Big Blog #2: History of Hula

 Hello! Last blog of the term, woohoo! I hope you all enjoyed my lesson on Hawaiian music today, and if not, I hope you at least learned something new. Instead of doing an entirely new culture on top of this one, I decided to do a bit of a deeper dive into an aspect of Hawaiian music-- hula. I'm going to talk about a little bit of the history of hula, its cultural purposes and aesthetics, and hopefully showing you some cool videos! Lets get started :-) 

A Brief History of Hula: 

    Hula has been around for a long time-- perhaps even longer than the island of Hawai'i has been inhabited. It is believed to have come along with the Polynesian settlers that came around 400 BC. Several islands claim to be the birthplace of hula as we know it, but the true origin of it is unknown. What is known, however, is what the original intention and purpose of hula. Hula was used to tell stories and depict the actions of various gods and goddesses in myth. A big misconception about ancient hula is that only men were allowed to perform, which is not true at all! The journals of James Cook, the first known European to visit Hawai'i, tells stories of women dancing hula as well as men. This tradition of storytelling and depiction existed for thousands of years. 
    Another misconception is that Christian missionaries banned hula when they arrived in Hawaii. While they did disapprove of hula openly, they did not have the power or political standing to outright ban it. A ban on hula was enacted in 1830 by Queen Kaáhumanu, a recent convert to Christianity. However, this law was all but ignored by native Hawaiians, and after the queens death the law was all but forgotten. As Hawaii became more and more absorbed into the American world, and Queen Liliuokalani was removed from the throne, hula's growth was stunted for almost a century. In the late 60s and early 70s, Hawaiian culture experienced a rebirth and revival as native Hawaiians began to reclaim their culture and educate others about it. Today hula is taught and celebrated around the world, especially in Hawaiian schools and universities, as well as places that are open to the community. Today there are two main types of hula: hula kahiko (traditional) that is accompanied by chant and drums, and hula 'auana (modern) which is typically done with popular ukulele or slack key guitar songs. Both are cherished in the Hawaiian culture and continue to flourish. Here's a clip that shows some hula, as well as the legend/myth of how hula first came to be, and some elaboration on some things I discussed both here and in class: 

Traditional Hula Attire 

    Simon's question in class today prompted me to do a little more research into the traditional regalia worn by hula dancers. As Dr. Vaneman mentioned in class today, the image of grass skirts and coconut bras that is portrayed in western media is incredibly inaccurate and, at some level, disrespectful to the amount of history and culture that the traditional attire has within it. A quote from a Smithsonian article I read states: "Early hula kahiko costumes for women featured skirts made of kapa, or bark cloth. Men wore the skirts, too, or just a loincloth, called a malo. A lei for the head and its counterpart for the ankles and wrists—called kupe'e—were made of plants or materials such as shells and feathers. In hula kahiko, a circular lei would be worn on top of the head, whereas in hula 'auana, the dancer may affix flowers to one side of the head." There are a few other differences in attire for the different styles of hula, that you can probably imagine: dancers of hula 'auana, being a more syncretic and modern version of hula, often wear fabric shirts and pants or skirts. This is just a brief overview into what all goes into making, preparing, and dancing in these outfits. In fact, in some halaus (hula schools) believe that in order to become a true kumu hula (hula master), you need to master the art of hand-making these outfits, as well as learn the cultural and historical significance behind each piece of them. Wow! Speaking of being a hula master, here's a short documentary on Kayli Ka'iulani Carr, AKA Miss Aloha 2016, and the training she went through to earn her title: 

Hula: Then and Now 

In this blog and in class today I mentioned how Hawaii has influences from lots of different places: being smack in between the continent of Asia and North America, two already very diverse places, it's no wonder that Hawaii has taken different bits of a lot of different cultures and brought them into their own practices and customs. Hula is no different; we've already seen a few examples of this. The idea of hula 'auana, which is performed with the ukulele or guitar, two European instruments, and also wears more traditional western attire. Hula classes are also available all around the world, and even in Hawaii are mostly available to any one of any culture, save for some very traditional or conservative teachers and/or halaus that believe it should be kept within only the Hawaiian people and culture. Along with that, in recent years there have been some more modern and experimental hula practices that take ideas from Japanese dance, as well as some from central and south American dance. This practice is not approved of by everyone, however, with a quote from the same Smithsonian article saying "hula must be kept pure, wherever it is performed. It's up to us teachers to stress that where we come from is important...If the link is not maintained as it should, then we're not passing on something that is hula and we're not being true to our culture." Here's some... modern hula for you. Happy watching! 

