Cool Stuff! :)

Native American music continues to fascinate me every day. One concept in particular, though, really caught my attention; the use of vocables. I wanted to know if there were other uses for vocables. 

Not only are vocables seen in Native American music, but they appear in traditional music and jazz music as well. Vocables can be used as a method for teaching music. 

In traditional music, vocables are used in Blackfoot music, Pygmy music and Highland Scots music.  Vocables, in all of these, tend to be comprised of all the vowels and only the three consonants H,Y and W. The letters N and C are normally avoided. The E vowel tends to be  slighty higher in pitch while the A, O and U vowels are typically lower in pitch. 

There are other traditional forms that use vocables. These are: Eefing- Appalachian vocal technique similar to beatboxing, Puirt a beul- Traditional Irish and Scottish song and Nigun- Jewish religious music. This video is an example of Puirt a beul or mouth music. It consists of mainly vocables and is considered Lilthing in Ireland. Enjoy :) 

Teaching students how to sight read can be tough but vocables can be used to help students learn it easier. A similar technique is used in India. As solfege, Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do is our native concept for teaching sight reading, India uses a technique called Sargam. Sargam is essentially a musical system of seven notes. In Indian classical music, the notes in order are: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni. Though vocables mean nothing and are essentially made up vowels and sounds, it still speaks a language of its own and that is what I find so neat about vocables. It has many uses and though it might mean nothing to us, it means something to the culture that is using it.  

I have always loved Africa and learning about its music has made me love it even more. As we learned about the instruments and saw how some of them were made, I wanted to know how the Kora was constructed. The Kora originated in the Valley of the River Gambia, but there were also players in Mali, Burkina, Faso, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Senegal. The Kora could accompany a spoken or sung story about a person or family and it could also be used for fun during a social gathering or solo dance. 

The materials needed to make a Kora are Gourd, wood, animal hide and Iron. The Body is made with half of a gourd that is covered with the hide of either a sheep, cow or antelope. A sound hole and holes for the neck are cut into the gourd. A round stick made of keno wood is inserted vertically through the calabash or Gourd. For each string a wet strip of skin is braided around the stick. Two other, thinner sticks, are inserted vertically in the hide at the edge of the gourd and this serves as handgrips. This is a brief description of how its made but I have attached a very descriptive video that explains it a little bit further. The Kora makes such a beautiful sound and it was so interesting to see how it was made with items simply from the earth. 

When I watched superman's video in class, I remember saying "This is so cool." I decided to look for other artists who do similar things as him. As I was researching, I found that native americans and africans have genres of thier own. I noticed that most were classified under global fusion. I wanted to essentially find out more about global fusion and its artists. I was successful in finding two artists that play instruments and use techniques that we have talked about in class. Global Fusion refers to a fusion of international music- world music with jazz. It blends classical, jazz, pop, rock and blues music. 

Joanne Shenendoah is a Native American and is a member of the wolf clag. She has recorded over 15 albums and has won multiple awards. She is known for blending traditional and contemporary techniques and instrumentation. In the video, you will hear the traditional flute and vocables being used. There will also be some texture in which voices overlap at times and a shaker is used. 

Another artist that uses Global Fusion was Sona Jobarteh. She was born into one of the five principal kora-playing Griot families from West Africa. She is the first ever female kora player to come from a griot family. In the video, you will see her playing the kora and singing in her language. :) 

I have enjoyed writing this and I am so sorry for the length. I hope you enjoy :)