"Great minds discuss issues; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people" - Eleanor Roosevelt
Introduction
So, you just found out that you like music a little more today than you did yesterday, and you've been wondering why. In fact, you may already know - but still think it's 'so complicated'. You may not think that you understand very much about music, but guess what? It's not as complicated as you may think - not in its simplest, purest form, anyway.
Here's a little secret I want to let you in on:
Music is a part of us all!
…but it takes discipline, patience and commitment to truly understand the unlimited possibilities one can accomplish with music. And you don't even have to play an instrument these days - just the touch of a button can get you started - ask any DJ or computer whiz!
As I stated earlier, music is a part of us all. As you make your journey through this book, you'll get to look at music as if it's a real, live person -- someone just like you! Try to look at this book as if it's a fact sheet on a person that you are trying to learn more about. Music has a heart with a pulse -- feel the tempo by touching your heart with your hand. Experience the rhythm by listening to yourself breathe. As you touch an instrument, it touches you back as you play it. And more often than not, music communicates something as you play or listen to it. In today's world, many people who listen to the radio do so not to hear the DJ talk, but to hear the music the DJ plays. Whether you sit and listen intently to the songs, or you do work while casually listening, the music serves some sort of purpose, or you wouldn't listen to it. As human beings, we are naturally affected by music in one way or another. Maybe you like the way it makes you feel, or perhaps a song brings back memories of a past experience you may have had. Maybe you just use music as a method to escape from your present thoughts or feelings. We tend to have a need to connect with things that we believe make us look good (clothes, cars, jewelry), and feel good - food, friends, exercise, and of course, music.
SOUL - containing emotional or expressive intensity.
The soul is something we can't see, yet we know it exists. Souls connect with each other. Our souls direct and guide us to other souls. Like magnets or batteries with positive and negative poles, our souls can be attracted to or repelled from people and things that we cross along our paths of life. Similar to humans, the soul of music can direct, guide, attract or repel. You probably wouldn't be reading this book right now if your soul didn't feel some type of connection with what I'm talking about – music.
How many times have you heard a song that you really didn't like, but it stayed in your head for much longer than you wanted? Have you ever found yourself singing, humming or whistling the same song, without even realizing what you were doing? As strange as this may seem, there's a good reason for the occurrence. It may not be easily explainable, but there's a good reason for that phenomena, as sure as the phenomena exists that allows people to become hypnotized. There is an intentional extent of interaction being performed which affects the mind, body, and soul.
Something is in the molecular makeup of music - the very essence of which is the single note, pitch or tone, which seems to contain an elemental ability to blend with the very cells of our body. In its quest to mesh with the soul or inner being, music travels or vibrates through the atmosphere like an entity, into our ears and through our eardrums, which then convert the different pulsations, frequencies, textures and amplitudes into electrical signals that are transmitted to our mind, goes through our body… and massages our soul.
Music, vibrations and electrical impulses are synonymous with each other in that they all work together to make the realm of sound come alive inside each one of us. Music reaches us in this way as well as in a purely intellectual or emotional way. Music has proven itself to have psychological, spiritual, biochemical, and other important qualities that make it unique and special to us. While we will not explore the virtues of all of these more obvious secondary by-products of music, we WILL take a good look at music itself, and perhaps for the first time in your life, a little light will go off in your head as you read and digest the chapters of this book.
In order for you to get the most out of this book, I will briefly explain the overall concept of each chapter so that you will be able to go from one segment to the next already aware of what to expect.
L.A. Jackson
L.A Jackson FOREWORD & Chapter 1
Within the covers of this remarkable book resides one of the most complete and thorough exposés covering the history of music. L.A. Jackson’s Musicology series is a concise compilation tracing the roots of music from its Biblical start to the present day – it is a revelation of true, technological manifestation. Musicology doesn’t just recite the information read and re-read from many previously published sources; it extrapolates from those sources and presents them in a context that is simply unique and refreshing! More importantly, L.A. presents little known facts and information that will surprise and amaze the reader – and if it happened to me, I imagine it could happen to almost anyone else that reads this book.
As an attorney practicing in the recording, music publishing and entertainment industry for nearly thirty years and former president of Qwest Entertainment Group, comprising Quincy Jones Productions, Qwest Records, Qwest Music Group and Qwest Film and Television, I have read numerous publications and periodicals regarding the music and record industries. It appears to me that L.A. has taken great pains to research historical events of the most important developments occurring within the music industry.
Musicology can be looked upon as a high-quality quick-start guide that will catapult the reader right into the fast lane of the music industry. I trust that each and every one of you will take from this experience a deeper and greater knowledge and understanding of the music industry, as well as its impact upon not only American society, but on the world as a whole.
Donald K. Wilson, Esquire
IN THE BEGINNING
From the East…
“In music and life, as in navigating across land, sea or air, one cannot truly be enlightened and successfully arrive at a destination—without a firm knowledge of where one’s journey originated.”
M y Own Ancient Proverb
Accompany me on a mystical voyage to see how music can affect our minds, bodies and souls in very diverse ways. Mankind inherited and began improving upon the “sound of life” thousands of years ago. Many series of events point to a fundamental relationship that grew from simple modes of expression, to sometimes very complex sonic art forms. But what do we really know about this important element that has worked itself into the lives of so many people around the world? The voyage we are about to embark upon will shine some light to help solve this mystery.
Music, more specifically rhythm created by striking objects such as sticks, stones and tree parts in time, originated as a means for man to celebrate, praise and worship God through communion (unity). In order for ancient man to worship his God, gods or leaders, he first used his voice to chant spiritual phrases. Later, man found out his words could be accentuated through rhythm by using percussive devices and other musical instruments. Remember, while rhythm is a critical facet of music, music is more than just rhythm. The upcoming pages will reveal more granular components of music to you, as well as show how mankind has used it for what I’d call, internal and external therapuetics.
My co-author Tony “ATWiLL” Williams and I utilized three key sources for this particular chapter: The Holy Bible, The Music of Black Americans, by Eileen Southern; and The Rebirth of Music, by Lamar Boschman. During this research, we uncovered some interesting facts. The following is a summary of our findings, opinions and personal experiences.