Citation stuff in case you're interested...

Kirk, Mimi. “A Hip Tradition.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 31 July 2007, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-hip-tradition-161029539/#:~:text=Early%20hula%20kahiko%20costumes%20for,such%20as%20shells%20and%20feathers.

“The History of Hula.” Ka`Imi Na`Auao O Hawai`i Nei Institute, kaimi.org/education/history-of-hula/.

My Musical Culture: Music and Family

 Hello! For this blog I decided to interview my mom, who I owe a lot of my own personal music tastes to. She grew up in the 70s, she's a super awesome nurse, and her interview was a lot of fun! I hope you enjoy reading our conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. 

Music and Family Interview with Kim Carey 

Taryn: Do you want to introduce yourself before we get started? 

Kim: Do I have to? Don’t you already know who I am? 

T: It’s for my classmates, mom. 

K: Oh. Well, I’m Kim Carey. I’m Taryn’s mom. 

T: Alright, I guess we’ll get started with the questions then. Firstly: what is your earliest memory of music? 

K: Hmm… I think my earliest memory of music is probably that when I was growing up, Saturdays were always cleaning days. Mama would always cook us breakfast and wake us up, and after we ate we’d put on music and clean the house. It was just me, her and Bubba (her brother), and every week we would cycle who got to play the music. When Mama played, it was always Elvis-- she LOVED Elvis. When it was Bubba’s turn we would listen to rock and roll, like The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin. Mama didn’t like rock that much so she’d only let us listen to the “calmer songs”. When it was my turn I would play a lot of motown or soul, and as I got a little older I’d listen to AC/DC and Kiss as well. 

T: You said your mom didn’t approve of Uncle Bobby’s music. Did she like yours? 

K: She liked the Motown-- she was most of the reason I loved, and still love, soul music today. As for the rock bands, not so much. When I was a senior in high school I convinced her to take me to see Kiss in concert-- well, Bubba was supposed to take me, but he got sick, and I was so upset that she agreed to take me. I had an awesome time, obviously, but mostly I remember her looking completely miserable the entire time. At one point the crowd was passing around a joint, and someone actually had the gall to hand it to her. I just remember her holding it in her hand and staring at me, screaming over the music “what the hell am I supposed to do with this?!” and I said “well, either take a toke or pass it on!” That didn’t go over too well with her, and I think we left shortly after. I still had a great time, I didn’t regret a thing. 

T: Would you say your music taste has changed at all since you were a teenager? 

K: I don’t think so. I mean, sure, I listen to more bands and types of music now than I did back then, just because there’s more available. But I still listen to 70s and 80s music in the car, since I have the Sirius radio. You know they have the 70s-on-7 and 80s-on-8 channels. And you know we still always listened to Motown when it was cleaning day. 

T: Yep. I used to always know when I woke up that if I smelled bacon cooking and heard the Temptations it was going to be a long day. Going off of what you said earlier-- that you have more access to music now than you did back then. Is there any kind of music that’s popular today that wasn’t popular when you were growing up? Or just didn’t exist? 

K: Hmm… I don’t know if I would say a certain type of music, but I think just the culture of pop stars and the way it’s changed is really big. For example, I loved Elton John growing up. But almost everyone at my school thought he was stupid, because he was so incredibly flamboyant. Same with Prince when he got big. I remember Mama being so flabbergasted at his demeanor. But now you have stars like that all over the place. I think it's great-- it’s so nice to see more and more stars able to be themselves. Of course, there’s always going to be people who criticize and don’t like it, but hey, that’s life. It’s so much better now than it was when I was growing up, especially here in the south. 

T: Right. We’ve talked a lot about popular music. Have you ever had any experience with classical music? 

K: You’re asking the wrong gal! Other than coming to see your operas and performances, not really. I was in choir all four years of high school, you know, but I can’t say I even remember much of what we sang. We never learned all the crazy hard stuff that you guys do, and I was never really into the classical music like you. 

T: Right. You mentioned you were in choir. Did you ever do any other musical groups or play any instruments? 

K: Nope. Until Daralyn (my older sister) joined the marching band, I couldn’t have named a single instrument except the piano. I don’t know where she got all of her musical talent from. You know she played like, seven or eight instruments by the time she was a senior. Then that [redacted because its a bad word] band director had to go and make her feel so bad about herself. I’m glad you’ve stuck with it though. 

