music ethnography

Introduction:

The subject of this ethnography is the music culture of western classical music. In this case, it will be observed through a high school setting though this setting from the next does not differ greatly. The default thought in the minds of many people when they heard the words classical music is the western style of classical music. This music within the high school setting is what will be discussed.

Methodology:

Data collection was different. I have very close ties with this music culture so some of the information was found on a stroll down recent-memory and long-term memory lanes. Other things such as the technical portions like instruments and their usage have more concrete research to them since it would be more believable. Observation in the actual music culture was probably the most beneficial place to do research. Books and sources can only tell you an account of the author who might not understand all the aspects of that culture. Interviews and first-person observations were profitable in that they gave the closest account of the music culture possible without actually experiencing it. It was somewhat difficult to think of questions to ask since I was and still am part of the music culture. Sources include more concrete evidence on the instrumentation and history behind this music culture and interviews and some personal experience. The sources for the instrumentation is obviously used more since there isn't really much there, just the main instruments and their usage.

"Musical Instruments." NAXOS. NAXOS, 11 mar 2010. Web. 6 Mar 2010.

This source is used heavily simply because there isn't that much content in it. This is a basic outline of the instruments used in western classical music which is the same as those used in any setting whether professional or high school level (although at the professional level, they're usually of much higher quality).

"History of Classical Music." NAXOS. NAXOS, 11 mar 2010. Web. 6 Mar 2010.

This source is used only slightly to note the time line of the western classical music genre and to provide proof that the music played today are pieces written in older times.

Wong, Nicholas. Personal INTERVIEW. 6 March 2010.

This interview was used heavily to tell of the true experiences of someone within this music culture. Not everyone will experience this and so this is the closest to actually experiencing the music culture.

Liberty High School Full Orchestra. Concert Performance. 18 February 2010.

This performance observation is used as a guide to the performers, the setting, the audience, and the setup of the concert in general. This is where the performer is most himself, without restraints and most concentrated on his music so this source is used more heavily to note the attitude and person of the performer; a member of this music culture.

Keller, Alysson. Personal INTERVIEW. 5 March 2010.

This is my director. This source is an interview but also a collection of the many life lessons I was taught by her.

Aspects Of This Music Culture:

Ideas about music:

When asked what their idea of music was, some of the people within this music culture wouldn't know how to respond since they deem this to be obvious and needing no explanation. Explanations tend to vary from definitions of music such as the performer and the sheet music and not simply the black dot notation to having never thought about it since they decided to continue music in high school simply because they had learned an instrument and it would be a waste of time if they were to stop. Others are their due to their parents' influence and other still are their because they love the music that they make. Music to these latter people is the expression that those composers who compose the pieces they perform wanted to convey in composing what they did. Regardless of what a certain member of this music culture thinks of music, one thing in common among them is the never-ending search for perfection (Wong, Personal Interview). It is the perfect expression that is unique to each piece that is sought (Concert Performance). While all may have different reasons for doing so, this is something that all members within this music culture strive to achieve, whether on an individual level and/or on a larger level with the rest of the orchestra/band/ensemble.

Activities Involving Music:

Activities involving this music culture include rehearsal, individual practice, concert performance and competition performance (Wong, Personal Interview). Majority of the time is spent in rehearsal since that is the base on which performances for concerts and competitions stand on. If there is no rehearsal there is nothing. In a rehearsal is where all the problems and blemishes in the performance of the piece are found and attempt to be fixed. They say practice makes perfect but it doesn't. Only perfect practice makes perfect (Keller, Personal Interview). Individual practice is very important within this music culture as well because there is also individual competitions. Also, individual practice makes the rehearsal run better. Although, for some reason, no matter how much individual practice you do there is always a crazy long list of things to fix in rehearsal (Wong, Personal Interview). Of course, there is no reason to practice and rehearse if there is never a performance. So there is concert performances and, specialty of the high school setting, competition performances. Although during competitions, there isn't much music as “I need to get everything right” is probably on everyone's minds. It isn't so much as “activities involving music”, it's more like “music involving activities”: everything done has to do with music, meaning music is always at the center of everything done.

Repertoires Of Music:

The repertoires of this music culture are pieces of music written a long time ago. Very few pieces are written in the modern day that would be performed in a full orchestra. There are more modern pieces for the wind band but the full orchestra is very complicated to write music for and isn't done very much in the modern age. Orchestras usually won't perform pieces that were written before the times of the Baroque era. This is the time that the modern orchestra was born (NAXOS). Instrumentation isn't the only problem but also the way the pieces were written. They make less sense than those of the eras after them (Keller, Personal Interview).

Material Culture:

The most obvious material thing about his music culture are the instruments since there are so many of them. The main instrument groupings are the bowstrings played with a bow drawn over a set of strings: violin, viola, cello, contra bass, etc., woodwinds played with airstream and the opening and closing of a series of pads on the instrument body: flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, the brasswind played with airstream that causes lip to buzz within the mouthpiece of the instrument: trumpet, french horn, trombone, tuba, percussion played by striking the instrument with a mallet, stick or hand: split into the two categories of tuned and indefinite pitched, and keyboards played by clicking a key which then either plucks (harpsichord) or strikes (piano) a string to create a sound (NAXOS).

It doesn't sound bad until you see the price tag on some of these instruments. Nothing playable at the high school level every costs anything below $2000. Things can get as bad as $15000 for a marimba or even more for a set of timpani (Keller, Personal Interview).

Other than instruments, the music, written on scores or called sheet music, must also be purchased. Sometimes for a price unfitting of a stack of paper to some (Keller, Personal Interview). With all these instruments, there is also maintenance. Instruments must be repaired after a certain time and, depending on the instrument, can be very expensive, ranging from $100 violin strings to $20 oboe reeds or $3 bottle of slide oil (Wong, Personal Interview). This is a very expensive music culture.

Preservation of Music:

Although new ideas in the classical music of the high school world is accepted, it is mostly not used since it just seems to never sound as good as following the old traditions left behind by those of previous musical era. From observation, it can be seen that everything is done closely to the methods since the Baroque era. Even though each high school orchestra is different, it is the unspoken rule to keep the practices of previous orchestras, even the music arrangement is kept as close to the original as possible. Each orchestra is different but each orchestra is it's own version of the original which doesn't like to bend to other orchestras (Concert Performance).

Conclusion:

The music culture of western classical music through the high school view varies from school to school because of the different people involved. Most things are similar, but there are slight differences. Each is it's own take on the classical orchestra, with all the instruments, music repertoire and methods but because it's different people, it's a different orchestra.

Sources:

"Musical Instruments." NAXOS. NAXOS, 11 mar 2010. Web. 6 Mar 2010.

"History of Classical Music." NAXOS. NAXOS, 11 mar 2010. Web. 6 Mar 2010.

Wong, Nicholas. Personal INTERVIEW. 6 March 2010.

Liberty High School Full Orchestra. Concert Performance. 18 February 2010.

Keller, Alysson. Personal INTERVIEW. 5 March 2010.