MUHL5321

Hail and farewell

2006-12-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

Folks:

Let me just reiterate one last time how very pleased and impressed I was by the work that many people did this semester. As I said, this is possibly the first seminar at TTU I've been able to teach at the level of intellectual discourse and scholarly analysis which it was my good fortune to experience as demonstrated by my teachers (no braggadocio there: I couldn't do it myself, but I knew it when I saw it). I truly believe that this kind of scholarly, investigative, and interpersonal research makes us better people: more open, less judgmental, more sophisticated, less conservative, more musical, less prejudiced.

I was very moved by the efforts and insights that many teams provided for seminar colleagues. In my opinion, this is the best justification for the academic study of music: because of the insights, enrichment, and expanded horizons we can give to one another.

Let me encourage you all to consider continuing to work in these areas (either formally or informally); virtually everyone supplied crucial and wonderful contributions. You all made the seminar what it was. Well done!

(see you Thursday noon at Cricket's)

all the best,

cjs

Salsa presentation

2006-12-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

All:

Please read and respond (via "Comments") to at least 3 of the following observations/queries arising from this presentation. Both team members and other class members should comment, and should particularly focus on ways in which insights from this presentation reflect, nuance, or contradict insights from your own fieldwork. Make sure your comments address this latter point.

Website at http://www.angelfire.com/planet/ethno-salsa/

1. Note the idea of analyzing “time,” “space,” and “place” as organizing principles for understanding social communities—and music’s role in the creation and maintenance of same. Please provide concepts of time, space, and place as they were articulated and/or created by your informants. NOTE: this does not simply mean describing the site of your fieldwork, or the time of day at which it occurred—rather, describe the conceptual or cognitive “spaces” which music, in your target sub-community, was used to create.

2. Note ways in which music plays into issues of social connection, economic and social status and IDENTITY. We spoke, over the course of the semester, about identity (like “class,” or “ethnicity,” or “gender,” for that matter) as “constructed”—that is, not an objective quantifiable phenomenon, but rather a mental/emotional/spiritual selective creation, and ways in which music played a role in such creation. Give an example from your own fieldwork of music used as a tool for the construction of identity: preferably, give an example of an informant who used music to recreate or transform his/her cultural identity.

3. How/why do informants develop/articulate/”use” history to create sense of community identity? Give an example (perhaps from your fieldwork interviews) of an informant who provided a “history” of the community, and provide an interpretation of the meaning of the particular historical factors that informant chose to emphasize—or even mythologize.

4. Note the interesting, revealing comments by insiders using “us” and “them” constructs; what does it mean when one “insider” uses such constructs about another “insider”. Does this nuance our (admittedly very simplistic) binary designation of “insider” and “outsider”? Please provide at least 2 examples of individuals (suitably anonymized) from your community whose perceptions of “insider” and “outsider” were contradictory, and interpret the significance of these contradictions.

5. Are there personal, musical, experiential, pedagogical, or other behavioral patterns that emerge from bios? Provide at least 2 examples, from your own fieldwork and informants, of behavioral patterns that seem to be relatively common among your target sub-community. Do these patterns play into the group’s shared sense of cultural identity?

6. Note the sense of a local community and the various “maps” overlaid upon that landscape. “Landscape” as we know is a cognitive construction; what do your informants have to say about such landscapes, and what do those landscapes reveal about identity and community priorities? Describe at least 3 locations in your sub-community’s “cognitive landscape” and interpret the meaning of those locations to your informants.

Mariachi presentation (I, K, S)

2006-12-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

1. Issues of CONFLICT: the reality is that one of the principle functions which underlie various human communicative art forms is the resolution (e.g., “negotiation”) of conflict. Humor does this, music does this, debate does this, ritual does this, etc. In the absence of these communicative forms, conflict is irreconcilable. In the case of your own team’s individual fieldwork, what sorts of conflict arose: between informant groups? Between informants and fieldworkers? Between fieldworkers? Provide an example (anonymized if you wish) and articulate ways in which these various communicative arts did or did not play into conflict’s resolution.

2. Further to the above: think about the tensions that emerge via mis- or incomplete information. In the fieldwork situation, there are many more things that you don’t know than that you do. In what ways can observing conflict—or even participating in its resolution—help you understand complex social dynamics? What are the implications of this? Can you use “negative” reactions from informants or other persons to understand various types of social sub-texts? Of social priorities?

3. Excellent commentary about “comments”; confirms the unavoidable reality that, in cross-ethnic situations, racial tensions are present. They are unavoidable and they will impact the situation. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize their presence and think with some sensitivity and some insight about how to cope with them. Sometimes this will entail explicitly articulating the “elephant in the room” (e.g., the tension of which all are aware but of which no one has spoken yet) and sometimes the opposite: finding indirect ways of signaling that you are aware of and sensitive to these issues. Sometimes it is a product of using or not using certain words, body language, tones of voice, and so on. Provide and describe at least one example of a situation encountered in your own fieldwork in which you consciously chose a strategy to address the conflict.

4. Note the strategy, in presentation, of one-speaking while one is surfing through the site. This gets at an issue: the practical implications of presenting your material. If you were to present your website on your own, what would you need to do to streamline and maximize the impact of your presentation? If it is helpful, ask yourself what you would do in a future presentation of the material?

5. Use of setlist as a way of getting repertoire “maps”. In your particular fieldwork, how did musical repertoire map ways that informants saw their musical world? How did it map responses of musicians to changing contexts? Provide specific examples.

6. Note this team’s nice description of performance practice and behavior (and diagrams for same). How can you use analysis of physical layout to get at relationships, priorities, social connections, etc? Give at least one example, from your own fieldwork, of ways in which physical space map social organization.

7. Note Seong’s good observations about his attendance (at River Smith’s) and the audience’s focus upon band, and also the roles of certain “guest singers,” who appears to attend purely for the purpose of participating in the music. What does that reveal about the relationship between musicians and their audience? Are there gradations of “intimacy” between audience and musicians? Provide at least one example, with commentary, of the observable behaviors which diagram these relationships.

8. What would be the role of commentary about the demographics (ethnicity, age, economic class, etc) of audience, and what would be the best way to present this commentary? Provide examples of “demographic analysis” of your own target audiences.

9. This team made observations about the impact of certain songs upon certain “insider” members of the audience; what tools could get at and help the fieldworker understand the impact of specific texts or pieces upon “insider listeners”? Provide example from your own fieldwork.

Mariachi presentation (R, T, J)

2006-12-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

Mariachi presentation (R, T, J)

1. Good description about strategies for adapting fieldwork to what was schedule-feasible and how that might have evolved. As I have said in class, sometimes, when we’re “handed lemons, we make lemonade.” In other words, sometimes we have to take the necessary strictures of schedule/hours/etc and work within them—but it is important to “work smart,” and try to turn those limitations into advantages. How did time- or schedule-limits impact on your own team’s work? Give examples.

2. The comment was made that mariachi’s functions seem to include “remembering one’s heritage”; this in turn would seem to implicate issues of the construction of cultural identity. At the end of the semester, can we make observations across fieldwork situations about music’s use in the construction of identity? Each seminar member: please cite at least one (1) example of “music as a tool for constructing identity” from your own fieldwork, cite at least one (1) example of similar usage from at least two (2) other team’s work, and explain why the “identity-construction” in your fieldwork is similar to the “identity-construction” in the other two teams’ work. Be specific.

3. How can a fieldworker employ the subjectivity of informants’ “versions of history” versus the “factual” record? What role does “history” play in a community’s musical construction of identity? Provide at least 6 lines summarizing your own target group’s “community history” or “community myth.”

4. What does the ubiquity of mariachi in a very wide range of sub-community situations reveal? What are the implications of this “soundtrack” for this part of the Hispanic community? Articulate a comparison to the target music’s role in your own fieldwork: give at least 3 examples of the target music’s use in your informants’ lives, and compare/contrast to that of the mariachi community’s.

5. Issues of adaptation of outside repertoire into the insider style: how can a style “stamp” or “re-brand” a song originating with one culture with an Hispanic cultural activity? Can a song from outside Hispanic community culture be thus “re-stamped”? What about “appropriation” (meaning: the symbolic acquisition of cultural materials, the “claiming as one’s own” materials that might formerly have been alien)?

6. Good observations about ways in which fieldwork can the fieldworker’s own growth and cultural enrichment. In the best of all possible fieldwork situations, both informants and fieldworkers conclude that they have gained by the experience; this is how ethnographic fieldwork is transformed from being “only” scholarship, growing to also encompass communication, relationships, mutual enrichment, and a better world. What have you gained from your individual experience of fieldwork?

7. Good commentary about shifting repertoires in different contexts or for different (ethnic) audiences. Please provide examples from your own observations about ways in which your informants adapted musical repertoires, styles, or behaviors to fit within (or to transform) contrasting situations.

8. Insights about musicians’ (and music’s) cross-cultural adaptability. Almost by definition (and as we have seen from numerous readings) musicians have to be especially skillful at moving across cultural boundaries which non-musicians may experience as much more problematic. Please provide examples from your own fieldwork of ways in which your informants used (or didn’t use—and if so why not) music to move across such social/cultural boundaries. Did their strategies provide strategies which you think you could use in your own life and career? Describe these, and explain how they might play out.

9. Excellent use of glossary as heard in rehearsals. “what people hear” is a crucial indicator of how they experience the world. Please provide at least 3 examples of specific dialect, terms, adjectives, or other jargon, unique to your sub-community, which your informants used repeatedly to describe certain desirable or undesirable results. What do these specific words imply about how your informants saw the world, the music, and their own individual places within both?

Ballet folklorico presentation

2006-12-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

Ballet folklorico presentation

1. Good description of original research construct and how that evolved, and good articulation of necessity of scaling-down scope. In what ways might the (necessary and inevitable) scaling-down of a project’s original parameters help to focus that presentation’s goals? Give examples from your own team project

2. Did language skills or ethnicity play a role in this research? Do language skills or ethnicity (or other markers of group identity) play a role in various teams’ research? What roles do they play? Please make specific reference to various “markers of identity” which you observed your informants to be using towards you the fieldworker. In other words, how were your informants identifying you, and what impact did that have on the nature of your work together?

3. Nice comment: in presenting research, fieldworkers can choose to “go through our individual experiences”. Excellent observations about the differing (but complementary) perspectives of 2 different fieldworkers. What does this make possible? ALG spoke in an earlier comment and presentation of the ways in which having both (or all) fieldworkers present in a situation enriched their observations. It would seem that threads of both continuity and discontinuity might emerge from different fieldworkers’ accounts. How can you allow for this and exploit those threads to aid your analysis?

4. Good observations about evolution of insights, observation of patterns, and the way they shaped subsequent research and fieldwork. Please articulate how the interaction of these factors shaped or evolved your own team research.

5. Good observation about overlap between informants: that is, different fieldworkers encountering the same informants in different environments. Did this occur for your team as well? What was the impact of this overlap? Did it enrich your team’s insights? How?

6. Good observations about presumptions w/ which fieldwork began, and how they changed (especially about the target community’s desire for outreach versus lack of such desire). How do you do fieldwork with a group that doesn’t particularly want it done? How do you win over informants? Give examples from your own fieldwork.

7. Use of keywords: “family”, “heritage”, “authenticity”, “competition.” What would be the shortlist of your fieldwork’s “keywords”?

8. How/why is this idiom ethnically specific? Is there something about its function that tends to make it ethnically specific? Please express an opinion backed up by comments made by the presenters.

9. What are the implications of informants’ self-identification as “insider” versus “outsider”? How might that impact the fieldworker’s assessment of that informant’s insights? Give examples from your own fieldwork of informants supplying these “insider versus outsider” constructions, and articulate possible motives.

10. Does this contrasting self-identification reflect informants’ contrasting perceived roles as “historian” versus “teacher”? Might these two roles entail different agendas or goals? What methodology would let you investigate, model, and interpret these agendas or goals? Who were the “historians” in your team fieldwork? Who were the “teachers”? Who got more respect? Why?

11. What is the relationship, in this idiom or others, between “authenticity” and “place”? Does place confer authenticity? Must one come from that place? Merely visit that place? Own (physical or communicative) artifacts of that place? Unpack this in light of your own fieldwork.

"Lubbock Asian Worship" presentation

2006-11-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

Good commentary about definitions: it is (a) both a good practical strategy at the beginning of a musicological work (so that misunderstood definitions are not used against you) and (b) an intriguing glimpse into the ways in which definitions shape and reflect cognitive models. All students (in "Comments"): in what ways do definitions shape or reveal how people think about music and music's role in communities. Cite examples from your own fieldwork.
Very good observation about the ways music can be a means of "getting ready for" liminal experience; how does music "open the path" for religious experience? In this fieldwork project? In other ethnographic situations? Larger question: what are the shared cognitive functions of (a) music and (b) religious ritual? What human experiences are each art form intended to produce? How do they do it? Are there parallels between the two?
Issue of communitizing role for music: that is, music as a tool to create the experience of community (within either a single specific event, or in a chain of ongoing shared events). All students: is/are certain musics used consistently across multiple events to invoke similar reactions each time it is used? Please comment and provide specific examples from your own fieldwork.
This is a good example of a presentation which, while making superb usage of fieldwork, graphics, images, and website design, is nevertheless “prose-based”; that is, we could imagine this presentation making the transition to the printed page relatively easily. What other different models for presentations have we seen so far? Into what sort of "presentational model" does your own team's project fall? Describe in "Comments."
Issues of bilinguality (that is, between American English and other spoken languages): notice this team's effective use of audio evidence to demonstrate this bilinguality. What sorts of other patterns and relationships does this conscious use of bilinguality reveal?
(All class members): Can you draw comparisons between this project's outline, procedures, and insights and to some of our readings? Provide specific discussion (in "Comments") of ways this presentation provides insights into issues of borrowing, synthesis, and diaspora (please both cite and explain relevance of specific readings).

Bluegrass presentation

2006-11-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

Nice layout; how does the organization (visual or conceptual) of the final presentation (web, conference paper, lecture-demo, or other) impact upon the clarity and deeper insights you want audience members to derive?
Note the very effective strategy to use differing team assignments (e.g., "you do this, you do that, I'll do this"), not only to save on hours allotted, but--much more importantly--because it presents different types of fieldwork experiences. No two fieldworkers will experience a situation similarly, it is true--and therefore it is nice if (as with some teams) 2 team members experienced the same situation in 2 different roles. However, "chunking out" assignments, informants, or fieldwork situations to different team members does permit each team member to meet with the same people multiple times, thereby building a deeper, subtler, and more nuanced interaction with informants.
What are the implications, within a given musical tradition of particular notational and/or pedagogical tools? How do pedagogical tools reveal musical priorities and aesthetics? Can you summarize the implications of these contrasted methods? Axiom: every musical tradition develops its own indigenous pedagogy, designed to accurately and efficiently transmit those musical characteristics that the tradition itself believes to be important. For example: African percussion music has developed very sophisticated oral/aural means for teaching and conveying subtle and complex polyrhythmic concepts, whereas Irish traditional music has developed similarly subtle and complex means for honing melodic recognition and retention. To each idiom its appropriate pedagogy. What are the implications if someone from an outside musical tradition, unfamiliar with the indigenous pedagogy, tries to teach that music using a non-traditional method? What things are lost?
Heavily dependent upon outside listening for issues of appropriate performance practice
What are the implications, in this project, of the diversity of student profiles? Clearly students at SPC are involved for a wide range of personal reasons; what is the impact of this diversity on the overall community? How does it compare to other musical sub-communities?
What are the implications of verbacl narrative in presenting such material effectively?
Mitch (and others): You described buildings, decor, and physical objects. Clearly you believe this is significant information (and I agree) but can you articulate for us what are the implications/interpretations you can build from the material-culture descriptions?
Similarly, what about the implications of the various performance strategies and procedures.?

"Early Rock 'n' Roll" presentation

2006-11-30T11:26:00.000-08:00

All:

Please read and respond (via "Comments") to at least 3 of the following observations/queries arising from this presentation. Both team members and other class members should comment, and should particularly focus on ways in which insights from this presentation reflect, nuance, or contradict insights from your own fieldwork. Make sure your comments address this latter point.

Website at http://www.webpages.ttu.edu/cpeoples/

You mentioned that the “Majority of building is not taken up with Buddy Holly”, despite the fact that it is named after Buddy Holly. Why might this be? What are the issues of "cultural ownership" and "cultural power" that are involved in the naming of things? If the building entails a number of other functions, what does that reveal about community and/or cultural priorities?
As I said in class, this is an excellent example of “urban ethnomusicology”. What sorts of tools does this require? What is the impact of presentational choices (e.g., how, using what methods, and with what sort of structure) upon your presentation's clarity and impact? How can an ethnographer make sure that the format in which the data is presented avoids distorting (and ideally clarifies and deepens) the insights implicit in the data?
Good observation about the necessity of timely attendance at crucial events, regardless of their convenience. What are other examples, from other teams' experience and from our readings, in which an ethnographer found him/herself unexpectedly provided an opportunity for fieldwork? How do you, as fieldworker, make sure you're prepared?
Issues of “identity,” “appropriation,” and “ownership”; who owns a cultural legacy?
Unpack nature of your own interactions;
Nice observations about future work; eg. “so what and who cares”?
Good question about generational stuff and “passing on” of cultural value

"Lead guitar" presentation

2006-11-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

All:

Please read and respond (via "Comments") to at least 3 of the following observations/queries arising from this presentation. Both team members and other class members should comment, and should particularly focus on ways in which insights from this presentation reflect, nuance, or contradict insights from your own fieldwork. Make sure your comments address this latter point.

Website at http://leadguitar.group.googlepages.com/

Very effective use of website layout. What are all the ways in which data format and linkage help to set up, reveal, or clarify relationships?
Great commentary about physical location/neighborhood/environment. How do such "material culture" factors reflect or reveal your target communities' "social landscapes." Remember, "landscape" is a cultural/identity idea, not a physical entity.
How do musical style characteristics, like song texts, and their selection, help to reveal not only musical aesthetics but also social, cultural, or identity beliefs? What tools do you need to link the two? How do they apply in each of our examined situations?
Notice the team's good commentary about enhanced insight as result of this seminar: even in a situation which may be somewhat familiar (e.g., in which you or a team member may be a quasi-insider), it is possible to use ethnographic approaches to gain new, fresh, or different insights on that familiar situation. In other words, just as it is possible to use ethnomusicological approaches to "find a way in" to an alien situation, it is also possible to use the same approaches to make a familiar situation more alien, thus enhancing your ability to observe previously-unnoticed factors.
I was glad that team members spoke of the human relationships that you both discovered and developed. These relationships between informants and fieldworkers, like the relationships between sub-community members, are real (even if often ignored by conventional scholarship) and they should be valued and respected.
Great phrase “transit of property” – can you relate this "passing of the torch" to concepts of lineage, as discussed in class?
How do patterns of genres studied or valued reveal the sociology and/or demographics, of both musicians and of audiences?

"Visions of Light" gospel presentation

2006-11-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

All:

Please read and respond (via "Comments") to at least 3 of the following observations/queries arising from this presentation. Both team members and other class members should comment, and should particularly focus on ways in which insights from this presentation reflect, nuance, or contradict insights from your own fieldwork. Make sure your comments address this latter point.

Website at http://www.taskstream.com/main/?/peacock7/GospelProject/VisionsOfLight.html

Comments/more information about the subjective as well as objective experiences of participation vs observation
Interesting comment about presence or absence of racial discourse: you mentioned it only in passing, but surely the issue of informants' versus observers ethnicity was a factor? Comments, either about its presence, or strategies for negotiating this?
Very effective use of camera angles (note unobtrusive placement of camera, but how effectively it captured key interactions)
Very nice contrast of video-documented situations--the diversity of rehearsal vs repertoire session vs performance gives us a much wider sense of the community
Team members experienced a range of behavioral interactions (observation versus participation, etc): further to (1) above, can you discuss useful/not-so-useful aspects of each type of interaction?
We spoke about this in class but I would be glad to have more comments, both from VoL team members and also from members of other teams whose informants might have expressed similar ideas: what is the role of a community's "self-mythology" (about its creation, its history, its makeup, its values)? Can observing, documenting, and analyzing a community's "myths" help us understand the music they make? Conversely, can ethnographic investigation of the music they make help us understand the community's "myths" and sense of collective identity? This question would be a priority for class comments!
Kinesthetics: there were interesting comments about "body knowledge" and "body learning" in the presentation. Can team members (and members of other teams) unpack the significance of this kind of learning? What are its unique benefits, if any?
Nice observation about the (stylistically-different but nevertheless very real) virtuosity required of teachers in this idiom; does this resonate with other teams' investigations?
Good comments from team and class about analysis of song texts (and their selection by members of the community) as tools for understanding community's "constructed identity". Class members: what are the "identity texts" employed by your target subcommunity?
More about pedagogical approaches: what is the impact of oral/aural learning? How does this particular set of pedagogical tools integrate with the community member's diverse musical backgrounds?
Comment upon the sense of (historical, autobiographical, sociological) contextualization which informants tend to provide when asked about their experiences. How is music a "tool" for informants to make sense of their lives and experience?
Good comments on the limited response you received to surveys. It is good, as you did, to report upon total number distributed versus total number received; this “sample-size” is crucial in determined the applicability of the survey results.
Great use of “conclusions” format; other teams take note.

(by and large) I am very pleased!

2006-11-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

The subsequent posts will address themes, issues, and follow-up questions for each of the presentations we heard on 11.30.06. But, as a general comment, I am (by and large) very pleased. I am delighted that various teams and members really took the initiative, did more than the minimum that was required, and threw themselves into this research.

As it happens, an unexpected side-benefit of the presentation groupings is that Tuesday's class will all be focused on various Latino/Hispanic dance styles. I expect that we will discover lots of connections between and across those presentations.

Everyone: please arrive promptly so that all four teams can receive their full allotted time. I realize that the weather was an issue today, but it should not be on next Tuesday.

Your reading assignments should now all be done. That being the case, I will ask you to turn your attention to reading, and commenting upon, the issues/themes/questions I articulate for each presentation--I will expect to see each class member's response in each of the posts for the individual presentations.

Also, please continue to comment, if you have not done so, on the various readings--I am still reading and tallying individuals' comments on those readings. For purposes of grading, comments for the Jones-Bamman will be counted up until Tuesday 12.5.06, 11am.

Jury is still out as regards Final Exam/no Final Exam. If it happens, it will be on the University-mandated day/date/time: Wed Dec 13 7:30-10:00am (yes, I know that is an unhuman time).

Thanks for the great work by everyone today.

cjs

As I'm linking, I'm realizing I didn't post these

2006-11-30T05:35:00.000-08:00

10/26

Today was a rehearsal just like the one I observed before. P1 explained that they choose tunes/songs to perform by bringing in recordings and then making a chart. Each member of the ensemble is responsible for bringing in a piece that is "theirs," even if they say, don't actually sing the songs or are featured on the tune. They start rehearsal on a Bela Fleck tune, which is new. I noticed that P1 gives cues with his eyebrows. The form of this one is difficult and the fiddle part is technically demanding as well as improvisationally demanding. P1 makes some interesting comments:
"All music is made up."
In reference to making a fiddle solo work.
"Make the sounds good fiddle players make."
In reference to how you should decide what to play, again to C the fiddle player.

I noticed the form of all of these pieces is basically the same. Two part tune, and the melody is then played as a solo by each member in turn. Not really much new information this time, but just getting to see them interact in their normal environment.

11/2

This session was really interesting because of two reasons. I guess my informants are getting used to me coming by now, because they started talking about their lives and their families. NOTE: See informants page for information.
I also got to hear the ensemble before this one talking to a prospective student. From what I overheard, many of the players at SPC come to school without really knowing how to play anything. SPC teaches them the basics and beyond. Most of the students are encouraged to pick up several instruments while they're there. Students tend to "pick" with each other on the weekends, with one or the other of them "hosting" the session. This year, most of the students who host the picking sessions have graduated, so it doesn't happen too often.
The ensemble spends much of the time today talking about doctoring the bridges of their banjos. There are several new things on the board, which I think are referring to class presentations on the Banjo, Lloyd Lear, Jason Carter, Delmore Bros, Vassar Clements, and the Dobro. The one place where the professors gig in town is Larry's Smokehouse, an older place that just moved across town. I'm also invited to a gathering in Meadow. R explained that they play bluegrass in a back room and country on the mainstage. It's the second Saturday of every month.

11/14 Meadow Gig

Mitch and I drive out to Meadow. The directions I was given are few and far between--> Just drive around till you see a lot of cars. So I mapquest the place, and find out where main street is. We drive around for a little while, and once we find main street it's fairly easy to find the gathering.....as it had all of the cars there. The place looks like an old dance hall/church. There are pews instead of chairs, but there's an area for dancing anyway and a snackbar. The mainstage country is more of a gig, with people dancing in the back. D sees me, he is dressed in a black stetson and cowboy boots. He has just finished playing mainstage country, and shows me where the bluegrass guys are playing. It's a small unheated back room with abour 15 people crammed in, plus us now. Two of the guys from SPC are there, R and D. A said he would try to make it, but he doesn't. Two main guys call the songs/tunes: R and G (guitar and vocals). R is playing banjo exclusively instead of his usual guitar/dobro/banjo mix. Some of the songs I recognize: Fox on the Run. Two of the musicians in the middle are related (young man and his father). They switch between mandolin, guitar, and upright bass several times in the evening. This gathering serves several purposes. 1) Teaching the tradition to other people (as we left we were told to come back and pick with them) 2) Learning appropriate social interaction in this setting (Young girl was desperately trying to get her brother to pass a note to the young mandolin player, and was told to behave several different times by various musicians.).