Early percussion instruments were struck, rubbed or scraped in order and in unison to signal the members of certain groups. This became an effective means of communication used to strengthen a group’s social progress. Much of man’s early association with music is chronicled in one of the oldest and most widely recognized pieces of literature—The Holy Bible. It is a universally viable source that was used for reference in this part of Chapter One. Please note there are other histories that pre-date certain Biblical occurrences by several millennia—proof has been excavated in Egypt, India, Mesopotamia and other places that ancient civilizations existed before the Bible. Artifacts and documentation of primeval cultures such as the Celts and Etruscans offer many informative stories of man’s connection to music. For starters, let’s take a look at The Bible for clues to help solve our “historic mystery of music.”
The Bible has two parts: the Old Testament is a history of the Hebrews, and the New Testament is the fulfillment of the prophecies from the Old Testament upon the arrival of Christ. All of this occurred explicitly to help man redeem himself and save his soul. My overall perspective is that The Bible was written with man’s soul in mind, so it’s only fitting that our excursion takes off from there. Disclaimer: The chronicles you are about to lay your eyes upon may seem familiar, but I don’t believe you’ve ever read them this way before.
Over the next several pages my co-author and I will share some of our findings and personal beliefs about the relevance of music, mankind, and Godliness. As you read on, you will see the evolution of music unfold as it moves through Africa, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and finally, the Americas. You are cordially invited to join us as we journey through history to find out what makes this phenomenon known as music so important to people from every corner of the globe.
As your self-appointed tour guides, we urge you to take in the information contained here with your eyes. Let it wander around in your mind as you relax your body, and your soul will carry you across this adventure through people, places and time. I’m sure you’ve never been on a ride like this, and I hope it’s one that you won’t soon forget. We are now preparing to “roll tide” into the great and powerful, yet mysterious world of music. That being said, let’s get it started!
PREHISTORIC MUSIC
Metal added to human fascination with percussion instruments as people noticed that various sounds were generated, by striking different objects together. New metallic sounds brought a unique vibrancy to the world of percussion-based composition and performance. Early man also learned to utilize various lengths and types of strings to make effervescent acoustic sounds by plucking, strumming and rubbing them. Strings were made from narrow strips of palm tree leaves, cow and horse hair, as well as treated animal intestine. Further experimentation with instruments made of wood and brass led to newer sounds. Now viewed as a primal protocol, this technology got much better after man discovered that natural resources such as air, water, oil, rubber, copper and iron were extremely useful for creating musical instruments. Now, with or without his voice, mankind continued to improve upon the quality of his music.
Around the same time man was developing his spoken sounds or words, he was also learning to create musical sounds. Mankind’s oldest and most used instrument is the human voice. On the contrary, the discovery to not use the voice presented theories that sound could be measured (metered). Metered music could be written on paper and shared with others, in addition to being performed and enjoyed as it moves through time. Now mankind was not reliant upon only a lyricist in order to enjoy the performance of music. Music notation gave composers the ability to document their acoustic experiments on paper for future compositional refinement and/or live performance. A deeper look into music notation will be found in a future book from our “Musicology” series.
MUSIC IN THE BIBLE
Mentions of musical instruments date far back in time. Examples can be found in the Book of Genesis. This chronicle traces the lineage of music to Jubal, who played the flute and harp. Now I don’t know how good this guy was, but he is said to be the ancestor of all musicians. Jubal was the son of a couple named Lamech and Adah. Lamech was a sixth generation son of Cain (who killed his brother Abel). And it’s no secret that Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve, God’s first human creations. Lamech’s other wife Zillah gave birth to Tubal Cain, a metal smith who specialized in bronze and iron, two metals commonly used to construct instruments in those days. You can find the above information scribed in Genesis 4:17 – 4:22.
In the aftermath of Abel’s death, Adam and Eve had a third son named Seth. Some time later Seth bore a son named Enosh, and “man began using the Lord’s Holy name in worship.” (Genesis 4:25- 4:26) As you can see from this briefing, people have been influenced by music and its elements since the beginning of mankind’s unfolding story. The first four chapters of Genesis chronicle these activities, just a few pages into the Book of Life’s story. Let’s dig a little further.
The Bible mentions three archangels or celestial beings that possess great authority in Heaven:
Michael, a warrior and protector, who was responsible for leading God’s battles; Gabriel, a messenger that often made appearances on Earth to deliver God’s Word and then, there was . . . Lucifer, whose name means “light-bearer” or “day star.” Lucifer was the angels’ master musician and choir director. Lucifer was not only a musician; he was also an instrument. What made him spectacular was that God incorporated into his torso strings, pipes and tambourines that enabled him to produce the entire spectrum of sound known to man at that time. His duties included using music to lead the angels in praising God. Any other use of music was a violation of God’s will. Lucifer felt differently because he believed that he too, should be worshipped for his one-of-a-kind ability. After all, he held an illustrious position in Heaven next to God! But, it’s not within God’s will to submit to any form of insubordination, so he cast Lucifer out of Heaven and down to Earth. Books like The Rebirth of Music by Lamar Boschman list many instances of the often-turbulent relationship between God and his nemesis.
Somehow, Lucifer managed to persuade a third of Heaven’s angels to depart with him, and worship him as a god. Although Murphy’s Law wasn’t around yet, it was imminent as Lucifer and his demons fell into the physical dimension of planet Earth. When Lucifer was cast down to Earth, music became worldly. Music would now appeal to man’s lower nature in lieu of being used exclusively to worship God. Since Lucifer was allowed to keep some of his powers, he was able to obtain much of the worship that he so desired. God’s banishment labeled him as the “Prince of Darkness” on Earth, from which he adopted surnames and characterizations such as “Satan” and “the serpent” to mask his infinite faces of mischief. Lucifer started using his newfound abilities for trickery, such as when he convinced Eve to bite the infamous apple (Genesis 3:1 – 3:6), and influenced Cain to kill his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8). To me, these sagas are ironic because Adam and Eve were the first two people, and Cain and Abel were the first two brothers on Earth. This illustrates to me that tragedy has followed humanity since the early days of man’s inception.
