November 2000

INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC

Music can seem mysterious until we understand that it is the best means to express its own fundamentally musical message. The mystery of this expressive art largely disappears when we realize that it isn't a code to be deciphered - it isn't something essentially linguistic that we must attempt to turn back into language - it isn't something essentially verbal at all. In other words, if music's meaning could have been projected more forcefully with words, the composer would have used words. Ironically, the experience of music, while often very difficult to talk about, is otherwise frequently direct and immediate. We often have a physical response to the "beat" - to the rhythm of a particular piece.

The language of music - its aesthetic elements - includes melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, dynamics, form, and timbre. Through manipulation of these elements, a given work is created and identified. When listening to a particular piece, noticing which of these elements "speaks the loudest" will provide a way of listening that encourages exploration and appreciation for that composer's message.

SOL Y CANTO'S MUSIC

Sol y Canto (Sun and Song) is a six-member ensemble whose musical style combines the folk traditions of Latin America with the music of the West and Africa. The performers are bilingual and bicultural and they use instruments, song types, and dance rhythms from Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Traditional instruments include Caribbean percussion, Andean pan pipes, and stringed instruments from Venezuela, Bolivia, and Puerto Rico. These are combined with guitar, saxophone, and electric bass to produce a Latin-Afro-American sound.

Latin America is a large area, which extends from Mexico, in the southern part of North America, through Central America and the Caribbean basin to the lower tip of South America. Latin American music is comprised of a large number of distinct rhythms that have been developed regionally. Despite the variations of rhythm, style and instrumentation that exist throughout Latin America, three major cultural influences are generally evident in Latin musical forms. These influences are:

1. the indigenous (Indian) cultures of the peoples who inhabited the region prior to the

B) the European influence, specifically the Iberian cultures of Spain and Portugal.

C) the African influence from people brought to the region as slaves by the Europeans.

While these influences have been combined in many ways to form new styles of music, each of them has been given particular elements that are easily distinguishable. For example, the indigenous cultures of the Andes Mountains region (Peru, Chile and Bolivia) have contributed native instruments such as the quena, a vertically held bamboo flute, the zamponas (pronounced "zam-poe-nyas"), or pan pipes, and the chuyus, a rhythm instrument made of goat hooves which have been tied together and can be shaken. The Europeans have contributed their languages (Spanish and Portuguese), as well as instruments such as the guitar. Other European instruments, such as the vijuela, have served as models for native instruments like the charango, a small ten-stringed instrument originally made from the shell of an armadillo. The African influence is evident in the drums which are so prevalent in Latin music, and in many of the call and response type leader and chorus song forms which are so common in many regions.

The fact that the music contains elements of Latin American, European, and African styles shows the interrelationship of cultures. The instruments themselves are trademarks of the representative cultures, from armadillo shells and goat hooves to the electric bass and saxophone.

There are certain aesthetic elements present throughout Sol y Canto's performance. One of the most prominent is rhythm; specifically dance rhythm. For each dance rhythm, a number of different rhythms are combined to produce a particular style, such as Calypso, Meringue, and Orcandombe. It is polyrhythm (more than one rhythm simultaneously) that inspires one to get up and dance to this music.

The balance between the instruments and the voices produces music that inspires dancing and singing. The percussion and bass combine with the guitar and traditional stringed instruments to create various dance styles and the voices, flute, and sax often provide the melody. Sometimes the same melody is passed from the flute to the voice, such as in Poco a Poco. The vocal harmonies are at times very rich and can be heard more distinctly when contrasted with the single melodic lines (also found in Poco a Poco, for example).

The texts of the songs often deal with social commentary, such as Dancing on the Wall (about the fall of the Berlin Wall), and Candombe Mulato (about the races and the relative unimportance of distinctions between them). The text is often recited (sung) in a rhythmic style that is related to the dance rhythm, and the sequence and accents of the Spanish words often seem musically interesting by themselves.