Rob's Fieldnotes from Nov. 14

2006-11-29T17:46:00.000-08:00

Nov. 14 Fieldnotes
Today I visited Cavazos Middle School again to sit in on the Mariachi class. My guitar skills have been improving slowly and I was able to make it through “Faliz Navidad” with them today. I arrived a few minutes before class started and E.C. let me go on in to find a seat on stage. The group has an upcoming performance on Dec. 8 so they have been rehearsing with their concert set-up on stage. They are again set up in an arch with two rows but E.C. rearranged them so the trumpets were on the end of the back row and violins and Vihuelas in the front row. Also, E.C. put the Guitarons in the middle of the back row to have the “bass in the center of the group” as E.C. put it. The guitars were spread out a little bit, split on either side of the Guitarons.
After the students came in, E.C. rehearsed some of the harder tunes such as “La Valentina” and “De Colores.” I just sat out on these tunes because I don’t have all the chords or strumming patterns down yet. “De Colores” happens to have lyrics so I tried singing along with them. One thing I found interesting is that none of the students sang loudly so it sounded very thin and empty. E.C. had to get on to them several times about singing out, especially the boys. From my experiences with professional Mariachi bands, singing is a very important aspect of performance where everyone fully participates. At Cavazos, even though singing is incorporated, it isn’t stressed as much as I think it might be in other groups.
We then rehearsed my favorite tune (mainly because it’s the only one I can play straight down), “Feliz Navidad.” I tried singing and playing but it didn’t work out so much so I just focused on getting all the chords this time. It was kind of cool both last time and today how the students sitting next to me would move their stand so I could look on, or when I got off, they would point to where we were in the music. Also, they had changed the strumming pattern in the closing section of it last week, but we ended, E.C. was kind enough to explain to me what it was during class. He said they changed it to a down-down-up-down-down-up-down-up pattern which was a more traditional “son” pattern.
They then went on to rehearse “Cielito Lindo” and “Volver Volver” which are two of the tunes they are learning by “Rote.” I again had to sit out due to the lack of familiarity to the pieces but tried singing along just to stay engaged.
Most of the lyrics were sung in thirds- the boys on bottom and girls on top. Many of the girls struggled hearing the harmony but still did a good job of trying to sing out.
During the rehearsal, E.C. talked about how all the songs needed to be memorized for their upcoming concert. He later changed this to just apply to the chordal accompaniment and that the melody instruments would not have to have everything memorized because “the notes of the song melodies are harder to memorize than chords.” I began to wonder what other performance practices they group might incorporate for their concert. Such as, will they be standing or sitting like they have been in rehearsal; or will E.C. be playing/singing along like he does in rehearsal?
After the class ended, I asked E.C. a couple more of my groups interview questions. I asked about how Mariachi came to Lubbock and he responded that “It migrated with the people with Mexican background and that many of the early settlers were Mexican ranchers.” Also I asked if he could think of any common words or phrases used in Mariachi. I think he misunderstood my question to be specifically song lyrics, so next time I go out there I have to try to re-word my question. I also asked if there is any historical aspects of Mariachi that he tries to emphasize to his students. He said the he usually stays away from it but there is a really good short background on the music in the method book.

Rob's Fieldnotes from Oct. 31

2006-11-29T17:42:00.000-08:00

Rob’s Fieldnotes Oct. 31

This afternoon, I was able to sit in on the Cavazos Middle School Mariachi class. Unlike my last visit, I brought a guitar and was able to participate in the class as a student. I arrived to the class the same time the actual students were and was able to get a seat in the middle of the guitar section. The band was set up in a small arc with the “rhythm” instruments on the back row (from left to right: guitaron, vihuela, guitar) and the melody instruments on the front row (from left to right: violin, trumpet). The class met on the stage of the school auditorium, behind the closed curtain.
We rehearsed “Faliz Navidad” first and I was able to strum through most of the chords. As Mr. Cornelsen told me our last visit, much of the music is based around simple harmony but the strumming patterns are what can be difficult. This became obvious to me as I played and tried to keep up with the accented strokes. The class also sings with all the music that has words. I tried this since I am familiar with the English text in this song and struggled quite a bit with trying to keep up with the playing too. One performance tip that Mr. Cornelsen said to the violins was to not put the violins down all the way when singing. They needed to have them ready to play again once the melody came back to their part. He also mentioned that in a live setting where professional Mariachi use amplification, FM microphones will sometimes be placed in the violin in order to pick up the violin part, but the violin players will often sing into the violin and use this mic for vocal amplification too. For “Faliz Navidad,” the students didn’t have music, they had a sheet with the text on it but just had chords scribbled in. I later asked Mr. Cornelsen about this and he said that he likes to incorporate learning songs by rote which is the traditional way Mariachi musicians were trained.
We went on to play “DeColores” and “LaValentina” which are both Ranchera Valseada style tunes that are included in the method book. Mr. Cornelsen pointed out the use of “Contratiempo” (counter tempo) which is a hemiola within the music that goes against the meter. We also practiced a piece called “Volver Volver” which is another tune learning by rote in this class. On all the tunes with singing, Mr. Cornelsen encouraged the students to sing out. Like many students at this age, they were timid when it came to singing.
Throughout the rehearsal, the students sitting next to me were very open and helpful in getting me back on track when it was obvious I was lost in the Music. I was also able to speak with them a little bit about their experience. Some of them are beginners at Mariachi or even their instrument while some in the class have been playing for 2 years already.
After class I asked Mr. Cornelsen about how Mariachi music in Lubbock differs from its original context. He responded that much of the music is the same but as you travel, due to the music being learned by rote or imitation, little things change such as the key that tunes might be played in.

Discussion Questions for Jones-Bamman

2006-11-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

Discussion Questions (please respond, as usual, in "Comments" below):

1. What is the goal of this article? How do types of evidence, sources cited, and conclusions drawn help us understand what Jones-Bamman is seeking to accomplish? Hint: ask yourself the “So What?” and “Who Cares?” questions: that is, what is the significance of this article and for whom (which areas of scholarship) might it be useful and/or enlightening?

2. What is the impact or relevance of colonialism in the case of Saami culture and music? What was the historical impact of the colonial experience on Saami? What was the cultural impact? In the “post-colonial” period, what are the legacies of colonialism?

3. It seems to me that “appropriation” is a key term/concept in the case of both this article and in the case of those modern Saami singers who combined joiking with other and/or modern styles. Be prepared to define “appropriation” as it operates in this specific article, and to discuss its application and/or relevance to understanding the issues that these musicians faced. Moreover, can you think of parallel examples, perhaps from other readings?

4. Be prepared to explore the issue of “authenticity” in this case. The term is not necessarily employed, but I would argue that joiking, in the case of the Saami and of this article, came to represent “authenticity.” What were the prior associations of joiking? What strategies did Saami singers and cultural advocates employ to try to shift or “flip” these associations?

5. (further to 3 & 4 above) In light of this historical case, what is the relationship between minority ó majority; subordinate ó dominant; “primitive” versus “authentic”; and appropriation ó assimilation ó syncresis ó acculturation. I believe it is possible to relate all of these dichotomies, thereby building a model, applicable across cultures, which helps us understand and perhaps even predict the ways in which these interactions may operate.

6. What is the relationship, as laid out in this article, between joiking, cultural identity, and liminality? Be prepared to describe and explain. Moreover, be prepared to relate cultural identity, subordinate status, appropriation, and liminality. As with Question #5 above, I believe it is possible to build a model relating all four of these factors, and applicable across cultural situations.

7. What is the role of music in “cultural revitalization” initiatives? (Hint: see pp357ff) What are the nationalist motives driving cultural revitalization initiatives? What are the ethnic or minority motives? Do nationalist versus minority motives clash? Do they align? When and for what reasons? Cite examples from this particular case study.

8. Be prepared to summarize and describe the debates held by various Saami cultural advocates: governmental, academic, Saami, and Saami-in-the-Diaspora. All of these parties believed in the value of joiking as a tool in redressing the post-colonial legacy (see 2 above), but at various points in the debate (detailed by Jones-Bamman) all found themselves in disagreement about how, whether, and in what ways to employ it. What were the terms of this debate? What do those terms reveal about the issues that often arise in post-colonialist cultural-revivalist situations? (cf Dr Smith’s comments about many analogous situations elsewhere)

On Mitchell Street...

2006-11-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

Met up with Lauren at the MB and followed her out to Meadow, approximately 30 miles west of Lubbock. Even with Meadow being a small, small town it still took about five minutes of driving around before we found the Meadow Musical, and as the title of this blog suggests it is on Mitchell St. The main structure looked well constructed and large from the outside. The only exception was the addition on the left side (when facing the front of the building), which appeared to be pulled from an old house and stuck onto the larger building in a hasty manner.

As you can tell from the crude rendition, the room where the bluegrass music was being played is quite small. There were between 15 and 20 people in the room, 9 of which were playing instruments. Instrumentation: 2 banjos, 4 guitars, 1 bass, 1 violin (fiddle), and 1 mandolin. The gentleman in front of me playing guitar sang on the majority of the songs, with the gentleman to my left, playing banjo, singing harmony and occasionally melody. Songs were chosen at random, if enough people knew the song, someone would start and everyone else would join in. If the song selected wasn’t well known but seemed interesting, a key was chosen and again someone started playing/singing. The age range of the majority of both performers and audience is 50-70 approximately. The youngest performer, on bass, is probably in his mid 20s. Based upon the looks he received from the other performers and the lack of sound I concluded that he did not have much experience with bass. This conclusion was reinforced when the gentleman playing mandolin stood up and exchanged instruments with the younger musician, they remained this way for the remainder of the evening.
The evening was certainly entertaining, which I believe to be the main purpose of the gatherings. The performers did not worry over missed notes, they played, sang, and enjoyed the music making process. Smiles were worn on every face in the room, whether it stemmed from the music, the musicians chiding one another, or the young girl (10 years old) trying desperately to get a note to the young mandolin player, all while being pestered by her younger brother (8 years old).
Harmonically things were kept simply, I, ii, IV, V, and maybe an occasional vi were used. The violin player improvised finishes and fills for the more melodically lacking sections of songs. He also declared a number of times that he could not play and invited anyone else to take the instrument.
When leaving, we were thanked for coming out and invited to return to the next gathering and to bring instruments. We assured them that while we would love to play our instruments would not fit in, to which we were told that there were always extra instruments.

Josh, Tony, & Rob website

2006-11-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

Our website is at:

www.freewebs.com/joshttu

Even more belated than Stefan's and Jordans!

2006-11-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

And yes, this is the past 6 field works notes that I have. Leave it to me to wait until the last minute. I know that is definately not proper ethnographic technique, but nevertheless, I am going against the grain.

Brian Gravelle Fieldwork Notes 10/14
1:30-3:30

I arrived early to see if the room was open. It was not. This is only my second time to sing with the VOL choir. I saw my informant R. and struck up some conversation with him. We waited until someone came and opened up the Soap Suds room so that we could go in. I walked in and immediately surveyed the room to see where the best spot would be to put the camera. Luckily, the chairs this time were arranged so that they were facing away from the windows on South portion of the room. An upright piano was situated also on the south wall near the door. I sat down and waited for everyone to arrive. I asked R. if he thought it was ok if I taped the rehearsal and he said it wouldn’t be a problem. I then asked the other choir members if they were fine with me taping the rehearsal. Some were less than eager, but they were ok with it. I tried to find a plug near the piano because I figured the piano would yield the best vantage point in the room. I set it up and pressed record and let the camera run in the same spot the entire rehearsal.
In hindsight, I would want to make sure that I had the entire choir in the shot, but after viewing the tape, I realized that I did not. Live and learn.
I sat down in the back row and waited for rehearsal to begin.
I was glad to have Bob there because he was a familiar face and it was nice to have another teammate there for another perspective on the rehearsal process.
We learned a new song that I believe was called Enter In. We went over the lyrics before we even started learning the melody or parts.
I still find this very difficult as a trained singer because I don’t have any lyrics or music in front of me. I have to learn the melody on the spot as well as remember the lyrics. Sometimes it’s difficult.
We then went over the Blessing of Abraham. We had previously practiced this song at the last rehearsal I attended, so I had a better grasp on this song. We also went over these lyrics to refresh our memories before getting into the music again.
I am amazed at the talent that D possesses. He is able not only to know all three parts of the harmony, but he also sings them. I alone have a tough time picking out the tenor line, let alone knowing the alto part and the soprano part and having the falsetto to actually sing these parts.
We also rehearsed the song Giants. D went over the lyrics before we rehearsed with the music.
I like the fact that we sing not only sitting down but standing up as well because standing up is always good for good vocal production.
The altos were having a difficult time with their part in Giants, so D stopped and played the cd to make sure he knew the right part and then sang it to them and they all practiced until the altos had their part learned. We also went over another song called In the Fellowship. At that time I did not have a cd so I was having a tough time with this song. I struggled with the rhythm along with the lyrics, but after repeating a couple times, I managed. We ended rehearsal by gathering in a circle and a girl, who is the groups chaplain, saying a prayer for everyone.
The rehearsal was a lot like my church choir rehearsal in these respects. We pray for everyone before we leave as well. It was a comforting feeling to know that other groups go through the same things.

Brian Gravelle Fieldwork Notes 10/16
3:10-3:50pm
I arrived at C’s office at 2:45 for our 3:00pm appointment. I waited in the lobby outside his office. I was eager to speak with him because he was the first person that showed interest in talking to me about gospel music. He showed me into his office and I welcomed him with a handshake. We sat down and I had my questions all ready, as well as a tape recorder. I asked him if it was ok and he said it was fine because he was going to talk for a while. He wasn’t kidding. This man knew a lot about gospel music. I was eager to listen to all that he knew and what he could offer me in terms of a background in the field as well as other things about gospel music. He gave me a cd that had gospel choirs and performers from the late 70’s and early 80’s. I was eager to listen to it because I wanted to see the differences in the music then and the gospel scene now. We talked about the history of gospel and how it came from slavery and made its way into mainstream music. The interview is transcribed fully, but I wanted to write this for my opinions on the interview itself. I felt very comfortable around C. He is a very approachable man and is willing to give you the shirt off his back. He has been in this choir for over 14 years. He was one of the founding members. As I talked to him, I could tell that he loved gospel music and loved to sing and direct in this choir. He knew of different performers that paved the way for gospel music as well as performers today that have changed the genre. It was hard to get a word in edgewise, to be honest. That is a good thing in an interview I guess. I did manage to get the questions in that I wanted to ask and I learned some interesting things about C as well. Overall I was very pleased in the interview and he gave me more than enough information.

Brian Gravelle Fieldwork Notes 11/3
6-7:30 pm
I immediately started off the evening by searching for the Lubbock room for over 20 minutes. I could not for the life of me find out where it was. I walked upstairs around all the conference rooms at least 3 times. I continuously searched until I saw someone who was in the choir. Of course the Lubbock room was the only conference room that was not labeled. I walked into the conference room and again searched for the best place to set up my camera. The chairs were facing the wall opposite the door, and there was nothing high in the room for me to prop my camera on. I ended up taking one of the chairs and placing it in the corner of the room, facing the rows of chairs. I positioned it so that I could gain the best perspective from the room by making sure I could see the choir as well as the directors. I did wish that I had a better view of the whole choir but I would have needed someone to be filming the whole time or have a tripod to gain better access to the whole choir. I did good with the resources that I had I think.
VOL starts off every rehearsal with some time of worship and the chaplain gets up and quotes a scripture and talks about how that scripture affects everyone’s lives. She might also just explain something and how the members can be more in tune with God and Christ. This lets me remember that this rehearsal is very deeply rooted in religion and in worship. One rehearsal she talked about a relationship with God is like a marriage with God. There is also what Dr. Smith would call “class business.” There if VOL business that happens during each rehearsal. C asked the members if they would be able to perform at The Edge that next Friday. The Edge is part of the Trinity Church and is part of the youth ministry at Trinity Church. There were enough people that could make the performance, so it was settled that VOL would give a performance on that following Friday. I was very happy that I could attend because I wanted to perform with this group and see what it was like.
Rehearsal also did not start till 6:20. Most times there are people who are late during every rehearsal that I have attended. We did not start singing until about 6:40. We were going to run through all the music that was to be performed the following week. The music that would be performed would be Giants, Blessing of Abraham, and Grateful. We also incorporated the choreography that we would use during the performance. In the Blessing of Abraham we clapped and swayed and during Grateful we slowly swayed back and forth. During Giants we also swayed and clapped to the beat.
I was surprised how a simple clapping on the beat and swaying really got me into the music. It is true that you have to put your whole body and soul into the music. I felt the clapping and swaying helped merge the choir into a more tightly knit group. It was an experience. I also like the fact that we could also have fun while making music at the same time. There was a time in the rehearsal where the song splits into three parts and when we were done a girl asked, “What is ham?” She was of course asking about the last note of Abraham, but C took the time to inform her about the deliciousness of this ham product and how it goes well with rolls. Everyone had a good laugh about that. C also informed us on the right and wrong ways to clap because some people look lackluster in their performance and others…just shouldn’t clap.
The rehearsal ended with C telling us when and where to show up for next Friday. It was a successful rehearsal.

Brian Gravelle Fieldwork Notes 11/17
6-7pm
The last rehearsal was in the Mesa room in the UC. I got there early as usual and met R and D.I. They were waiting for everyone else to show up. I sit down and begin to write some notes as people come in. I noticed that people were getting more and more comfortable with me being there. I no longer felt like an outsider, but someone who belonged in that choir. We moved the chairs so that we would have more room to put the chair in two lines. I took my seat in the back behind the tenors. D told us that we would learn two new songs today. I was eager to learn something new because we had been practicing the same songs for a while now. The first new song that we learned was called My Worship is for Real. We went over the new lyrics one line at a time and then went over the melody and parts before we put it to music. It was hard to write down the lyrics and listen, so at times I just had to listen first and then write down the lyrics.
C said that this song reminds him of the story of David and the arc of the covenant and when he came back his wife was angry with him and he was sad because she would never know why he had to go find the arc of the covenant. It was just what he had to do. The harmony was fairly simple. The sopranos had the hardest part to learn. We went through the lyrics and the music a couple of times and stood up and sang through the whole piece before moving into another piece. The other piece that we learned was called Incredible God. We went through the lyrics with this song as well. D taught us the harmony part by part, throughout the entire song. It was good because we knew exactly what was going on and then he put all three parts together.
I had to leave early because I had a dress rehearsal for my Junior recital, but I did stay more than halfway through the rehearsal. I thought this rehearsal was successful because we learned two new pieces, seeing as the concert for VOL is December 3rd. I am looking forward to seeing and maybe participating in it.

Brian Gravelle Fieldwork Notes 11/10
VOL Performance 9:45-10:30
The night begins with Bob and me driving together to the performance. We pull into the parking lot of The Edge and immediately notice that there are not many cars. I myself am not sure if this really is the place, but nevertheless we exit the vehicle and make our way to what we suspect as the door. The Edge, for all good reasons, was once a shopping center. The Trinity Church must have purchased it and used part of it as this hang out for young teens. I am also carrying two cans of beans, because to gain access into the place you have to either bring three dollars or donate a canned item. I walk into The Edge and notice an information center near the entrance. A girl walks up and asks us what we need. I tell her that we are here to sing and she politely takes our cans and says that we can walk around. Bob has my camera engulfed in his enormous hand as we walk around, taking The Edge in.
I notice ping pong tables, foosball tables, and air hockey tables near the entrance. I walk near the stage and notice the chairs arranged in a crescent pattern in front of the stage. There are about 100 split into 4 rows with an aisle down the middle. I notice the movable walls in either side of the stage, along with an elaborate microphone system and lighting design. Behind the chairs is a mixing station complete with computer and mixing board. To the left of the mixing platform are tables where people are setting up food. I walk around some more and then R and I show up. They are dressed in their VOL shirts. I am in a black shirt because I have yet to get a VOL shirt. Bob and I wait around until more VOL people start to show up. We are then informed that we won’t perform till about 10. So Bob and I decide to pass the time with some ping pong and air hockey.
I find out that I am not good at air hockey, but I am pretty good at ping pong. I finish my game and then the other choir members wait behind one of the movable walls. We got into a circle and prayed for a good performance. Then we all lined up and went out on stage.
By this time I was nervous and excited because I was finally getting to perform with this group.
We start out by singing Giants. We all try to find a spot that is suitable for clapping and so we can hear each other. The clapping goes well, but somehow I manage to bump into the tenor in front of me, but we laugh it off and keep singing.
The next song that we do is Grateful. The mood definitely changes. I notice the slow swaying and the change in everyone’s persona and voice. It is a different feeling that I get from the song.
The last song we sing is Blessing of Abraham. I think it is a good ender because it is upbeat and it gets the crowd involved and excited. I really got into the music and the words.
After the last song, we smiled and left the stage. I was happy that I got to perform with the VOL gospel choir. I enjoyed making the music and having an audience respond as well as they did. I left shortly after we were done. It was a success.

Brian Gravelle Fieldwork Notes 11/11
1:50-2:45pm
Today we were in the Knapp conference room in the Horn/Knapp dorms. It was hard finding this room as well because I had not been there before. I again found some girls in VOL and they showed me in the right direction. There were only 8 people that showed up to rehearsal. I had to leave early because of an engagement, but I did manage to show up for half of the rehearsal. We talked about VOL business and the shirt design for the semester. The shirts are going to be black and red. There was a possibility of going with blue and gold, but more people wanted black and red. The chaplain also talked about being Christ-like and being holy. That you should always strive to be better and be conscious about what you do and not to be complacent. She also said it is good to have conviction and that conviction is a fixed or formed belief. I had to leave before we even rehearsed any music, but I am glad that I showed up.

Brian Gravelle Fieldwork Notes 11/17
6-7pm
The last rehearsal was in the Mesa room in the UC. I got there early as usual and met R and D.I. They were waiting for everyone else to show up. I sit down and begin to write some notes as people come in. I noticed that people were getting more and more comfortable with me being there. I no longer felt like an outsider, but someone who belonged in that choir. We moved the chairs so that we would have more room to put the chair in two lines. I took my seat in the back behind the tenors. D told us that we would learn two new songs today. I was eager to learn something new because we had been practicing the same songs for a while now. The first new song that we learned was called My Worship is for Real. We went over the new lyrics one line at a time and then went over the melody and parts before we put it to music. It was hard to write down the lyrics and listen, so at times I just had to listen first and then write down the lyrics.
C said that this song reminds him of the story of David and the arc of the covenant and when he came back his wife was angry with him and he was sad because she would never know why he had to go find the arc of the covenant. It was just what he had to do. The harmony was fairly simple. The sopranos had the hardest part to learn. We went through the lyrics and the music a couple of times and stood up and sang through the whole piece before moving into another piece. The other piece that we learned was called Incredible God. We went through the lyrics with this song as well. D taught us the harmony part by part, throughout the entire song. It was good because we knew exactly what was going on and then he put all three parts together.
I had to leave early because I had a dress rehearsal for my Junior recital, but I did stay more than halfway through the rehearsal. I thought this rehearsal was successful because we learned two new pieces, seeing as the concert for VOL is December 3rd. I am looking forward to seeing and maybe participating in it.

And yes, this is all the fieldwork that I have completed up to today. And yes, it will be all the fieldwork that I do. Sorry for the horrible delay.

Even more belated than Jordan's!

2006-11-27T23:22:00.000-08:00

Yep. I'm posting three fieldwork observations from two different dates.

SP Celtic Ens.

While waiting outside the classroom I noticed that a lecture class was watching and discussing a video about Elvis. I also overheard a couple of female students being interviewed by what seemed to be a reporter from the student newspaper. Interestingly, the girls were stumped by the question “Where do you see yourselves in the future?” . It didn’t seem as though they had ever really thought about that. This brings up an interesting point about the range of student goals at the institution. All the former students I spoke with at their gigs entered the school with a very clear objective in mind.

Today there was no playing as it was the class meeting immediately after a performance. Instead they watched a video of their performance. I didn’t write as much as I would have liked to since the lights were off. Unfortunately some of the stuff I “wrote” (more like scribbled) looks more like Arabic than English so those few comments are lost.

Interestingly, but upon reflection not surprisingly, most of the instrumentation is interchangeable with a country or bluegrass group: vocals, guitar, 2 fiddles, upright bass. The instructor played box and bouzouki and another older student played bodhran, guitar, and bouzouki. For one tune they even added in a mandolin. One of the reels they played was done with variations in sort of a bluegrass style. One tune was just solo male vocal. The style he used was very different from the standard American vernacular. It wasn’t quite bel canto, but it definitely had a more “European” sound. The instructor pointed out that the singer transferred there from another university where he studied classical voice.

Although one of the goals of the group was clearly to learn the Celtic style, it also seemed to be geared toward increasing the students’ faculties on their bluegrass/country instruments. This also fits in with one of my other observations about our target community: that they seek out ways to enrich their country playing by trying to implement non-country techniques (like the country guitarist who was able to assimilate Ynvie Malmsteen into his picking solos!)

Another interesting facet of the performance was the fact that the instructor was also a member of the group. This fits in with our apprenticeship model. There is something to be said for sharing the stage with accomplished performers. This way, the students experienced professional levels of performance firsthand. One way this concept manifested itself in the performance was through stage presence modeling. The group had a sizeable problem starting off one tune. The instructor defused the problem with wit, charisma, and a comfortable stage presence. This is the sort of thing one does not learn in private lessons.

I talked shop with the bodhran player for a while. He (like pretty much every one else I spoke with) seems to be really excited about his attendance at South Plains.

SP Western Swing Ensemble

After I attended the Celtic rehearsal and spoke with some individuals, I sat in on the Western Swing class. I didn’t write so much because the students’ eyes were on me more (now that I was out of the cover of darkness). There was a prospective student from Chicago observing too, so I felt I would try to impact the environment as little as possible (for now).

The instrumentation was as follows: 2 fiddles (one absent), drums, male and female vocalists, pedal steel, two older guys on bass and piano (not sure if they were students or instructor or sit-ins or what – I’ll have to ask), and the instructor on a telecaster (he took no solos in this class or the Celtic class). It had been pointed out to me by several people that this is sort of a rebuilding semester for this ensemble. The students did seem a bit less confident than most others I had seen from here.

The players seemed to have notebooks with Nashville number charts for their tunes. I didn’t want to shove my face in them for a closer look, though.