The Lamar Boschman book mentions an old Arab legend that claimed the first human song ever written, was one of grief with regard to Abel’s unexpected murder. God’s banishment of Lucifer did not disrupt music’s holistic value, but music assumed a new dimension; it was no longer as holy as God had ordained it to be. Lucifer did not design God’s ultimate plan, but he could mimic it through deception and musical prowess to reinforce his evil deeds. While music is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible, Hell is mentioned roughly one-tenth as often as music. To me, this indicates the Bible has a much greater emphasis on God, man and music than on Hell.
The first century church sang “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thanksgiving in their hearts” (Colossians 3:16). Paul urged Christians to “sing and make melody with their hearts to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19) and to “sing with the spirit and to sing with the mind also.” The Bible emphasizes that music is as vital as all other Heavenly ministries. Evidence of this is witnessed in more than 200 scriptures that make reference to song and dance with instruments like cymbals, flutes, harps, trigons, viols and zithers.
In 1 Chronicles 25:6-7, mention was made of 288 highly trained musicians who played music in the Lord’s temple. There was even a structured environment in place to keep what I’d call “musical order” during ceremonies (1 Chronicles 16:42). God commanded music to be one with life and worship, and even today music is a prime component of most church services. You can find much of this information in The Rebirth of Music by Lamar Boschman, and in the Bible at 1 Chronicles 25:6 and in 2 Chronicles 7:6. Additionally, further examples can be found in chapters from 33:3 to 149:1 in The Book of Psalms, which is devoted to songs of praise and worship.
Biblical accounts state that praising God through music prepares worshippers to receive God’s
blessings. The Bible regards songs, musicians and instruments as tools that communicate God’s Word to human beings (2 Chronicles 5:13, 7:6, 29:26). I would deduce from these writings that God obviously loves music! The Creator appointed one of his subjects (Lucifer) to administer music until he messed up and got relieved of his heavenly duties. Needless to say, he was evicted from his penthouse in the clouds to an unventilated basement in the sweltering core of the earth. Many of us believe that the delicate balance of the ideological forces of good and evil somehow controls the world. I visualize these forces meeting at the crossroad between God’s non-secular sounds and Satan’s secular influences. Everything else surrounding the intersection of these two realms is what I call “the absolute sound of life.”
The way I see it, history is the documentation of man’s past, and music is an entity that all races and creeds have in common, both individually and collectively. Compositional harmony (music) centers on the unity of musical events or notes over time, while human harmony (peace and spirituality) centers on the unity of people over time. Although history has shown harmony as well as discordance among the world’s people, music is a force that more often than not, brings people together. Bob Marley is a musical hero of mine who lived and died standing on this concept; he clearly demonstrates this somewhat radical thought pattern to me. I will re-cap some memorable instances of music being used to unite cultures in the pages ahead.
Even in war, music had its uses after man learned how certain sounds could activate certain emotions. For instance, during battles, many musicians often accompanied their armies to motivate and inspire them to victory. If you read 2 Chronicles 20 in The Bible, it illustrates how Jehosaphat led the people to victory—without them ever raising a hand! Before they went to battle their enemy, Jehosaphat gathered the people to pray. God then directed Jehosaphat to appoint singers for vocalizing praises to Him. The singers preceded the soldiers and as they sang, the opposing army crumbled, turning on each other in attack mode, until no one was left alive—not even the enemy’s women and children survived its self-inflicted onslaught. Another good illustration is in the book of Joshua (Joshua 6:1-6:6), where God told Joshua to march with his army around the city of Jericho once a day for six days. On the seventh day, seven priests with trumpets made of ram’s horns were to sound off and march around the city seven times. After the priests sounded their trumpets, Joshua commanded the crowd to shout aloud, which caused the city walls to vibrate, crumble, and fall. The plan concluded when the army stormed into the city, overthrew the hierarchy, proclaimed victory, and gave all praises to the Lord. And somewhere in the midst of all this, music was right there being performed by singers and musicians.
To ensure that you have a safe, pleasurable and fun-filled voyage in “the land of God, man and music,” we’ll pull this gas-guzzling time machine over at the next “visitor’s center” for snacks and a biological break: you do you and handle your business. When our voyage resumes, we’ll take a look at a few more remarkable incidents in the Good Book.
OPERATION “MUSICAL JOURNEY” RESUMES
As we prepare to coast through the following story, you are free to loosen your restraining belt a tad, but please keep your seat in an upright and locked position (we’re international time-travelers), as we maintain our cruising speed. Now without further ado, let us look at our last couple of pieces of Biblical data before we move on to other historical eras of humankind.
As notated in the first book of Chronicles, King David was considered a great man. He ordered the transportation of the mysterious covenant box or “Ark of the Covenant” from Kiriath Jearim (in Judah), to Jerusalem. During the move and affixed celebration it is noted that, “David and the people sang, danced and played music, all in the name of God” (1 Chronicles 13:8). Representatives from each family of musical instrument were present: cymbals and drums (percussion), harps and lyres (string), flutes, horns and trumpets (wind). Groups of musical instruments such as brass cymbals, high and low-pitched harps, horns and trumpets were on hand for the occasion. At a point during the travel, King David commanded his Levite entertainers to “sing and play joyful music on harps and cymbals” (1 Chronicles 15:16). The celebration lasted for the entirety of the journey to Jerusalem. After the covenant box arrived at its destination, sacrifices were made and gifts were offered, all in the name of God. As David blessed the people in God’s presence, they surrounded the covenant box and feasted. During the ceremony, he ordered that praises to God be sung along with the playing of the various aforementioned musical instruments. For further proof see 1 Chronicles 6:31, 15:29 and Psalms 47, 68, and 98.
King David invented many musical instruments (1 Chronicles 23:5) that helped to establish a strong development of music and the arts. This further advanced the proficiency levels of singers, choirs, orchestral music, prophetic music, and scribes. The King even had his musicians decked out in the same fine linens that he himself wore. This was a sign of the status musicians attained in the royal hierarchy.
