note should be sung. In the Ghanaian video, the dynamics of the song are directed by the instruments used in the song. For instance, at while clapping there different clapping sounds that influence the where to be sung. Thus, the instruments in music are influenced by call and response music characteristic; thus, influencing the song dynamics. Although with the different perspective the Salgueiro 2017 video involves dynamics elements. The song involves singers’ who uses different vocals to demonstrate the intensity of the performance of the song. The call singer is using high notes while the response singer uses low notes sing.
Harmony
Harmony in the song is what you hear when different notes are played at the same time. It influences music texture and melody of the song. The harmonic chords in Ghanaian video use major notes while in the Salgueiro 2017 video uses diminished notes. In the Ghanaian video, the caller and respondent at some point both use major harmonic chords in the song. The Salgueiro 2017 video at some point both caller and respondent use the same diminishing harmonic chords.
Melody
Melody is the overarching tune made by the series of notes, and it is influenced by the pitch and rhythm. A song may have a single melody or multiple melodies arranged in chorus verse. Ghanaian video has single melody throughout the song that is repeated at different intervals of the song while the Salgueiro 2017 video has both single and multiple melodies which are arranged at the verse-chorus of the song. In both videos, melodies are influenced by the music characteristic of call and response.
Pitch
The pitch of the sound is founded on the sequence of vibration and the size of the vibrating object. Thus, slow vibration implies that the vibrating object is bigger, the pitch is lower and the vice versa. Thus, the in video one the song has higher pitch compared the pitch in the Salgueiro video.
Rhythm
Rhythm can be referred as a pattern of sounds in period and beats in music. Thus, there are particular arrangements of the song taking into account the time and beats. Thus, the call and response feature in the Ghanaian video is rhythm is determined by the tempo. The song s recorded as the people are dancing thus it has a high tempo. The Salguero 2017 video rhythm is shaped by the meter with low tempo.
Tempo
Tempo is the velocity at which music is sung or played. The tempo of the Salguero is both slow and moderate while the Salgueiro Tempo is very fast.
Timbre
Timbre is sound quality: timbre is characteristic that enables us to differentiate between one instrument and another used in music. Also, helps use different vowel sound in the music (for example “aaaaaaaaaa” or “ooooooo”). There are different terms that can describe timbre in music, for instance, reedy, pure, raspy, etc. Thus, one can describe timbre by identifying and naming the instruments used in music. The Ghanaian video timbre is raspy since it uses drums and clapping hard as instruments while Salgueiro video timbre is pure since it uses guitar, human sounds among others.
Cultural Ethnomusicology
Both songs are based on cultural contexts. Thus, Salgueiro is samba musical genre while the Ghanaian video represent is Ghanaian musical genre. The songs are used in cultural context especially in matters relating to those communities either religious or civil affairs.
Conclusion
The characteristic call and response are in both genre.call and the response is music that has two different phrases succeeding one another and played by different musicians; thus, the second phrase is usually a direct response to the first phrase. Therefore, the characteristic of music reflects the normal human interactive communication and is one of the basic element entailing musical forms. In African culture and Brazilian culture, Call and response is a pervasive pattern of direct participation where people meet to address the civic and religious affairs affecting them and use of vocal and instrumental musical expression.
References
Miller, Terry E., and Andrew Shahriari. World music: A global journey. Routledge, 2008
Philips, Moses. “Ghanaian Dance MVI 0264” Uploaded on June 15, 2017 retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpYa1eiiQFg
SALGUEIR. (2017). “Samba Concorrente da Parceria de Xande de Pilares” Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fPcQfRqS1g#action=share