ABOUT SOL Y CANTO

Sol y Canto means "sun and song" and was founded by its leaders, Rosi Amador, lead vocalist, and Brian Amador, lead guitarist/musical director, in 1994, formerly of the renowned Latin band, Flor de Cana. Sol y Canto often works with other Latin musicians living in the Boston area. Their mission is to offer audiences a wide variety of Latin American and Caribbean folk and dance rhythms. Members of the current group come from the United States, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela and Chile, with some band members having Argentine and Mexican ancestry as well. The group travels widely not only at schools, but festivals, clubs, formal concerts, community and special events. Their debut album, Sancocho!, on Rounder Records was released in October 1994. With Flor de Cana they have produced several recordings on CD and cassette ("Balando en la Muralla" reached #9 on Billboard Magazine's World Music Chart) and won three Boston Music Awards as "Outstanding Latin Act". Their goal is to help create bridges of understanding and appreciation between people of diverse cultures and backgrounds in the hope of contributing to the creation of a more peaceful, humane and just world for everyone.

SPECIFIC SELECTIONS

Songs you may hear (depending on the age of your group and the amount of time available) include the following:

1) El Dia del Pueblo (The Day of the People) - a song from Puerto Rico in a rhythm called a bomba, traditionally performed with only voices and percussion, but with a fuller ensemble in most modern renditions. Bomba is a dance rhythm, and at the end of this piece there is a percussion solo that is played as a challenge to the dancers, who, in turn, challenge the percussionist with their dancing. This song also features the Puerto Rican cuatro. The lovely lyrics of the song speak of a world free of war and borders, and of the beautiful celebration in which we all participate when the dream becomes a reality.

Aesthetic elements: rhythm and sound/rhyme of words have interest by themselves ("ay caramba," "mi pachanga," "es la changa," "burandanga"). Call and response: conversation between two different drums (conga-low, bongos-high) during the percussion solo at the end. Drums "talk" to one another. Social messages of "day of the people" (no violence, free nations, etc.).

2) Carinito (Sweetheart) - this song is in a combination of two South American rhythms, the Andean huayno, (pronounced "why-no"), and the cumbia, a rhythm that originated in Colombia but is very popular throughout Latin America and is played and danced with many regional variations. The lyrics say simply "Sweetheart, don't ever, ever leave me."

Aesthetic Elements: alternation of instrumental interludes (and the introduction) with vocal segments. Sax functions as non-verbal commentary in call and response pattern with other instruments in introduction and between vocal lines. Voice as verbal commentary: spoken lines (improvised) during instrumental sections. Subject of song,"sweetheart", lends itself to personal comments by singer.

3) Candombe Mulato - the candombe rhythm is indigenous to urban Montevideo, Uruguay, where there is a large African-Uruguayan population, and the drums are very prominent. Three interlocking percussion parts played on different sized drums work together to create this unusual and beautiful rhythm. In February, during Carnival time in Montevideo, hundreds of drummers get together to play candombes in the streets in huge groups called comparsas. The lyrics speak directly to the mulatto saying, "Recognize your blackness in your whiteness and your whiteness in your blackness and never stop dancing to the beat of your ancestors. But as you dance think, and remember that people think better when their stomachs are full."

Aesthetic elements: Melody vs. Harmony - verses 1, 3, 5 sung in solo; each verse followed by another (2, 4, 6) in duet harmony. Chorus in full group, vocal harmony. Form - verse 1 verse 2 chorus; verse 3 verse 4 chorus, instrumental interlude, verse 5 verse 6 chorus.

4) Family Under One Sky - this song was written by a friend of the group from Albany, New York, named Ruth Pelham and translated into Spanish by a former member of the group, Gil Raldiris from Puerto Rico. Especially popular with young children, this song is in a call and response form that allows a great deal of participation in English and Spanish by the children in the audience. The song also demonstrates several percussion instruments, the claves, maracas, and guiro.

5) Mi Cuerpo (My Body) - by Gil Raldiris, this song for very young children allows audience members to learn some basic Spanish while simultaneously using parts of their bodies as percussion instruments to make music.