When they started, they just jumped right into full tunes – sort of like every rock or jazz rehearsal I’ve ever been in. Then the instructor would make a few comments and they would hit a spot or two and move on to the next one. He would ask them which one they wanted to do next.

The sound of the group is what I’d call “old school country.” The form is verse-chorus with solos. The rep struck me as the country version of jazz standards. The instructor told me that there are only a couple of tunes added to the canon (my word, not his) every ten years.

Since they are preparing for a concert and the set list is set, I will get some more in-depth information on the tunes next time.

SP Western Swing Ensemble -- second visit

While I was waiting for the class to begin, I ran into the Scottish guitarist from the Doug Moreland Show. He was in town and visiting so he borrowed a guitar and found a practice room. After greeting each other, he proceeded to show me (unprompted) what he was working on. His technical faculty really is amazing. He showed me an acrobatic string bending lick that he uses when going from 1 to major 3 where he bends a string toward the ground a whole step and then, when it meets the adjacent string, he adds it to his bend and bends both back the other way so the new one goes up a whole step while playing both. There are other strings involved in the chords, but I wasn’t able to determine their relative pitches. I tried it on my guitar when I got home and only wound up feeling like a fumbling buffoon. Apparently, every year the faculty designates two students as best vocalist and best instrumentalist of the year. I was told by one source that this guy was best instrumentalist last year. If this guy’s work ethic is even remotely indicative of the level of commitment of the student body, it is no wonder that they are so successful after they leave.

Anyway, I tend to lose track of time when paired with another extrovert, so when I looked at the incorrectly set clock in the hall, I thought I was already 35 minutes late for the class. I was, of course, still 25 minutes early. When I got to the room, the older guy who was playing piano last time was there. He was very friendly and we filled the 25 minutes with conversation. He is a retired school teacher. By this time I have discovered that he and the bassist are students and their involvement seems to be at least somewhat recreational. In fact, I continued to speak with them after the rehearsal and they invited me out for drinks. I’m not usually one to decline an offer for social interaction (not to mention additional insight for this project), but I had to pick up a muffler for my ailing vehicle, so I reluctantly declined. For some reason, it is still bugging me but that’s a personal problem.

Anyway, the class began the same way as the last – a short speech from the instructor and right on to the tunes.

The fiddler from last time is gone and the other fiddler is here.

The rehearsal is very relaxed. In fact, random students not in the ensemble periodically come in and leave.

I sat next to the pianist and looked onto his charts.

The tunes, most with their numbers:

Texas Playboy Rag

Deep Water

Verse

1 17 4 1

1 1 5 5

1 17 4 1

1 5 1 1

Chorus

5 27 5 27

5 27 5 57

1 17 4 1

1 5 1 1

Baby, it sure would go good

A little walk with you sure would be good 1 1

A little talk with you sure would be good 1 1

A little table where the candle glows 4 4

Down at that little place we used to go 1 1

And hold your hand in mine, just like old times 5 4

Baby, it sure would go good 1 1

(the male vocal harmonizes the 6^th scale degree on the last 1 effectively turning it into a 67 in first inversion)

Baby, baby – Baby, baby 1 1

Why don’t you come back where you belong? 1 1

I miss you in the morning, miss you when the day is gone 4 4 5

And all night long 5

Take me back to Tulsa

1115

5551

Bob Wills is Still the King

(see sheet scan)

Right or Wrong

6 6 2 2

5 5 1 1

1 1 5 5

2 2 5 5

--------

6 6 2 2

5 5

6 6 2 2

1 5 1 1

Heart To Heart Talk

(see scan of my chicken-scratch)

The amps used on everything but drums (she used hot-rods the whole time) seemed to take care of the balance except during the fiddle solos when the pianist would really thin out his texture.

At the end of the rehearsal, the instructor announced that there is an increased interest in the class for the Spring semester so they will all have to reaudition instead of simply keeping their spots for the year. In addition, a rotating sectional time will be added to the normal demands of the course. Competition within the school seems o be a big part of the educational process. This, I am told, is a reflection of the “real world of country music.”

It’s too bad this project is almost over. I like this environment and especially the people. I may wind up going to a concert every once in a while to say hi.

Our Website

2006-11-27T22:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.taskstream.com/ts/peacock7/GospelProject/VisionsOfLight.html

The beginning of greatness? :-P

Discussion Questions for Polak

2006-11-27T21:22:00.000-08:00

Just a very partial list of factors referenced in Polak’s conclusions upon which you could/should comment:

Impact upon Bamako musicians of having taught foreigners
The mobility of musicians across classes, physical locations, or performance contexts, and what this mobility might reveal
Transformation from leather to iron jenbe and what it might reveal
Impact of globalization upon jenbe design, technique, music, aesthetics, economics, and so on; e.g., be prepared to use jenbe to explain globalization, and be prepared to use globalization to explain jenbe
Homogenization, conceptualization, and their relationship(s)
Net “advantages” to jenbe’s globalization? Problems? Losses?
Generational perspectives on jenbe and what they reveal; what comparable generational perspectives might reveal in your own fieldwork
Commercialization and “decadence”: define, relate, problematize
“blame” versus “fame” equation
“integration” and “ambivalence” and their relationship

Highly belated field notes

2006-11-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

I severely apologize for a monumental delay on the posting of these field notes. I have been plagued by computer ac adapter problems, and hot sync cable misplacement, the one problem in having a completely papereless system.

So this is a pasting of documents typed in the 24-48 hours after the Coleman "event." Of note is that I had not read Amber's notes as of the writing of these so one may glean from this a virtual Venn diagram of information discussed by either myself, by Amber or by the two of us.

Stop #1: The beginning of major progress for the team. Amber and I began by stopping over at the stationhouse to try to schmooze over the “gate-keeper.” Much to our chagrin, there was no gate-keeper to be had! We walked in to the place (it’s directly adjacent to O
Reilly’s) and right off the bat we look to the left, and there’s an older man in a glass booth, which we correctly presume to be the control room. The man sees us, and immediately invites us into the room. We quickly learn that we are speaking to Jerry Coleman, one of the two true experts in Lubbock on the Buddy Holly legacy. After extremely brief introductions, he proceeds to put us on the air! That’s right, we basically met each other on live radio. It was pretty scary because I could definitely hear my own voice through the speakers. Amber was definitely in charge of the day until he mentioned the on the air idea. Then we were both equally in charge of being complete cowards! We did manage to avoid making complete asses out of ourselves, but considering that we did not bring our interview questions (considering that we had no intention of interviewing today) it was hard to someone the words to ask him questions from memory over the air. He gave a couple of general responses, and we were relieved when he chose to return to playing music after only about 2 ½ questions. He was very kind about setting us up with an appointment; he gave us his card which included his home number! This was a major turning point for us.

Stop #2: We went to the Buddy Holly center to take a look at the museum. Before we entered the building, we decided to do a little photo op outside on the giant pair of sunglasses. I think it's interesting how they have honed in on the glasses as the most elemental shape possible that can be immediately recognizeable as identifable with Buddy. Amber pointed out that this place was used by the cheerleaders of one of the local high schools for thier yearbook pictures.
This was essentially a vacant place on a Tuesday afternoon. This is not saying much, but it does beg the question, what is their usual monthly revenue? The student ticket prices made our charge a 50% rate of $2.00 a person. pWe met a woman who's name Amber wrote down who has been around for many years at the center. She knew about it's prior history as a train depot(?) and told us about a small portion of the center that has been restored in order to look like it did when the building served it's original purpose. We didn't end up having time to discuss this in any more depth than we did, but she offered to speak with us in the future and told us to come by on any week day to do more.
After entering the museum proper, we were able to take our time and it still took us only 35 minutes.to go through the entire exhibit area. There were numerous opportunities to view pairs of Buddy's glasses, which included a particularly eery point in our afternoon when we discovered the display of the pair that Buddy wore on the solemn day of his fatal plane crash. The pure shock value made that inanimate object much more interesting.. We then found ourselves meandering down the halls and into the theater room. There, we found a documetary film on Buddy, including many an interview with his surviving family and bandmates. Another question for our follow-up visit will be how long is the video and does it run on a loop or are there specific starting times? Knowing that we were about to have to leave due to closing time, we decided to use our remaining time to visit the Lubbock Music Hall of Fame, which is nothing more than a small side-room dedicated to pictures commemorating other musical talent native to Lubbock, Tx. This was not our last stop, however.

Final stop: The Buddy Holly Memorial statue at 19th and Ave. Q. We found it interesting that it seems to be located in a fairly untrafficked area. I knew only of the larger monument that faces out onto avenue Q until we visited the site. We were joined by one other lone tourist and I gladly took pictures of him and Buddy, just as Amber and I had already done. There was little to do here, but we did find it interesting that he was set up on a platform with no stairs, but there was a very obvious walkway leading to the break in the chain partition that circled the platform. This makes for a very interesting question: were we or were we not meant to climb up and have a look? We took it as any budding ethnomusicologist would, and opted for the former conclusion. Many questions came into our heads about whether it was really all that effective as a monument given it’s seemingly non-strategic placement.

Burden/Edwards/Vela website

2006-11-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

For the Ballet Folklorico group:

http://members.cox.net/robvela1/WWW

The 'WWW' at the end MUST be in all caps, (I found that out after 30 minutes of futzing w/it, much to my dismay). Obviously, its still under construction, but it should have more info up shortly.

I am very pleased!

2006-11-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Folks:

Overall (though a few people have lagged substantially behind), the insights that individuals have been posting to "comments" on the various readings have been absolutely superb: thoughtful, incisive, questioning, and generally terrific. I am extremely pleased and impressed and wish only that I had made more extensive use of this approach earlier in the semester. Live and learn, I guess.

It is not too late to contribute to these: even if you are tardy (missing deadlines), go ahead and comment anyway--it can't hurt. Also, do feel free to continue to comment not only on the article and my questions, but also upon others' comments.

The next set of discussion questions (for Jones-Bamman article in Post) are up on WebCT under "Materials - Week 14 - Links". Please note that I have also added one or two audio files referenced in the article, under "Audio," for your reference.

We are heading into our last few class sessions. That being the case, we will prioritize (1) review of the comments/discussions that have been so successful on the blog; (2) discussion on the one or two articles remaining to be read (I will indicate which during class); (3) review and discussion of team websites. Team websites should therefore be completed (suitably for grading) by Thursday 11.30 11am--grades will be assigned on the basis of website status as of that day/date/time.

Thanks for your excellent work during my conference hiatus. Can't wait to get back into discussions!

cjs

website

2006-11-19T12:18:00.000-08:00

Finished uploading the pictures a few days ago. I think we have everything except the compare/contrast of the two churches and analyzing the data. (don't forget: the C/C is our assignment over the break)

Jeremy/Olivia- check the website for any link on pictures I forget to break, or anything I've missed when you get a chance!

Happy Turkey Day Week! :)

Salsa Group

2006-11-17T10:08:00.000-08:00

Webpage Stuff
For my group: I have the final version of the webpage up. I may add video if I can, but if not we may just show the DVD in class during our presentation.
Please check the field reports page for your field reports. If I have a date under your name for which you do not have a field report, please e-mail me so I can take off that link.
If you click the link for a date for which you do have a field report and nothing happens then e-mail me the field report for that date because that means either the link is broken, or I don't have your report and rather than trying to figure out which one it is I'd rather just have you send me the report, just in case.
If I don't have all the field reports at some point this weekend I'm going to take off any links for which I don't have field reports.
Also, if you haven't yet, please send me your field reports for the past couple of weeks.
Also, I need help with content. I am going to e-mail you all a checklist. I know it's very "holding-your-hand" to do that and it's not because I think you're stupid, but I want to have as much of this done before Thanksgiving as I possibly can because I won't have the time to work on the webpage over Thanksgiving and I have too much to do after Thanksgiving to devote a lot of time and attention to it. You can look around the webpage to see what I have and what I don't.
Thanks for everything that I've gotten so far and I know I'm being pushy but I need more. I had expected to have most of it BEFORE Saturday, which is tommorow, and I don't have any of the stuff I asked for at the last meeting which means I'll have to try to cram everything in. I've already spent a great deal of time on the webpage since our last meeting.
The link to the webpage is :
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/ethno-salsa
All links to all pages should be working. I checked it all after the last time I edited.

2006-11-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

After meeting with Jeremy and Olivia to discuss what else we need to do in order to perfect our team's website, we decided to finish uploading the scanned pictures of bulletins and hymns from churches and read all the material we've prepared in the past couple months to look for similarities and differences in order to analyze our information!

(HA HA HA!!! I POSTED BEFORE JEREMY GOT TO!) :)

Fixed

2006-11-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

Members of team six:

I have fixed the problems that Jeremy and I discusssed this afternoon.

Jeremy-please double check them, and see if I accidentally messed something else up in the process =)

Olivia- I sent you the history of the Korean Baptist Church if you could go ahead and summarize that for the website by Thursday that would be wonderful.

FYI: Another group meeting on Thursday (November 16th) at 11am. Meet in the music edu library then travel to the library together! Thanks guys! :)

Team 6 definitions

2006-11-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

Team 6 here are some definitions for words in our abstract to be entered into glossary

Construct (v) – the conceptual building or the assigning of function to a given object or idea.

Culture (n) – complex and integrated human behaviors characteristic of a people group through which values, ideas, and beliefs are transmitted to successive generations.

Define (v) – to demark the limits of an idea or object in other words to establish the boundaries at which the idea or object ceases to be recognized as such.

People group (n) – individuals who share corporate identity markers such as ethnicity, age, social status.

Ritual (n) – routinely practiced human behavior typified by order and structure in the execution of specific physical actions.

Space (n) – a conceptual projection of function, sacred or practical, onto an area outside of an individual, either physically created or naturally occurring.

Worship music (n) – a contemporary, stylized type of music meant to attune the attention and the affection of Christian believers toward Jesus Christ.

Some working definitions for Team 6

2006-11-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

Team 6,

Here are some definitions for our website glossary.

Construct (v) – the conceptual building or the assigning of function to a given object or idea.

Culture (n) – complex and integrated human behaviors characteristic of a people group through which values, ideas, and beliefs are transmitted to successive generations.

Define (v) – to demark the limits of an idea or object in other words to establish the boundaries at which the idea or object ceases to be recognized as such.

People group (n) – individuals who share corporate identity markers such as ethnicity, age, social status.

Ritual (n) – routinely practiced human behavior typified by order and structure in the execution of specific physical actions.

Space (n) – a conceptual projection of function, sacred or practical, onto an area outside of an individual, either physically created or naturally occurring.

Worship music (n) – a contemporary, stylized type of music meant to attune the attention and the affection of Christian believers toward Jesus Christ.

Clarification: 12 lines per ARTICLE, not per Question

2006-11-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

Folks:

See header. I'm looking for a minimum 12 lines of commentary from each student per ARTICLE, not per question (12 lines per question x 8 questions x 27 students would = 2592 lines of commentary per article: there's no way anybody is going to read that much!)

Discussion questions for Feld

2006-11-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

Discussion Questions; for all responses, provide examples and specific line citations.

This article is a good candidate for the "3 passes – 3 layers" reading approach we discussed earlier in the semester. Feld’s goal in this 1976 article is both to analyze and problematize the use of film in ethnography; to propose a more thoughtful, consistent, and rigorous analytical approach to film; and to provide a very extensive and carefully-annotated filmography, or list of films useful in teaching ethnomusicology. It is not necessary to read every word of this article—but don’t make the mistake of assuming you can skip the reading entirely. Rather, focus on those sections (as indicated by markup on the pdf) which indicate important information. And, of course, read with the Discussion Questions (and your responses) in mind.

Something else to which you should pay attention: the clarity, sanity, and straightforward nature of Feld’s writing. This is a good model: you can learn a lot about how to write well by reading such writing.

1. Unpack the phrase "the anthropology of visual communication." What kinds of tools might be relevant in such anthropology? How does "cultural anthropology" translate into the visual media? (Hint: consider the possiblity that a number of tools from CA may actually be readily transferrable, without excessive modification, directly from other types of CA observation situations.)

2. Note the technique, and the type of evidence, which he employs to assess the development of ethnographic film over the history of the discipline. Be prepared to relate this to Doubleday's article on frame drumming; what are the similiarities of approach?

3. Feld articulates the reality that most ethnomusicologists are *not* "pure" researchers (that is, spending all of their time in the field or writing up their findings). Rather, most ethnomusicologists wear multiple hats: at the very least, they are *both* fieldworkers *and* teachers--and so they often seek to use field materials for teaching purposes. What does Feld say has been the impact of this? What kinds of clarity of *motive* and *purpose* does Feld say need to be developed?

4. Feld cites Mantle Hood’s work with ethnographic film several times, and favorably. Based upon our reading of Hood’s "Bi-Musicality" article from 1960, why might there be overlap between Hood's interests and Feld's? In what ways do they share conceptual priorities? In other words: how are "bi-musicality" and "ethnographic film" related?

[Not a Discussion Question, but worth your attention: Lomax’s "Cantometrics" theory: now a discredited attempt to "map" musical style-preferences onto cultural/social types. Reveals a lot about the lasting ubiquity of the "universalist" impulse even into the 1970s.]

5. On p298, be prepared to unpack Feld’s "mediated symbolic event." Why do we need to understand this phenomenon via this terminology? Why is this technical terminology better than other language?

6. pp298-99: Discuss the "selectivity" which Feld sees as underreported but ubiquitous in ethnographic film. Why is it important to identify, recognize, and take-into-account this selectivity?

7. Feld argues that words "can not only equal but greatly surpass the information level of the still or moving image." We have repeatedly suggested in our seminar that additional media (especially audio- and video-recording) can provide more information; why does Feld contradict this? What does he suggest are the pitfalls of the presumption of film’s "superiority"?

[Not a Discussion Question, but a term you need to know, and whose implications you need to understand: "graphic notation." What is it, when/why is it used, what are its advantages?]

8. Unpack the meaning and significance of the passage beginning in the last paragraph of p308; relate Feld’s cautions to your own fieldwork; cite at least one situation in your own fieldwork where the uncritical use of film, presuming its "more complete information," might actually distort more than print does.

9. Second full paragraph on p309 is incredibly revealing: of what? Of whom? What is the relationship between how "tourists" see and how "anthropologists" see? What does this reveal about observers’ cultural biases?

10. Bottom of p310: who does Feld say needs to take more "responsibility"? How? Why? What would be the advantages of this? Give at least one example of such "responsibility" necessary in your own fieldwork. Compare to the examples offered by others in comments.

Discussion Questions for Hood

2006-11-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

Discussion Questions; for all responses, provide examples and specific line citations.

1. Hood notes that even “ingenuous” music, from elsewhere than the Industrial West, entails training in basic musicianship. This is another observation that might seem obvious in hindsight. Why does Hood make such an "obvious" point? Is he responding to an alternate position that might believe "ingenuous music" does *not* employ "training in basic musicianship"? Why might opposing scholars *need* to hold this view?

2. Be prepared to precisely define the expectations Hood assigns to "bi-musicality." He is actually quite specific about all the factors that go into cross-cultural musical competence. In other words, what, for Hood, is the "yardstick" which reveals a sufficient ability to cross musical/cultural boundaries?

3. Hood is a proponent of musical participation in ethnomusicology. What other philosophies of ethnomusicology might he be contesting?

4. The idea that cultural or ethnic background precludes musicianship also may seem like an outrageously dated (and implicitly racist) opinion--one which is now thankfully, largely, disappeared. However, the idea that ethnicity or "cultural characteristics" somehow might *enable* certain kinds of musicianship does still appear--it is the old question of "nature vs nurture". What doors does such a presumption close or open? In what example idioms?

5. What is the “laundry list” of specific musical skills he says are essential for “bi-musicality”? What learning approaches does he describe for addressing specific skills?

6. What *specific reasons* does Hood provide justifying the selection of improvisation as "the crowning achievement"? Why is improvisation the last, most difficult hurdle? What are all the constituent elements that Hood says must go into fluency in improvisation?

7. What is the full range of "knowings" he says are essential "rules" that must guide improvisation?

8. How does Hood fold this argument back, away from "other" musics, to question or expand approaches to "own" musics?

Discussion Questions for Doubleday

2006-11-11T13:08:00.000-08:00

Discussion Questions; for all responses, provide examples and specific line citations.

Remember, each student is asked to provide a minimum total of 12 lines in response to the following questions, using the "Comments" feature below. Please indicate clearly which Discussion Question you are responding to in your comment(s). [Edited to add]: You are encouraged to respond not only to the Questions but also to other seminar members' comments.

Also note: Comments function for this set of Questions will be open only through Nov 21 11am; you must complete your comments prior to that deadline.

1. What is the role of “history” or “historical analysis” in this article? Juxtapose this article with Wiora and use this article to reflect upon and critique Wiora.

2. The article is densely referential and very meticulous with detail; why does Doubleday do this?

3. What sorts of historical data does Doubleday employ? With what sorts of goals?

4. How might we regard this approach as a kind of “ethno-history”? What tools might an ethnomusicologist need to draw upon in order to do this kind of work?

5. To what extent does Doubleday use these approaches in order to “redress prior errors”? What might those errors have been? What might have caused those errors? What agenda might inform her work?

6. To what extent might Doubleday’s article be used as a model for other “ethno-histories”? To what extent does her approach address problems ethnomusicology has had with either archival or historical phenomena? In other words, does Doubleday provide models for “history tools” to add to the ethnomusicologist’s methodological toolbox?

7. What is the ethnographic value of myths, lies, inaccuracies, or half-truths? What sorts of insights might analysis of such “fictional” information provide?

8. Doubleday points out that characteristics associated with women as drummers have also been equally associated with other marginal groups: transvestites, eunuchs, gypsies, and similar groups. Several questions arise:

Why are these various marginal groups linked, treated, or regarded similarly?
What is the interplay between marginalized social status and the practice of music?
What is the role of music, ritual, and marginal identity in ritual (and therefore in liminality)?
What is the relationship of marginality, liminality, and power?

Discussion Questions for Dunbar-Hall

2006-11-11T12:54:00.000-08:00

Discussion Questions; for all responses, provide examples and specific line citations.

1. What were the historical and situational factors that made Bali a “classic site for ethnomusicological investigation”?

2. What is the relevance to the term “cultural tourism” to the situation of Bali? To this study?

3. In what ways does this article “problematize” the relationship between observation and participation? Between “self” and “Other”?

4. In what ways does colonialism (or its aftermath) impact on the situation in Bali? How does the Indonesian government cope with colonialism? How is colonialism implicated in modern ethnographic fieldwork there?

5. Provide an explanation of the way in which the technical term “spectacle” applies to the situation of religious music in Bali.

6. Provide a definition and a detailed discussion explaining the relationship between “public” and “private” in the rituals Dunbar-Hall describes.

7. How is “creativity” manifested in Balinese music and religious ritual? What are the procedures that Balinese artists use to “make new art”? And, very importantly, how do such procedures respond to Western/outside analyses of creativity? What are the problems?

8. Using the construction “both/and”, explain the ways in which music, ritual, performance, participation, and believe interact in Balinese sacred musics. I expect substantial detail here.

Added comments, and, links to team home-pages

2006-11-11T11:30:00.000-08:00

Folks:

I have added comments for all (well, almost all--Liz outsmarted me!) blog posts to date. Please read and consider those comments.

Also, I have added links to all non-WebCT project sites to the blog homepage (lower-right menu, see "Links"). Please check that list and visit other teams' pages. And, if your project site is not represented in that list, please send me that link ASAP. This of course presumes that the website exists...

Dia De Los Muertos

2006-11-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

10/28
Dia De Los Muertos

Rob found a flier for a Dia de los Muertos event put on by the TTU International Cultural Center (“made possible in part by a cultural arts grant from the City of Lubbock as recommended by Civic Lubbock, Inc.”). The production had a series of difference events at different locations, showcasing different art forms and performances in celebrations of Dia de los Muertos.

Event 1: 7:30-8:30- Louise Hopkins Underwood Center
Included in the event was a program put on by El Ballet Folklorico Nuestra Herencia.
This was a public event. Various members of the Lubbock community were in attendance, some dressed in costume, some not, and some questionable as to if they were wearing a costume or not…. Many parents and fellow ‘tourists’ had video cameras out. The dancers did not seem to mind.

We saw a performance by a group of very young boys, then of very young girls (no older than 7 maybe?), then of a group a little older (no older than 11?), then finally of an older group possible junior high and high school kids. They have technical problems with the CDs and a few of the dances had to be restarted. The dancers seemed excited to perform, even when they made a mistake. The crowd laughed when the music messed up and clapped encouragingly when the dances were finished. The last dance, done by the oldest group, was the most organized. A speaker came out and told the story of the dance, and then the dancers showed the story. Finally a dance with an obvious story as the Oral Historian had suggested! At one point, a couple danced in the middle of the room while the younger dancers watched on. There were a couple “EW GROSS” comments coming from the youngest. A few covered their eyes. The dance was in no way provocative, but at the same time seemed to be a little much for the boys who still thought girls were ‘gross’. When the dances ended, the crowd applauded and made their way to the food, or to the next event. Each group within the dance troop stood together for photos.

Sarah and I decided to run after the head of the dance troop. I had called her earlier to see if we could come sit in her rehearsals. We finally found her and introduced ourselves. It was some what of an awkward meeting, though I’m not sure to whom the awkwardness can be accredited. My phone conversation was the same way. But! We were able to make a new contact and get a time and place to come see her group rehearse.

Event 2: 8:30-10:00- Buddy Holly Center
Included in this event was a performance by the Ixcalli In Nanantzin, Aztec Dancers, from Taos, New Mexico.
This performance brought more questions to our group than any answers. The first being: Why did the Lubbock community ask them to come here? Could this motivation lead to insight into the frame of mind of the community? Also, what, if any, is the tie between Mexican and New Mexican dance and culture.

