The Weekly GB

 Hello again folks, it's almost the end of the semester which means we are coming up on some of our last posts :( but it's ok, because this week we traveled into the Middle East and Asia! This unit is particularly fun to me because I've been to several of the places we've talked about, so it was very cool for me to put those puzzle pieces together.  To start us off, I wanted to talk about the music of the Himalayas, the infamous mountain range that rests on the borders of China, Bhutan, Pakistan, and Nepal. Commonly referred to as the the Tibetan Region, Himalayan societies are known for being secluded from the modern world and preserving historical traditions, much like the societies of the Andes mountains in South America. However, these mountain cultures have their own versions of pop and folk music. While that's also very interesting to listen to, I wanted to focus more on the traditional side of Tibetan music. Now I'm sure many of you have heard Tibetan mon

 What's up y'all, we are back this week with an interview! This week's topic is music relations in families and how preferences have changed over time. For my interview, I chose my mom! While I know this seems basic and you may ask, "Grace, why didn't you try a little harder?" Well hear me out, my mom and I have very similar tastes in music while simultaneously having very different tastes in music.  Growing up, I remember listening to Britney Spears, Coldplay, Maroon 5, and Justin Bieber with my mom in the car. Asking her about her music preferences was very entertaining to me because she listens to my music and I listen to hers, but her listening background was what really fascinated me.  First, I asked her what kind of music she listened to as a child, then how that changed into her teen years and then young-adulthood. She talked briefly about growing up with very young, somewhat hippie parents in 1980s Southern California, so you can expect her to enjoy a

 Hello there besties, we are back this week with something different... I will be teaching you about my favorite genre of music, folk rock! Some of my favorite artists are included in this genre, such as, the Lumineers, Simon and Garfunkel (familiar? lol), Carole King, Mumford and Sons, and the one and only Gordon Lightfoot! Here is some Lumineers content because I can:  Awesome, so good. Anyways, where did this all start?  So this is where we get down to the nitty-gritty, the true origin of folk rock. The folk music we know today can be traced back to around the 1920s and fell into the genre of country when Jimmie Rogers released "T for Texas" (then known as "Blue Yodel") and became the Father of Country Music. When up-and-coming folk singers, like Woodie Guthrie, began using similar melodies, ideas, and music styles, a new era of country music was born. Artists during this time were affected by the Great Depression, just like everyone else, and therefore wrote mus

 Hey y'all! I am back with some new content for you, Indigenous American and African music traditions! I found a few things that really interested me, did some research, and now I am bringing it to you. So take a seat, grab a snack, and put in your headphones, because we've got some good stuff this week! 1. My first fascination was how Native Americans use animals as symbols in almost all of their rituals, especially their music and dances. As we saw in class, some of the fancy dances resemble movements of animals and regalia having similar qualities to said animals. The most popular dances involving animal symbolism are the Buffalo Dance, Turkey Dance, and the Eagle Dance. Now if I remember correctly, we saw an example of the Eagle Dance in class, but I am most intrigued by the Buffalo Dance. Commonly used for manifesting a good hunt, Native Americans on the Great Plains performed the Buffalo Dance as a way to show their appreciation to the spirit of the buffalo and bring the

 Hey y'all! This week I wanted to talk about gender roles in music. From gender-associated instruments and roles, to expectations of what we listen to, gender effects subconsciously dictates how we view music. As a past choir kid, it was very rare to see a male student singing with the sopranos or altos. Not because they weren't capable of singing those octaves, but because it was expected of them to be in the more "manly" sections of the choir, with the tenors and basses. This also presents itself in bands and orchestras; at least at my high school, it was predominantly women playing violins, flutes, and cellos. Men typically played trumpets, percussion, saxophones, or basses. Of course there were exceptions and no one thought twice about it, but it was definitely noticeable.  Since this topic peaked my interest so much, I decided to do a little more research. In a blog post titled "Gender Expectations in the Music Industry" by Asyia Fricke, Fricke states &

 Hey everybody! My name is Grace Baum and I am a freshman student athlete here at Converse! I was born into a pretty musical family and have always been involved in music. I tried piano, guitar, etc, but I really stuck with voice training and choir in middle/high school. I was a bit of a theater kid, but I enjoyed choir and select ensembles much more. I participated in many vocal groups throughout high school and did some training with professional voice coaches (which unfortunately I had to drop in college, I miss it a lot!). I love being in the science field in college, but I can't wait to get back into music even if it's only for a semester! 1. Something I am into right now: I have been super into acoustic songs and (more on the less-country side) country music. I find this kind of music SUPER easy to study to, sing along to in the car, and workout with. I have always had a bit of an obsession with Kacey Musgraves, but I have definitely been listening to her kind of music a