6) Banana - this is a calypso from the eastern or Atlantic coast of Nicaragua which is in English, one of the dominant languages spoken there by descendants of the British slave trade.

Aesthetic Elements: Call and response song; entertaining, as in a carnival; sax improvises a solo; clave rhythm (1st half) played by bass; other percussion rhythms added to produce calypso.

7) Poco a Poco - in an Andean huayno rhythm, this traditional Bolivian song features the quena and charango.

Aesthetic elements: Melody passes from flute to voice to guitar; sectional song - each section comes in a little faster than the time before; melody is the same each time. Listen for repeats (how many times do you hear the song?); contrast between steady beat of drum and syncopation of melody.

8) Bailando en la Muralla

Aesthetic elements: verse and chorus. Verses are sung in solo and choruses are sung in harmony. Chorus is repeated in each section. Social commentary about the fall of the Berlin Wall; music is a celebration of the fall of the Wall; meringue dance rhythm, a cappella singing- voices alone (without instruments) in introduction and at the end.

INSTRUMENT LIST

In addition to the instruments mentioned in the Introduction, other instruments in Sol y Canto will demonstrate/include the following, depending on whether a trio or sextet performs:

1. Congas: large wooden floor drums usually played with the hands.
2. Bongos: (Trio) smaller hand drums that rest between the knees or on a stand.
3. Bombo Leguero: a large mountain drum made of wood with calf or goatskin heads, played with two sticks.
4. Cuatro Puertorriqueno: the national folklorico instrument of Puerto Rico, a ten stringed instrument which looks like a small guitar and is tuned in fourths (each pair of strings is four tones away from the pair next to it).
5. Cencerro: (Trio) cowbell.
6. Guiro: (Trio) a hollowed out gourd with lines carved into it, played with a scratcher to produce a rasping sound.
7. Claves: (Trio) sometimes called rhythm sticks in this country, a pair of hardwood sticks which are struck together in particular patterns to provide the rhythmic underpinning or "key" to a song.
8. Maracas: (Trio) shakers traditionally made of gourd with beans or seeds inside.
9. Guitar
10. Alto Saxophone: (Trio) obviously a modern European contribution.
11. Electric Bass: another modern instrument that is very common in contemporary Caribbean music such as Meringue and Salsa.

VOCABULARY

1. Accompaniment: the background or support of the solo. (Ex: in Candombe Mulato, the voices and flute have the solos and the percussion and stringed instruments are the accompaniment that provides the rhythm and dance quality of the song.)
2. Call and Response: a musical question and answer in which one person or group gives a "call" and another person or group echoes it or says something else in return each time. A fundamental musical element with roots in African music, work songs, and in the Blues especially. (Ex: Banana and Family Under One Sky.)
3. Chorus (coro): the portion of a song that is repeated as the main idea. It comments on the story told in the verses. (Ex: "bailan en la muralla...porvenir" is the chorus.)
4. Clave Pattern: main rhythmic figure found in the Latin musical tradition, also found in African music, sometimes with slight variation. Often played on claves but may also be played on the wooden shell of a drum. (Ex: an underlying rhythm in Candombe.)
5. Dynamics: the relative loudness and quietness of the music.
6. Form: the sequence of events and repeats within a given song. For example, the alternation of verse B and chorus A could be listed as BABABA; the verses having a variation in words and the chorus being the same each time. (Ex: Family Under One Sky and Bailando.)
7. Harmony: more than one note at the same time. The guitar and charanga can be played with more than one string at a time. More than one voice can sing together on different notes. (Ex: most of the group singing). A chord strummed on the guitar or sung as a group is an example of harmony.
8. Melody: a succession of notes, one at a time (as opposed to a chord or more than one note played typically on a piano or guitar.) A flute, sax, or a single voice plays/sings a melody. (Ex: sax solo in Banana).
9. Polyrhythm: more than one rhythm at the same time. (Ex: the various percussion and other instrument rhythms combined in a song to produce a particular dance rhythm such as calypso, candombe, or huanyo.)
10. Rhythm: the underlying pulse or beat, and its divisions into smaller parts; sometimes on, sometimes off the main beat. (Ex: In Poco a Poco, at the beginning, the drum plays on the main beat and the flute plays a more complicated rhythm above it.)
11. Solo: the most prominent melody, voice, or part.
12. Syncopation: playing off of the main beat. (Ex: In Poco a Poco, the flute and the vocal melody are syncopated and the drum is on the main beat.)
13. Tempo: how fast or slow the music is. (Ex: Poco a Poco gets faster in each section.)
14. Timbre or Tone Color: the quality of a certain sound that is unique and gives it a recognizable character. (Ex: You can tell the difference between a flute, guitar, or someone's voice even when they are playing/singing the same note because of their unique timbres.)
15. Unison: singing or playing the same thing at the same time. (Ex: "La La La" section at the end of Bailando).
16. Verse: the portion of the song that tells a story. The words of the verses change with each verse, although the melody is usually the same. Verse and chorus usually alternate. (Ex: Family Under One Sky and Bailando en la Muralla).