The group explained that they were a small, traveling portion (maybe 15? Check..) of the whole group from New Mexico. They range in age from maybe 8 to 40+. Each had a different outfit. What did they stand for? Men beat on the drums while the others danced. At different points the dancers held various percussive instruments while they danced. There were also ‘shakers’ around their ankles. The speaker talked of a cultural tradition of spirituality expressed in the dances. She also talked of the oral tradition that passed the dances and meanings from one generation to the next. In the spirit of Dia de los Muertos, she dedicated the dances to fallen members of the troop, to family members, to the Lubbock community, and even to Buddy Holly himself. These explanations led me to ask: Do the dancers still believe in the meaning of the dancers? Are they performances, or rituals, or both (Cooley article)? She mentioned paying respect to the fallen. What did this mean to the performers?

There was a sun dance that involved one of the male adult dancers originally stationed behind a large drum. He dances around a flame and throughout the dance put his knees, hands, and feet very close to the fire. I wonder if that hurt…What does it mean?

The audience in this event was different than the first. The group seemed to come watch the group out of interest, rather than because they had a family member in the group. It was also an outside atmosphere (the previous even was inside). There were kamikaze acorns aimed at my head all night. The audience didn’t really know when to clap, or when not to (think Shannon article). We clapped anyway. We also had a little bit of ‘participant observation’ if you will by a group of young girls in the back. Sarah and I almost threw something at them. They had ‘shakers’ and were jumping up and down (dancing?) when the dancers were performing. You would think their parents would stop them. But no. The dad was jumping around, too.

We may or may not follow the lead from the Lubbock community to this group. The fact that they were brought into this community hints at a cultural awareness and advocation. As said before, this could lead to insight on the mindset of the community.

The video of these performances will be available on our website as soon as we gain permission.

Liz

2 Interview impressions- Ballet Folklorico

2006-11-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

10/18
Oral Historian

Sarah set up a meeting with an Oral Historian. We were to meet him at Starbucks on a Wednesday at 3:30. We didn’t know what he looked like and nor he, us. We just know to look for a middle-aged Hispanic man. As we wait, Sarah makes eye contact with someone… they both look at each other like the other is crazy. Turns out, the oral historian works with a girl named Sarah… who looks exactly like her. Awkward?

At the beginning of the interview, he gives us materials that he gained while researching Ballet Folklorico. He has an assortment of contacts, articles, and articles he wrote himself. Along with the contacts, he tells us how a few of the different contacts are linked throughout the community. Very helpful! We asked him questions about the Ballet Folklorico tradition, about his view on it, his purpose in researching it, as well as any advice he has for us going into the community.
At the end of the interview, Daniel said he would compile some of his interviews on CD, so that we could listen to them and know what further questions to ask. One is in Spanish… have fun with that Rob! The interviews are being transcribed now for our analysis and for the historian’s collection.

A few of interesting things I gained from the interview (to be transcribed in detail for analysis later) and that could be the focus of later investigation:
*Even though the oral historian was Hispanic, he gave us a hint of a warning against stereotyping all Hispanics into this community. He talked about his growing up and not knowing about the Mexican/Hispanic culture until he moved (to Lubbock? Check…) and then learning that he could be part of this community.
*With this, he also mentioned pride in the culture. He suggested that one possible reason for dancing in Ballet Folklorico was to learn about, embrace, and share this part of the Mexican culture. He talked about his individual pride in this part of his own culture that he had not grown up knowing about.
*Finally, he commented on how not only Hispanic individuals danced in Ballet Folklorico. One dance company in particular had dancers from different racial/ethnic backgrounds. He talked about how Tech may soon have a statue/piece of art work that showed Ballet Folklorico dancers with ‘multi-culture/ethnic’ faces. He expressed interest in publicizing Ballet Folklorico for more people to learn and know about.

Question from interview… What is the “Hispanic Agenda”?

10/27 Dance leader

I set up an interview for all 3 of us could attend (YAY) with the leader of one of the dance groups. We went to her house. I thought it was extremely nice of her to invite 3 strange college students into her house…. Her two daughters were running around the house in their Halloween costumes, no doubt wondering who these people sitting around their table were. We asked just about every question imaginable about the dance tradition including questions about the dances, the music, the outfits, the community, the tradition….

This interview is also being transcribed for later analysis.

A few interesting notes on the interview:
* The dances are age-specific in that she teaches the harder ones to the older groups, and the easier to the younger or newer members.
*There isn’t a lot of literature on Ballet Folklorico. It is learned and passed on through a mostly oral-tradition. She has a ‘maestro’ (sp?) that she gets most of her information from.
*There are conferences where some of the dances are taught.
*In competition, judges focus on authenticity of the dance, the music, and the outfits.
*Most dances and performances are done with tapes/CD because there aren’t resources to bring in a musical group.

Ending thought- We may get to dance with her beginners…. Maybe.

Liz

Buddy Holly Center Interview Part 2

2006-11-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

I'd have to say that for my first interview I think it went quite well. I tried calling my contact at 2:10. She did not answer, and unfortunately, I was using a school phone and did not have a number to leave her to call me back. I tried again at about 2:20. Still no answer. This time I left a message letting her know I called, that I didn't have a number she could reach me on, but I would be calling back around 2:30. A few minutes after 2:30 I called her and thankfully reached her! (I was starting to feel embarrassed for the receptionist who kept transferring my call the first two times. Thankfully the third time I received a different person.)

The interview went quickly and smoothly. I started by introducing myself and letting her know why I am interviewing her. I then proceeded to ask her most of my questions about the Buddy Holly center. She said approximately 40,000 people visit the BHC annually. The Buddy Holly center was built by the city. Over time, the city had obtained "items of importance to the Buddy Holly Legacy" and decided to display them to the public. They decided while building it, to combine it with the Fine Arts Center. This was because the Fine Arts Center needed a new place, and the building of the two together matched their purpose. Their purpose was "to create a place where art and music collide." (I got a feeling from the way she said the purpose statement I could probably visit again and see the purpose clearly displayed at the BHC/Fine Arts Center.) The building was created out of an old train depot in 1999. The BHC/FAC is funded by the Municipal Government. It's apparently complicated how the funds work. Apparently, the money from the gift shop and museum do not go directly to the museum. It seems they go back to the city, and the city gives the museum a budget on which to operate. They also get support from grant organizations such as the SOFA (---- of Fine Arts? It's a Lubbock organization created originally to support the Fine Arts Center, but now the FAC is with the BHC it helps to support the BHC as well.) She did not know of any other places to find 50s/60s rock and roll music in Lubbock. She's not aware of any clubs or other places that offer this venue. She did give me a man's name to look for and his website to investigate. This is another contact who we are already in the process of using, especially his website. It was interesting to see that this man was also known to her, and hopefully indicates his reliability of information for our project. That is a summary of my interview. She was very nice, and is pleased to speak with me again if I come up with any more questions.

Team 6 Interview with Choir Director at Lubbock Chinese Church 11/06 12:20 - 12:45

2006-11-08T14:53:00.000-08:00

All three members of Team 6 participated in the following interview:

Meg Alexander, Olivia Epperson, Jeremy Buckner

Team 6 double check my transcription with your notes. Please add additional comments that I may have missed in a reply to this post.

Jeremy

C. (Choir Director at Lubbock Chinese Church) Interview November 6^th 12:15pm – 12:45pm

JB: How long have you lived in Lubbock?

C: Since 1991. I originally started my Ph.D. Fine Arts in Music Administration then I switched to Instructional Tech in Education and received my second Master’s Degree.

JB: How long have you led the choir at Lubbock Chinese Church?

C: We didn’t have a very organized choir before – started singing with maybe 2 or 3 people about 6 or 7 years ago. I was not directing at that time. We had song leader to organize every worship songs. I started maybe 4 years ago. In the beginning we did special program like at Christmas. I tried to organize them. Starting last year, I started organizing in a group as a choir. Before that we had a small team they sing in 3 or 4 people no conductor.

OE: Is there any time that you use traditional Chinese musical instruments?

C: Randomly. Since I started directing this choir I don’t have much chance to play with choir since I need to conduct. If it is necessary I will play with the choir. But that is not very often. Before I conducted I might play with a couple of people in a special program. If the program require Chinese instruments and it depends on the song. If the song requires Chinese instrument.

JB: How do you choose the songs to sing?

When I started choir, I tried to select the song for them but after a while we have song leader, we have separate song leader. They do the whole worship so it is better for them to select song instead of me. After couple of experiment, I tried to select song it is easier for me to select song, however, they may have difficulty to lead the congregation what I mean If they have some kind of idea then they have a better idea to lead the congregation. So right now after several experiments I didn’t choose. They let me know so I can prepare. They can choose all type of song. Which is good for me. I did not grow up in Christian family. So I don’t have a huge of repertory to choose from. So I am learning. While I am training the choir I am learning. We have 4 different song leaders. Each week, someone different leads. I always conducts.

JB: How much time do you get to prepare?

C: 2 hour rehearsal every week from 10-12 we have prayer 30 minutes practice for 1 – 11/2 hours.

JB: Are there common terms or phrases used to describe the music you lead on Sunday Mornings? What do they mean?

C: Most of them are the terms we use in Western music. Because we don’t when we sing the song we choose most come from contemporary composition but they are Chinese songs they are not Western hymns. Since the song leader chooses songs, I have no control most of time they choose about 10 percent Western traditional hymn. 90 percent new Chinese Christian composed contemporary. Because I am educated here, I use a lot of Western terms that I translate into Chinese. Not really Chinese traditional. The songs are composed in Chinese Contemporary Music.

MA: Is there difficulty in translating the terms from English into Chinese?

C: No difficulty in translating, the terms are Western. I was taught in English and Chinese. I was taught in Taiwan. When we are taught in Western system we learn like you we have Chinese terms and English terms. In Chinese system, we have different vocabulary. Since Chinese music has been influenced by western music more than 100 years ago, the Chinese music we use a lot of western system in Chinese music.

MA: Where did you study for your undergraduate and what did you study?

C: Undergraduate Chinese College in Taiwan majored in Chinese music principal instrument the Erhu. You might have wondered why I was taught in Chinese music. Chinese music has been influenced by Western music. The music system is different from the western system, but the expression we use is very similar. We use Chinese for the musical term but it is very similar to the western system.

JB: How important is your music to your worship?

C: It is becoming more and more important. I don’t know. I heard people say that they like the way we are doing right now instead of going back to 2 years ago. I have meetings with choir people asking them what they think. They like choir better than small group. In small group everybody major singer. If you make a mistake everyone knows. In a choir they are not so much nervous when in a choir. They prefer me to conduct. I tried several experiments and not conducting, they sing, song leader lead, however they thought that they prefer that someone to conduct choir so the music can be more focus. I feel that way also, if no one is conducting the music and structure is not focus and the congregation is not focused. We talk about tempo, pitch. They feel better after I conduct the choir since the whole congregation can focus on the rhythm and they could follow better. Since we are a small church that once I stand there, everybody could see me. If this is a big church probably you won’t see me. Songs are pretty new and most of congregation not know song, even when we choose songs from Western traditions they are new. Only songs that we sing 4 or 5 times they become more comfortable. When we choose a song, half of them are not familiar with them. So when we sing this song they cannot follow us immediately. After 1 or 2 times the feel more comfortable to follow us.

OE: Who makes up the congregation.

C: Most are students. Master degree and PhD. 50% student other family who work here.

JB: Do you think it is important to have music in church worship?

C: I feel people see that more like I say before they don’t sing with the choir too much before the choir only a couple of people singing. Now we have a choir. They feel more comfortable.

JB: In your opinion, is music necessary to church worship?

C: I think it is necessary. It is an element that will lead the people to the worship. If we don’t have singing, I think people will feel that something is missing.

MA: Do you sing in English?

C: We try to avoid singing hymns in English. The older people cannot sing in English so we try to avoid that.

JB: Is there anything you want to add?

C: I would like to know what you think. You grew up with choir. It has been a tradition with this country. It is not a tradition in China. Most of us converted the Christianity when we studied here. 90% converted to Christianity in US. Some in China or Taiwan very few born in Christian family. Less than 1 percent. I was baptized 4 years ago in US. A lot is not natural to us, we learn from other churches. We borrow Southcrest for baptism. Jeff is connected with Southcrest. He knows a lot a people in SC. Actually we sang in two occasions in Southcrest before.

OE: My church sometimes sings at communion.

C: We don’t sing in communion or offering only at very beginning. We don’t have a tradition. Everything we are doing comes from observation from other churches or our own idea.

Buddy Holly Center Interview Part 1

2006-11-07T14:24:00.000-08:00

Today I called the Buddy Holly Center to set up an interview time with the woman I spoke to when I walked in the door last week. She wasn’t able to do it today, however she was happy to do it tomorrow. A phone interview was most convenient for both of us. I’m excited it is a phone interview instead of in person because I can concentrate on what she is going to say, how I speak to her, and not worry so much about my looks and body language. So far she seems to be very nice and interested in speaking with me. When I called the receptionist answered the phone and actually remember who I was. I only gave a short introduction of “I spoke with you last week and came to see the museum….” This makes me wonder if all that many people ever really come by. I was very pleased, and am confident that this will be a good interview with an easy to work with source. Here are a list of the questions I hope to get answered:

o Approximately how many people visit the Buddy Holly Center annually?

o Why did the city decide to build the BHC?

o Was the supplemental gallery to the BHC built at the same time as the original museum or was it added later?

o Why did the city build a supplemental gallery to the BHC?

o Do you know of anyone else could I speak to about the 50s/60s rock scene in Lubbock?

o How is the BHC financially supported?

o If I may ask, approximately how much money does the BHC bring in? Do you think this is from the Buddy Holly section of the museum, or another such as special events or the gift shop?

o Besides the BHC, are there any other places I can find 50s/60s rock music or memorabilia in Lubbock? (ex. Concerts, clubs, another museum, etc.)

E-mail is back up and running

2006-11-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to my team members, that my e-mail is back up and running after a couple days of being down. So feel free to send me items for the website (as you guys have been!) :) Thanks!

Interviews for festival and walk of fame

2006-11-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

On November 1st I conducted two interviews. The first was with a member of the city's Entertainment Task Force and the designate producer for the Lubbock Texas Music Festival. I am working typing up an abtract from the interview to highlight the key points. Overall the interview went well and I am going to follow up by returning to view and analyze some posters hanging in the informants office, which are from various festivals for the past ten years.

The second interview was with a woman, whose brother David Box, was inducted into the Lubbock Walk of Fame this year. Although thankful that her brother was inducted, she had some criticism of the process. She was aksed if her borther could be represented with his name on a bench instead of having a plaque affixed underneath the Buddy Holly statue. She refused the bench and went with the plaque. I am curious to learn more about the Walk of Fame's history and process for inclusion. My interview with the Entertainment Task Force member produced two names that can provide the information about the walk of fame.

The interview with the woman about the walk of fame did not last long. We began playing music together and recording it. I played guitar and she played various Native American flutes. We improvised for about 3 hours and were suprised with the outcome and began discussing further recordings, but in a professional manner for commercial release. This interview took a turn I did not expect, but a very positive outcome, although not directly related to the early rock and roll project.

Artifacts for Team 6

2006-11-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

will add comments to new posts shortly

2006-11-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

Folks:

Just got back into town late last night from AMS National meetings. Will add comments to the new blog postings before Tuesday 11.7 class. Thanks for your patience.

MUHL5321

2006-11-06T02:03:00.000-08:00

MUHL5321

I've started uploading videos to You Tube, which of course can be embedded to other websites. Perfect for ethno class. I don't know if anybody else is dealing with video, but it's free. The video must meet two rules: 1. less than 100MB 2. less than 10 min.
That's for each video uploaded, not your total space. You have unlimited space.

Here's just some of the things I've uploaded.

Ethno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoxX2BVOeCA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzdbFmGhb3g

Personal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzrf06zhBIs

South Beach

2006-11-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

Field Work (South Beach)

Nicky and myself went to South Beach tonight to compare the salsa night there to the ones at Jakes and Melt. This place was the biggest as far as physical square footage, but there where probably equally as many people here as the other two. This building looked like it had been a really fancy and popular place at one time, but it had been run down, or not very well maintained. The painting was in poor condition and many of the ceiling tiles had water damage and where covered up with black paint. The floors where stained and extremely dirty. You could feel your feet sticking to the floor. The club was set up with a large dance floor in the middle and a bar on each side of the building. There was an upstairs balcony that ran across the back wall facing the stage. Up on the balcony was where the DJ was located as well as several pool tables. The building was really dark and the music was extremely loud, being played to the full capacity of the sound system that was big time over kill. Later on in the night a live band came out and performed and the sound was turned up even louder. They started having a lot of difficulty with feedback because the music had gotten so loud.

Overall the experience at South Beach is completely different from what is going on at Jakes or at Melt. The crowd that was there was a similar age group to that of Melt with people ranging in ages primarily somewhere between 21 and 55. I would say that the average age and the majority of the people that where there were around age 35. I Believe that they have called this a salsa night based on the umbrella term for salsa, and not the specific genre. While the DJ was playing he played a mix from country, to rap, to Mexican music, but very little of it was actually salsa music. The majority of the music was actually Mexican traditional music and not really that much salsa. The emphasis on Mexican tradition music was made more pronounced when the live band that was there came out and played a program of all that kind of genre. Maybe because of the genre of music, or maybe the atmosphere, but regardless of the reason we did not see any of the people that we had made contact with from Jakes and Melt. We had noticed that between Jakes and Melt there has been a very close community of people that all seem to know each other in some way. This being the case, it seems pretty unlikely that South Beach falls under the sub-community that we are studying very much. If our project was on Spanish or Mexican traditional music, then this might be a more helpful place to go for our ethnography. But it can still be very beneficial to see what other places consider to be salsa music. And it does back up the idea, like I said before, that salsa can be used as an umbrella term to talk about a variety of Spanish musics.

It appeared to me that South Beach is a club that is probably really struggling to make ends meet. Not only did the run down building give the impression, but also the emphasis on items they where selling also suggested this as well. Minors are charged a $10 admission and anyone over 21 is charged $5. Once inside the building the DJ after every few songs was reminding everyone of the drink specials going on that night. “$2 dollar wells and long necks all night long”. Although all of this is fairly normal for a night club, what particularly made me start to wonder about the desperation for making money was a couple of employees that where going around table to table and selling glow sticks and roses. They had roses with a glow stick attached or even a flashlight kind of thing that was shaped to look like a rose.

Melt again!

2006-11-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

We are at a point now in our fieldwork where there are not a lot of new things to talk about at Melt. We have gotten to a point where we know what to expect every time we go. But This Wednesday was different because it was the least crowded I have ever seen it since this project has begun. There have been slow nights in the past, but what I find interesting in all this is that a good majority of the regulars where all not there. There where a handful of regulars that did come, but the majority of the people there where people we had never even seen before. This absents makes me wonder if there was something amongst the sub-community that was going on Wednesday night that not only they really knew about. I had asked the DJ and other people that I did recognize if they knew why it was such a light crowd and no one had any good explanations. I suspect that there was some strictly insider event that was being held privately.

If, in fact, there was a separate event going on that night for just the insiders, then there are several questions that could go along with that. First of all, I’m wondering if this kind of thing happens frequently, or if this is something that only happens every once in a great while. I’m also wondering to the validity in which people where claiming they did not know what was going on. To me, it seemed as thought the bar knew to expect a light night as they only had one waitress on staff the entire night. Although are group has come a long way in getting to know the insiders, and they have really started to open up to us, it seems possible that there may still be quite a bit that we don’t know about, and maybe a lot of people that are fairly close to this community don’t know about.

I would also like to add that on this night we had finally met the “hey, how are you” person that CJS talked so much about in class. He came right up to us and introduced himself and started asking us a variety of questions. It didn’t take long for us to find out what his motive in talking to us was as he had mentioned later on in our conversation that his family owns a restaurant here in town and told us that we should go and check it out some time. Although this person was fairly easy to pick out and has no further relevance to our project that I can foresee at this time, I wanted to mention this in my field notes as it was bound to happen sometime and I thought that CJS would be amused by the situation, especially if he witnessed it himself.

At any rate, it was an extremely weird night last night because of the unusual lack of attendance. It could possibly be just a coincidence and everyone was just tiered that night, but I am more inclined to think that there was something else going on that we didn’t know about, and maybe a lot of people didn’t know about. This seems like it is something that, if in fact there is an event, is very personal, and if it happens again it would be great if we could somehow get in to see this side that obviously they are not trying to advertise to the rest of the community.

Dance Class Field Notes

2006-11-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

Dance lessons are offered at the rec, which includes salsa dancing. The group signed up and have started going. Because of my tardiness in posting my field notes, I am going to combine my first two experiences at the dance lessons.

The room is a long ballet style room with mirrors all across the front wall. We have two dance instructors who are willing to let us video tape the class, with the consent of the rec, and have allowed us to hand out serves to the people who have decided to attend the class. Both dance instructors are Hispanic, and have heavy accents. This makes me wonder if there primary language is Spanish. If this is the case, I think it would be great to hear from them what some of there favorite songs are (not a bad idea anyway) and find out what these songs are about. Maybe we can find a pattern in the type of music they like to what the songs are about.

When the class was ready to start the instructors started out the class by teaching what they call the basic. The basic is the dance pattern that dancers do throughout the dance. The basic goes as follows, with the left leg (if you’re the guy) step forward make a small step with the right, and then step back with the left leg to where you where before. Then you step back with your right make a small step with your left, and return your right leg to where you started. This three beat pattern is done in a “cha cha cha” kind of beat. The instructors went around to everybody in the room to make sure that everyone was getting alright, they do this after every new dance move they teach. After the basic was learned, they then taught the first dance move, which was a turn. First they taught how to turn the ladies, and then they taught the men how to turn themselves. It was explained that in salsa dancing the man always leads. This was all the class had time for, except for the introduction into what we where going to learn next time, because the class was surprisingly full. My wife tried to sign up for the class and was not allowed because there was no more space left in it.

On the second day of class, they did a lot of review. It started out by simply going over the basic again and then shortly reviewing the turn. Most people where able to start reviewing turns immediately again as it was still remembered by most from the last week. After everyone was warmed up, they then moved right into the move that they had only introduced in the last class that is called the “cross body lead”. This is where the dance partners switch what side they are dancing on. Basically, the guy step to the side and the girl moves past him while the guy keeps the basic going to the song. In addition to simply moving past the guy, they also quickly added spinning the girl while in the process of going by. After everyone got the hang of this, which was the majority of the class period, the instructors moved on the next step of this dance move, which is to make the girl do a double spin. This is where the girl spins twice while going past the guy. Although it seems pretty simple, it is a lot harder to stay on the beat and complete the move on time. It requires very specific timing and it also requires the girl to have to spin pretty fast.

It is my observation, after the first two sessions that a lot of the people who are at these dance classes are not just hear to learn salsa. We have just giving the survey and are not sure what are conclusion are yet as to why everyone is taking the class, but it seems to me that this is what my wife had referred to it as “single mingle time”. In other words, it seems like a lot of people are taking the class to try to meet a significant other. There are a lot of singles out there and it is a shy awkward environment around many of the people in the class. It will be interesting to try and find out how important learning salsa really is to the majority of the students taking the class. It is always possible that they really are very interested in learning salsa and they can simply try and kill two birds with one stone. I am curious to find out if the large number of participants stays high throughout the rest of the classes.

Fieldwork Episode IV: RTB Returns

2006-11-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this isn't really my fourth fieldwork activity. I just thought I would pull a George Lucas and start in the middle.

I have never been a big fan of going to bars, and the local establishment that my fieldwork took place at contributed to my dislike of such venues. The atmosphere just isn’t for me, I would rather be at home with good friends and good drinks than have to deal with the chaos of the local watering hole, the inflated prices, and the random cover charges, which leads me to the beginning of the work.
I was meeting Stefan at the bar at 11 p.m. to observe RTB, a country and bluegrass band. I arrived with the impression, from the bar’s web site, that there would be no cover charge, much to my surprise there was. Stefan, having arrived a few minutes before me, talked his way in without paying, later I was informed by him that it is a talent he has. Never having talked my way into anything before I gave it my best shot:

Doorman: “Hey, it’s seven dollars to get in.”
Me: “Since when?”, said with a little bit of exasperation.
Doorman: “Since now.”
Me: “It says on your web site that there is no cover charge.”
Doorman: “Oh, well, we’re doing this three bar tour tonight, you pay seven dollars and we drive you around to each of our bars in a bus.”
Me: “Well, I’m not here for that, I am meeting a friend of mine here, we are both interviewing RTB.”
Doorman 2: “Oh, yeah, we saw him. Why don’t you go talk to the bartender about it?”
Me: “Ok.”

