Beyond the Classroom: Asia and the Middle East

 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 monk chants and the low singing bowl sounds that put us all to sleep (I've put in a video, but please listen only if you're in a place you can take a nap), but traditional Tibetan music goes much farther than temple music and chants. 

This is very long, but you get the gist: Tibetan Monk chanting relaxation music

So now we get into what you came here for: antiphonal overlapping singing! Hold up, I know what you're thinking, what the heck is that and I definitely did not come here for this. I didn't either but its ok because its kinda cool. I chose this particular form of traditional Tibetan music because there are so many that we would be here for days talking about it. Click here for a really good article on more music styles in the Himalayas.

Antiphonal overlapping singing is very similar to a cappella, but has a much more subtle timbre. It's very peaceful and slow. Here's an example:

You'll notice this video that it's a concert, clearly in a large concert hall, but there are sheep and bird sounds in the background, mimicking being in the village or up in the mountains. It sounds very similar to the music we listened to from India in terms of vocals, but the instrumentals have Chinese undertones. This is because Tibetan communities are somewhat syncretic between the nations they sit between in the Himalayas. 

Awesome, onto our next order of business: Mehndi music!

Traditionally used in weddings, this classic form of Indian music is very fun to listen to. I'm not sure how many of you have watched the show "New Girl," but Cece's Indian wedding looked like a blast to me, and I find this side of Indian culture very fascinating. And what is a wedding without some bumpin' music right???

Now Mehndi is not exactly a form of music, but it might as well be. At a Mehndi event, women are adorned in henna designs and celebrate the bride with music! It's kind of like a bridal shower, but there's a lot less booze... and male escorts... and bars. Mehndi songs are played while artists draw designs on the women of the bridal party as a sign of luck and prosperity for the new couple. These songs can be traditional pieces played on the sitar, soundtracks from Bollywood movies, or modern pop songs. The word Mehndi comes from the type of henna art used to decorate the members of the party. For more Indian wedding music types and traditions, click here; this article is so interesting and goes into more detail about different wedding ceremonies. Below I have attached an example of a classic Mehndi song used at many modern ceremonies.

This wouldn't be a GB blog without a gender equality/sexism rant, so here you go!

During my heated research sesh, I discovered a super awesome chorale group in Cairo, Egpyt; an all-women's Islamic choir. As many of you know, having women involved in vocal recitations is very taboo, let alone a whole women's choir. This is particularly interesting because they are the first all women's choir in Egypt. Breaking stereotypes and paving the road for future generations of young girls is what this group stands for. To read more about them, click here, you know you want to ;)

Ciao for now folks, love you lots, see you next time!!