T: Thanks. I’m glad I did, too. I think. I’ll just ask a few more questions to wrap it up, then: Have you ever had a really cool musical experience, like meeting a musician or going to a really cool concert? 

K: I’ve been to plenty of cool concerts. But I think the coolest musical experience was when your dad and I were stationed in Las Vegas, and I was working at that casino. When U2 made the music video for that song, “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, it was actually right outside of where I worked. We got to watch them shoot the whole thing. I don’t think we got a lot of work done that day. 

T: Lastly, would you say that music has played a big part in your life? Why or why not? 

K: Oh, definitely. I mean, probably not as big as you and all your people up there, but you know music is so important to me. So many of my memories with Mama, your dad, and you have to do with music. Whether it’s cleaning days, going to concerts, parties, or going to see the Nutcracker every year. Listening to music just makes me feel good, especially when I hear a song and I get to relive the memories attached to it. And I love seeing how happy it makes you and how great you are at what you do. So, yeah, in a short answer, music definitely plays a big part in my life, and everyone else’s too, I think.

Cool Stuff: Arabic and Indian Music

     Hooray for the final week of the semester! Today we're going to be discussing some cool stuff from the Middle East and India. I really enjoyed the Arabic music chapter, so I'm excited to share this blog with you! 

#1: The Music of Qatar 

    Qatar is a small, peninsular country located to the west of Saudi Arabia. It also happens to be where my sister has been stationed since July (☹️). Since I had some personal ties to the region I decided to research and see if there was any interesting music to discuss-- and there is! Of course all of the instruments and styles we discussed in class are there, but there is one style of music that is unique to the country, and it's something that I definitely didn't expect to find: sea shanties! As I mentioned, Qatar is a peninsula, meaning it is surrounded on three sides by water, so I guess when you think about it it isn't too surprising to find out that sea shanties are pretty popular, but I guess when I think of sea shanties I think of like, Ireland or something. 

    A sea shanty is a type of work song, with a very simple rhythm and melody, designed to accompany hard, repetitive labor aboard boats. In the past, one of Qatar's main exports and sources of labor was pearling-- diving for and retrieving pearls from the ocean. So, yeah, lots of hard work on boats make for pretty good sea shanty time. Of course, these particular shanties aren't like the ones that have been going viral on Tik-Tok lately, but they're still pretty cool, and I thought I would share. You can see that the melody is pretty simple, and like most sea shanties there's a call and response thing going on, but you also get aspects of Arabic melodic style and traditional instruments and, of course, the language

#2: Al-Ayyala 

    I decided to do some research on some popular Arab dances, since we didn't get to discuss it much, and came across the Al-Ayyala, which is an art form that combines music, dance, poetry, and a little bit of acting as well. It is traditionally performed in the UAE and Oman, as well as in neighboring countries such as Qatar and Bahrain, with some cultural variations. The dance is performed by about 20 men, who carry bamboo sticks to depict swords as they tell the story of a battle. There is drum music and chant poetry with a simple melodic and rhythmic line. The dance is very popular and performed many times a year, though the poem being sung will change depending on the event or reason for the dance being performed, like weddings or cultural celebrations. Here's a clip explaining more about Al-Ayyala and showing different groups performing the dance: 

#3: Ragas and Emotions 

    I loved discussing Raga and Tala in class! I think learning about different music theories has been my favorite part of this class so far, because it's just so interesting to see how different cultures interpret the same basic foundations so differently from us. Anyways, for my last cool stuff I wanted to share some info from an article I read on how different ragas were scientifically proven to elicit different emotional responses. You can read/browse the article here, though it has a lot of big terminology that I didn't enjoy trying to decipher, so you might not either. Here's a recap: The article primarily discusses Hindustani music which, as you may remember, is North Indian classical music, and the meaning/uses of ragas in Hindustani music. As you may remember, there are tons of ragas, which can be used for a specific celebration, time of day, feeling, etc. The article goes onto explain that a major reason ragas can have such a wide array of emotional interpretations is the different versions of consonance and dissonance that exist between all of them. Since they all have different patterns of intervals, they can elicit or at least express a huge amount of different emotional responses. I also found this cool graphic that shows the Indian names for intervals and their western equivalent. Fun stuff! 

Big Blog #1: Shape-Note Singing

Week 3!! We’re almost done with week 3!! I’m really excited to talk to you guys about shape-note singing today-- it’s something I find really fascinating and I was excited to do some research on it, and I hope you think it’s as cool as I do. Some questions I hope to answer are: what exactly is shape note singing? How is it different from normal singing? Where did it get its start? Does it still exist today? If you have any other questions that I don’t answer in the blog, feel free to comment them! Otherwise, let’s get started! 