After talking with the bartender I was given permission to go back where RTB was set up. The bar was divided into four sections, the front section by the entrance, looking much like other bars I have been in, poor lighting, smoky, crowded, with neon beer lights on the walls, a bar, booths, and tables. A small room with only black light for lighting and a few tables connected the front section to the billiard table area. The billiard room was a long rectangular shape with a door on the opposite wall from where I entered. Every table was occupied with an average of 2-4 people at each table. The doorway to the back section of the bar was on the opposite wall from where I entered. I didn’t really notice the sound of music until I reached the middle of the billiard room, surprisingly there wasn’t too much volume being pumped out allowing Stefan and I to communicate with each other.
My first observations where the number of people, demographics, and whether they seemed to be at the bar to drink, socialize, listen to RTB or any other perceivable reason. Being in the wake of the Tech vs. Texas game, there seemed to be a larger crowd at the establishment. There were no available seats and out of the way standing room was difficult to find. To the left of the door are 3 rows of tables and the stage, which looked cramped with the band and all of their equipment. To the right of the door was a rather nasty looking old love seat, and another bar, very crowded and manned by two overwhelmed bartenders. Across from the door are about 6 rows of tables along a wall which has a mirror running down its entire length . Almost directly across from the door is the control booth for the stage. At the rear were some restrooms, which were described by the girlfriend of the lead singer as being the “worlds smallest restroom”, consequently there was no line for the women’s restroom.
RTB was set up on stage (locations are based on my perspective, left = my left) with the pedal guitar player on the left, to his right was the lead guitar. At the back and center of the stage sat the drummer. To the right was the bass player and front and center the lead singer. Also of note, the lead guitar and bass player sing harmony vocals and the lead singer plays acoustic guitar. I learned in conversation with the lead singer that most of the audio equipment on stage belonged to the band. When the band arrived at the bar earlier that day nothing had been set up, organization was none existent, and getting ready took over five hours. Despite these drawbacks things seemed to be going well as the band played. A few minor adjustments were made during the show, backing down the drum volume, raising the vocal level to lyrics could be heard.
Although a set list was not obtained, the songs played ranged from country covers, originals by the band, and even a blues chart. The lead guitarist really played out on the blues chart, hinting at a preference for that style of playing, which was later confirmed by the lead singer as being so. One cover song that I was able to recognize was Guitars, Cadillac’s by Dwight Yoakam, all of the others were unfamiliar to me.
The original tunes all came from the debut album, Let it Roll. Songs played include: Fly, Swimmin’ to the Gulf of Mexico, Redneck Hippie, and The Bitch Next Door. The last song in particular is based on real events and I believe the title explains itself. (Hmm, a good interview question, How many songs are autobiographical?) While playing covers, the harmonic language seemed quite limited, I, IV, V chords, nothing too fancy. However, on the originals the band expanded its harmony, and included a deceptive cadence in one song, and indicator of formal theory training perhaps.
Between sets, Stefan and I conversed with the lead singer, by the way, I neglected earlier to mention that the lead singer is the founder of the band, hence RTB (shortened to initials to provide some anonymity). RTB is a graduate of SPC, where he took part in the country and bluegrass program. His beginnings in the genre began during his freshman year at Texas Tech. RTB explained to me that he had gone to a local bar to hear a band play and ended up getting hook, shortly after purchasing a guitar. RTB graduated from Tech and went to work to the Enron Corp. It was after the financial upheaval that he returned to the West Texas area to attend SPC.
Our conversations where somewhat sporadic, interruptions by old friends, people who had way too much to drink, and the occasional sober admirer. However, we did find out that RTB was returning to Lubbock for the first time since he left SPC. He seemed pleased with how the show was going and expressed to us that he desires to return to Lubbock more often.
The reaction of the crowd seemed mixed. They perked up anytime an upbeat tune was being played, several people getting up to dance. When it came to the slower tunes, the crowd would take the opportunity to return to conversations, get a drink, or stumble around after drinking and dancing. Maybe it was the three bar tour that most people were there for, as I noticed a few leaving and returning after about an hour.
During the next set break, we conversed with RTB’s girlfriend. Unfortunately I missed most of the conversation due to the general noise of the bar. RTB disappeared during this break and did not return before we left. Fortunately, RTB is eager to be of service to us and agreed to do a phone interview.

Wow! What an experience!

2006-10-31T20:42:00.000-08:00

Jordan and I embarked on another fieldwork experience today. We sat out around 4:30 with plans of stopping by KDAV and the Buddy Holly Center. The goal of our first stop was to merely arrange a time for interviewing. At first, I had in mind to call KDAV and try to set up an interview through their receptionist who Jordan met on the phone last week, but after talking to Jordan about it decided against that idea. There was a fear of making too much of a wrong, and possibly unrectifiable “bad” impression, and with advice from the class discussion opted to take part of the group and make a physical appearance. What we got was a lot more than we bargained for.

The place looked rather deserted honestly, but the door opened so we walked into a dimly lit foyer/room area. To the left were a few couches arranged in a square with a rug and a few other room decorations. I don’t honestly remember what all the decorations were, though I would like to take better note of that when I go back. Like I said it was not lit, and I was more distracted by the window/studio to my right. I really expected to see a receptionist desk or at least a small office type area with someone there to greet you.

Our timing was wonderful however. We came in while a song was on air, and the DJ, Jerry Coleman motioned and yelled for us to come on it. We had to navigate through the “secret passage” of an office with no lights on to even find the door to the studio. He was immediately very friendly and we shook hands and introduced ourselves. I think he must have thought I was 16 and Jordan was my brother from his first reaction/treatment of us. I say this because while he was very friendly and took us seriously, I don’t think he realized quite how detailed and interested we were in rock music around Lubbock. I told him we were wanting to know more about Rock and Roll music in Lubbock and who all was involved and find some people to talk to about it. And he immediately confirmed we came to right place and he knew it all. (We politely laughed of course. In my head I was seeing these neon signs flashing a warning of an overly willing informant.) Well, this comment was immediately followed by Jerry getting out of the seat and pushing a microphone to us, saying “Do you have some questions? Well, let’s put you on the air.” I’m kind of shocked and not sure what to do. I look to Jordan to find out if we should really be doing this, but he offered little help as I’m sure he was thinking the same thing. Neither of us planned on interviewing this evening. My goal after the last impression Jordan received was to slowly work our way in. To give a good fresh impression, be polite, answer some questions, not have time for an interview because after all I don’t want to force somebody into something. I don’t want whoever we speak to later be offended because they “were not ready,” and I really just planned on letting our informant know who we were, so that the next time we went back they would be a little more inviting since we would be a familiar face so to speak. Plus if they know our idea of what we want to ask, perhaps they will think over the topic on their own and have a few fresh comments and ideas to give to us.

So as shocked as we were Jordan and I made our first debuts on the KDAV radio station. Soon after Jerry pushed the mic over he switch off the current song and introduced us as some visitors to the radio station. I said my name where we were from and stated once again a rather sparse thesis statement. I felt slightly nervous since I never imagined anything like this happening, and secretly hoped either very few people were listening to the radio station or that they were very understanding people. And now thinking about it after the matter, it could be a very interesting way to gain contacts. We want to know who all really listens and perhaps next time we go back we could ask the DJ to allow us another on air appearance to leave some contact information so that a listener can contact us about their feelings and experience with 50’s/60’s rock and roll if they choose. Thankfully Jerry had Jordan take over with a question, which was when he realized our research was a little deeper than expected. Jordan started off with a question about the feelings toward Buddy Holly that Lubbock had, only with a few several more words. I’m not sure we ever got a real answer. We did get an end to our on air appearance thankfully! After Jerry had another song playing and took a call, he got back to politely talking with us. He was more than happy to arrange a time for an interview. It was even up to us when we wanted to do it. He was completely open to our schedule and gave me his business card with his home phone number written personally at that moment by him for us to call and remind him of the interview. He even went as far to mention it could be whenever and that he would be here during Thanksgiving if we even needed to wait that long. It really surprised me how accommodating he was to give us our interview. I was quite happy he didn’t want to do it then since I didn’t bring my questions with me. I would like to get a start on it though, so that maybe after we interview him we can see about talking to another DJ or informant through his connection. Soon after we were saying our good byes, giving our handshakes, and walking out the secret passage to the door. Outside a man was sitting on a bench and told us great job and that we sounded great in there. (The radio station was being broadcasted through speakers outside.) Jordan and I were in complete shock I believe at what just took place. It was much easier than I expected. I have never done an interview, and with the exception of contacting chair professors, administrators, etc. because of my job I have never really had formal business contact with people. I was quite pleased and it really helped to alleviate some of my nervousness about interviewing and contacting with informants.

Our next stop was the Buddy Holly Center. Upon driving up we found a completely deserted parking lot, and took a front row park of course! We walked into the museum and paid our four dollars ($5 adult, $2 student rate) to see the one, rather small room of Buddy memorabilia. It was quite nicely arranged. Very modern but not too unique to be odd. They had lots of information about rock music during Buddy’s time. Not all of it necessarily pertained to him. Some had to do with other members of the Crickets band (the band Buddy Holly was a part of), or even other famous rock musicians around his time. We sat down and watched part of a video about Buddy and looked through the gift shop. I enjoyed the ambiance. It was a nice, comfortable, modern yet homey feeling. When we first got there we met a woman named Wendy. She was on her way out but would be glad to talk to us if we wanted to know more about the Buddy Holly Center on another day, since she was heading out the door. She seemed nice and I plan on going back to find out more information. Off hand she was able to tell us it was built in 1999 out of a restored/remodeled train depot by the city. The city owns the museum and is who, with activists, gathered the information and memorabilia. I also found the charge to be interesting. I would like to know if they would tell us how much money they make off the museum and if they break even with the cost of running the place. I’m sure the gift shop brings in a bit of money. I wouldn’t mind going back to go shopping for myself. They had other music related items and even fun art type things for sale. The Buddy Holly Center also has a connected small art gallery of work by local artists. That was neat to walk through. We ran out of time, so we looked around at a few post cards framed on the wall telling Buddy thank you for his inspiration to their lives and headed out the door. It was a nice first experience despite the fact that the center was made up more of other art and a gift shop rather than things commemorating Buddy’s life and musical career. Of course Buddy’s career, as I learned, only lasted 18 months, but I wonder why there wasn’t more about the family or his childhood. These curiosities will be great to ask Wendy or perhaps another person at the center/city.

Before we headed back to Jordan’s car we decided to swing by the Buddy Holly statue. Jordan has never seen the statue up close, and unless you could driving by up close, I hadn’t either. We stopped in the road and parked. After all there were no other cars driving down the road and no place besides business/hotel to park. While we were there one other man parked his car behind us and took pictures as well. He wasn’t sure why he was doing it he quoted to us. (I’m not sure either, but he did have a nice pocket camera.) We took some pictures, made a note of some of the names around the Buddy Holly statue. He really looked a lot older as a statue and slightly disproportioned I felt. I wish we had more time to contact the art if he’s still alive (it was only erected in 1980), and find out information on the creation of the statue. We also noted a plaque in front of the statue about 100 feet that pretty much stated the city’s recognition of the arts in Lubbock. It was quite interesting. Jordan took a picture so that we can have the exact words to reference to. I would like to find out more information from a city official about this “Buddy Holly Plaza” or the “Walk of Fame” as well as any other places supportive of the arts. (The first name is on the fountain off of Ave. Q, the second is on banners down the street hanging off street lights.)

Overall they were great fieldwork experiences. Much more than I expected to receive, and I look forward to my next encounters with the three above places.

Salsa Class #3: Field Report

2006-10-31T20:12:00.000-08:00

I missed class #2, when everyone learned the cross-body lead, so I had a bit of catching up to do. The guy I wound up dancing with had taken dancing classes before, and that worked out fairly well because he has made it to all the classes and helped me figure out what was going on.
In this class, the level of complexity in the dancing skyrocketed. (It wasn't just me, either.)
So far we've gone from the basic step, to turns, the cross body lead, to the cross body lead with turns and now something so complicated that I don't think it even has a name. I can't describe it well in words, but I will try anyway.
The first thing is to start off with the basic step: back, together, forward together, etc., then the guy signals the turn, and the girl turns and halfway through the turn she lets go of the guy's hands, and he grabs her hands to that his right and left hands are together. When the turn is complete, the guy's arms are crossed in front of him. Both partners keep the basic step going through this and the turn ends with the girl's right foot back. Then, the guy steps to his right for the cross body lead; the girl steps forward, turns, and ends with her right foot back again. After this the guy turns - without letting go of his partner's hands. One hand goes over his head, the other hand goes down behind his back, and as he turns he ducks under both of his arms. Confused?
We were, too.
After the guy finishes his turn, there's another cross body lead with a turn, hands are still crossed, and the guy brings one of his hands behind the girl's neck, and bring one of her hands behind his neck, and then you bring your hands back together straight forward and keep doing the basic step, adding in turns and this complicated series of moves whenever you feel like it.

Our group also handed out surveys. The class was smaller this time, but I think we got back every survey we handed out. There was, however, some confusion over *why* we were handing them out. Several people thought we were with the Rec. center and some of the answers reflected that.
One survey really amused us because in answer to the "Why are you taking this class?" question, one person replied (honestly): "Sheer boredom."
That works.
Everyone that we talked to about the surveys seemed interested in what class it was we were doing research for and why we joined the class. Most people looked confuddled (or impressed with the big word) if we just said "Ethnomusicology", but once we explained a little more they thought it was really interesting. My dance partner wound up asking me which places did salsa and when, which I find interesting. I'm not quite sure what the implications are, other than that he's interested in finding someplace to go to dance salsa and wasn't aware of the presence of the salsa community here in Lubbock, but I think those two things are interesting enough. Maybe he was wondering how in depth our research was? I'm also curious about the answers on our surveys. I wonder how answers would or did differ when they thought it was for the Rec. and when they knew it was for research - will answers be really different in length, content, or the type of information they're willing to give us? I also wonder if we'll be able to look at answers and say "This person thought it was for the Rec. because of these answers." or "This person knew it was for our project because they said..."
I also wonder about how many people in the class have taken other dance classes. At least two people that we know of have also taken the swing dancing class, so maybe they're focusing less on the "salsa" part, and more on the "dance" part. If they are focusing on dance, maybe we should just isolate that for a bit and look at that. (Just enough to see they why's and how's of it, no necessarily in depth since we don't really have time for that.) How are dance and music the same or different? What priorities or categories do people have for dance/music? Are they linked in one crowd, but separate in another? (For example, at Melt are salsa and dance basically one thing (or one word, like "danceandmusic") and at the Rec. center is it "dance AND music"? I'm not sure it would be vital to find these things out, but I think it would be interesting to compare the different attitudes in the different places about how dance and music are, or are not, linked.

Question for the website

2006-10-31T13:16:00.000-08:00

I'm working on the layout of the Lubbock Asian Worship website and was curious as to where my group members think the following research should go:

"A history of the Korean immigrant Baptist church movement in the United States"

Jeremy or Olivia, please let me know what you think when you get a chance so I can get it up and running on the webpage. Thanks! :)

Belated Field Report: Salsa Dance Class

2006-10-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Our group attended the first Beginner Salsa Dance class at the Student Rec. It's an evening class, and though it was cancelled previously due to lack of enrollment, there were plenty of people in the room when my group arrived. Abi had been planning to do a survey of people in the class and we started wondering how soon her printer would run out of ink as people trickled through the doors to the classroom. I think the final tally, with our group included, was over 35 people.

Everyone was around the age of everyone in our group, with a couple of people there that were older than the rest of the group. The intructors, Gilbert and Margarita, kept a tally of who was in attendance that night.

The thing that first struck me as I walked in was that very few people in the class seemed to know anyone else in the class. Everyone was sitting along one wall in a long, long line and nobody was talking. Our group seemed strange because we were actually there in a group.

We were all advised to dance in our socks because of the slippery flooring, which had it's downside; by the end of class the room smelled very strongly of Foot.

The class moved pretty quickly, in my opinion, for the first class for a group of beginners. We all learned the basic step first, then we partnered up and started learning turns. We first learned the turns where the guy turns a girl. The guy has to give his partner a signal with his hand, and the girl turns on her left foot, while the guy keeps the basic step going. When the turn stops the two people are supposed to be right back in rhythm, doing the basic step. It took us a while to get that down. At one point Aaron and I were actually dancing on the off-beat, which was cool, but incorrect.

Next, we learned the turns where the guy turns. For this, there is no signal, and the girl takes on the role of keeping the basic step going. It's pretty interesting, because any time either person does a turn they have to start with a certain foot forward, turn on one foot, then land with a certain foot going back and keep up with the basic step.

The music was interesting. Some of it sounded very familiar to our group, from Melt or Jake's. Tempos varied, which made staying in step more interesting as we learned the turns and started doing consecutive turns or alternating guy-girl turns.

By the end of class everyone was doing pretty well and seemed a little tired. (Danielle and I talked about our feet hurting because we weren't wearing shoes and we were dancing on the balls of our feet for an hour.)

I think there's potential for information in that class, especially if we can get at least 10 people out of the class to actually fill out and return a survery.

Contestation in musical sub-communities: Lubbock connection

2006-10-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

See this link for a NYT review of new Dixie Chicks Shut Up and Sing documentary. References Lubbock as an ethnic and musical environment. Of interest especially for "50s/60s Rock" ethnographic team. Check it out!

Short Trip to the Koko

2006-10-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

I went to the Koko Club Tuesday night to talk a little with our informant about the possibility of me taking some photos during their set. When I arrived, one of our informant's friends was on stage singing and playing guitar with the rest of the band and our informant was in the back, talking with some audience members. When he finished his conversation, I asked him if he was OK with me taking some pictures during their performance and he simply said "Sure!" While sitting at a back table, waiting for our informant to take the stage, the young female bartender asked my friend and I, "Well, you girls don't look like the Koko type. What brings you here?" After she went back to the bar, I looked around and really focused on the audience members. Everyone there with the exception of myself, my friend, and the 16 year old drummer, was over the age of 40. Hmm...something to think about.

I moved to a closer table in hopes that I would not have to walk a large distance to get some pictures. After a few songs, the band (with the friend still on stage) took a set break. During the break, the bass player got a coke, our informant contiued to chat with some friends, and the drummer went outisde to talk on the phone. When the bass player was walking toward the stage I got his attention and started to make sure it was OK with him if I took some pictures during their set. At first he said, "Oh good, I thought you were going to say that you were from immigration!" I laughed and shrugged it off, but the jokes kept coming. He went on to say how he was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. The people around us could hear the conversation and started throwing in comments like, "He is illegal, and he likes Cheetos." I'm just going to take this as boys being boys.

So when I finally got around to making sure it was OK if I took some pictures he immediately went into talking about what he does for a living. He stated, "You know I don't do this for a living. I do have a say job." He said he works for a hospice organization. He also told me that his son, the drummer, is a senior at a local high school and his oldest son goes to South Plains College and works for Wells Fargo. He also informed me that the lead guitarist, our informant, works as a salesman (destination not mentioned for privacy).

When the band started playing again, it should be noted that they were making a lot of jokes and goofing off on stage. There is usually a relaxed atmosphere anyway, but this time, it seems that I effected the performance. The bass player, after some joking comments were made, sharply turned and looked at my table and said, "oh, don't write that down!"

Things to ponder: Why would he not want me to think he was a professional musician? Why was it important that I not write down that they were joking with their friends in the audience? Why must I be informed about job professions and what his kids are doing?

Song List with the "original" band during the last set:
Pat Green - Wave on Wave
The Temptations - My Girl
Joe Nichols - You Can't Break the Fall
Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville (friend sang- informant on harmony)
Hank Williams - Your Cheating Heart (different friend sang)
Gary Stewart - Empty Glass
Kevin Fowler - Don't Touch My Willie

Fieldwork doesn't always go as planned

2006-10-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Field Notes
10/25/06
Building Observation

Note to self: When you don't think you're going to make it in time to observe a scheduled class, don't persist in driving all the way to SPC just to see if you can make. Obviously I was late for my observation with the same ensemble I looked at last week, but I didn't want to have wasted my gas and my time just to turn around and drive back, so I did something I wanted to do anyway: I checked out the building and "people watched."

The bluegrass/country program are actually under a larger umbrella program called the commercial music program. And while this program shares a building with the standard music program (certificates available in music performance and music education), the building looks as thought it's ruled by the commercial music program. This week includes lectures by music business professionals (as advertised by multiple posters/flyers around campus) and most of the studios had notes posted that classes were cancelled due to this visit. Instead of the normal picture of Beethoven/Bach/Monet, there was a large sketch of a middle aged man with a cowboy hat and a guitar. There were job postings in two places, most of which were advertising for band members. Genres represented: country (Austin based group looking for a "picker"), praise and worship, rock, and cover band. I also noticed a girl with a guitar giving directions to another guy with a guitar to a gig in Lubbock. By the students, I saw a rack of catalogs (Mel Bay, Texas Gigs Publication were two I noticed). There was a flyer for an open session at Larry's Smokehouse. This prompted another search (google is your friend), where I ran across a performer by the name of Ryan T. Briggs who is gigging this weekend, and was also a product of the SPC Bluegrass/Country program.

What the place told me about the scene/community:
This program is aimed at practicality. What skills can we teach you that will get you a job in the music industry? It told me where to look for possible fieldwork situations namely Bash Riprock's and Larry's Smokehouse.

Interesting question:
If the building conveys that the commercial arts program has a greater emphasis than some of the classical music programs, then why did P1 in first fieldwork situation mention that it's difficult to get the classical music people to realize anything else is going on?

Response to Jordan

2006-10-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is a response to Jordan's previous, which I am posting as a separate entry because I want everyone to see it, and because it speaks to issues which may well arise in other fieldwork situations. It's an example error, as we have been discussing it in class. "Error" (conflict, mistakes, disagreement, contestation, etc) is actually potentially productive; you can learn things about how your informants perceive situations from such error. Don't let it freak you out too badly.

Here's my reply to Jordan (read his posting too):

OK: need more details. Has there been unpleasant interaction b/w yourself and this person previously? Are you aware of basis for it? That will help determine strategies.

If the phone is not working for you, *stop using it*--don't persist in using a communicative means that is being intercepted. Look at the station website to find out when he is there and *go there*. If they don't have a website, take your team with you and *speak in person* with this receptionist.

Never underestimate the power of an apology, even if un-justified by your conduct. Realize (as I'm sure you do) that in this part of the world, people have certain ways of doing business, and that you have to be sensitive to those ways in order to get what you want. If that means saying, in person, in the most non-confrontive and "nicey-nice" way possibility "Oh, gosh, I'm afraid I've gotten off on the wrong here. I am *so* sorry to have pestered you. I assure you that wasn't at all what I wanted to do. It's just that I and my teammates really admire what the station does, and we are writing about the station, and we want to make sure that we present the fullest and most complimentary picture of everything you do. And if we can't speak to Mr X I'm just so afraid that we'll be presenting an incomplete picture. And we sure would appreciate it if you could possibly overlook my gaffe and let us know when would be a convenient time to speak with Mr X. And we sure do appreciate your help." Et cetera ad nauseum.

Realize that you can send the message "hey, we're trying to work this out here, and if you persist in this unhelpful behavior it is going to reflect badly on you personally and on the station." You have power--the trick is to convey that you have it without EVER being anything except deferential and nice. Texas Protestant church-ladies are past masters at this; if you have any experience with them, use them as a model.

Remember: apologies, nicey-nice tones, an aura of humility or deference--even if you're acting--cost you nothing and may get you the results you want.

If it *still* doesn't work, find another time/place/medium with which to speak to Mr X, equally nicey-nice, and say "Oh gosh, I just think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot with the receptionist, and we're just so sorry, but she just seems to think we're nothing but a nuisance. And we really admire what you and the station do, and we sure do want to present you-all in the broadest and most favorable light possible, but gosh, we just seem to have irritated her too much for her to want to help us. Is there anything you could do?"

And then, if possible, don't go through her at all.

If you *still* can't get to Mr X in person, *write to him in care of the show* with this same message. Don't include a visible return address--it's highly unlikely that she'll round-file his snailmail.

Don't let it freak you out too much. These kinds of interpersonal conflicts do arise in fieldwork/ethnography; learning how to avoid them where possible and cope with them when they occur is all part of the drill. It'll work out OK.

uh-oh

2006-10-25T09:40:00.001-07:00

Ok, this should be a journal entry, not real field notes.
Just had a horrible experience on the phone. Apparently KDAV's receptionist is not too fond of me, and I really am unsure as to how I could have proceded differently to positively affect the situation. She basically hung up on me, and was very upset when I informed her that it would be quite difficult to move my shelf-set radio around the room to pick up the radio station, which I had to do to be able to know when to call Mr. Virgil Johnson, who was supposedly on the air. Except that he wasn't on the air, he was already gone, and she wouldn't tell me this until after I called multiple times and sounded like a complete fool. Also, I think she was cutting me off of the answering machine, because the phone cut out 3 times while trying to leave a message. Never could quite get my phone number on the message. I am a little random right now, partly because I'm concerned about the possible implications to our research if I'm unable to make contact becauseI have found displeasure in the eyes of the "gate-keeper." I am at a complete loss, and could sure use advice.

JS

Mariachi Field Work

2006-10-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

"Quick & Dirty" Version of my Field Work Notes

10/20/06
7 PM
Mar y Tierra Mexican Restaruant

Observing: Mariachi Mi Tierra

Going to do this field work obeservation was almost a last minute-decision. I was hoping to go but didn't know if I'd be able to work it in with my schedule. FORTUNATELY I could.

I went to this one alone (and by "alone" I really mean without the rest of my group. 3 of my friends went with me for dinner since Mar y Tierra is indeed a restaraunt).

I made an audio recording at this event, but ran out of tape shortly before the end.

This is a regular gig for Mi Tierra. We arrived around 7, they started playing around 7:30-7:45.

Atmostphere: The restaraunt had bright lights, except for the one above our table which kept flickering on and off. While Mi Tierra was playing (at least at first) it sounded to me like a radio was playing in the background and I noticed that the TV at the front of the restraunt was on as well.

One of my friends, we will call him "Scuba Steve" for the sake of anonymity, has been playing mariachi professionally for about 6 years outside of the Lubbock area. I asked him several vocabulary and standard technique questions unofficially as I did this observation in order to try and get as much out of it as I could without disturbing the performers to ask questions, since it was a gig.

The Mariachi uniform is called a Traje. Mi Tierra was wearing black pants, white shirts, and big red bowties. 3 of the men were wearing black vests and the female of the group was wearing a black skirt and a black vest.

Instrumentation: 1 guitar, 1 guitaron, 1 vihuela, 3 violins, 1 trumpet. All of the members of the ensemble were the same this time as the rehearsal we observed except for one of the violin players who I had never seen before.

Mi Tierra traveled from table to table playing 2 songs/tunes to each, taking requests. I couldn't see them due to a wall for the first 30 minutes, but it was continuous music, usually alternating slow and fast tempos. The first opportunity we had to see them once they came around the wall, one of the violin players who goes to Texas Tech with us recognized me and shot me a head nod. Good. One caucasian woman sitting at the table across from us stood up with her baby and danced around the floor. She looked a little awkward, but you know how people are when they have babies with them.

They began singing to two women who I'd guess were about 45-65 years old. The song, Steve informed me, was called "Amor Eterno" or "Eternal Love" and (we believe) was written by a woman who had just lost her child. Both women were crying through this song, which leads me to believe that they had lost a loved one and this song had personal significance to them. Steve also informed me that people usually cry when they hear this song, so this would definitely be one which my group would need to look at with text and ask questions about. The other song Mi Tierra played for these ladies was upbeat and apparantly more cheerful, since they got up and danced with the vihuela player.