The saga of Judah as documented in the Second Book of Chronicles describes how three armies were defeated after the Holy Spirit entered a musician who was a fifth generation son of King David’s chief musician. Through him, the people were told not to worry, for they wouldn’t have to fight: it was God’s battle. The morning of the battle, musicians preceded the soldiers accompanied by singing sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. When the singers began praising the Lord, the opposing forces heard them before they saw Judah and his army, then God unleashed his power, causing mass confusion: the three armies supposedly turned on each other. By the time Judah arrived, corpses were scattered across the land. In the end, they had access to more supplies than they could carry back to the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 20:21-28).
In the Temple lived the heads of some privileged Levite families who were solely responsible for the music. They were required to be available at anytime there were special events, be it day or night—I wonder if they had cappuccinos, espressos and triple lattes back then. Hey, Howard Schultz (Starbucks chairman), what’s the survey say? Our survey says there are more than enough Biblical examples to easily saturate this chapter, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a couple other important musical contributions that were made by our Earthly ancestors earlier in time. We’ll peek around the bend at some of Europe’s musical eras, and then dive right into the unique music from the continent of Africa, a land that is often perceived as a “Third World.”
Let’s switch gears momentarily while ATWiLL poses a scenario to you readers. If the term Third World is often applied to countries in the continent of Africa, then what is a First or Second World, and why are nations rarely referred to by those terms? I am perplexed by how some people think of Africa as a Third World when so much of our world’s history, natural resources and treasures have been taken from this land. Africa has struggled to overcome its own share of challenges. We’ll talk about them shortly, so plug in your “cranial-modem” and contemplate this “Third World” topic for a while. Feel free to use it in future discussions of global affairs.
Much of today’s history is based primarily on European documentation. Lots of it! In fact, Europeans have been traveling to most parts of the globe since what I call the science of recording history began. They made astronomical contributions to mankind by being amongst the first to develop instruments from alloys such as bronze and steel. Much later, they also developed manufacturing through the use of machines and machine-made tools. European culture sought to achieve the highest standards of life. Intellectuality was at the forefront of European evolution as we’ll soon see, when we visit places like Greece, Rome, Spain and Portugal. Trade, politics, sports and creative arts like painting, music and literature took precedence over laws, although a great body of law was developed in European countries. Since there is an abundance of information out about European culture, we’re going to take a detour and bypass most of it. L.A. will instead breeze through a few key points of interest (courtesy of the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art). After that, we’ll take a quick look at early music from the region in and around Spain. We will then keep things moving, right on into the continent of Africa.
I’d like to thank ATWiLL for that interesting bit of historical information. We can look forward to hearing more from our all-encompassing guru of history, as he presents many interesting points throughout this and other parts of our book. Allow me to mention here that this book was written by, “long-time” appreciators of music. It was also created for the benefit of both old and new music fans that want to know more about how music came to be, and what genres are still popular today. The Musicology series doesn’t have to be considered an assemblage of intellectual works, but we believe it is good enough to supplement any academic program.
Scattered throughout this book are bits and pieces of data that’s been gathered from informational sources like www.wikipedia.org. Please note that websites including Wikipedia were used for some historical data and information about the Spotlight Artists we’ve highlighted throughout this book. According to their site, “Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based, free-content encyclopedia project based mostly on anonymous contributions. The name “Wikipedia” is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative Web site) and encyclopedia. Wikipedia’s articles provide links that guide the user to related pages with additional information. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by an international (and mostly anonymous) group of volunteers. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles.” In other words, Wikipedia may not be one hundred percent accurate, but it supplied us with good information. In turn, we used this data to present a fair picture of the topic(s) being discussed. In addition, no attempt is being made to take credit for what others may have written about specific topics covered in this book.
The focus here was centered more on unifying the explanations behind two main topics: interesting, historical subject matter and our Spotlight Artists. We wove it all into a story that pieces together man’s longtime association with music. We would like to acknowledge and thank the many unnamed writers and music lovers who have made contributions to the material found in Wikipedia and other sites. They have therefore made helpful contributions to this book in doing so, and for that we are extremely grateful. As we prepare to look at Greek and Roman music then move forward in our adventure, we hope that you remember that this book is a result of the contributions of many people, from just as many different places around the globe.
Now, if you closely analyze Greek and Roman references to instruments, the significance of their musical contributions to the human race will be revealed. For example, in Greek mythology when the god Hermes was young, he supposedly created the lyre from a large tortoise shell (khelus) that he covered using animal hide with antelope horns. Another story talks about the god Apollo, who was recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, the arts, etc. Apollo has been depicted in several illustrations playing the lyre. Additionally, as quoted from wikipedia, “Lyres were associated with Apollonian virtues of moderation and equilibrium, contrasting with the Dionysian pipes and aulos, both of which represented ecstasy and celebration.”
Greeks often featured live music at religious festivals, marriage, funerals, and generally at celebrations that involved food and beverages. Historians have found evidence of musical scores, literary references and instruments, so the fact is: music served various social functions for Greek society and also provided aesthetic rewards to those who tuned in. Researchers also found inscriptions that showed compiled economic data which included finance and contest information … they even erected monuments to honor their favorite musicians. Greek society was also designed to accommodate the physical components in music. For example, during the second half of the fifth century B.C., the Athenians built the Odeion of Perikles (a roofed concert hall similar to an amphitheatre). These ancient structures are significant because they offer irrefutable evidence of how important music was to Greek and other civilizations.
To follow up on the previous paragraph, here’s more delectable ancient music info to munch on. References to musical instruments can be found in various archaeological contexts and drawings of musical events. Extravagant artwork has been discovered on items such as rare vases and sculptures. The popular instruments of the time (and how they were played) were clearly captured. Although they had numerous instruments, three were very popular: the lyre (mentioned above) is possibly the most recognizable string instrument depicted by ancient artists—it was similar to a small, portable harp. The kithara was a plucked string instrument. From the wind family came the double-reeded aulos.
Musicians were as respected as other intellectuals, and many Greek men studied to be competent musicians, or capable singers and performers in choral dances. Various forms of music took place in the daily lives of Greek society … from domestic life to shepherds, from oarsmen to army infantry; music was everywhere people were. To lock down how important music was to the Greeks, their philosophers made a direct connection between music and mathematics: they theorized the two as a “paradigm of harmonious order reflecting the cosmos and the human soul.” A modern day illustration can also be made through the internationally recognized film star Steven Seagal, who was quoted from a show on the Arts & Entertainment channel stating, “Music is the language of the Gods.”