Definition and History of Shape-Note Singing

You may remember from music history (or intro to Music Education, if you were in there) this idea about singing schools. Singing schools were 1) the first kind of attempt at some formal music education, and 2) created with the purpose of teaching people to read and sing hymns and psalms in a worship setting. They began in the late 18th century in New England, but soon spread to other regions of the country. Why does this matter? Because it is from these singing schools that the shape-note singing tradition was born. Shape-note is a type of music notation, not completely unlike the way we read music today. The notes are placed on a five line staff with a clef and key signature, but you won’t see traditional quarter, half, and whole notes that range from do-ti. Shape-note notation is based on, you guessed it, shapes. Each pitch has a designated shape that lets singers know what to sing. This way almost anyone could learn to read and sing hymns without needing to know about music theory or how to traditionally read music. Originally, the shape-note hymns were based on a four note scale that went fa-so-la-fa-so-la-mi. Here’s a short video of a guy explaining and demonstrating shape-note singing better than I can: 

    Now, I know you're probably thinking: "Taryn, didn't you say this was in New England? That guy looks and sounds like someone I'd see in a Walmart down the road" or possibly "I thought you said this was a place to learn hymns for church. That definitely doesn't look like any church service I've been to". Which brings me to my next point: While the idea of shape-note singing did originate in New England church settings, it quickly became a very social event, especially among the rural south. Events called “singings” often took place once a week, where people could gather and rehearse, socialize, and make music. Again, the need for incredibly in-depth knowledge of music theory isn’t necessary, which allows for people to really enjoy the act of making music and the social aspect of it. Another thing you might have noticed is the title of the above video: “Kevin Barrans explains Sacred Harp Singing”. What on earth is sacred harp singing? Well, it’s basically shape-note singing! The Sacred Harp was one of the first and remains one of the most popular collections of shape note hymns. As shape-note singing became less about strictly music education and more about socialization and fun music making, people began to refer to it as “Sacred Harp singing”. As the tradition became popular among rural southerners, it did undergo a few changes. Some sacred harp singing that you hear may not be based strictly on the original shape-note scales, but may utilize a five note pentatonic scale that a lot of traditional folk tunes are based on, as well as some dotted and upbeat rhythms that might look complex written out, but are pretty standard in a lot of folk tunes. Here's an example of sacred-harp singing:

Some things to notice and think about: 

• Most of the people in this room probably can't formally read music. That is, if you were to write out this hymn with the same harmonies on a single staff with quarter notes and whatnot, they'd probably have some difficulty reading it
• Notice the first time they sing it, they're using the four note syllables, fa-so-la-mi, then the second time they transition to words. 
• Notice that funky thing they're doing with their hand? That's to help keep the beat. In some groups everyone does it, in some only the leader does it, and sometimes, like here, just a few people do it. 
• Do you hear any instruments? No! Sacred Harp singing is almost always a capella. In fact, sometimes they don't even have formal pitches given to them-- the leader will pick a note, give it to the group, and say start. Crazy, right?! 
• Lastly, what do you notice about the vocal timbre of these people? Do they sound like classically trained musicians? Ready for the MET stage? ...probably not. Again, remember that a lot of Sacred Harp singing was and is about socialization and the joy of making music, not a polished performance that meets the requirements and standards of western art music. 

Shape-note singing today

    Does Sacred Harp singing still exist today! It sure does! While not as common as it was in the 19th and 20th centuries, there are still churches that sing this way and always have. It's true, however, that in recent years the amount of shape note singing has begun to dwindle. Something interesting is that it has started to get a kind of revival among an unlikely group: college students and young people. Many universities around the country, especially in the south, have taken an interest in the art form, saying that they like the "non commercial" aspect of it as well as the low pressure environment and history. A quick google search will take you to plenty of websites where you can locate singings near you, as well as groups and communities of sacred harp singers. Finally, here's a heart warming video that shows lots of people from different walks of life who've all come together to help the Sacred Harp tradition live on:

Citations and stuff:

Eskew, Harry. “Shape-Note Hymnody.” Grove Music Online, Jan. 2001, www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025584#omo-9781561592630-e-0000025584-div1-0000025584.4.