Just a note: The trumpet player is very careful to not play right at people and make them go deaf.

Mi Tierra played for a large table of hispanic people next, and they were all very animated and enthusiastically interacting with eachother. They played a slower song and then a woman at the table request a children's song, to which they responded by playing an (perhaps) adult song with childlike musical tendencies and simple melodies.

Our table was next, and unfortunately my tape recorder had run out of tape by this point. A lot of the musicians recognized me now and smiled and we exchanged "How are you's." I don't remember the name of the song that Steve requested, but Mi Tierra had worked on it during the rehearsal we attended. The vihuela player sang, as he tended to do with most of the songs.

Note: The vihuela player is very good at making eye contact with his audience. He seems to be the "personality" one of the group. The guitaron player kind of just stared at the table for awhile (or so it looked like to me) and all of the other musicians were watching eachother for musical reasons, I assume.

After the song was through the vihuela player asked the guitaron player (in spanish) if they could play a song in english. They didn't, though, because my roommate Ashley requested a song called "Besame Mucho" which is very very popular and if you search it on iTunes you find a thousand different versions. It means "Kiss me Much" or something along those lines and it is very mushy and romantic and all that. The guitaron player sang the majority of this one with only a spoken verse done by the vihuela player.

After our turn was over, Mi Tierra migrated back to the large group and played another song or two for them before moving to the other tables. Nothing noticeably exciting happened during these few minutes, and the people in the large group seemed more preoccupied with their margaritas than with the mariachis.

By this time, my friends were ready to go home. I gave a quick wave and mouthed a goodbye and thank you across the room to the violin player who goes to Tech as we were paying. It was 9:30.

Interview with Worship Leader LKBC Transcribed Recorded Interview

2006-10-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

S. (Worship Leader at LKBC) Interview Friday October 13^th 5:45-6:15pm

JB: How long have you lived in Lubbock?

S: I’ve been here a little more than a year and two months, something like that.

JB: Where you living in Korea before here or where you living somewhere else in the states?

S: Yeah, I’ve been here [United States] about 9 years. I went to school, Oral Roberts University, it is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That’s for my undergraduate.

JB: Are you doing a Master’s?

S: Now I am doing a D.M.A. That’s for my undergraduate. I went the University of Colorado, C.U. in Boulder, Colorado. That’s for the my Master. I am doing my D.M.A. here.

JB: How long have you lead worship at Lubbock Korean?

S: Here? In here it’s about a year.

JB: So you’ve been leading for almost the whole time you were here?

S: Yeah, more than a year. Yeah, yeah. I started as soon as I got in here.

JB: Does the type of worship that you lead at Lubbock Korean?

S: Yes.

JB: Can you explain it a little bit?

S: Yeah, that’s good, that’s a good question. This is third church I when I was in Tulsa, there was like Tulsa Presbyterian Church. I’m actually kind of my denomination is Presbyterian. But you know I’m kind of flexible. I don’t count denomination Oral Roberts University is kind of Pentecostal they don’t have any denomination. Do you know what I am saying?

JB: Yes

S: They kind of like just overall thingy you know? That’s what I I mean use to be so I don’t count anything. I went to school when I was in Korea, Presbyterian College so I can say I am being one denomination its going to be Presbyterian. When I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, yeah, there was a Presbyterian Church. That church, the style of music over there is kind of new. I mean up there Presbyterian they kind of sing CCM too, Contemporary Christian Music, you know. So they do like both. Choir, they have a lot of choir thingy. They have a small CCM worship thingy like that so about 15 minute and I have to at the time I had to include hymn two songs stuff like that. Then, when I was in Boulder, I mean Denver, I mean CU. I went another Presbyterian church. I was doing two jobs. I mean. One for like worship leader at Contemporary Christian Music like we all doing right now. …. [I cannot understand a small portion] I was doing a choir directing too. I don’t understand that kind of conducting. This is all about the worship thingy right. So that church’s congregation is kind of over 60 a lot over 60 you know over 50 there’s a lot like maybe a third pretty much old. So they don’t want hear any new Contemporary Christian Music a lot.

JB: And that’s why you were a choir director? [I think I meant to clarify that this is “where” he was a choir director, but maybe I meant why as if suggesting from his answer that he was a choir director because the congregation was older.]

S: Yeah. Yeah. I was doing it at two churches.

JB: Oh I see.

S: So one church I was doing conducting choir thingy I was doing one for main church and same thing worship leader. But, they did that church was Presbyterian too. So I mean but what I mean like I say there were like a congregation over 50 a lot I mean one third of the congregation was over 50 so they want to hear a lot of hymn thingy or old style gospel not CCM. They want to hear a lot of gospel thingy like 60 thing, 70 80 thingy. So Its pretty much I have to make arrange for people even I want to sing this song this is new song the is moving my mind this is very good even I say that I mean you know without you know the congregation agreement its not going to be work for worship. They are not going to follow me. So all the time I have to negotiate with congregation or pastor about that. This church pastor is he love CCM yes he love he love it he want to sing all the time Contemporary Christian Music. So there is even he doesn’t want to make a choir but people want that I mean many of the people want to do something at the church that’s why they made a choir. But Pastor he is all about the like CCM music I mean worship thingy you know. So actually he asked me “Do you do..” you saw a lot so that’s the different thing. You know this church I can sing whatever I want or I am you know stuff like that so I am plus congregation age is pretty young like its 30 40 a lot of 20.

JB: So would you say that the congregation at Lubbock Korean is probably more receptive to the Contemporary Christian Music.

S: Yes. Yeah.

JB: You have used one, you used CCM for Contemporary Christian Music are their other terms that you use to describe this style of music?

S: Two song, I mean I think there is two kind I mean what I believe actually I divide it three kind. One is a hymn. You know. A hymn is holy music. You know there is a word you know. Feels like holy like being holy a lot you actually worship to God when you sing a hymn you know. There’s a song like I mean make us happy and make Him happy you know like maybe I can say a fast song like some pop style music you know. And that makes people happy I mean you know. When we happy, we believe God is happy you know that kind of thing right? Those kind of songs kind of communicating you know yeah between I mean God and us you know worship together and exciting we being really delight in God you know stuff like that. And Third song I divide I mean like third style I mean […] leader of worship song getting to the worship you know. That’s what I divide it you know. Do you know what I am saying?

JB: I think so. By getting to worship do you mean preparing your heart?

S: Yeah, yeah.

JB: Preparing your heart to listen to the pastor is that what you mean?

S: Umm hmm. I mean for praise song I can say praise song you know praise song that it can I mean I can say like it’s meditating song you know stuff like that I mean and peoples can open the heart you know when they sing. I divide three all the time.

JB: How important is your music to worship to your worship?

S: My musicology?

JB: The music that you do on Sunday morning when you lead worship how is important do you think that is to the overall worship?

S: I think my church, this it depends on church I mean you know. Sometimes I mean the other church I was in I mean was always participating that church they have like little bit like worship sermon you know what its called worship you know we need to hear the sermon and the preacher saying something you know we sing you know. That church was like about 50/50. About 50/50 I […] some churches have more than I mean the worship I mean since music is more than anything. Some churches do that. But this church I don’t think peoples ready for that yet. So about there’s about like I say 25 percent 30 percent not have happen you know because there is a reason I mean the church in here there’s a certain rhythm church in here congregation the people in here the funny thing is when I was in Denver, there was a lot of church you know the peoples coming to church they want to see the God. They are real Christiany. Do you know what I am saying? You know but here’s church is kind of like a different media like what is the word for that? Different function you know. This is church yes. We worship the God that is the place but there is another function for communication. So all here is small small Korean community here. So they got like meeting at the church all the time. Korean school, Korean language school they have like Bible school they have something you know party at church they something something stuff like that. So there’s people I can say like maybe 70% they are Christian but maybe 30% or 40% they don’t believe God they just come to church.

JB: They come for community, Korean community.

S: Yeah community. Fellowship. They want to meet there friend over there, the want to hang out with friend, they want to know some people over there, and they want to share information thingy you know Sunday you know because this is small city small Korean community in here. That’s why that’s why that happen. So that’s why I mean I mean like I said again when we had worship, they’re really not getting to worship do you know what I am saying, they just watch they just being watch.

JB: They’re not worshiping God, they are there for lunch for the language school just to meet to see the Koreans and stay in touch with other groups.

S: Yeah that’s what I am saying. So that’s why I feel like its not many people getting to worship is what I can feel. I can see people’s face and I see I can feel that their feeling you know what I am saying? That’s what I feel at this church. This church is little different than I use to be.

JB: How do you decide what songs to sing Sunday morning?

S: Man. Aw that’s a huge question. I mean. This church I mean I know what pastor what to do that you know I need to make cooperation with pastor you know because I mean I’m not getting along with him then its going to be a little tough we like need to make team work so I always ask him I mean this song is okay? But not all the time. But if he said its too much, I would not do that.

JB: What do you mean by too much?

S: Like its too much like this sound drumming too much worldly stuff like that that’s what I’m saying. Here’s the thing I decide the song usually you know I have I worship 10 maybe 15 minute every day actually more than that I watch the internet all the time to get the preaching from the other pastor famous pastor and some I get an idea from him Oh this would week I need to focus on this concept. How can I explain this? [S. struggles with words to express.]

JB: I think I’m following you. Let me say and see if what I am saying is what you are thinking. Sometimes you might look at a sermon or another pastor on the internet and it will give you an idea of what you want to focus on and so you choose music that kind of gets to that focus. That prepares you heart.

S: Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is what I do. I try to listen to a lot of internet you know internet thingy like website and search that like what they doing stuff like that. Some churches oh they are doing good, but everything we cannot transfer to my church. This song is going to fit this Sunday stuff like that. But I mean you probably pick up one or two things I don’t know. I pretty much follow my instincts there’s follow up with that. There’s matching like I going to look at the word. Like is talking about this theme is Love Love from God, I’m trying to match that. I’m trying to match Thankful. Yeah I’m trying to match with that. Word must be matched. And right after we fast song we need to get into a worship song you know what I call worship song. We need to kind of match word about them and intersection and stuff like that. That’s what I am doing.

JB: In matching words, are you saying that if the Pastor is doing a sermon on love you try to find songs that match that idea or are you thinking of words Christian words love, service and those are the words? Not necessarily the Pastor’s words.

S: Yeah. Yeah. Not pastor’s words. Sometimes. Here’s the thing is miracle. Sometimes I didn’t think about I didn’t tell him he didn’t tell me but its matched.

JB: Its matched. Would you say that is kind of God’s work?

S: [Laughter] Yeah.

JB: Let me ask you. One thing I noticed when I came there and some of the music you have given me to look at has English subtitles. Was that originally composed in English?

S: Yes. The first song I gave you I guess.

JB: But there are other songs that you do at your church that I have seen put up on the slide projector that has no English, it is all just Korean.

S: I gave you five songs. The first two songs…

JB: They’re translations of English songs?

S: Yeah composed by English. Yeah.

JB: But there are songs that are composed completely in Korean for worship music?

S: Yeah, yeah, the rest of three songs by Korean composers.

JB: So there is an industry or there are people who compose in Korean specifically worship music?

S: In Korea there is a lot of CCM musicians. A lot. I mean there is a lot they are acting very, very well I mean very much. They doing a lot of thing like concert, they have like big hugh worship.

JB: This is in Korea?

S: Yeah in Korea.

JB: In your opinion, is there a difference between the songs that are originally composed in English then translated verses strictly written originally Korean? Do you notice differences or are they similar?

S: That’s a good question, man. There is difference. I don’t know its two different things. Even if we sing same word same meaning I mean here is an example. You know what is the example, This is My Desire you know that song right?…

JB: [singing] This is my desire to worship…

S: Yeah. When I sing by English word I mean we can get into more. I mean we more it feels like we get into more in music and God.

JB: If you sing it in English?

S: English. That song. But we translate there is a translation of that we sang in Korea it feels like some different totally different song. This is what I feel. So this here is what I do. I mean that kind of English song, I just leave the English words. I mean we sing by English words. That’s what I do. So there’s couple song like that you know. There’s none like you ….

JB: [singing] There is none like you.

S: Yeah, there’s good word that kind of song I don’t translate.

JB: Do you feel that it loses something translated?

S: [emphatically] Yeah.

JB: Do you think that’s the same way that there would be a Korean song that would lose something?

S: Yeah maybe diction. Maybe diction. Maybe feelings. English words more fir into that music and chords and stuff like that. But Korean diction [uh gu uh uh] so its not fit into that. That kind of thing.

JB: Are there problems with the Korean language being fit into Western style music? I mean this music is not Eastern in tradition. American popular music comes from a European tradition. Is it difficult to get sometimes the Korean to match that style?

S: Sometimes. There is some difficulty.

JB: Do you think sometimes that is what makes it hard to get it This is my Desire works better in English because it is composed and using a language and is in that style where as translating into Korean loses some of that?

S: Yeah, yeah that’s what I saying. There’s couple of songs. Amazing Love I am going to sing by English words. I tried Korean words and Oh my gosh! not feeling that.

JB: That’s interesting. Its funny, the first Sunday I was there we did Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. We sang that I think right before the offertory or during the offertory. I was listening and I knew the tune but it was put up in Korean only and I was like I am not sure that they are singing the same words. I grabbed the hymnal not it is Come Thou Fount but it is interesting because listening to it in Korean even though the melody was the same, I didn’t have a connection but once I realized and knew what you were singing I had a connection to it.

Is there anything else you want to add about your worship music and what you do?

S: Let me say that okay I mean when I was in Oral Roberts University that’s Christian university. I was doing a music ministry so I was I would play drums set I mean we spent touring stuff like that and hand drums like that they have like music minister over there. That’s were I learned CCM and stuff like that.

JB: You learned it at Oral Roberts?

S: Pretty much. I use to play drum set a lot popular music when I was in Korean. I was drummer that’s why my major is percussion here. So the funny thing is that that school has 3 times requirement chapel service. I have to go three times per week. But even different language I mean different cultural thingy I feel same God. I was confessing I was crying I met him definitely met him. I feel this is same walk. Funny thing is sometimes not this church but when I was in Denver, they have very good interpretation system. I mean there is some by your language speaker you know they making interpretation and there’s like 25 and 30 like American native resident Americans coming to my church so they need to have to translate. The guys or woman I mean had married with Korean woman rather? than Korean God or married with Korean man. Some people like that when I was in Denver, they want to come to Korean church instead of going to American church. But that’s why they need translate. But what I watch what I see they were doing good, you know they they even Korean language even if they don’t understand but they try to understand all the time. They got the headphone set at least they understand what’s going on there. So stuff like that what I want to say even different language and different culture is totally I think is Korean this is same God but Korean Christianity and American Christianity have some differences. Definitely there’s some differences. Because we learn from we are very short history about Christianity about 100 that’s it. 100 years ago, American peoples came to my country and they do like missionary thingy you know in my country and they died for that you know we very respect that and that’s what started they started Christianity in Korea. At the time some reason they made like rules stuff like that. Korean Christianity We can’t smoke, we can’t drink. They have rules. Kind of funny but this is normal thing and if we in Korea if you believe God really they don’t smoke they don’t drink stuff like that they made that rule and there are a lot of rule like that. I can’t its not popping up my idea but there is a lot of different rule. So in conclusion, what I want to say it’s the same thing even different rule and different cultural stuff even different language what I feel I mean we believe the same God. You know. We still with God anywhere.

2006-10-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

More stuff from a friend in Midland (Mariachi guitarist/instructor J. Alberto M.)

These tunes were

Songs to research for Ballet Folklorico project

Jarabe tapatio (performed by Fiesta del Sol)

Las chiapanecas (???)

Los machetes (performed by Paloma Libre)

OTHER FOLKLORICO DANCES:

Aztec Ritual (Fiesta del Sol’s first dance?)

Jarabe Tapatio (Mexican Hat Dance: performed by Fiesta del Sol, a waltz)

Jarocho Dances (Jarocho refers to someone from Veracruz – perhaps that’s where this is from? Jaro may come from Spanish/Moorish slang for pigs, perhaps those is Veracruz raised pigs?)

Jarabe Mixteca (Jarabe implies a flirtatious interaction)

Los Quetzales (Quetzal is a bird…Aztec origins?)

Danza de los Machetes (Paloma Libre’s last dance? A ‘bragging’ dance to show off workers’ facility w/their knives)

Sinaloa (refers to a state in Mexico)

Jarocho Fiesta

El Norte

Canciones Folcloricas

Alegria Jaliscience (refers to the state of Jalisco)

La Huasteca Hidalgense (from Hidalgo…city or state? Huasteca is maybe Azteca?)

Next step is asking our local informants (the directors & dancers) if they perform these dances, what the music sounds like, & how the dances reflect their regional origins.

Thoughts and expectations before I visit.

2006-10-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hoping to get some fieldwork in today. With the new orientation for the project being at SPC I am finding that the meeting times are conflicting with my class times making it a little difficult to do fieldwork during the day. Some expectations I have include:
1. Instrumentation will be more of a "Ya'll come and play" setup, meaning whoever is interested and signed up with set the ensemble. This leads me to ask, is there a standard set up? Will there be just string instruments or are wind instruments included?
2. Playing style will be drastically different than anything I am used to. Being a classical saxophonist(yes I said CLASSICAL, please contain snide remarks) I don't have a lot of experience with other styles, a little jazz is about it. How different is the style, and what are it's influences?
3. Equipment and technique will be different than "traditional" playing. For string instruments will that mean a change in string choice, bow choice, instrument choice(make, model, material, etc.), pick choice(or no pick),? Sound equipment preferences(this amp over that one sort of thing)?
4. More players will have a "I picked up the instrument because I wanted to learn (blank)", instead of formal education. Could be wrong on this one, I will just have to wait and see. What lead players into this style of playing? Is there any recruitment occuring?

Again, I am hoping to attend a meeting today, schedule permitting. Good luck to everyone on the mid-term tomorrow.

Fieldwork Observation 10/17/06

2006-10-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

Where: Cricket's
Who: John Sprott (guitarist/vocalist)
Atmosphere: Upon arrival John Sprott was not yet playing, so the entertainment was not live music that later is just in the background but vast selections of multimedia entertainment. People in Cricket's tonight received entertainment from watching the Pittsburgh Steelers game, Mets game, arcade games and jukebox. The atmosphere was great and in the undertone of people talking about their day, the jukebox, and the t.v.'s, I could hear the sounds of pool balls hitting each other. Tonight was very much like previous observations in relevance to atmosphere, except Koko's.
John Sprott came up to the stage area with another guitarist. They plugged in both of their guitars and tuned. The environment stayed exactly the same when they were warming up. For some odd reason, I still think even after the observations that I have been on that people would get quiet when the performer or performers begin to play.
Guitar Equipment: Ibanez Guitar, 12 String Rogue Guitar; One guitar was plugged into an amp and the other was plugged into the main mixer.
Style Of Music: The pieces that were played tonight were original blues/country songs with a lot of vamp.
Performance Analysis: I really did not care for his voice. It did not fit with the style he was playing. Here, he was playing blues/country stylistic songs with the vocal styles of the lead singers from Godsmack and Creed. O.k., enough of my opinion. I noticed that John Sprott basically solos on the pentatonic scale and also bends his strings down instead of up like most guitar players. John Sprott seemed to be very laid back in attire and presence. Sprott and the other guitarist were wearing casual clothes which included t-shirts, flip flops, jeans and boots. He did not phase when a listener went up and asked him a question while soloing. Sprott just leaned over to hear and answered whatever that guy asked without messing up and with a smile. Sprott and the other guitarist were wearing t-shirts, flip flops, boots, and jeans.

Rob's Fieldnotes: Oct. 17

2006-10-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Rob’s Fieldnotes: Oct. 17

Today I went to observe E.C.’s Middle School Mariachi class, and it was a very interesting experience. I arrived about 15 minutes before the rehearsal began and was able speak with E.C. for a little while. I let him read my letter of introduction and explained how I was interested in learning more about his program. He then began to tell me how he has just begun working out of a new method book this year specifically for Mariachi beginning Mariachi bands, and he then handed me the book for Guitar and Vihuela so I could follow along with what they were doing in rehearsal. We then went to the room where they rehearsed and he gave me a chair to sit in and told me his students wouldn’t mind me being there because it wasn’t out of the ordinary for a college student to come in and observe a rehearsal.

I then was able to ask him the question I had been wondering about since I had gotten there. Seeing as how E.C. was a caucasion teaching a Mexican music tradition, I asked what his background in Mariachi was. He told me that he plays with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, and in 1991, some of the violinists were asking around for anyone who would be interested in auditioning for “Mariachi Flores,” a local mariachi band in Lubbock. Later, he auditioned and has been playing with the band ever since. He said they rehearse Thursday nights if my group was interested in checking them out.

After that, I asked how long he had been teaching at this middle school. He replied, 3 years and that he had been doing the Mariachi band all 3 of those years as well as directing the orchestra.

E.C. then began to take out his instruments that he played during the rehearsal. These included a violin, trumpet, and Vihuela. He explained to me about how the Vihuelas are made in the Yucatan Peninsula and the wood is bad about drying out and cracking in Lubbock’s dry climate. I asked if the students own their instruments and E.C. sayed that a few of the violinists do but for the most part all the traditional Mariachi instruments are school-owned.

When the students arrived, they rehearsed several tunes out of the method book with the CD that came with the book. They also rehearsed several pieces that looked like transcriptions that E.C. had made. All the music was read during rehearsal as opposed to being played by ear. This made me curious about how Mariachi music was traditionally learned…possibly a good interview question for a later time. During the rehearsal E.C. would play and sing along with the ensemble. I found it interesting how every once in a while he would speak with a Spanish accent. This was probably developed from his 15 years with “Mariachi Flores.”

The class was mainly hispanic with the exception of one caucasion male student. There were about 15 students in the class which was pretty much split evenly between males and females.

I came up with many new questions during the observation, but I was only able to ask a few because E.C. had another class coming in after his Mariachi class. First, I asked what he used to rehearse the band before he started using method book. He told me that he would just use traditinal Mariachi tunes that were written out like the transcriptions he used during rehearsal. He said that he would try to teach as many styles as he could, starting with the easier styles such as the waltz or ranchero, and then moving up to the harder styles like the son and bolero. E.C. also explained how once you learn about 5 chords you can play Mariachi Music on the strummed instruments. The difficult part is learning the strum techniques.

I then asked if he wanted to start this program or if there was a demand for it. He told me that the principal of the school was the one who had made the arrangements for it before he started teaching there. He explained how the school tried to do it without purchasing instruments and just relying on what the students owned. This later fell through and the school ended up purchasing instruments and uniforms with “Title 1” money.

I then thanked E.C. and expressed my gratitude for allowing me to come observe. Without me even asking, E.C. invited me and my group to come out anytime to his middle school reheasal or even to check out “Mariachi Flores.”

Bluegrass Fieldwork Notes

2006-10-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

Fieldwork Notes: Team 9

SPC Bluegrass Program—Ensemble 1

10/17/2006 2:30-3:45

Perhaps I should preface this with the fact that we were the group that was doing LYSO. Their activity this semester ended Oct. 8^th, so we changed to looking at “educated vernacular string players.” Basically, string players who play folk music but have studied it in a formal setting. We decided to focus on the Bluegrass/Country music program at SPC.

SPC has at least 5 different ensembles that play vernacular music: three bluegrass, one western swing group, and one Irish traditional ensemble. I chose to observe the bluegrass ensemble meeting from 2:30-3:45. When I got there, I introduced myself to the “director”, P1, of the ensemble and made my way into the classroom. Two members of the ensemble were already there and setting up. I introduced myself to R and C. C was a female fiddle player who looked to be more of a traditional college student, she also did lead/harmony vocals in the group. R was a male guitar/dobro player who sang as well. He looked to be about middle-aged, a more non-traditional student. He also asked me if I wanted to sit in as he had extra instruments. I responded that I appreciated it, but probably wouldn't know if I could play in the style. D came in next. He’s a banjo player who also looked to be about middle-aged and a non-traditional student. A was the last student to enter. He looked to be traditional college student age, and played banjo/guitar. I made some small talk and asked them if they played anywhere around town. R mentioned he played in a family band, C played in a band but they didn’t have a name yet, D kidded about getting paid $20 for a dance hall gig. R explained that none of them would describe themselves as “professionals.” Finally P1 entered the room with his bass, and the rehearsal started.

This was the setup for the classroom:

P1 explained that each member of the band would bring in “charts” they had made and lyrics sheets. I noticed a strange numbering system on the charts and sat back to listen. C started on a song called Sleepy Eyes, which the group got from Laurie Lewis.

Sleepy Eyes

Well I've been loving only you for so long
And I've never once regretted a single day
And it took a lot of woman
To stay right a lot of woman
To stay right here so long
Through all those long old lonely nights
And all my old fashion ways

Sleepy eyes, sleeping in the falling rain
lonely skies, crying on the window pane
Oh you're mine only, always mine only
Sleepy eyes sleeping in the falling rain

When I go out and travel
Round this country side
I'll make 'em forget their problems
For awhile and it dosen't take too much
To ease this heart of mine
Just a good ole' country melody
And your sweet summer smile

Sleepy eyes, sleeping in the falling rain
lonely skies, crying on the window pane
Oh you're mine only, always mine only
Sleepy eyes sleeping in the falling rain

It was during this song that I noticed what was written on the blackboards (actually whiteboards). The charts they use are in the format of the the Nashville Numbering System. This speaks to the function of the program itself. Namely to train these musicians to become commercial artists. More to come on that later. On the other blackboard (the one behind me) the entire thing was covered with set lists and diagrams for how to set up the different bands at different performances. On the other side of me were file cabinets filled with different commercial bluegrass/country magazines all the way back to the 70's. Magazines included Frets, Bluegrass Unlimited, Bluegrass Now, and Pickin'. As they changed to the next tune (an instrumental piece featuring C on fiddle using standard classical notation), P1 asked me what I played. I responded that I played a lot of traditional flute. They responded that I should have brought my instrument so that I could have sat in.