Steven Seagal made 20 movies grossing about $2 billion. From what can be observed on his website, he is an avid Buddhist, Zen teacher and healer. He lives by principles that foster the development of one’s physical self; to him this is essential to protecting the spirit. Steven believes what he does in his life is about leading people into contemplation for the purpose of waking up and enlightening mankind. You may not know, but around the mid-2000’s Seagal quietly released a pair of CDs. They featured a wide range of musical styles like Blues, Pop, Jazz and even Reggae. The first one is called “Songs from the Crystal Cave” featuring a harmonica solo from music legend Stevie Wonder; it was followed by a Blues release called “Mojo Priest” that was inspired by such musicians as Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, James Cotton, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Robert Lockwood Jr., Willie “Pine Top” Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Ko Ko Taylor and Muddy Waters.
Much like the orthodox religions, or Greek and Roman civilizations of the past, Seagal lives by his own particular ideologies, which consist of Asian philosophies and religious beliefs. With his huge legion of followers around the globe, I think we can deduce there’s a real good reason why many of his films and music videos feature footage shot in places as diverse as the Orient, Greece and Rome. Well that’s the run-down on Greek music and Steven Seagal—now let’s see what the historians from the information repository had to say about Ancient Rome’s music.
When compared to Greeks, the Romans’ innovations, output and general contributions to music history are minimal, but they did document their daily usages of music. Since the Romans emulated much of Greek culture, we can conclude that the music they performed was mostly single notes at a time (monophonic), with very little harmony. Instruments like tubas were used by the military to send signals long distances. Romans used music in celebrations, funerals and gatherings for groups as small as a few, or as big as gladiator-sized events attended by huge crowds. Reportedly, these events often attracted notable musicians such as trumpeters and pipers, to entertain the locals.
An unsubstantiated reason why much Roman music does not exist is: the early founders of the Christian church suppressed the Roman people’s original pagan religion and music. Before the Romans adopted Christianity, non-Greek influences from the Etruscans, Middle East and Africa had already presented themselves to Roman culture. In my summation, I believe the Romans cultivated music as a sign of higher education. It’s a good thing they didn’t have to contend with today’s fluctuating gas prices to go back and forth to school, but then again, they didn’t have access to the Internet either. Anyway, one reason my co-author and I decided to create this book was because so many educational institutions are eliminating their music, art and athletic programs. If you or someone you know has been affected by this alarming negative trend, we hope this book will help fill the void on a positive platform.
We will now continue with ATWiLL’s briefing on the business of music history. The Gothic era existed during the Middle-Ages or Medieval times, around A.D.1150 to A.D. 1400, on the European front. Goths co-existed with the Romans, while other cultures such as the Bastarnae, Burgundians, Carpi, Gepids and Vandals also offered various influences to the music of this era. This period’s cultures had very intricate uses for musical instruments. Much like the Romans, Goths and various religious factions were also suppressed and ultimately absorbed into the Christian empire. If you search the ancient history sections in most bookstores or libraries, you’ll find out that much of the Goth’s music was written with the intent of future generations learning it. Here’s a rough perspective of our music timeline:
MUSIC TIMELINE
Medieval-Gothic (1150 - 1400)
Renaissance (1400 - 1600)
Baroque (1600 - 1750)
Classical (1750 - 1830)
Early Romantic (1830 - 1860)
Late Romantic (1860 - 1920)
Post “Great War” Years (1920 - 1999)
New Millennium Era (2000 – Present)
While we can’t physically go back in time, any good Biblical, Greek, Roman or Gothic movie could give you a general, though clichéd, idea of the music that these civilizations created. Even if the historic accuracy of some motion pictures needs tweaking, the featured music in a film may be as close to the real thing as we can get. Of course if you like to read, feel free to peruse some of the places that we dug up some of this information from, like the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and at www.wikipedia.org.
The topics we’ve discussed up to this point laid the foundation for powerful empires that followed. Several European countries grew into sophisticated societies that used music, entertainment and assets to unify and divide both themselves and people of the world. European nations that led the way into the new classical age include England, France, Spain and Portugal. Other European countries were players during this transitional period as well; L.A. and I believe Spain and Portugal were among the more influential ones, thus we’ve decided to shine the spotlight their way. With that being said, we are about to depart for a region which has blanketed the world with its language, romance, and musico caliente. L.A. Jackson will now take us to what I refer to as “the bridge to España.”
Let’s follow ATWiLL’s lead, as we prepare for an in-depth look at what I like to call Southern European music by exploring the music of our Spotlight Country, Spain. If there’s some extra time, we may even visit a close neighbor called Portugal. The Captain has flipped on the “fasten seatbelts” sign, so we’d better buckle up for another cruise through people and places in this time-traveling mod rod that’s been so graciously donated to us by the United Federation of Musicology! (A brief moment of humor—that was supposed to be funny.)
Get ready to make some new space in your brain for more interesting information that will be presented to you. Right now, the Captain says it’s time for the cranial transmittal process to be executed, so we’ll channelize the coordination of our intellectually superior mental frequencies and head east; they call it “starboard” in navigation terms. Buckle up boys and girls, we’re off to Spain!
MUSIC FROM SPAIN
Because I have a few strands of hair on my chest and consider myself somewhat macho, the first line I think of when I hear the name “Spain” is bullfighting (Olé!) The second thing I think about is the unique sound of the Spanish guitar. Another item that comes to mind is a line I heard in a TV show somewhere: “The rain in Spain lies mainly on the plain.” Now I can’t confirm how often it rains in Spain or where, but I do remember the chorus from an American song, “It never rains in California, but girls don’t they warn ya.” High-caliber music mogul Clarence Avant branded all of his Tabu Records music releases with William Shakespeare’s line “The Earth has music for those who listen.” Another favorite comes from my 5th grade teacher and global educator Bernard Percy, who found one that said “Everything turns out right in the end – if it isn’t right, it isn’t the end!” You see, there’s always a special line that can be used not only in music and world travel, they can be used in all aspects of life’s many adventures . . .
