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Traditional African & Oriental Music

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The first book aimed at a popular audience to explain non-Western music to the untrained ear — Interest in world music is at its peak. Listening to non-Western music in concerts and on radio, television, and CDs has become an important part of our musical experience, yet the general tendency is still one of passive acceptance. The aim of this book is to offer a detailed and informative introduction to the underlying principles that give non-Western music its marked coherence and characteristic profile and to encourage the reader to explore rich and fascin-ating sounds from around the world. Traditional African and Oriental Music focuses on five distinct cultures: sub-Saharan Africa, the Islamic world, the Indian subcontinent, China and Tibet, and the Far East (Japan, Java, and Bali). Each chapter examines the rhythm, melody, harmony, and instruments of each region's music, plus elements of the culture that contribute toward an appreciation of the music, such as religion, poetry, drama, dance, and social structure. World-music scholar Otto Karolyi provides readers with insight into what is going on, and why, when they hear music of non-Western cultures, allowing them to grasp each culture's intricate musical traditions. For music lovers, students of anthropology, and anyone interested in the important contributions of these storied cultures, this is an indispensable resource.
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People are stimulated and entertained by the fascinating sounds and rhythms of non-Western music yet they generally know little about its underlying principles.This detailed and hugely informative reference book examines the musical traditions of these very diverse cultures and explains how each one is affected by the native philosophies, religions and social structures. In African music, for example, music is dominated by trance-inducing rhythm and largely percussive instruments. In Islamic countries, music is primarily vocal and is often ideologically viewed with suspicion. Indian music, on the other hand, balances melodic and rhythmical expressions both in its secular and sacred contexts and, unlike Western music, its rhythmic thinking is additive rather than divisionist. In contrast, Chinese music is rhythmically 'square', that is predictably in two or four beats. Japanese music reflects the highly sophisticated styles of the courts, whereas the music of Bali and Java shows an ingenious amalgamation of Indian, Chinese and Islamic influences with its native traditions. This comprehensive introduction includes sections on the rhythm, melody, harmony and traditional instruments of the different regions.
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