Big Blog 2- Tango of Argentina

 

History

     At first, Tango meant "Music of the Unprivileged". It is a mixture of European immigrants, African slaves, dances, and music styles from native settlers. This eventually became a music genre and dance. Tango is now the musical point of national pride in Argentina. Tango began in between 1890 and 1910 along the Rio de la Plata River. This is the river that separates Argentina from Uruguay. This is when people would start shows and theater performances. Tango is more than dance; it is also music. Many countries participate in Tango, like France, United Kingdom, and even the US.  In 1913, tango came to America, arriving in New York city.  When it came to American, it was sped up and danced to a faster tempo. It later began to slow down and become more of its original style. 

Music style

Tango uses a 2/4 or a 4/4 rhythm with two uplifting beats and two downbeats, The songs consist of two or three parts. These parts are a pattern of ABAB or ABCAC. This style of music relies on beats. It is influenced by jazz music. It changes dynamics and melancholic but intense. 

Dance style

Tango is a dance preformed in a counterclockwise manner with a partner. Everyone dances in lines of traffic that cut and flows on the dance floor. The elements of tango are the embrace, walking, figures, dancing codes, and the underlying type of music. It is a traditional ballroom dance. 

Sources

“Argentine Tango - History, Elements and Styles.” Www.dancefacts.net, www.dancefacts.net/tango/argentine-tango/.

‌“A Brief History of Tango.” The Slow Road Luxury Travel Blog, 10 June 2016, www.butterfield.com/get-inspired/brief-history-tango.

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Music and Family

 I have had the privilege to discuss my mom's intake on music. I asked her a few questions about music from the 90's, early 2000's and also todays music. I already know a lot about what my mom listens to, but I would like to share it with you all.

Highschool

In high school, my mom listened to mostly R&B. Some of her favorite artist and/or groups were TLC, SWV, En Vogue, Jodeci and many others. She had so many that she listed. I have listened to TLC before and maybe En Vogue but if I was told to tell you who is a part of some of these groups, I'd have no idea. In the 90's it was common for people to listen to music when they were bored. In her words, "We had nothing to do so we listened to music most of the time." It would make them want to dance. One song that is very commonly known by TLC is 'No Scrubs'. 

Parents taste in music

I asked, did you like the music your mom listened to? For many people in this generation, we would probably say no. Well, the same goes for her. When my mom was younger, she didn't really like my grandma's taste in music but now that she's older, it is some of the only music she listens to. I am the same way, I guess I got that from her. When I was younger, I did not like the 90's music my mom played but I did like the early 2000's music she played. Now I love 90's music. Me and my family will play it in the kitchen while my mom is cooking, and we would all sing and dance to it as if it just came out yesterday or as if it was still number 1 on billboard. Some examples of music my grandma listen to that my mom now likes is "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding and "Papa was a Rolling Stone" by the Temptations.

Early 2000's

My Siblings and I grew up listening to early 2000's. I wanted to know if this was something my mom enjoyed listening to. Her response to this was, "I was okay. It wasn't bad and it was still pretty innocent." We enjoy listening to this era of music just as much as the 90's era. Though it was a turning point in music, it was still good enough to enjoy. My younger sister, mom and I would be in the car waiting for my brother to finish up football practice and we would be listening to so many songs. Most artist we liked we a K Michelle, Lil Mama and Rihanna. 

Today's Music

Music today is very different from older music, so I wanted to know how is makes her feel. I asked two questions regarding todays music. Question 1. How do you feel about today's music? She responded "It is bad. There is too much cursing, and it does not make sense. I feel like rappers are rapping about anything now."  Question 2. Do you feel like music is meaningful now? She responded, "No, it isn't significant, and it talks about the wrong things." I knew this is how she would respond. I do agree on some levels because I do not understand some songs that are out now, but I think you have to place yourself to the right artist to find meaningful music of today. The final question I asked was, what genre of music do you listen to, now that you are older? and her response was "Gospel and 90's R&B." 

Overall, I enjoy being able to listen to music that my mom would listen to when she was my age. Many songs she has played, I have loved but others I am still confused on why it was popular.

Big Blog 1-African American Spirituals

 History

To start off, I wanted to define what a Spiritual is. A Spiritual is a type of religious folk song that is most closely associated with the enslaved African American people in the south. It is a mixture of work songs, and plantation songs that grew into the blues and Gospel. Work songs and Field Holler, plantation songs, combined sub-Saharan African cultural heritage along with the experiences of being held in bondage of slavery. 

Now, Spirituals started around the 18th century, up until the abolishment of slavery in the 1860's but it is still around today as a more modern style of music with instruments and having been produced. During slavery, slaves would meet in "Praise houses" and have outdoor meetings called "Bush meetings" or "Camp meetings" where they sang, chanted, danced, and entered ecstatic trances. Women, men, and children would all gather and sing together instead of their music being held as gender specific. These spirituals gave slaves them the of privilege "Voice of the Unwritten Self". This is an authentic voice of enslaved African Americans who were denied the ability to write and persevered their thoughts in a physical way. Many people believe that these songs were just a way to communicate, including the plantation owners, though this was true, there was more to it than a secret code. Since many slaves could not write, they had to remember things through song. One of the biggest topics they sang about was the Bible. They were very interested in the Bible and in Biblical stories so they would retell them in song. This was also a way they taught their children, as Spirituals were passed down from generation to generation. Today, we still hear some of these songs and may have never know they are Spirituals. A very popular song that was sung is "Go Down, Moses". 