Speaking of world travel, our psycho-flight was fast because we’ve just about made it to our destination! Due to a slight bit of neuro-cosmic turbulence, re-entry was a little bumpy but if you glance up, you’ll notice that the “fasten seatbelts” sign has been turned off. Looking portside (to the left), that big piece of real estate we’re approaching is called Spain. It’s got plenty of regions and music styles to explore, so we’re going to land this beast and survey our new surroundings. There will be further examples of Spains relationship with places like Brazil, the Caribbean and Mexico in upcoming sections, so Spain’s early influences will briefly be discussed here.
EARLY HISTORY
Throughout history, Africa, Europe, India, China and other countries in the Middle to Far East have influenced dozens of music styles found around the world. To maintain their uniqueness, these countries were not easily induced to change by music from outside their borders. Many forms of percussive-based music came from Africa, while Europe is most recognized for Classsical music. To add, countries in the Middle and Far East have traditionally been known for complex, micro-tonal music.
Spain is one of few places in our world that has been influenced by music from countries such as Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. It has also made significant contributions to the world of Latin-American music by influencing singers and musicians as far away as Brazil, the Caribbean and Mexico. And let’s not forget that Spain financed the voyages of one Christopher Columbus, who supposedly “found” and then re-named the Americas, although the Indians of the time would fail to acknowledge that any of these lands were actually “lost.” Taking a more granular look at Spain, it’s important to note that many countries influence music in other regions or are influenced by music from other regions; unlike many countries however, Spain is among those which possess both qualities!
Medieval Spain was made up of small kingdoms that often competed against each other for positions of power and recognition across the country. After Spain’s modern borders were established around the late 1400s, the reigning Queen Isabella had high hopes for the future of her realm and sanctioned a unified songbook to be created. Yet, many regions retained their own identity not only through music, but also through the language they spoke. Examples of sometimes wide differences can be found between the music styles of two popular Spanish cities, Barcelona and Madrid. On the other hand, certain music styles had influences that came from more distant places, such as France and Ireland.
According to data found at places like www.wikipedia.org and www.folkworld.de, almost half a dozen very different cultures converged in Spain during the first few centuries of the Christian era. Both Christianity and Judaism, with their associated music and rituals, flourished in and around the country. There were also migrating Jews and Arabs, which were also known as Moors. The Moors co-existed with people from other religions during their seven hundred years of influence, and popular Spanish songs of the time were related to Moorish music. Christians that lived under Muslim rule were called Mozarabs. They expressed themselves spiritually by incorporating parts of Moorish and Arab music into their worship services.
A form of Spanish liturgical (ceremonial) music that evolved from the above-mentioned Mozarabs is called Mozarabic Chant. This was a monophonic (one note at a time) and acappella (vocal only) chant based on various Arabic modal scales. Mozarabic Chant was developed mostly in isolation, so it was not subject to the enforced codification of Gregorian chant under Roman rule, or to protocols established by the medieval church system. Eventually, Mozarabic Chant was banned by Pope Gregory VII in the 11th century. Christians also had their own version of the Roman rite because the Roman culture had already been dominant for a period of several hundred years. At the time of the Christian Reconquista, competing forms of music were almost totally wiped out. In a vivid display of power, Rome took merciless control over the Christians of the Iberian Peninsula and the Roman rite was imposed upon them. As the dust settled, the sacred music of local residents was ordered to be banned or destroyed.
Romans brought the music and ideas of Ancient Greece to Spain with them. The Spanish-born theologian Isidore of Seville was a sixth century writer with Greek influences. He was hailed as an original thinker and his works include notating information about early Christian church music. He also became well-known for declaring that “it was not possible to notate sounds.” Isidore’s assertion revealed that he may have lacked adequate knowledge of Greece’s notational system—information about the system was probably extinct by the time he began his writings. Like Ancient Rome, the Catholic church also had a strong influence over Spain, while other Spanish cultures included an East Germanic tribe called the Visigoths. As early as the eighth century during what is called Visigothic neumes, music notation developed in Spain to notate the chants and sacred music of the Christian church. Because of widely dissimilar groups like these, Spain is comprised of an interesting mix of both secular and non-secular music styles. There will be further examples of its relationship with places like Brazil, the Caribbean and Mexico in upcoming sections, so only Spain’s early influences were discussed here.
The musical balance of Spain is sprinkled with ingredients from a variety of contributing factors, so understanding the exact metrics of Spain’s music history can get somewhat vague due to thousands of years in the making. Historical data varied—some was passed on through generations of families, while other documentation described a history that many could say was quite different. However, the result was a vast number of musical styles and traditions, some of which were considerably unlike what had developed in other parts of Europe; many of these styles and traditions are still in use today. Spain is one of those countries that uphold the traditions of yesterday, while staying abreast of today’s advantages in utilizing modern technology.
Okay! We’ve just received notification that our time machine’s time-management controller has been successful in calculating in some extra geo-spacial time-adjusting coefficients before we head to Africa, so the Captain is signaling for us to “cop a squat and buckle up.” The coordinates of our next stop, Portugal, have just been plotted out. Many talented composers and musicians from Portugal have their own share of contributions to take credit for, so let’s keep things moving as we take a look at what some of them are.
A CLOSE NEIGHBOR: THE MUSIC OF PORTUGAL
As a close neighbor and an independently governed nation, the country of Portugal cannot be overlooked simply because of its close proximity to Spain. Although Spain and Portugal each have strong European influences, these two countries have also contributed significantly to countries in other hemispheres, like Mexico and South America. As an example, Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro reflects a direct connection to Portuguese music. Now, take in a few quick snapshots as we survey Portugal to see what kind of musical offerings this special land has in store for us.
Like in Spain, Romans made a significant impact upon Portugal as they trekked across their vast empire through the Iberian Peninsula, blending their music with popular Spanish, Portuguese and other European styles. Even today, a wide variety of genres from Classical to Popular music are supported by composers, musicians, dancers and listeners. Portuguese communities have also been observed cultivating their heritage in various regions of the world, like in the U.S. Similar to their American neighbors, Portuguese-Americans and their culture which includes good food and valued traditional music, continue expanding across the country. As a result, we can expect to run across tasty dishes and hear new adaptations of Portuguese-American music developing into the years ahead.