Thanks for reading :)

Cool Stuff: Music of Sub-Saharan Africa

 #1: Black Panther

    Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE superhero movies, especially Marvel, and ESPECIALLY Black Panther, so I thought it was so interesting to learn about the talking drum and how it was used in the Black Panther score. Something I loved about Black Panther the first time I watched it was how rich in culture it was, and how different it was to every other superhero film I've seen. The costumes, the characters, and especially the music were so immersed in African culture, but there was also evidence of western influence (especially in soundtrack), because it still was a movie about a superhero, which is a very western idea. ANYWAYS, I found this pretty cool clip of a documentary about the composer, Ludwig Göransson, on how he went about scoring the film, what his influences and inspirations were, and how he decided what instruments would be used. 

#2: Baaba Maal

    If you watched the above clip, then you know that one of Göransson's biggest inspirations was Baaba Maal, a Senegalese musician. I decided to do a little more research about him and thought he needed his own section of the blog! Maal is a very famous and grammy nominated musician, who has been active since 1989. He is from the river valley region of northern Senegal, and belongs to the Fulani people, who are somewhat nomadic. He says that this has influenced his music greatly and inspired him to travel the world, saying that"travel and music are inextricable. “It’s part of my culture. The songs travel from village to village, from country to country. It’s something natural to my tribe and this part of Africa.” He is known for blending traditional African music with funk, reggae, and rock. He credits his love of music and travel partly to his mother, who encouraged him to become a musician. You can read more about Baaba Maal on his website, and here is a video of the opening track from his newest album "The Traveller". I will also leave you with this quote, which I really liked: "Most of the problems we have are because people don’t travel enough and discover other people and enjoy their company. By traveling you discover that humanity is so beautiful: different faces, different cultures, different colours, different sounds. To live in one place is very boring. When you travel you realise that humanity and the planet is a very big gift, in spite of some of the man-made horrors. This is what I want to celebrate." 

#3: Female Artists in South Africa

    I felt as though we talked about and watched a lot of men, not only in this unit, but in all of the units we've covered so far, so I decided to do some research into some popular South African female Artists and share that with all of you. I found an article that lists the top 10 most streamed South African women, complete with playlists with lots of their songs. Number one on this list is Shekhinah, a singer-songwriter from Durban, South Africa. Her first album, Rose Gold, is certified platinum, and is REALLY good! A quote I really like from her is "Music is my first language, no matter where in the world I am. I chose these songs to represent all the places I've been and favourite moments I have lived, each one holds a special place down memory lane and each artist is a Queen in their own way and space, these are must know hard hits on my playlist."

My Musical Culture: Music and Religion

 Hello! I hope everyone has survived the first week of classes and is having a great start to their second. For this blog post I decided to talk about music and religion, partly because its something that I've recently taken a lot of interest in and have decided to do some independent research on, but also religious music is a REALLY big part of my life (and my income). For backstory: at the beginning of my sophomore year I took a church job as the alto section leader for St. Christopher's Episcopal church here in Spartanburg. I've never been an avid church-goer, mostly because I hated the church I grew up in, as well as any of the other ones I visited, and I was never exposed to anything outside of southern Baptist. For the first few weeks of my church job, I had to really struggle to get my head on right. Everything was so different than what I was used to! But I actually grew to love it! Everything is very liturgical in the Episcopal church-- you do things in a certain order, for a certain reason, every Sunday, and it makes sense. And there is a LOT of music! Opening processionals, sequence hymns, anthems, communion hymns, and closing processionals, PLUS the sung Gloria, Sanctus, and fraction anthems. And sometimes there's more than that! On special occasions our priest will chant a portion of our service, which I absolutely love, and sometimes we chant psalms rather than just saying them.There's something really special about chant to me. I think it's because chanting is so intentional. When you're speaking the words it can be whatever, just reading from a book, but if you're singing/chanting them, you really have to feel every word and think about it as you say it. Here's an example of anglican chant, if you're curious, plus a video explaining how it works, if you're REALLY curious: 

Something that took me a little while to adjust to was the "seasons" of the church year (there's a lot of them!) and the corresponding music that went along with them. As I mentioned before, we sing A LOT, and some of the things we sing are the same every Sunday, namely the Gloria and Sanctus. These are always in the same place in the service every Sunday, and the same words, but not always the same settings. Depending on the season, a different musical setting will be sung. When I say seasons I don't mean winter and summer, but different times in the Church's liturgical year that go along with important celebrations, so things like Easter (and lent before it), Christmas (which is preceded by Advent) and so on. There's a lot more that goes into this, but I'm not qualified to explain it all 😬 nor would I know how to. The point I'm trying to make is that I often sing the same words in several different tunes, depending on what it is I'm celebrating that Sunday, and I think it's really cool. Each of the settings have their own mood and feel. Here's two different versions of the Sanctus (the first one is my favorite!) with the words "holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!" 