Go Down, Moses

Some other songs that were, in fact, code songs, were used to communicate with other slaves. They would sing in ways to tell them if they were planning to escape and go towards the Underground Railroad or even to tell each other if they were not going, all in secret so the plantation owner would not know what they were talking about. These types of songs are called Protest Songs and a popular one is "Steal Away to Jesus". 

Steal Away to Jesus

Musical Structure

Spirituals are call and response songs, mostly because of the communication aspect. They would kind of sing and talk at the same time for clarity within their words. Due to the lack of instruments, they would often use their bodies as instruments. They would clap and stomp to make a beat they could all sing along to. 

Artistic Expression of the Praise House

Types of Spirituals

Some types of Spirituals include Sorrow songs, Jubilees, and Protest songs. Sorrow songs are slower, intense, and melancholic (meaning a feeling of sadness, or affected with severe depression). These types of songs are where we get some of the Blues. It describes the struggles within slavery as a slave and identifying the suffering of Jesus Christ. An example of Sorrow song is "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child". For me personally, I have heard this song before, but I never knew it was a Spiritual. The next type of songs are Jubilees. They are songs that are fast, rhythmic, and syncopated (meaning they displaced the beats or accents in the songs so that strong beats can become weak and vice versa.). Some examples of Jubilees are "Rocky My Soul" and "Fare Ye Well". Finally, to recap on Protest songs, they are songs that were sung with codes in them to communicate with one another. 

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child

Fisk Jubilee Singers

Around the 1870's, A group of students that attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee were invited into a new school group by their music professor, George L. White. This was the rebirth of African American Spirituals. Professor White took the student on tour to earn money for their school. They would sing Jubilees in small town at first and would get backlash due to the "untraditional" songs they would sing. When the students started to become hopeless and exhausted, Mr. White gave them not only hope and encouragement but also their name, The Jubilee Singer. They sang all over bring light to the Spirituals, while raising money to help their school. They also encouraged other black colleges to from their own touring groups. They became very popular even though their start was hard and probably scary for them. 

Fisk Jubilee Singer

Fisk Jubilee Singers- 1870's

Sources

African American Spirituals. Web..Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/>. Accessed 28 Oct. 2023.

Bell, Karen Cook. “Literacy, History, and African American Spirituals.” AAIHS, 24 Dec. 2018, www.aaihs.org/literacy-history-and-african-american-spirituals/.

Ansdiscog. “The Negro Spiritual.” THE SPIRITUALS DATABASE, 13 June 2023, spirituals-database.com/the-negro-spiritual/.

 “Our History.” Fisk Jubilee Singers, 14 Sept. 2022, fiskjubileesingers.org/about-the-singers/our-history/.

Music and Gender

     In today’s society gender expectations of music have changed. Before it was never really expected for women to create much music and become “popular”. Even though that has changed now, gender still plays a big role in music. Sometimes music and be found more feminine and/or masculine but music shouldn't be gender specific.

Females can’t be rappers

In the early 2000’s, it was unnatural for women to have a rap style. It made women look masculine and unattractive in other eyes. One artist that helped change this is Missy Elliott. She brought her own style to hip hop and let the world know that women can rap just as well as a man can. Though people still showed her hate, she continued to create music and rap. Til this day Missy is an iconic feminine role model in the music industry. She helped and inspired many female rappers we know and love today. 

Missy Elliott- The rain

Men shouldn’t sing about their feelings

There’s been lots of controversy about men singing about how they feel. Some believe it’s beautiful and sensitive while others believe it’s soft and in powering to makes. Now many men sing about how they feel and what others feel while they’re alone to shed light about everyone having feelings. It’s ok to cry and be sensitive at times but that shouldn’t take away masculinity from a person. Being able to relate to others is something some fans look for in music and being able to find others that can provide it shows that we are all human. I love listening to Giveon and Brent Faiyaz because they are not afraid to speak out about natural emotions everyone has. It is something special to hear people that are well known can go through the same things as everyone else.

Brent Faiyaz- All mine

Giveon- Like I want You

Gender collaboration

One of my favorite parts of gender change within music is people coming together no matter the gender. It’s beautiful to see music taking effect on so many different people. Breaking what was once a boundary to make a difference in the world gained lots of respect from others and now, we get to experience a cultural change with amazing music. 

T.I. ft. Rihanna- Live Your Life

Jordan Sparks ft. Chris Brown- No Air

Music and Me

    Hi, I'm Ma'Khya (Khya) Sanders and I'm in my 3rd year of college. I am on the Spirit Squad, a part of BSU and First-Generation organizations. In the little free time I have, I like to binge TV shows that I have missed or need to catch up on, draw and paint, hang out with my teammates and friends, play pool, and attend sporting events that are going on. I enjoy watching other sports teams play in their games because it is so different from what my team does, and it is interesting to learn the rules of their sport for my better understanding. I am from Anderson SC., and I've lived there my whole life. I experienced a lot of school changes, so I was familiar with being the new kid in class. In high school, I decided to get a job my senior year at a restaurant my mom and grandma work at, Grace's in Honea-Path SC., as a server and I've been there for four years now. When I came to college, I wanted to go down the art career path but with some time and lots of though I decided I want to own a daycare and incorporate art into it, leading me to my discission of majoring in Child and Family Studies and double minoring in Studio Art and Psychology.