Getting personal for just a moment, my first taste of Portuguese “blends” happened upon hearing a song in the early 80s. It was by an artist that ironically, I ended up promoting. This song was recorded by my favorite “blue-eyed soul” sister, who goes by the name of Teena Marie or Lady Tee, as I sometimes call her. Teena Marie has the gift of taking good songs and turning them into great ones. With highly polished music production, the song Portuguese Love opened up as delicately as a dew-misted flower greeting the rising, early morning sun. The innocently soft, fragile sound of the guitar set the tone and blended perfectly with the silky smooth voice of Ms. Marie. This song was featured on her classic Irons In The Fire album of the early 80s, while an earlier effort during the 70s yielded the hit, Behind The Groove.
One other point: Teena Marie was produced by one of the music icons of my youth, “Slick” Rick James, also known as the King of Punk Funk. Portuguese Love allows a beautiful love story to unfold as the guitar sound tugs at the heart, mind and soul of all who comes within its sonic proximity. This song delivers the essence of what I thought Portuguese music was about, and I was blessed to have personally marketed and promoted a healthy dose of Teena Marie’s singles and albums. All I can say in summation is: this writer recommends taking a good listen to Portuguese Love (along with other great songs by Teena Marie), if you haven’t done so already.
Looking back, Portugal has been globally recognized for its long association with Fado music. This country has also expanded the accommodation of other styles like Portuguese Rock, Pop, Punk, Pimba, Metal and Hip-Hop, but regional Folk music is still very popular, too. Over the years this genre has been updated and modernized, particularly in places like Trás-os-Montes, which is located in Portugal’s northeastern sector. Portugal’s musical history extends from medieval Gregorian chants and symphonic compositions, to emotionally-filled creations of today’s modern composers. If we were to hypothetically cram the music of Portugal into a bottle and closely look at it, we’d see music represented by the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern ages. Please be sure to read up on popular styles from Portugal like Classical, Fado, Folk, and places like Trás-os-Montes on your own or with a group of friends, because there is so much more interesting information available out there!
While a significant amount of effort was made to inform you about places like Spain and Portugal, please note that we have merely scratched the surface of what makes up the musical history of these countries. We encourage you to exercise your might and tap into your “superior intellect” so you can make additional historical as well as musical discoveries. On that note, let’s utilize our “S.I.” capsule to travel to a place that has a name beginning and ending with the same letter: A. Coming up next is another “A” called ATWiLL. He’s our in-house, historical guru who will execute the controls and guide us through the brush!
MUSIC IN AFRICAMuch of the information in this section stems from insight obtained doing plenty of research. Besides my efforts, the immense task to present an unbiased view of music history was performed by my good friend and co-author Tony “ATWiLL” Williams. While we both conducted research and inserted our personal beliefs into this book, ATWiLL supplied credible references like The Music of Black Americans by Harvard University’s Professor Emerita of Music and Afro-American Studies, Eileen Southern, for historically factual support.
The Music of Black Americans supplies a plethora of African history for inquisitive readers. Please note, this is an in-depth 602-page book that embodies the music of African cultures before, during and after the Colonial era. It details how Black music transitioned through America’s colonial wars, the Antebellum Period, Civil War, emancipation, renaissance, evolution, revolution, and simply too much more to list here! I later discovered that the book made a rather unlikely appearance in the opening scenes of a movie that featured Wesley Snipes called Sugar Hill; nonetheless if you really want to get hit over the head with some true urban, suburban and rural music info, you’ll get the 411 from Ms. Southern’s book—ATWiLL and I sincerely hope that you read it! But for now, you’ve made a smart choice to start your reading here. We intend for the Musicology series to be utilized as “quick-start guides” that act as educational, historical or easy-to-read reference material while helping to prepare you for additional readings. And now as promised, ATWiLL will take the controls.
At this point, let’s rewind to the seventeenth through the eighteenth centuries, when European travelers visited foreign lands. They would often transcribe or make notes about the music they heard, for later analysis and further renditions. The British and other Europeans were frequent visitors to Africa even before they colonized parts of the continent. Their notes described the music, techniques, and instruments used by African musicians, often depicted through multitudes of symbolic writings and drawings. These notes were brought back to Europe to be shared with their curious countrymen.
HISTORICAL EVENTS
Like other continents, Africa has a long association with music, but the problem is that its nations lack the documented histories of countries like Spain and Portugal. Early African cultures utilized different objects to produce unique sounds, pitches and tones as their languages evolved. They made music and developed concepts around what they had created. As time passed on, they discovered they could create a wealth of innovative sounds by stretching materials like animal skin and thin, rubber-like membranes over hollowed-out pieces of trees to make drums and percussion instruments. Africans also crafted wind instruments, which produced sound by the player blowing air into or across a hollow stick or tube. Man learned that specific pitches could be controlled in a variety of ways. One way was by increasing the amount of holes in them. More finger holes opened up the ability to produce more tones.
By documenting the different sounds, Europeans recreated extravagant artistic renditions of music and instruments. Travelers regularly spoke of percussion as the most popular instruments used by African musicians. Visitors described the sounds of tribal instruments as physically and musically colorful. To experience a performance by African tribal groups must have been quite memorable, especially for those who never had the opportunity before. As the drummers intensified their beats, air pressure was forced through people’s bodies while colorful instruments of all sizes, types and sonic qualities moved in sync with the performers. In the background hovered the scent of exotic oils and other special treats that added a zesty flavor to the music mix. Dancers were well choreographed and mention was also made of the impact of certain groups of musicians, like drummers and horn ensembles. Please note that this description is the short version; many different types of musical groupings are mentioned in Eileen Southern’s book. You can find more information in The Music of Black Americans, should you truly “yearn to learn more” about this and other topics on the subject of African music.
