Hey guys! We did it! This is the last blog and now we just have a quiz left... isn't it great? Well for my last big blog I decided to write mine on the country of Jamaica and their musical culture. I would like to think that every one knows where Jamaica is at, but for those of who do not, it is situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is the third largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Its population is 2.95 million. For this blog, I found that there are many different genres of music in Jamaica, so I wanted to cover a few of the important ones for all of you guys. I hope yall enjoy!
So the first musical heritage of Jamaican music is the most popular and it is called Mento. It is the original popular music form in Jamaica and developed during the plantation period and was born from the fusion of African and British influences. What part is British? The scale patterns, harmonic concepts, verse, and chorus song types. What about Africa? The performance mode, rhythmic impulse, its call and response type of singing. Although it was very popular, many songs were banned because they were thought to be too sexually explicit. Some of the first people to record Mento were Lord Flea and Lord Fly, then later Harold Richardson, and 'Sugar Belly' Walker. Some popular Mento "Run Mongoose", "Rukumbine",Peel Head John Crow".
So I mentioned Calypso in my last paragraph and I wanted to explain what it is. It is the phenomenon of the Eastern Caribbean. It is also often a song of praise, ridicule, and mockery. The first Jamaican Calypsoes were those of the famous Jazz pianist band leader and vocalist. Baba Motta who sand "She Pon Top"
Next paragraph is Rastafarian music. It is another popular form and it originated from the Rastafarian Movement in the 1930's in Jamaica in the 1930's in Jamaica. One man in particular, count Ossie Williams was very instrumental in the development of Rastafarian music. Count Ossie combined an easier Jamaican music form called Burru and Kumina rhythms which then formed what is now called Rasta music. What are some instruments you may ask? The instruments used in Rastafarian music are tambourines, shakers, scrapers, striker bells, saxaphone, trombone, and most importantly drums. Drums are very popular and there are three kinds. The largest is bass drum which produces the steady rhythm. The Fuden which sets the pace of the music. Finally, the Repeater which is the smallest. A popular song is the "Satta Massagana Riddim".
Reggae, my personal favorite, is an up-tempo and is characterized by its heavy often repeated bass. Reggae music usually contains a message of either political, religious, or social matters. It has increased locally and internationally. The most popular and very famous Reggae artist is Robert "Bob" Marley who died in 1981. He has several awards and one of them is the order of Merit for his contribution to the developement of reggae music. Bob Marley has always been a personal favorite of mine too by the way. I even have his station on Pandora and is one of many artists that I always listen to his music never fails put me in a good and happy mood.
Since Bob Marley was the one who really set Reggae music in Jamaica and internationally, let's talk about him some. He was born on February 6, 1945, and died on May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. He began his musical career in the year of 1963. Bob Marley in a group called "Bob Marley and The Wailers". The group helped set off Reggae music.
Faith I really enjoyed reading your blog. I had no idea that Jamaica had so many genres! I listen to Jamaican music sometimes and I absolutely love it. It is such a great way to escape and a really relaxing way to get my mind to calm down. I had no idea that their was a genre that was based on British influence. I can hear the difference between Mento and the other genres.
Hey Faith! I love that you did your fine blog on music of Jamaica. I have always fun so much peach in this culture of music. I did not realize how many different genre there were though, which is so crazy to me.
Heyyyyy! I cannot tell you how excited I was when I saw someone was doing Jamaican music!!!! I've heard about most of these music types, but I'd never actually got around to listening to Mento. Thanks for introducing me to something new!
Wow, I really liked your blog. I was supposed to go to Jamaica last summer, but unfortunately covid happened and I could not go. Reggae is definitely a mood, and I love listening to Bob Marley. He is one of my favorite artists and when I was younger we used to listen to Bob Marley and it would always put me in a better mood. "Satta Massagana Riddim'' to me, sounded so beautiful and mellow. I am glad I got to read your blogs and get to know you more.
Hey Guys! Its so good to be back on here and to talk about some more cool stuff! Were almost there guys, just hang in there! Just think haha, a few more weeks and well be stuffing our faces with some goooooodd food, at least I will be doing that. I am not going to lie, it did take me a long time to figure out what I was going to write about today, so I just decided that I was going to dive deeper into what we have already been learning in class and try to find out some more cool things about all of this stuff. For my first cool thing, I wanted to dive deeper into the drone. It sounds super cool and whenever I say it I always think of an actual drone flying over someone's head getting all of these cool videos and everything. But that is no so in this case. This is actually an instrument in Indian classical music (like we didn't already know that though). Anyways, I looked up what the drone was in Indian music and it is a harmonic or monophonic effect where a note is played co...
Hello friends! I hope you all have had a great day so far and week haha, but lets get started on this blog! So I was going to interview my boyfriend of two years because he was seriously considered family to my family and me but unfortunately we broke up almost a week ago (the thing is though, is that I never ever saw that coming haha... who knew) I am fine though, really. He wasn't worth it that much anyways (just a sis tryna make herself feel better I guess). So because of my breakup , I am having to interview a different boyfriend who is considered family as well (don't worry, I am not a hoe, it is my sister's boyfriend). His name is Dylan and he is in the military and is a pretty cool guy with some pretty cool music taste. Here is a picture of him so you all can get an idea of what this fella looks like. :) Me: So to start it off, what kind of music did you listen to? Dylan: Well, I like country music, rap, and rock. Me: Oh, you like rock, I never pegged you as the kin...
Hey guys! I hope everyone has had a great week. Today for my cool stuff blog, I wanted to dive into Libya and explore their music and culture. Apparently, according to Wiki, the most popular music in Libya is Arab music. There are various types of Arab music such as, Andalusi, Chabi, and Arab classical music. Hope you guys enjoy! For my first topic, I wanted to explore and learn about the type of instruments they use in their music. After looking some things up, I found that the most common instruments that the Libya's use is the zokra, which is a bagpipe; the flute; tambourine; oud, which is a fretless lute; the darbuka, which is a goblet drum held sideways and is played with one's fingers. What I found myself the most interested in was the zokra. The zokra is a double-chanter terminating in two cow horns. I learned that in the south and west of Libya, the zokra is played as the bagpipe, but in the east, it is played by the mouth without the bag that is apart of the "bag...
Faith I really enjoyed reading your blog. I had no idea that Jamaica had so many genres! I listen to Jamaican music sometimes and I absolutely love it. It is such a great way to escape and a really relaxing way to get my mind to calm down. I had no idea that their was a genre that was based on British influence. I can hear the difference between Mento and the other genres.
ReplyDeleteHey Faith! I love that you did your fine blog on music of Jamaica. I have always fun so much peach in this culture of music. I did not realize how many different genre there were though, which is so crazy to me.
ReplyDeleteHeyyyyy! I cannot tell you how excited I was when I saw someone was doing Jamaican music!!!! I've heard about most of these music types, but I'd never actually got around to listening to Mento. Thanks for introducing me to something new!
ReplyDeleteWow, I really liked your blog. I was supposed to go to Jamaica last summer, but unfortunately covid happened and I could not go. Reggae is definitely a mood, and I love listening to Bob Marley. He is one of my favorite artists and when I was younger we used to listen to Bob Marley and it would always put me in a better mood. "Satta Massagana Riddim'' to me, sounded so beautiful and mellow. I am glad I got to read your blogs and get to know you more.
ReplyDelete