SUGGESTED CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

1. Focus on Rhythm and Text

• compose sentences and experiment with changing spoken rhythm
• do the same with poems and other texts

1. Repetition and Form

• work with the idea of repetition of patterns of any type
• work on verse and chorus relationship

1. Opposites

• loud/soft, fast/slow, high/low, unison/non-unison

1. Listen for Timbre (sound quality)

• listen to different types of sounds and differentiate using auditory sense only

1. Call and Response
2. Ways to make sound making instruments using found objectsÖ

• blow (sax, flute, quena)
• hit (conga, cowbell)
• scrape (quiro, cabasa)
• strum/pluck (guitar, bass, charanga)
• shake (maracas, shaker)
• make up your own

1. Elements used to make sounds

• wood, gourds, metal, skin, goat hooves, clay

1. Relating performance to various subjects - some suggestions:

• Art: weaving, making instruments, working with patterns.
• Cooking: Spanish/Latin American dishes
• Geography: map skills
• Gym: dances
• Language: Spanish
• Literature: poetry; literature about children by Spanish writers
• Math: division (beat/divided beat), repeated patterns, counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, accent patterns
• Science: How does climate affect what is available for making instruments? (Ex: armadillos, turtles, goat hooves, gourds, wood, metal, and skin). Acoustics, sound production and experimentation
• Social Studies/Latin American culture/History: song texts, social commentaries on peace, war, working together, different races
• Technology: making instruments

REFERENCES

Brennan, Elizabeth Villarreal. A Singing Wind, Five melodies from Ecuador (cassette and

Rockwell, Anne. El Toro Pinto and other songs in Spanish (book with words and music) selected

and illustrated by Rockwell.

Schon, Isabel. A Hispanic Heritage (a guide to juvenile books about Hispanic people and

cultures).

Yurchenco, Henrietta. A Fiesta of Folk Songs from Spain and Latin America (book with words

and music).

Calypsos from the Virgin Islands (record) various artists

Caribbean Rhythms (record) Calypso, Bolero, Mambo, Pasillo, and Guerracha. Recorded in San

Andres by Thomas J. Pierce, Jr.

Caribbean Songs and Games for Children (record), Puerto Rico/Trinidad/Jamaica/Haiti/The

Bronx. Folkway Records FC 7856.

The Sun of Latin Music, Eddie Palmieri

Tito Puente and his Latin Ensemble, "Sensacion" (cassette)

Tapes by Flor de Cana may be found at local music stores:

Dancing on the Wall, Flying Fish Label FF90577

Muevete! (Move It!), Flying Fish Label FF90463

Compact Discs / Tapes by Sol y Canto may be found at local music stores:

Sancocho! Rounder Records Label #6055

www.solycanto.com (Photos/Images)

http://cumpiano.tripod.com/Home/Guitars/LatinAmerican/Latin-page.html (Puerto Rican Cuatro photo, p.7)

These materials were prepared and written by Kristin Shiner-McGuire under the aegis of the Aesthetic Education Institute in Rochester, NY, telephone (716) 271-5070.