<text><span class="style10">usic from around the World (1 of 3)</span><span class="style7">In the West, when we speak of music, we think in terms of the Western 'classical' tradition; but there are many other musical traditions in the world that are highly developed. Distinct classical traditions, as opposed to folk or popular traditions, also exist in countries such as Arabia, India, Indonesia, China, Japan and Korea. Traditional music is generally associated with the activities of everyday life. Because it is not normally written down, this music is passed from one generation to another by word of mouth and imitation; traditional repertoires are constantly changing to meet the needs, either political or social, of a particular society.Modes, scales and rhythms vary from country to country, but the interval of an octave is a universal concept. The octave is generally divided into three (</span><span class="style23">tritonic</span><span class="style7">), five (</span><span class="style23">pentatonic</span><span class="style7">), six (</span><span class="style23">hexatonic</span><span class="style7">) or seven (</span><span class="style23">heptatonic</span><span class="style7">). These intervals are not necessarily of equal size.</span><span class="style10">Africa</span><span class="style7">Song in Africa is a communal activity; song celebrates, comments on or spreads news of all aspects of African life. The main instruments are drums, rattles, xylophones, harps, lyres, single-string fiddles, flutes and side-blown trumpets. Instruments can be played solo, in groups or to accompany singing, and as some instruments are believed to possess supernatural powers, they act as mediators between people and gods. Drums can be played so that they imitate the rhythms and pitches of African tonal languages, and they are often used to transmit verbal messages. The ownership of trumpets and drums represents power, prestige and authority. The social organization of a tribe is often reflected by the instruments they play: for example, pygmies have few instruments, usually small in size so that they can be easily carried, while the music of nomadic tribes is mainly vocal and is often accompanied by clapping, slapping the body or a leather apron, and stamping.The texts of African songs are often freely improvised, the singer acquiring inspiration from his surroundings - for ex ample, at wedding celebrations advice is often given to the bride and bridegroom on how they should conduct their married life together. The music usually consists of only two phrases that are constantly repeated, the first being sung by the soloist and the second by everyone present. The music is nearly always accompanied by steady rhythmic clap ping. The rhythms of African music are often </span><span class="style23">additive</span><span class="style7"> (of unequal sections). In a time span of twelve beats in Western music the beat would be divided into 4 + 4 + 4 or 3 + 3 + 3 + 3, but in African music the beat could be divided into 5 + 7 or 3 + 4 + 5 units of time. Each drummer has his own basic rhythm to play; in a group only one player at a time may improvise.</span><span class="style10">Arabia</span><span class="style7">The most important instruments in Arabic music are the </span><span class="style23">ud</span><span class="style7"> (short-necked lute), the </span><span class="style23">qanun</span><span class="style7"> (psaltery), the </span><span class="style23">rabab</span><span class="style7"> (fiddle), the </span><span class="style23">nay</span><span class="style7"> (vertical flute), the </span><span class="style23">kamanja</span><span class="style7"> (violin), the </span><span class="style23">darbukka</span><span class="style7"> (drum) and the </span><span class="style23">duff</span><span class="style7"> (tambourine). Often orchestras of many different instruments play in unison.The text for many Arabic songs is derived from ancient literary traditions; heroic tales, love songs and death laments are popular and are generally for solo voice or choir with instrumental accompaniment.The song is divided into three sections, in which the melodies are developed by contrasting improvised and fixed melodic passages, and is accompanied by a group of instrumentalists. Arabic music is particularly remarkable for its rhythm. The time cycle (called a 'chain') may be extremely long, yet the players can always mark the strong and weak beats precisely on each recurrence of the chain. The scale used in Arabic music consists of small intervals, and a tone can be divided into three or four microtones, while folk music favors the three-quarter tone for its melodies. Within the folk tradition melodies are harsh and dissonant, in contrast to the more delicate classical styles. Texts are often imaginative and express the personal feelings of the singer on loneliness or rejection by a lover.</span><span class="style10">China</span><span class="style7">From earliest times music has played an important role in Chinese society - at feasts and festivals, and in theater, dance-pantomimes, and puppet shows. Today it is used for political, social and educational purposes.Traditionally instruments are classified according to the material from which they are made - metal, stone, clay, skin, silk, wood, gourd and bamboo. The oldest known traditional instruments are the </span><span class="style23">qin</span><span class="style7"> (zither) and </span><span class="style23">piba</span><span class="style7"> (lute); today other instruments are popular, such as the </span><span class="style23">zheng</span><span class="style7"> (16-stringed zither), </span><span class="style23">dizi</span><span class="style7"> (bamboo flute), </span><span class="style23">erhu</span><span class="style7"> (2-stringed fiddle), </span><span class="style23">yang-qin</span><span class="style7"> (dulcimer) and </span><span class="style23">sona</span><span class="style7"> (oboe). There are large bells, and magnificent tuned gongs that can be played singly or in groups of ten or thirteen.Each Chinese scale is selected from twelve basic pitches called l├╝; each </span><span class="style23">l├╝</span><span class="style7"> is roughly equivalent to a semitone, but they are unequal. The commonest scale chosen from these notes is the pentatonic scale, followed by the heptatonic.There are four categories of Chinese opera. The </span><span class="style23">Kunqu</span><span class="style7">, which is today staged mainly by amateurs, is characterized by a very sophisticated singing style and prominent use of dance. It is mainly accompanied by flute melodies. Both the </span><span class="style23">Kunqu</span><span class="style7"> and the </span><span class="style23">Pi-huang</span><span class="style7"> (Beijing or Peking opera) use the same fragments of melodies for different songs throughout the opera. The character of the melodies is changed by contrasting the tempo and rhythm. The main melody instrument is the </span><span class="style23">jinghu</span><span class="style7"> (high-pitched two-stringed fiddle). The </span><span class="style23">Gaoqiang</span><span class="style7"> opera takes local folk song as its musical basis while the </span><span class="style23">Clapper</span><span class="style7"> opera, true to its name, is accompanied by a wooden clapper.</span></text>
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<text><span class="style10"> Bali musician</span><span class="style7"> playing the gamelan, a collection of gongs in Indonesian music.</span></text>
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<text>ΓÇó ISLAMIC ARTΓÇó ASIAN ARTΓÇó CHINESE AND JAPANESE ARTΓÇó WHAT IS MUSIC?ΓÇó FOLK MUSICΓÇó THE WORLD OF DANCEΓÇó THE LITERATURE OF ASIA</text>
