Beyond the Classroom

 When we were learning about Native Americans, one artist that interested me was Robert Mirabal. He was mentioned briefly in one of the videos we watched in class and I decided to google him. I thought that it was really cool how he could blend traditional Native American rituals and music with modern American pop and rock music. He does a really good job of mixing the two without favoring one over the other too much. This is a perfect example of syncretism and how many people who grow up surrounded by multiple cultures can claim and be proud of both cultures. One song he has that I really like is The Dance. In this song and video, he has a plethora of aspects taken from both cultures. A few examples from Native American culture are fancy dance, vocables, and skin drums. They also have guitars, a drum set, and he sings in English in a conjunct melody. Mirabal seems to be really proud of both cultures that he claims and manages to blend them together well. 

The next example, from South America, is something we did not talk at all about in class: Bossa Nova. I have always known a little bit about the genre of music, but I have never got around to looking more into its origins and learning what it truly is. A quick Google search will tell you that it is "mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovative syncopation of traditional samba". This does not really tell you what Bossa Nova is though. A simple explanation would be samba and jazz put together. It originated in Brazil in the late 1950s and has grown and influenced different music all over the world now. Just like how jazz music grew from classical in the United States, Bossa Nova grew from samba in Brazil. The cultures and Spain and Brazil cultivated this music into what it is today.

The last thing that I wanted to research is the Djembe. The djembe is a hand drum that originates from west Africa from blacksmiths known as Numu. The djembe was able to quickly spread around west Africa because the Numu moved around a lot. Something I found cool was the origin of the name. The phrase "Anke djé, anke bé" is translated to "everyone gather together in peace". They shortened this phrase by taking the "djé" and "bé" and putting them together to make "djembe". Therefore, the djembe is essentially an instrument made to bring people together. This intention is very much true to this day. Anytime I would sit down to play a djembe, people would gather around and have fun or dance or add to the beat. It truly is a wonderful instrument that brings people together through rhythm and music. 

All of my information came from Google and Wikipedia.