Alycia in Musicland

     On my search for cool things in Arab music, I began with searching Arab music artists. Immediately Fairuz came up, but another person who came up was Fayza Ahmed. She was born in 1934 in Sayda, Lebanon. She was a singer and an actress in the 1950's. She acted in 6 movies total. Her career was cut short at the age of 48. One of her most well known songs is Set El-Habayeb. The song is dedicated to mothers. In the song you can hear Arab music elements that we discussed in class. Her voice commands attention and the instruments never outshine her voice. She does a lot of sliding as well. The next thing I wanted to know more about was dance in Arab culture. I came across belly dancing which always seemed so cool to me when I was a child. I decided to learn more about the origins because I have no prior knowledge on the subject. There are three theories on the origins of belly dancing. One of the theories is that it came from early Egyptian dances; another theory is that i...

I have chosen to interview my mom for my blog. I chose her because I wanted to see her perspective on music since she grew up as a Jehovah's Witness and I know how that's affected her life. I'm going to do my blog in a dialogue set up because it's not quiet enough at my house for a video or voice recording.  Alycia: So where did you grow up? Mom: I guess North Hollywood and Fresno, California. Alycia: What decade did you grow up in? Mom: The 80's and 90's. Alycia: What's your first memory of music? Mom: I remember my parents dancing to old schools. Alycia: What genre of music did you like or dislike? Mom: I didn't care for rap because I was never allowed to listen to it so it just never appealed to me. It still doesn't appeal to me. I like R&B. I'm into some of the girl rappers now, but I don't live my life by what they let out their mouth. Alycia: What role did music play in your family?   Mom: Hmm I don't know. I think that as I was...

     Tejano music holds a special place in my heart. As a child, I rejected my Mexican heritage. My father tried to teach me Spanish and I would yell " Don't talk to me like that!" Whenever he played Tejano music on long car rides, I remember being extremely upset and telling him to change the radio. I'm not sure why I rejected my Mexican side as a child, but I did. I have a deep appreciation for it now that I've experienced things like being apart of a quinceanera, learning Spanish, and celebrating Mexican Independence day. That is why I have chosen Tejano music and I'm excited about presenting my findings.      In my research, I started with typing in Tejano music origins. It led me to a Britannica article on Tejano music. Tejano music gets its start in the 1800's and overtime it transforms. Tejano music got its start in northern Mexico and Texas. It says that Tejano music has Mexican, European, and U.S. influence. I didn't expect to see European...

Last year I took an introductory course to African history. The class made me familiar with Africa and so this is an exciting topic for me. The place I want to explore is Botswana. I don't remember much about it so I thought it would be fun to dive deep into the music from Botswana. The first thing I typed in was traditional Botswana music. The website, musicinafrica.net, had information on popular genres in Botswana such as dithlaka. The website explained how dithlaka music is played on a copper or aluminum pipe. The twist is that there are multiple people playing the same instrument and playing the same notes in different octaves, but they're holding the notes for varying time lengths. The sound reminds me of the recorder we all played in elementary school. The next thing I was interested in was female artists from Botswana. An incredibly talented artist I came across was Samantha Mogwe. Her voice is soothing like your mother singing you a lullaby to sleep. My mother didn...

     I'm guilty of loving pop music and pop culture. I can't deny it any longer. I always feel music shamed for enjoying that type of music, but it makes me happy and makes me want to dance. I consume mostly pop music from women because I tend to relate to their message more. An artist I don't listen to is Dua Lipa, but I came across an interview with her and I thought it was interesting. In the interview, Dua Lipa she said she felt like people expect much more from women than men in pop music. It wasn't something I thought about before, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Women in pop music must be diverse artists who can do it all. It's highly praised if you're a triple threat; this can be singing, acting, and dancing. I remember when Dua Lipa was a joke on the internet for trying to dance because of the pressure she felt by her agency. Women have to be forever evolving to stay relevant and interesting, but someone like Ed Sheeran can get ...

    Three important instruments used in Brazilian music are the cavaquinho, ganza, and alafaia. The cavaquinho is small guitar with only four strings. The website Jam Addict compares the cavaquinho to the ukulele. The ganza is a cylinder-shaped instrument with beads on the inside; it can be made from several types of materials. The cylinder part can be made from metal, wood, or plastic; the beads can be sand, plastic beads, or metal beads. The alafaia is a drum that is made from macaiba wood and the covering is from goat or cow skin .        Cavaquinho                                             Ganza                                         Alafaia      A popular style of music in Brazil is Choro music.  Three key el...