Cool Stuff: Music of the Americas

     

#1: Hoop Dancing and James Jones

Hello again! When we first started this unit I remembered a Native American Youtuber/Tik-Toker (is tiktoker a noun yet? anyways he has a lot of Tik-Tok videos) that I discovered over quarantine. He posted a lot of traditional dances and songs as well as the history and meaning behind them. His name is James Jones and he is a member of the Cree nation, which is one of the largest groups of Native American tribes and is based primarily in Canada. You can look him up on Youtube, Instagram, or TikTok @notoriouscree. Something he posts a lot about that we didn't discuss in class is hoop dancing, which I will not do justice trying to explain so I'll post one of his Tik-Toks: 

    After a little bit of research I found out that hoop dancing is thought to have originated in tribes near the western Great Lakes, such as the Chippewas, Ottawas, and Potawatomis. As James mentioned in the video, the hoop dance is a healing dance. It was originally intended for religious purposes, but has since become modernized and has become a public dance rather than just ceremonial. Something interesting to know: the hoop is considered a sacred symbol in many Native American cultures, representing the cyclical nature of life (kind of like how we talked about balance in Navajo ceremonies). Oftentimes different hoop dances depict things found in nature such as animals or plants. While these dances are performed at powwow competitions, it isn't as common as some of the other dances we saw in class because it is considered a specialty dance. Here's another one of James' hoop dancing videos which he captions: "The hoop dance, is a healing dance. It has the power to heal through movement & story telling. In times of turmoil, remember Mother Earth is a powerful healer. She has the power to create life, and take life. and if she becomes sick, we will become sick. the air she breathes, the water she drinks. how we treat the land, is how we treat ourselves and our future generations. Mother Earth. an elder, a story teller, a life giver. she is now healing herself. As humans We can no longer take, without giving".

#2: Pamyua

    I was going to make this section just an overview of some other modern native bands/artists I found, because I wanted to see what else there was beyond what we listened to in class. PBS has a great article on Native American musicians, as well as Spotify playlists of some good songs. ANYWAYS, through this article I discovered Pamyua (pronounced bum-you-wah), and they really deserve a whole section to themselves. Pamyua is a group of four indigenous Inuit musicians, who combine traditional Inuit music and storytelling with R&B and funk genres. Their songs are mostly sung in Yup'ik Inuit, and when performing they try to tell a story through their music and the use of masks that they wear. The two songs I've linked below are pretty different, but it's easy to tell where their influences come from. In Ocean Prayer there is a constant, steady drumbeat, much like the Native American music we've listened to in class. The song has a relatively small range and is very chant-like, which makes sense considering it's a prayer. It goes between unison and harmony, almost like a call and response set up. The second song, Bubblegum, sounds like it could be on any pop radio station. The song is sung in Yup'ik Inuit, but even if you can't understand the words it's impossible not to smile and dance along as you listen. There is still a very steady and repetitive drum beat, but the rhythm is a bit more complex, and there are aspects of American music like the guitar and the harmonies. 

3: Natural Dyes in the Andes

       Okay, I was really excited to write this one! I thought it was so cool to see how the textiles were dyed in the before-quiz materials and I wanted to learn more about that process and the type of plants that can be used to create colors that vibrant, and also how the knowledge has been kept alive in the Andes. I found a great article on the plants used to make the natural dyes, and I'll highlight a few of the really important ones here: 

Red: apparently red is super important to the Andean people! It's rich, vibrant color is most often achieved using Cochineal, a type of scaled insect that kind of looks like a red roly-poly. The shell is left to dry out in the sun and then ground into a fine powder. 

Green: There are a lot of ways to create the color green, and the shades and hues of green vary widely depending on what region you're in. This is obviously due to what kind of leafy plants are available and how much sunlight exposure they get. 

Blue: The use of tara is mostly used to get a blue hue. Tara is a plant that kind of looks like a pea pod. However, when it can be found, many Andean natives love to use indigo to dye their yarn. Indigo does not grow naturally in the region so it can be difficult to find. 

The video below is from an exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art that displayed several textile works such as bags, clothing, and tapestries. While most of these are from the Inca, which isn't exactly what we talked about, it's still really cool to see how the tradition of textile making continued and developed.