533i: Instrumental music

533i: Instrumental music

Description

Within a given culture certain instruments may be associated with certain music GENRES. What MUSICIAL INSTRUMENTS are played together and how are they used?

What kinds of musical instruments are there?
	What are the musical instruments made of?
	How are the musical instruments made?
	How are the musical instruments played?
	What does this mode of construction indicate about the level of technology within this culture?
	How does this technology relate to that of other occupations within this culture?
	How are the musical instruments categorized by the people?
	What does this indicate about the categorization of other aspects of the culture?
	What is the pitch inventory of each musical instrument?
	What is the vernacular name of each musical instrument?
	What linguistic information can be gathered from these names?
	What information can you gather about contact with other cultures from either linguistic information or similarities of musical instruments with surrounding cultures?
	What other ethnic groups nearby have any of these musical instruments?
	What effect have foreign musical instruments (non-indigenous to a particular culture) had
	on the vocal music of the people, and on the instrumental music indigenous to the people?

What are the various uses and functions of musical instruments?
	Where do the people say musical instruments may be played?
	Where are they actually played?
	Where are musical instruments kept?
	Is this a special place only for musical instruments?
	Where are they made?
	Where did the people learn to make the musical instruments? From whom did the people learn to make musical instruments?
	/ Are there myths or legends which relate the origin (and, therefore, often the meaning) of the musical instruments? / What process of apprenticeship is there for the construction of musical instruments?
	When may musical instruments be played?
	/ Any particular time of day / Any particular time of year / Any particular event / Alone / In musical instrument ensembles / In accompaniment to singing / In addition to (and equal to) singing
	When are musical instruments made?
	/ Any particular time of day / Any particular time of year / Any particular event / Alone / In musical instrument ensembles / In accompaniment to singing / In addition to (and equal to) singing
	When are musical instruments made?
	/ At a particular time of day / At a particular time of year / When a particular event is to occur, or has occurred
	What are the uses of each musical instrument?
	/ Musical / Accompanying singing / Solo playing / Ensemble playing / Communicatory / “Talking” drums / Playing tune on a flute of a spoken message in a tonal language / Horn blowing to call people to a ceremony / Other / Specific festivals (specify) / Calling forth particular spirits / Courting Does the shape or materials of an instrument represent or symbolize something? What functions other than those related to making music (if any) does each musical instrument have?
	/ Imitating a particular animal sound / Functioning as the voice of a particular spirit / Indicating prestige / Functioning as art / Independent of the musical functions of the instrument; perhaps made for aesthetic reasons / Functionally decorated only / A mix of both functionality and “beauty”

Context for this page:

Ocm module: Instrumental music
In ocm module: 533
In ocm module: Music
In modular book: Expanded ethnomusicology categories for the Outline of Cultural Materials, by Kenneth R. Hollingsworth
In bookshelf: Anthropology

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 3.5, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 17 March 1999