Question: At this point I haven't figured out how they operate as a band, I made the decision not to offer up the fact that I had my instruments with me because I didn't know enough about the community yet. Would it have been of value for me to volunteer that fact and gotten some more musical information? Comments/suggestions/thoughts?

After commenting about my traditional playing, they talked modification to their instruments. Specifically bridges. P1 stated that you should try every bridge you could find. C stated that she wanted to get a different bridge, because she didn't like the way hers sounded with her new pickup. They started playing the instrumental tune which didn't have a name, and I noticed posters in against the walls opposite me: Jedd Hughes (an SPC bluegrass program attendee who opened for Dirks Bientley), and Bill Monroe. I noticed that in this particular band setting the fiddle, C, vamped on the upbeat with double-stops. Interesting because that function is usually given to the mandolin player. There were lots of jokes throughout the rehearsal. It was run very much like a professional band rehearsal, with everyone having an equal voice.
Rehearsal Order:
1) C song "Sleepy Eyes"
2) C fiddle solo
3) R song "My Father's Son": C sings harmony

My hist'ry is no secret it's written in the stones
In the hill beside this river rest my mother's gentle bones
And daddy there beside her amoung his next of kin
And their legacy passed down to me the sons of mountain men.

Raised to be a miner by a miners callised hands
Passed my youth between these mountains where I grew to understand
That family was the word of God and faith was it's demand
And life and death the same came from the coal beneath this land.

Well, a rich man writes the book of laws a poor man must defend
But the highest laws are written on the hearts of honest men
If that cup is passed to me to do what must be done
When they lay me down remind them I was just my father's son.

I've walked among these people, heard the stories that they tell
I've crawled beside them in the mines and touched the walls of hell
I've shared their sacred secrets, known their triumph and their pain
And right or wrong i'll stand with them on the final judgement day.

They say God gives his comfort when the time of trouble comes
They say we'll know no share of peace till we lay down our guns
But will my boy have the chance to do the things i've never done
Or will he, like me, be told that he must be his father's son?

Well a rich man writes the book of laws a poor man must defend
But the highest laws are written on the hearts of honest men
When that cup is passed to me to do what must be done
chunk of coal just carve these words ''I was just my father's son...''




4) D Song "I don't love nobody": Roadmaps are discussed extensively, A used standard
notation, and C improvised a fiddle solo.

Well I don't nobody nobody loves me
All they want's my money they don't care for me
I want to live single happy and carefree
I don't love nobody nobody loves me

One day I went out walking walking down Johnson street
I met a little old lady she smiled at me so sweet
Said hello my honey how are you today
Just as I started to kiss her these words I heard her say

One day I went out walking walking down Johnson street
I met the same little lady she was dressed up so near
She smiled at me and said hello how are you today
Tipped my hat and said hello and journeyed on my way

5) R Song "Sitting on top of the World": C sings harmony.

It was in the spring one sunny day
My good gal left me Lord she went away

   And now she's gone but I don't worry
   'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world

She called me up from down in El Paso
Said come back, daddy, Lord I need you so

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Show me a woman a man can trust

Mississippi River, long, deep and wide
The woman I'm loving is on the other side

You don't like my peaches, don't you shake my tree
Get out of my orchard, let my peaches be

Don't you come here running, holding out your hand
I'll get me a woman like you got your man

6) Instrumental tune: "Doug's Tune"
7) Instrumental tune: "Panhandle Country;"  Referred to as C's, but she doesn't stick
out (as a soloist/vocalist) in this piece.  She does however start the piece.  Form
is AA BB.

In parting P1 and I talked about how I got to Lubbock and he made a comment about
the classical musicians not realizing that there was other stuff going on.  Tension
between this program and the "standard" music program?
Things to Consider/Steps to take: 
Bring an instrument and be open to Participant observation.
Is the point of the program a degree or an apprenticeship type of program--> How
many people actually finish their degrees?
How do they choose their tunes/songs?
Which artists do the students listen to?
Get individual contact information/places they play outside of rehearsals.
See other ensembles.
Do they sings more or play instrumental tunes more?
Traditional/Non-traditional students
The music has seemingly been taken out of its original context and put in an
institutionalized environment, but the rehearsal I saw was very much like any other
vernacular band rehearsal I've seen.  What does this context do to this music?  What
is the function of the music in this context?

2006-10-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Liz E. Field Notes: Ballet Folklorico Aztlan Rehearsal

Thursday October 5^,2006.

Right off the bat I am nervous. I’m going into an unknown community by myself in a neighborhood I’ve never been too before. Will they look at me weird? I know I will be the only white person. Does that matter? I drive around the neighborhood to waste time because I am 30 minutes early. It is good to be early but not THAT early….

I try to show up to St. ___ early. I was early… by 30 minutes. Soooo I drove around the neighborhood. It is a small neighborhood, isolated and surrounded by Ave. Q ( ) and train tracks. The church is very much the center of the community. Across from the church is an Elementary School *LOOK UP*. The question comes to mind: “Are the dancers from this neighborhood? Or are they from all around Lubbock”.

10 minutes until class starts…. I guess I should go in. Should I have dressed up more?

At 5:20 I finally get the nerve to walk in.

Where is the office?!

I find the small office and walk in. It is a tiny room. There is a bulletin board on the left with a pew (sp?) for seating. In the left corner is a doorway to another part of the church. The back wall of office has a book shelf, and a display case counter. The right wall was covered in doors leading to the sanctuary. To the immediate right of the entry doors were other doors leading to the basement. *I was nervous and not as attentive to details of the room…. I probably need to go back and make sure this set up is right.* Two families are already seated and waiting for class. I ask if they are here for the Ballet Folklorico. One friendly mother answers yes.

The families I observe the before class starts are made up of mothers and daughters, and in one case, a grandmother. The younger mother whom had answered my question gives up her seat to another family that comes in. A grandmother in the corner tells her little granddaughter “Show me how your feet move. Show me how you dance” as the little girl spins around. Throughout the first 30 minutes, from my entry until the end of the ‘Toddler’ group, you could tell which families had been bringing their kids here for a while, and who was new by the conversations (or lack there of) going on. When Zenaida comes in we all walk down to the basement. It is a large room with mirrors along one wall and pews around the rest. There is an adjoining room that kids run in and out of.

The Toddler class (5 to 7 year olds?) starts out with stretches and exercises to warm the girls up. Older girls stand on the back row, new girls in the front. Most have on skirts over their clothes to practice in. Most have white healed shoes.

“Cha Cha Cha” ?

Both lines process in. Right arm in the air with handkerchief- move hips side to side. Then right foot out, left foot out, arms rolling in front of body repeat for section- Turn in circle. Put arms out to spread out then both arms to the right and slide to the side 8 counts. Put arms out left and slide 8 counts. Then shimmy forward and back for a section- Then repeat from right foot out left foot out section. End song with both arms in the air- CHECK THIS OUT ON VIDEO TAPE! The girls are so cute… There is 4 or 5 year old in the front that has nooo idea what’s going on!

**New dance (Find names of dances from Zenaida)…

Hold skirts out and turn. Kick right foot out step in place “1,2,3,”… ‘Kick, 1, 2, 3” … Arms holding dress swing forward when kicking. Step right then left back and forth with arms following. Girls turn. Lines face each other then switch places while shuffling feet. Lines switch places again. Hold skirts out and turn- Dance in circle by self swinging skirt. Repeat- Girls say “Si Senior!” at the end of dance.

**New Dance-

Take off shoes. Form two lines. Right hand in the air holding maraca- left holding skirt out to the side. Jump (land on left foot) Kick right foot. “Jump, Kick- Jump, Kick” . Shake on the beat as they walk on and off stage doing the bouncing foot step. Then continue the jump kick step…. Whole dance consists of switching from the “Bouncing/ switching feet” step to the “Jump, Kick” step.

The classes practice with music from a tape player. Some of the parents watch on as their kids practice. Other families talk amongst themselves and others help older and younger siblings with homework.

I had asked if it was ‘OK’ to videotape the dancers. To make sure, Zenaida asked the parents at the beginning of both the Toddler and the Beginner’s session. This was good because the parents knew why I was there (not like I didn’t stick out anyway being the only ’20 something’ in the room). I wasn’t alienated but I was very much an observer. It was kind of bad that I was pointed out in the group because the dancers looked at me and became shy... for about 5 seconds… then they forgot I was there. At one point an older boy who was leading a stretch group commented “You have to be good. You are on camera!”

The second class begins. These are slightly older girls (8 to 10?). This is the Beginners class. Again, most of the girls have practice skirts on. Each is a different color. They too have the white healed shoes. Boys are wearing black boots. All but one has her hair pulled back. They lines up in front of the mirror to do stretches. The girls do arm, ankle, and neck circles. They then form two circles- One of returning members and one of new. I am next to the circle of returning girls. A boy (maybe in junior high) leads this group. The girls take the sides of their skirt in hand, hold it out, and spin one by one across the middle of the circle to the other side. Is this just another warm up? They then do arm circles, followed by a wrist exercise.

**Practice Dance. Dancers make lines with 3 people each. –Very slowly- RULES: Shoulders back, hands on hips, bend your knees, keep feet aligned with shoulders, back straight, smile, no bouncing! Begin steping- step left right left right- 1,2,3, emphasis on the 1 and 3. Which ever food lands on the 2, lands heel only? Don’t lean forward!

Not sure what dance happened after this… my video DIED while I was reviewing it for dance steps….

I leave as everyone is making their way to mass or to their cars. The priest gives me a ‘who are you’ smile and says ‘Hi’ as I walk out. A lady in a car waves, says “Goodbye and Thank you”. Was she talking to me? I have no idea. I smiled anyway.

Words to look up from Beginner group- Halisco (dress?)- Be la Crus (state?)- elpalomo/ la palma (dance?)

There are usually other classes following the beginners’ classes- The Adult group. Tonight it was canceled because of a special Thursday night mass. Does that mean that most of these dancers and their families are from this church and neighborhood?

Questions to ask from observation:

What are the dances?

What do the steps signify?

What are the corresponding outfits and what do they mean?

Are the dances age/ gender specific?

They mentioned competition?

Are these dancers from this community?

Who makes the dresses?

Buddy

2006-10-17T00:19:00.000-07:00

A few basic questions for the dj's at KDAV who have been through it all, quite literally with respect to Buddy Holly. Rough ideas, but worth posting in case it stimulates thought.

1) Tell me about your vantage point. What is your role in the Buddy Holly legacy, considering that you run the early rock and roll station in his home town?
2) Tell me about Buddy Holly and Lubbock. What was the relationship between the artist and his community?
3) Did you like listening to his music in the 50’s? What did you listen to, what did people who liked rock and roll listen to, or did people even like rock and roll?
a. Name some groups/singers
4) Were there time periods between the present state of affairs in Lubbock and the time when Buddy Holly was not really claimed by his community? If so, what was the climate? Was there a different position at this time? (As in my hypothesis is indifference but I don’t want to put words in their mouths.)
5) How did all of this affect you here at the station?
6) When is the first time you noted a shift of any magnitude in the way that Buddy Holly is viewed by the musical community of Lubbock?

Impromptu Mini Field Report

2006-10-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Consider this a post for Danielle and I since technical problems prevent her from posting from her computer. Danielle and I both attended the Jazz 1 Ensemble concert this evening (Monday), and were surprised to hear a song called Una Mas, which turned out to sound very salsa influenced. It included a 2->3 clave, a characteristic of salsa. I heard the clave, but since it wasn't being directly played I thought I might just be making it up, until around the middle of the song the ensemble started the audience clapping the clave rhythm.
Danielle and I found each other during intermission, directly after the song. We were both pretty excited and as soon as we spotted each other, we said "Did you hear that!?! It was the 2-3 clave! Salsa!"
We both strongly considered yelling "Azucar!", but since most of the audience wouldn't get Celia Cruz's catch phrase, we refrained.
Hoorah for the impromptu fieldwork!

Interview with a DJ!

2006-10-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

10/15/2006 11:30-12:30(ish)
Aaron and I interviewed one of our DJ's today over brunch at Gardski's. (Yum.) We didn't really ask a lot of questions because almost as soon as he sat down he started giving us information, all of it very useful and relevant. Our questions sort of got nudged to the side so that Aaron and I could try to take in all the information coming at us. Aaron's wife was with us and I'm actually glad because she had some really good questions for the DJ that our group hadn't thought of. So, Aaron's going to be typing up the notes he took.
We were also invited over to the DJ's house to meet his wife, and some friends, relatives, and contacts that he thinks we should meet, talk to, and ask questions. He said that he'd try to work out a time that would work with his friends and then contact Aaron so that we could work out a time when our whole group could come over. He also said he'd make a cd for us so that we'd have a sort of cross-section of all the type of music involved in and around salsa and its development.
He explained to us how the radio stations choose the music they play, explained a great deal about the salsa community in Lubbock, discussed with us why it's a relatively small crowd (he said overall there are about 200-300 people in Lubbock at one time), and told us that they're trying to get more people involved rather than catering to a core group that would eventually leave or move on. He informed us that there are only three DJs in town that really do salsa and gave us the names of the other two, one of which we've already made contact with. Connections in our sub-community are running rampant so I'll have fun making the relationship chart over again. Even the DJ commented on the fact that it's a close-knit community.
So, hopefully we'll get to see Aaron's notes soon and that'll jog my memory if there's anything I feel the need to add. :)

Melt experiance #2

2006-10-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Upon my second visit to Melt I was able to pick up on some things that I had not noticed upon my first visit. A lot of this times field work had to do with the people that where there, and their interaction with each other.

Before even entering the building this time I noticed that there was a brand new Lexus in the parking lot. I thought to myself, wow that’s a pretty nice car, and then I noticed that there where several other cars that where of a much different social class. There where some cars that looked like they had seen better days, to say the least, and some like the Lexus that where very nice, and someone is paying a pretty penny for the car. After this observation I became more curious to see what the people inside looked like. I was going to make it one of my goals for the night to see if I could guess which person drove what car. Sure enough there where people there who were dressed in what seemed like a variety of different social classes. There where people who were dressed in nice slacks or a suit, to people that where dressed in their jeans and a t-shirt that where just barely meeting the dress code. Unlike most situation with a wide variety of social classes, these people where all interacting with each other and dancing with each other as if there where no obvious social class differences at all. This seems like an environment, and one of the few, that really does not seem to take social class into consideration. People are just having a good time all together on a Wednesday night.

In addition to the above considerations I also noticed that most of the regulars where all related in some way. I know that this has been noted several times, in my field work as well as other in my group, but I’d like to point out the fact that these people actually seem to be physically related. It seems like this is literally a somewhat family business that is going on. It is a small market and it seems like it a lot to the people who are a part of a family. The DJ’s nephew is one of the salsa instructors at the Rec. that we will be taking lessons from. The dancing man, Joe, that we have all taken an interest in, has an aunt that is one of the main people in charge of the Jakes event, as well as, another man, Cesar, who is also related to them that is in charge of PR for one of the major Latin radio stations in town. So it is very interesting to note how many people are physically related in this particular sub-community. If the people are not physically related it seems like they are defiantly close friends with someone in this family, and that is how they have gotten there “in” so to speak. In addition there is a large group of exchange students that are coming from tropical parts of the world that are coming to these events as well because of their experiences and love of this music from back home. This makes up the other part of the insider group at Melt that have all seemed to find each other and can relate to each other based on their similar experiences as exchange students.

This brings me to my next point, which is about the relationship between insider and outsider that has been happening here at Melt. Because of the close knit relationships that are present in this community it is very obvious who the outsiders are. This is made known with who is socializing with who, and more specifically, who is sitting at the tables all together that are part of this family or, insider group, as well as who is dancing regularly with one another. Although it is easy to pick out the outsiders for the most part, it seems that they are very welcome, and are encouraged to attend, as this is a community that is trying to grow. All the people there are very eager to let people dance and will even offer to dance with someone who is making an attempt at trying to dance. This overall seems like a community that really wants to grow, and would really like to see more people get involved in participating in this kind of music and getting to become part of the inside group they have already. This obviously is something that will be really challenging to do, as it is hard to be a newcomer in a group that has been together for years.

This will bring me to my next point as well, which is the ease in which the people where okay with us filming. Most people didn’t even acknowledge that the camera was there, or if they did they quickly forgot about it. One couple in particular was standing right in front of the camera and started dancing right in front of it as if it where not there. We where trying to get the whole dance floor, but where unable to at that moment as they where literally standing within a couple feet of the camera dancing. I’m not sure what the implications are that the filming seemed so accepted by everyone there, but it was defiantly having little affect on the way people where acting as it was a very accurate representation of how it is when the camera is not rolling.

Lubbock Chinese Christian Church 1st Observation October 15, 2006

2006-10-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

Lubbock Chinese Christian Church October 15, 2006 11:00 – 1:00pm 1^st Observation

Lubbock Chinese Christian Church (LCCC) is located at 1502 15^th street in Lubbock, Texas. The church offers two services, an English service from 10:00 to 10:50 for a younger, smaller crowd sometimes with more contemporary Christian music, a Chinese service from 11:00 to 12:00 for a larger, mixed-age group with more traditional hymn and contemporary choral music.

This particular Sunday was raining off and on and the rain-fall was a little heavy when I pulled into the parking lot. LCCC is a moderate size building facing 15^th street. I notice few cars in the parking lot when I arrived and I wonder if church attendance will be low because of the rain. I quickly make my way inside and greet three older Chinese women. I ask one if there is a restroom I can use to clean up from the rain. She leads me back down a hall-way to a kitchen with plastic folding tables set up. I see the steam rice cookers and I can smell the somewhat sweet smell of rice cooking as I clean up.

I walk back to the foyer and wait for Olivia who is joining me this morning. I take the opportunity to look inside the sanctuary, but I remain outside as no one else has walked in or sat down. The sanctuary is about 10 or 15’ wide and 20 – 30’ wide. The room is full with as many pews as can be accommodated. A piano sits off to the right corner, on the left of the piano, stand microphones and music stands. An altar with a large Bible on top is placed in front of a pulpit. Hanging on the wall behind the pulpit is a drapery of a rich red color with a golden cross embroidered. To the left of the drapery is a large projection screen from which music text and biblical passages are displayed for the congregation.

While waiting for Olivia, S. began making conversation with me. I told her that I was a student in the School of Music and we talked about a mutual friend R. who is a student from Hong Kong. He attends this church which I did not now until now. I look forward to visiting with him, because I know from S. that he has played piano for the church in times past. S. told me that the Pastor is out of town, but the gentleman who will give the sermon is a professor from Texas Tech in the College of Education. Sue introduces me to another gentleman, a graduate from Tech in 1986. We did not exchange names but we talked briefly about Texas Tech and my home church Southcrest.

When it came time for the service, I followed others into the sanctuary and took a seat in the middle rear pew. I am greeted by warm smiles and friendly hellos. While sitting waiting for the service to begin, C. walks up to me and we start talking. We both know each other from the Texas Tech TLTC office. C. works there and has helped me print posters of my research for various presentations at conferences. C. remembers me from my association with the TEACH program. He tells me that he saw my teaching video of two weeks ago. We chat briefly about that program. C. tells me that he was working on his Ph.D. in the Fine Arts program, the current program I am under, but that he is not working on it currently. I ask C. what his instrument is and he tells me that it is a traditional Chinese instrument but he does not tell me the name. [Check with Olivia. I think she knows from a previous conversation with C.] The service begins and C. leaves to conduct the small choir.

The service begins with music. The first song sung is How Great Thou Art with text sung and printed in Chinese (Mandarin) on the screen. The congregation sings, and I join singing in English.

How Great Thou Art

O Lord my God! when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Following the first song, the congregation turns to say hello to one another. I shake hands and introduce myself to the church members. Standing in front of me is L. who I met at the Southcrest International Lunch. [See First Observation Notes] She remarks that she thinks we have met. I say yes L. we met at the International Lunch. She is happy and smiles that I remember her name and she thanks me for remembering.

Two additional songs are sung from English translations. I do not know these songs. The Titles are given in English, but I do not think these songs are hymns. I had nothing to write with, so I was unable to record the names of the songs or the composers. The sound of the music is more consistent with contemporary choral worship music rather than traditional hymns. The last song is Amazing Grace. Again sung in Chinese.

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, Who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

For the singing of Amazing Grace, the women started the first voice. I was unaware of this instruction and was quietly singing in English, when time for the second verse, L2. who was helping me through the service, told me that now the men sang. I joined in singing in English while they sang in Chinese. For the final verse all members sang. I notice like most churches, the congregation does not sing all the verses that are written. What makes this experience unique as with LKBC, I don’t which verses are omitted. So when I sing in English, I do not know if my words are corresponding with the verses the congregation is singing.

After the singing of these four songs, the sermon begins. L2. continues to help me as she points to the Scripture Revelation 2:4-7 which the sermon is based on. She lends me a Chinese-English Bible so that I may follow along although I don’t speak the language.

Revelation 2:4-7

4'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent. 6'Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'

Following the sermon, I visit so more with L2. who had helped me during the service. She invites me to stay for the lunch. I agree. I look for my friend R. to talk with him a bit. Olivia and I make our way to lunch and visit with more of the congregation who is friendly and invites us back again to visit.

Visions of Light, Gospel Choir

2006-10-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon at 1:45, walking up to a rehearsal for the gospel group Visions of Light, not knowing what to expect was an interesting experience. Rehearsal was in the “Soap Suds” room at the UC/SUB and when I walked up there were 5 African Americans and Brian Gravell, my group member.

Walking into an alien environment with people who have never seen you before is much more daunting experience than I expected it to be. Brian, who had been to a rehearsal before and who knows a member of the organization from previously, was already there so that made the introduction into the group slightly less turbulent. However, since he had been to a previous rehearsal they didn’t look at him quite the same way as they did me, the “new kid.” The ensemble members were very polite and accepting and while none of them just came right up and talked to me, I didn’t receive very many looks conveying “who is he, and why is he here?”

Singing in this setting was very unusual for me, as a classically trained musician. The parts weren’t laid out evenly and the alto’s outnumbered the rest of the choir put together. The choir also didn’t read from any kind of octavo so that was another part of the rehearsal that caught me off guard. When the leader walked in, he set up his cd player and it up to rehearse from. One thing that really caught my attention was the vocal prowess that the leader has. His range was unreal singing tenor, alto, and some of the soprano parts in chest voice. Just listening to him made me tired but he was able to keep it up for the full two hour rehearsal. The group set up in two rows with ATBS starting the choir’s right. There was a piano at the front of the room, but it was touched only by the video camera set up by Brian to record the rehearsal. The camera only caused a small scene as some of the ensemble members made a “big deal” but it didn’t seem to affect the rehearsal very much once we got started, since the leader kept such a fast pace and moved around so much that the members had to constantly pay attention to him.

Singing in the gospel style is very different than anything I have ever experienced. The only previous music experiences I have had have been in my school choirs, and singing out of the Episcopal hymnal with church choir’s and in the congregation. Gospel was very interesting because it seems to come from the soul so much more than any music I’ve performed. Many of the singer’s didn’t appear to have much formal training, but they still sang with as much conviction and power as a university choir member singing out of the score. The music actually pulled me in too, to the point that I felt the music and the words, which had just been spoken too us a couple of times, seemed to flow naturally along with the music. It was a very interesting experience.

After the closing prayer, I introduced myself to the two leaders of the organization and several other members of the ensemble approached me and introduced themselves. They even were to the point where they were joking around and laughing with me, stating that I should join since the “heard ya’ll (Brian and I) singing.” They gave me a form to fill out my general information so that I could be on their email list and invited us back to all the rehearsals and seemed to immediately accept me, not as one of them, but as a white boy who had a common love for the music and God. While it was awkward for the first tiny bit, they made me feel at home, welcome, and in a totally friendly environment by the end. I am really looking forward to next weeks rehearsal and the chance to hopefully interview some of them.

Bonus Fieldwork

2006-10-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Stefan Cadra – Notes On Unexpected Field Work 10/13 (into 10/14)

Warning: mediocre, 4 A.M. stream-of-consciousness writing and sloppy grammar follow.

Went to see a friend play drums @ Bash Riprocks 2 (the last time I was there it was Stubb’s). He plays with the Doug Moreland Show (from Austin). It turned out to be a nest of trained vernacular musicians. In fact, the only one on stage without some sort of post-secondary musical training was Doug’s dog. If I had known this in advance, I might have brought the rest of the research group. We could have had our own little egg-head table at the country/western show with our curvy pipes, notepads, and smoking jackets!

As for where these guys were educated:

Doug – Front-man/guitar/fiddle– South Plains College 90s

Wade – Piano/Sax/back-up voacals – SP recent

Craig – Scottish Born – Lead guit/Fiddle/back-up vocals – SP recent

Eric – Tbn perf Indiana – back-up vocals/ Bass

Andrew – MM perc perf. Tx.St.U. – Drums

(Also, a SP instructor whipped out his harp on one tune.)

Anyway, the show was very polished and professional, but felt relaxed and fun. Performance details like tuning and tone weren’t an issue at all. All musicians exhibited a refined technical mastery of their instrument as well as a professional and entertaining stage presence. More variety than most country shows – country, rockabilly, western swing, blues, some rock. Doug is the song writer. Several instances of interesting chord structures I haven’t heard much in country tunes, such as 1, 7, 6, #5. This sort of idea also popped up after the show when Craig and another SP attendee (spectator) were talking shop and kept referencing different jazz chord structures and “Nashville Numbers.” They used numbers (designating function) far more than they used letter names for chords – possibly indicative of a common educational system.