Certain adjectives about African music that you may come across will depend upon where you get your information from, or whom you talk to. Some African music was comparable to fanfares with intense accents and high climaxes. For those who may not know, a fanfare is a short, lively piece of music that features horns, trumpets, and other brass instruments often accompanied by the timpani (kettle drum) or other percussion instruments. Fanfares were sometimes militaristic in style and associated with dancing, singing, and storytelling, which included stories of community life. During live performance, women and children entertainers often told stories of community and household life. Songs of war, hunting, farming and trade tended to pertain to men. Everyone played a part in the social and physical tribal activities.
One quick observation I’d like to point out quickly, ATWiLL, is that the amount and depth of information about the history of African music is very much unevenly yoked. No one can pinpoint exactly how long tribal music has existed because of a lack of significant historical documentation. That’s correct, L.A. What we do know is after countless Africans were exported to other continents via ships from the West-African coastline, much of their history was extirpated. It’s a heartrending point ATWiLL but fortunately, some intrigued Europeans recorded their experiences in Africa with notations and illustrative drawings of musical events for us to appreciate today. And it’s up to us to stay in the fast lane and “keep hope alive” by sharing information just like this! Well there’s no point in slowing down folks, so let’s get some more briefings from our resident guru of history, ATWiLL. He’ll man the controls as we maneuver through this particular time portal of the 17th Century.
Those were some great observations, L.A.—here’s some more info to roll around in the theatre of your mind: around 1620, foreigners began circulating reports of music’s purpose to African tribes. As in many cultures, music preceded the entrances and exits of high-ranking officials during ceremonies. This form of admiration is similar to the nationalism exhibited by America’s presidential tune “Hail to the Chief.” It flows down from the top is what I’ve always heard, so if the most important tribal leaders made musical composition and practical performances a significant part of their lives, I’d be inclined to say that the lower echelon members also embraced music. It’s truly unfortunate many tribes didn’t have adequate means to preserve their instruments, artifacts or symbolic drawings to fill the voids of Africa’s cloudy past before, during and after European intervention . . . and often biased accounts.
IT’S A TRIBAL AFFAIR
Many would agree that a lot of early Europeans had little or no sense of the social and cultural context with regard to how they described the African. Maybe this exotic society looked sort of primitive to Europeans, but in fact African music is not as primitive as one might think. Even today, some believe that European music in the classical tradition cannot match the complexities and sophistication of certain African rhythms.
Thank God that today’s nearly indestructible archives have saved some of Africa’s history since its early, indigenous civilizations had somewhat limited documentation. A sad part of this story is that other pre-modern Europeans may have had the means to record the African’s customs but didn’t because they probably thought it was unimportant. It’s still questionable as far as how much justice to African customs has been given by those who have written about it—this demonstrates to me how essential it is to preserve as much as possible of the remaining African traditions that exist. With regard to their legacies, there is no doubt that ancient empires have dutifully maintained their history by developing strong associations through varying forms of music. On the other hand, musical expression may be the only story left to tell by some Africans. In the 17th century, many of them educated themselves with methods like storytelling, ritualistic worship, and symbolic drawings. Most of this activity was altered as African tribes were conquered and divided—in preparation for one of humankind’s most tragic events.
As the practice of capturing and separating Africans became common, the traditions of many tribes were either diluted or completely eliminated. Ironically, the institution of slavery was horrible, but the European merchant actually introduced the world to the eccentricities of African music through the slave trade. The European’s “conquer-and-divide” mentality inadvertently spread Black music throughout Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Americas from their early African expeditions. Though many merchants were believed to be honest businessmen, just about any foreigner with a dim light upstairs, a little charisma, a crew and some money could have gone to Africa claiming to be a scientist, doctor, scholar or trader—but be a pirate. Some got away with it, and others did not. There was one thing for sure about this era: it didn’t matter if the visitors were merchants, scholars or even pirates because they all took note of the uniqueness of Africans—and their music. Those attracted to this music at a later date included Hugh Tracey, who during the 1920s constructed an entire library dedicated to African music.
On the flip side, African kings, chiefs, spiritual leaders, and shamans were often perceived to be crazed savages, but many exhibited a thorough knowledge of science, architecture, art, and musical instruments. Africa has somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 countries, and continues to comprise countless cultures with diverse beliefs, languages, and customs. The worldly contributions of early African empires are just as important as those of the Europeans, Incas, or Mayan empires which also contributed significantly to the history of arts and sciences through architecture, agriculture, music and other special gifts. Even today, the average tribal hierarchy of certain African regions still consists primarily of a male chief (some leaders were women), an entourage, a spiritual head or shaman, a music director, musicians and dancers—sometimes plenty of them!
Now that you have an idea of the cultural makeup of a traditional African tribe, L.A. Jackson’s going to flick the switch and dial up some new coordinates on the time portal control unit. You are invited to follow his discussion about how and why the global music community joined forces hundreds of years later to combat some of the issues that plagued our African brethren during the late twentieth century.
Thanks for that in-depth exposé on Africa, ATWiLL. I guess I’ll have to go on and get a payment in the mail to him sooner than later, due to the initiative taken in contributing that important data to this segment of our book! Now, let’s look ahead and buckle up, as we view the headlines scrolling across the MKM ENTERPRISE message board:
“CENTURIES LATER: Contemporary European and U.S. music makers attempt to assist Africa and other nations suffering from war and famine . . .”
Over a half-dozen projects including “We Are the World,” “Band Aid,” “Live for Life,” “Farm
Aid,” “One Less Tear—Brothers & Sisters United in the Fight Against Cancer,” “Live Aid,” and
“Sun City” made their appearance known. News spread as these projects circulated among the most publicized ventures that demonstrate the power music can yield when global efforts synergized for the good of mankind. After familiarizing you with the wide scope of some record industry humanitarian efforts, we’ll take an in-depth look at the delicate balance of power (thus life) in modern-day Africa.
From there, we’ll rip through information on Africa’s deep relationship with music. It’s all been compiled just for your perusal, so whad’ya have to lose? Take whatever you need, leave the rest, and we’ll keep it moving right along. There’s plenty of ground to cover, and “we’ve only just begun” (also the title of a popular song by The Carpenters). If you haven’t done so already, please buckle up and put on your helmet. The unmanned cruise control is now set, and your official tour guides have bills to pay. If too much “G-force” builds up, you may have to take the controls yourself. Good luck, and don’t forget to keep it moving!
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