I spoke with Craig for a while. He stated that one of the most useful things he learned at SP was right hand technique. His demonstration was interrupted by the appearance of a friend of his from SPC. BTW Craig is a great lead player. His band mates say that all he does is practice. He said that he moved here from Scotland just to go to SPC. The story is that he found SPC by Googling “country music school” or something like that. He had already learned the bare basics of reading by learning traditional Scottish tunes on fiddle, but got more practice at SP. His dad plays folk guitar. Strangely enough, he also demonstrated some exercises he got (and implemented in his soloing) from an Yngwie Malmsteen video. This may seem unrelated on the surface, but I can see how Yngwie’s technique could be a boon to any guitarist’s agility (which Craig seemed to have plenty of). He also used some creative chromatic lines in his solos – another seemingly non-standard sound for country – a further product of training?

I’ve met Eric a few times before through Andrew (in non-musical situations). His classical trombone training, while not 100% directly applicable to upright bass, is still evident in his musicianship, as well as his depth of general musical knowledge. I failed to ask, but there were a few solo moments in the show that seemed to belie jazz bass experience.

Additional small worldage: one of my office mates was Wade’s favorite H.S. band director. Again, with the indirectly applicable musical training thing.

I would like to postulate that SPC, for these guys, served not only as a way to boost skills and work on rep., but also as a social hub, bringing these musicians into the network of country professionals; which is definitely an important part of any successful career in such a commercially-related musical style.

Team 6 Interview Questions

2006-10-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

Team 6 - Your thoughts, here is what we have so far.

Jeremy

Interview Question Ideas~Olivia Epperson

Informal

How long have you been attending the church?
Where are you from?
Do you have a favorite Chinese spiritual or worship song?
Does your church have musical groups? (ie. Church choir)
Are there any traditional instruments or songs often played? Do you play any?

Formal

What does the text translate to in this traditional hymn? How is this used in your service?
Are the “traditional” Chinese hymns something that are a standard in your church or do you also use contemporary music as well?
How did you learn this music?

How long have you lived in Lubbock?
How long have you led worship at LKBC?

Does the type of worship you lead at LKBC differ from other places you have worshiped? If so, how?

Are there common terms or phrases used to describe the music you lead on Sunday Mornings? What do they mean?

How important is your music to your worship?
How do you decide what songs to sing?

Do you have any favorite worship songs?

I noticed that some of the songs have English subtitles. Were these composed in English first and then translated? Are worship songs composed originally in Korean different than those composed in English then translated?

Who taught you this music?

Is there anything you want to add?

Field Report for Melt; 10/11

2006-10-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight I took a video camera. I had to use the night vision option because it was too dark to film regularly inside. I arrived at 10:30pm and had to explain at the door why I was there and that I was underage. I think everyone in the group has just started saying "I'm with the project.", and they let us in. Naturally, I got a nice permanent marker "x" on my hand since everyone else in the place has to be over 21. The dancing didn't really pick up until after Danielle, Abi, and Aaron were all here and I got quite a bit of it on film.
It turned out to be pretty easy to be unobtrusive with the camera because the only place open to sit when I arrived was in a corner booth in the back part of the place, where there is a short dividing wall and a curtain. I just set the camera up on the wall, aimed it at the dance floor and left it. I had to move it a couple of times because we were so successful at being unobtrusive that a rather "touchy" couple wound up parking right in front of the camera for a break from dancing, oblivious to the fact that they were being filmed. After that small setback we got some really good video of the dancing. Joe and his dance partner (whose name I do not know) were on the dance floor for most of the time that I was filming. I personally think it makes for a really nice comparison between beginners and people who really know how to do all the dances because you see them all out there dancing together.
There was a sort of special event going on, but the atmosphere and the crowd seemed to stay pretty much the same. Jacob, Joe, DJ Mario, and various other people we know by face if not by name were there, doing their own thing per usual.
It was actually sort of nice to go back and see all the same faces, hear some of the same music and wave at people who knew me on sight.
So, I feel like the group is finally a little more "in" at Melt - not that people weren't welcoming to begin with, but now I think we're beginning to be seen more as regulars and maybe a little less as "those guys doing some project about salsa".

Interview Questions (JT, Holly, Ashley, and Tobin)

2006-10-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

These are some fieldwork interview questions that JT Paz came up with for our lead guitarists. Please leave some insightful and constructive feedback.

Thanks
Tobin

WHO:
...are you?
…was/were your first musical influences?
… do you pattern yourself after?
…is your music idol?
…are the people you play with?
…do you play to?
…was your first music instructor?
…are your current musical influences?
…got you your first gig?
…are you listening to on stage?

WHAT:
…do you do?
…instrument do you play?
…was your first instrument?
…equipment do you use?
…type of music do you listen to?
…musical education/ academic background do you have?
…was the first song you learned?
…is your musical style?
…influenced you becoming a musician?
…music are you currently listening to?
…gigs do you play?
…do/don’t you enjoy about being a musician?
…motivation do you have to play?
…is your first musical memory?
…was your first gig?
…bands have/do you play with?
…is your personal musical mantra?
…do you feel when you play?

WHERE:
…do you play?
…were you when you first heard live music?
…are you from?
…was your first gig?
…did you go to school?
…are your influences from?
…is your favorite venue?
…can you be heard?
…do you practice?
…do you buy your equipment?

WHY:
…do you play music?
…is music important to you?
…did you choose your instrument?
…do you play a particular style(s)?
…do you think music exists?
…play your brand of instrument/ equipment?
…do you think people listen to live music?

Tobin's Field Notes for October 9th

2006-10-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

I was planning on going to Bash Riprock's on last Monday night. I have to admit, I went for 2 cent beer night and not to get some field work done but I stumbled on some good stuff.

When I walked in, the audience was very scattered. At Bash's there is so many rooms to be a part of because of the way the bar is set up. The front door comes right into the room where the stage is. Many people were sitting at tables and had many empty plastic cups in front of every person. The thing I stumbled on is the fact that there was a sole guitar player on stage singing his heart out. This setting reminds me so much of John at Cricket's on Tuesday nights because it is just one person on stage playing many drunken requests.

The guitarist on stage was an Indian man that could play just about any style. He played on an acoustic guitar, which is a popular choice for a one man band, and sang himself. In the room where the stage is, there are about 9 or 10 tables with numerous people sitting around them. 2 cent beer night is actually a pretty good set up for a performer because waitresses bring a new cup of beer to you every time you are empty which means that the audience never has to leave there seat. This is a good thing for a performer.

The reason why I believe this is good is because if almost forces the audience to focus on something in the room rather than walking around and trying to chug their next beer. So, the audience is my next focus. I casually noticed that most people were more focused on Sportscenter and Monday Night Football than they were the guitarist. Like I said earlier, he was just playing numerous different types of covers that were being requested as the night went on. The songs ranged from Damien Rice to Nirvana to some crappy country music to even Johnny Cash (which was to the delight of one really drunken man). This was very interesting because the responses were all different for the different types of genres. I found myself sub-conciously reacting differently to each situation as an audience member. For instance: whenever he started playing Kenny Chesney, I about threw up and completely shut out the music but when he began Wonderwall by Oasis, I broke out in song. I think it was very evident to the guitar player how the audience reacted to each and every song.

Another interesting thing I noticed about the audience is the way they approached the performer. At Cricket with John, the audience is always walking up and right requests on his pad and he of course acknowledges them. At this bar, the audience did not get near the stage during sets. They would only interact and request songs when the performer came off the stage and went to get a drink. It was almost as if the stage was intimidating to the audience. This could have also been because the audience were more involved with the game and the newest edition to the Yankee's soap opera.

Unfortunately, I was unable to physically talk to the performer but I feel I have a lot of good observations from this performance. I just thought the most interesting part of these observations was how shut off from the bar the performer was at all times he was on the stage. He received reactions and positive reinforcement but ONLY because of the music he was playing.

Olivia's Second Observation of Lubbock Chinese Christian Church

2006-10-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

Second Fieldwork Experience

On Sunday October 8, 2006 I revisited the Lubbock Chinese Church. The service I attended was the Chinese service which is held at Eleven a.m. weekly. As I hurried my way to the beginning of the service I was running two minutes late and was nervous that it might have already started. Thankfully I ended up walking in with two other congregation members and realized that the service was not very close to starting. People were walking around visiting and seemed to not be in a big hurry. This is a common theme with the church everyone is very friendly and not in too big of a hurry. I found a table with the Church bulletin on it and picked one up. I got some interested looks from a few church members, probably because the only thing written in English was the name of the church on the top of the bulletin.

As I turned to walk into the sanctuary I ran into Pastor S who smiled and said hello. He asked me my name again, thankfully I’m not the only person bad with names, and welcomed me to the service. I found a seat in the back row next to a young woman in her late twenties. She was very friendly and wasted no time introducing herself. For our purposes and her privacy I’ll refer to her as J. I also introduced myself and told her that I was interested in learning about Chinese worship music. To my relief she seemed very appreciative of this fact and gave me a genuine quick smile, before replying so you want to learn? She then asked me if I spoke any Chinese, which I do not. (Although I think I can say hello how are you now). She helped me throughout the service translating things like when to stand up and sit down. I was very relieved to have her there sitting with me.

But, before the service started we had a chance to get to know each other a little bit. J has been in Lubbock for ten years. She moved here ten years ago from Beijing, China to attend Texas Tech where she majored in Marketing. She then married someone from Texas and made Lubbock her permanent home. She was very excited to tell me that she had recently become a real estate agent about three months ago and that things were making good progress. She then reached into her purse and pulled out her card business card. It had her picture and professional information on it and was attached to a small calendar with a magnet on the back. She told me to call her any time at all if I needed help with anything. Her offer made me feel a lot more comfortable sitting through the service were I understood about two words the entire time.

During the service I got to listen to a lot of great music. At first several men got up and spoke to the congregation. After which the music started. There were again singers and a pianist like last time but this time there were no guitars. Three women and four men made up their church choir conducted by Ching the Music director and accompanied on the piano by a young man. Most of the hymns sung had the traditional sounding accompaniment and melodies but appeared to have just been translated into Chinese. Again the words were projected onto a screen, in Chinese of coarse, so all could sing along. The oldest women who looked to be in her forties seemed to be the song leader. The small choir stood beneath the same two hanging mikes and behind three standing microphones. I noticed this time that there also two lights attached to the ceiling on either side of the hanging microphones pointed directly at the church choir.

The service took turns with different people speaking to the congregation followed by small sections of music. One of the songs however was drastically different from everything else sung or played. It did not sound like any American Christian hymn in melody, harmony, rhythm or growth. The song was sung by all members of the congregation with great pride. It was the first time that I realized what a powerful sense of community that the members of the congregation seem to feel for one another. The song was absolutely beautiful and left me a little blown away. It sounded recognizably Chinese to me yet it was more beautiful than anything I have thus so been exposed to in terms of hearing what I consider to be Chinese music. The congregation again employed speaking in Chinese while being accompanied by the pianist. Since this also happened in the English service I think I can draw a parallel here enough to say that it sounds like the text is simply being spoken instead of sung. But it is scripture that is spoken not the actual words to the hymn.

I had a lot of time to sit and observe visually since I could not understand the sermon. The men wore various things dress shirts and pants, polo’s or dress shirts with khakis. The women wear dresses, slacks and pants, as well as khaki’s and polo’s. The clothing ranged from all different styles and patterns. The service concluded by singing a Chinese texted version of the song Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow. After the service ended J explained to me that they had a weekly lunch following the service which she invited me to. The congregation of about forty took a few minutes to visit and make their way to the back room where lunch was already prepared. We ate white rice, homegrown vegetables’, sausage and what I think was pork. During lunch I sat again with J. We sat at a table with two older ladies and were joined by a Caucasian male, F and another young Asian gentlemen S. I learned that F has a small taekwondo studio here in town and has been going to church there for a little while. I asked if he spoke Chinese to which he replied he understood about twenty percent of what is said. I told him of my interest in Asian American Worship music and he told me that Ching plays the Erhu. The Erhu is a two stringed instrument that is played by the bow being placed between the two strings. I asked how often Ching plays this and he said it just seemed to be rather randomly. S is a Tech graduate who majored in Finance and is now an accountant. He informed me that there are several Tech students who attend the church; including the pianist who he believed to be at least a sophomore in the Music program. S went to see if he was still there but he had already left by that point. As we finished lunch I felt I had learned a lot and was excited to learn more. I said goodbye to all my new acquaintances and thanked them for my help before leaving, especially J. I will return next week again to the Chinese service and keep this blog updated on further field notes.

ADA (acronyms are fun!)

2006-10-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have video footage! In night vision!

Interview Questions

2006-10-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

At our last team meeting, my group (Josh, Rob and Tony) came up with these interview questions to ask our informants....

What is your interpretation of Mariachi and what is its purpose?

How was Mariachi music brought to Lubbock?

Does Mariachi music in Lubbock differ from other places including its place of origin? If so, how does it differ?

How did you get started in Mariachi?

Who taught you Mariachi?

Are there any common terms or phrases used to describe Mariachi, and what do they mean?

Can you name three to four songs that sum up Mariachi music?

What does your specific instrument add to the ensemble?

Where was your instrument made, and where can somebody buy one?

How would you describe your band set-up? Are there any considerations behind where each performer is in relation to the others?

Is there any choreography involved in your group? What type of physical movement is used in performance?

What considerations go into the band attire?

Ok, I know I am posting this out of order...

2006-10-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

Jake’s Salsa Night

I arrived at Jake’s a little after 10 pm; Nicky, Aaron and Danielle were already inside. The salsa night was taking place in a part of the building known as the “back room.” There are two ways to enter the back room area. The first is by walking through the actual sports bar/restaurant area, but the second (which I entered through, located on the east side of the building) is a door about halfway down the length of the building and which opens onto a sidewalk. As you walk through the door, there is a pool and arcade area immediately to the left, while to the right is the entrance to the restaurant. Straight ahead is the entrance to the back room, where there is a very small round bar table set up with a cash register (cover is $5 after 10 pm). You are greeted by two men, one who checks your ID and then gives you a blue paper bracelet indicating you have been checked while the other takes your payment. Minors are marked with Xs at the door as well. Walking past the doorway, the room opens to the left. The bar is situated at the wall you are facing when you enter and runs about half the length of the room in an arc; stools run the length of the counter. Most of the drinks are situated underneath the counter, in a refrigerator behind the bar, or have to be carried in from the bar area in the restaurant (depending on what you order). The only visible alcohol-related paraphernalia are the beer taps and the computerized cash register system. It is also important to note that, at least for this event, the bar area is pretty much the only lighted area in the back room. Looking to the left, the room is a straight shot down the center all the way to the very small tiled dance floor situated directly in front of a large raised stage. It appears that there are large speakers facing towards the “audience,” one on each side of the stage, which I am fairly sure the DJ utilized (the music is VERY loud in there). Running along most of the east wall are tables, and there is a smaller area on the west wall between the stage and the end of the bar where tables are also located. The stage was bare except for the small side area where the DJ had his table and gear set up.

Once I had been checked, Danielle found me and took me over to the table where our group had stationed themselves with some other people we knew from school. After saying hi all around, I sat down and we discussed the inability to shoot photos, write notes, etc. in the room due to the extreme darkness, a definite change from Melt. It was rather hard to see people where we were seated due to the fact that regular lighting had been dropped in favor of flashing strobe lights located near the dance floor. It seemed like the rest of the group hadn’t gotten there too much before I had, since no one had had a chance to speak with anyone yet. I grabbed Nicky en route to the music table; after introducing ourselves to the DJ, we were able to get his contact information to set up a later interview date. He told me he is the regular DJ for the salsa nights at Jake’s, which will be useful when trying to compare popular music at Melt and Jake’s and also the differences in requested/expected music one will hear at both places.

After watching people dance and dancing some ourselves, Danielle and I headed to try to find the owner, since we had spoken with him previously about attending the salsa night. He said he would look for us, so we thought it best to try to find him early on in case things got really busy. Apparently this was a fruitless endeavor, as the owner wasn’t even in the building. However, the employee who tried to help us find the owner introduced us to Cesar, who we eventually discovered we had briefly already met at Melt. Cesar, it turns out, works at another radio station in town (one we hadn’t gotten yet), and after explaining why we wanted to talk to him, he was happy to help us with anything he could. Joe’s aunt is apparently also Cesar’s aunt, so after speaking with Cesar we talked to her a little bit while he tried to find some paper to give me his phone number. She told us that both Cesar and Joe grew up around salsa and that Joe is the one who dances. Then she described Cesar as the PR (public relations) guy who goes around and greets everyone and talks, etc. (phrase usage: “how are you, how ya doin’.. *imitates cheek kissing*.. it is so good to see you”) She then introduced us to a very pretty girl named Celia, whom she described as a “salsa queen.” (On a side note, I thought it was interesting that Cesar signed his napkin ‘salsa king’ AND underlined it.) Celia downplayed what Joe’s aunt said (relationship between these two women = ??) about salsa and said she was better at reggeton. She then invited Danielle and I to join her in group dancing a little later in the night, a phenomenon very commonly seen on the dance floors in this community (either group of several women, or a combination of both genders).

Overall, I had to say that this was an interesting experience in a positive light. There were a lot more people attending the event and a lot more people who danced. While it is true that more people were drinking, I have to say that I observed it to be more social drinking in the sense that it is a behavior generally practiced, accepted, and expected in this setting. In other words, a normality. I also found it quite interesting to observe that participating in the dancing is an invitation to other people in this setting/community. Whereas they might not approach you if you are only seated and watching, Danielle and I were both asked to dance by people we did not know and who observed us out on the dance floor. They even actually cut in more or less and inserted themselves in the midst of our group (of girls), thereby breaking us off into couples. This experience, more than ever, emphasized particular behaviors I have noticed and participated in throughout a lot of my life, without realizing what I was doing. All of these behaviors (which I will discuss in detail in my next post) are very much a part of Latin cultural practice. For example, treating people with courtesy, no matter who they are or how well you know them. We have only ever been treated with the utmost care and courtesy by everyone we have spoken with or just general participants. No one has been rude. Other things like conversational topics, modes of dressing, etc. And most importantly: INCLUSION.

Abi & Danielle - Questions to add.

2006-10-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

From Aaron and me:
1) What music/songs are most popular and important?
2) How'd you get into the business?
3) Is there a common topic in the lyrics?
4) What music do you like?
5) Which artists do you think have had the most influence in salsa?

For Abi and Danielle: What are the songs we've heard so much? We can ask about those specific songs. Also, can we get our interview notes from Melt that first night? I used your notebook, Abi.

Early Rockand Roll Team Strategies from mid Septemeber to present

2006-10-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

“Constructing a Community Musical Identity: Lubbock Texas and Early Rock and Roll”

The entire team met 15 September 2006 to brainstorm ideas and create a “Team Strategy” document.

Field Work Calendar
List for 5 social situations with member assignments. The assignments are subject to change.

1. Buddy Holly B-Day Celebration September 8th-9th (Curtis) complete
2. Lbb music festival: September 15-16th (Team) complete
3. Contact Buddy Holly Center Admin representative this week to discuss the history of the center, org structure and edu programs: Contact Joe Hayes director of BHC 806-767-2686 (Amber)
4. Call KDAV this week to setup interviews with Virgil Johnson and other radio staff. (Jordan)
5. Call Rita Peeks to set up interview this week. (Curtis)
6. Cactus Theater Nostalgia Night best of 50, 60s, 70s September 29th and 30th 8:00 p.m. (Amber or Jordan) I will be out of town, but I will see about getting tickets for the both of you, perhaps backstage to observe the working of a nostalgia show.

Overall Team Strategies

Attend early Rock and Roll genre events
Buddy Holly Birthday Celebration
Lubbock Texas Music Festival
Any night clubs or other local venues where early Rock and Roll is being played (i.e. Jack Neal (first performing partner of Buddy Holly often plays at local venues, and the Cactus theater occasionally has 50s and 60s musical revues)

Investigate the impact of early Rock and Roll in the economic and physical infrastructure of civic Lubbock
Re-designation of street names
Tourism

Interviews about the local attitude (including gender, race, and class) regarding early Rock and Roll music [then {1951-1963}] and now.
Virgil Johnson (African American artist with The Velvets
Peggy Sue Gerron (Subject of Buddy Holly Song Peggy Sue)
Rita Box Peeks (Sister of David Box wrote Peggy Sue Got Married)
Bill Griggs (respected authority own local and national rock and roll scene)
Don Caldwell (produces musical events and is on Civic Lubbock Entertainment committee)
1. Lubbock Music Festival: Advertising, tourism, history of the festival (why did it start?) Walk of Fame (What is the criteria for induction, do you get a brick, plaque, bench, etc…
Phyllis Jones (City council woman involved with 4th on Broadway and other festival activities)
Floyd Price (African American City councilman, also involved in music in Lubbock)
David Miller (mayor of Lubbock)
Buddy Holly Center
1. Organizational structure, visitors (local international), exhibits and educational programs

Stylistic analysis of the music (SHMRG)
Primary and secondary sources (music recordings and general information literature about rock and roll) -Probably will have little time for lessons and participatory work-

Pedagogy
Enculturation and Edification of students in LISD
Dr. Sam Ayers (former Principal at Roscoe Wilson published book on Buddy Holly aimed at elementary students) get book, interview him, and contact schools about 50s thematic days; are they still practiced?

Objectifying and Commodifying early Rock and Roll in Lubbock
See also Buddy Holly Center (esp. gift shop) Are there other similar shops selling early Rock and Roll nostalgic memorabilia?
Tourism
Lubbock Music Festival
Lubbock Texas Passport music series
Civic Lubbock and Entertainment Committee. Are there other committee or entities involved in promoting early Rock and Roll, i.e. Arts Alliance

Interviews...

2006-10-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

Just posting a note to see where we are standing in terms of interviews. I know that N& A have set up an interview with DJ Mario (when and where?). D & myself will be meeting with our faculty contact this week. I also had about a twenty minute phone conversation with one of the dance instructors from the rec center, and also received an email from his partner. In terms of his flexibility, he is fine with us videotaping one or more of the classes and also interviews (he and his partner). Also, I asked him if he would mind us distributing a short survey in the class or to be taken by class participants considering (most importantly, I think) their reasons for taking the class, especially since most of the names we immediately noticed of class participants do not coincide with Hispanic/Latino background. (i.e. Is it simply for graduation credit? Other reason for taking it - personal interest? Previous association with this culture and/or activities associated with it? What they hope to gain from the class? What they eventually get out of the class?) I think we should also make note of particular things emphasized in the class, like whether or not the instructors discuss history/background of salsa itself (dance steps, where it developed, etc). Finally, we need to put together possible questions for the student survey so that I can take them to the dance instructor's boss and make sure that she understands why we would like to tape/survey and can ok/veto anything BEFORE class next week.

Other things: I will contact the DJ from Jake's and also our PR contact (Cesar) in order to have a chance to meet with them.

What else... I have checked out about 12 books or so from the library dealing with Latin culture and/or salsa. I also have a documentary about the history of salsa, which I think is highly important that we watch. Ok, more when I can think about it...

Team 6 Meeting Notes (Olivia, Meg, Jeremy)

2006-10-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

Team 6 Meeting Monday October 9^th 2:45-3:45 UC

- Field Work:

o Olivia has completed her second observation at Lubbock Chinese Christian Church (1^st English Service 2^nd Chinese Service)

o Possible informant identified – Originally from Beijing, a Tech Graduate, welcoming.

o A second informant identified

§ Decided not to pursue, because although apart of LCCC he is not Chinese. For the moment until we learn more, the team assumes he is not an insider.

o Olivia will post here notes on blog or e-mail them to me to post

o Olivia and I will attend LCCC together next week Oct 15^th to observe again and compare notes.

o Olivia and Meg will attend LCCC the weekend of Oct. 22^nd

- Interview Questions

o Team members are to respond to my e-mail with input and suggestions for interview questions because time is coming for both informal and formal interviews

- Identifying Informants

o Team members are to make active steps to establishing friendship with key informants this week

- Preparation for next stage

o Each team member is to begin a new lit search fueled by questions from research possible topics:

§ Industry for making praise music

· One industry, many

· Are songs translated from English songs or original

§ Brief look into grammar and language of Chinese and Korean

· Are constraints put on the language to accommodate Western musical practices as seen in the church services?

§ History of Korean Baptist Movement and history of each Church observed.

§ Methodology

· Examination of methodologies employed in Post and Packet. What are we doing? What sources do we want to sight? Any alterations to methodology cited

Rob's Field Notes Sep. 28

2006-10-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

When I arrived at the fair grounds, I had no idea what kind of setting Mariachi Amistad was going to be performing at. My only other previous experiences with mariachi music has been in restaurants and the one time Amistad was playing for the grand opening of the Student Union Building. In all of these situations, the band was mobile and playing acoustically.

By the time we found Amistad, they had already begun performing. The setting was new to me in that I've never seen a Mariachi group at a fair before, but at the same time, the setting was surprisingly very familiar to me. The band was performing on a pretty large stage tucked back between two buildings. The seating was made of hay-bails lined in rows with boards laying across the top. There were also wooden bleachers lining the sides of the buildings. (Nothing out of the ordinary for a regional fair in Texas.) The band was running through a sound system provided by the fair that was used for all the performing acts on that stage and everything was coming through clearly.

The reason this seemed familiar to me was the concert setting in which Amistad was performing. It was just like any main stream concert I've ever been to where there is a seated audience who, for the most part, was quietly listening and watching the performers. At the end of each tune, the audience would give an applause that was nothing different than a recital or ensemble concert given at tech. There wasn't even much turnaround in the audience. Most of the people stayed the entire duration of the concert with few people coming and going.

The band was made of about 9-10 people, all of whom were playing an instrument and singing. The band was all Hispanic with the exception of one violinist. The music was made up of traditional mariachi tunes, as well as some popular tejano tunes played in the style of mariachi music. They also threw in the Motown hit "My Girl" as made famous by the Temptations.

With the exception of "My Girl," all the song texts were in Spanish. However, in between all of the tunes, the band members would speak in English to the crowd.

After they finished we were able to speak with a few of the members about possibly making it out to some of their rehearsals as well as more of their performances. They said they had quite a few gigs lined up through November and that it shouldn't be a problem. They also seemed very happy that we were interested in them and their music, and they said they would be happy to help us with our research in any way possible.