3.3.1 ARTS AND CULTURE 3.3.2 Grade 6
3.3.3 CRITICAL AND CREATIVE REFLECTION 3.3.4 Module 11
3.3.5 MUSIC THAT PORTRAYS HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING
• People use music to convey messages.
• Often the situation in which one nds oneself determines the lyrics and message.
• We are going to listen to three types of music that portray hardship/suering and will focus on the history behind it, the message of the lyrics and the functions of the songs.
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Figure 3.4
3.3.6 Activity 1:
3.3.7 To RESEARCH the working song 3.3.8 [LO 2.4]
Background Information
The song we shall be listening to originated in the gold mines on the Witwatersrand and can be classied as a work song.
While the men were working, they sang songs. Working songs helped the workers to forget the boredom of their jobs. For example, they would, while using their pick-axes, sing songs to the rhythm of their action.
The rhythm of these songs and the working action form a unit.
STEP 1
Listen to the recording of Shosholoza and imitate the picking action to the rhythm of the music. (Pick with the pick-axe on the rst beat).
The words are as follows:
Shosholoza Ku lezontaba
(You wander around in those mountains) Stimela si qhamuka e South Africa (The train is from South Africa) Wen u ya baleka
Ku lezontaba
(You accelerate in those mountains) Stimela si qhamuka e South Africa (The train is from South Africa)
Pay attention to the repetition of the melody and the words!
STEP 2
This song is also an example of the characteristics of the traditional music from Africa. What follows are examples of characteristics of most of the traditional music from Africa.
While listening to the music, make a tick to show which characteristics are present in the song.
57 A group of people participate.
Only men participate.
The singing is often unaccompanied.
Call-and-response: solo and group alternate.
Sung for a specic occasion: e.g. wedding or worshipping.
Is usually accompanied by dance, movement and/or clapping of hands.
The music was carried over by word of mouth and no one knows exactly who created it. The words have changed through the years: some of the words were forgotten and people often added their own.
The rhythm of the music is often determined by the natural speech rhythm (e.g. the trend to stretch the last syllable of a word leads to the authentic rhythm patterns of Africa).
The same melodic pattern is repeated often.
The same rhythmical pattern is repeated often.
The same words are repeated often.
Table 3.8 STEP 3
Listen to Ladysmith Black Mambazo's interpretation of the song. Here are the words:
VERSE 1 Shosholoza
Work, work, working in the sun We will work as one
Shosholoza
Work, work, working in the rain
`Til there's sun again VERSE 2
Shosholoza
Work, work, working in the sun We will work as one
Shosholoza
Work, work, working in the rain
`Til there's sun again
This interpretation was sung for the Springbok rugby team. Why do you think it is a good sport song?
Homework: Find out which other artists also recorded this melody.
Now write your own verse. Bear in mind the repetition.
3.3.9 Activity 2:
3.3.10 The studying of spirituals 3.3.11 [LO 2.3, 2.4]
STEP 1
Background information
Spirituals originated in America. Years ago (before 1865) during the period of slavery, Africans were imported from the West African coast to work as slaves on the plantations. While the slaves worked, they sang work songs that were based on traditional folk music from Africa. These songs were sung to express their personal feelings and to encourage one another.
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After work they sang in the camps. They sang sections of texts from the Bible and melodic parts of songs, which they heard outside churches (Western music). They used these bits and pieces of music and texts to compose their own spirituals of hope and faith.
The rst form of spirituals was called shouts - the remnants of a primitive African dance. Men and women stand in a circle and start dancing, clapping hands and stamping their feet, initially slowly and then faster and faster. The same musical phrase is repeated for hours until everyone is in a trance. This led to women falling down and shouting and tired men leaving the circle.
The lyrics of spirituals are closely related to their "composers", the slaves. Working songs are based on daily lives, whereas spirituals are based on the message of the Bible, "You can be saved." They could identify with Biblical gures like Joseph (who was sold as a slave by his brothers) and the Jews who were also slaves in Egypt. They believed that they would be helped and freed, just as the Lord helped the Biblical gures.
The lyrics are thus based on a longing for freedom and a better land. Words like "Home" and "Canaan's land" are used often and are symbolic of their search for a better life in this world as well as in the hereafter.
As with folk music, the "composers " of most spirituals are unknown, as they were passed down by word of mouth. The words dier from region to region as people added their own words when the original words were forgotten.
Answer the following questions:
• In which country did spirituals originate?
• From where were the slaves imported to work on the plantations?
• What did the slaves do to motivate themselves and others?
• Where did they come into contact with Western music?
• What were the rst spirituals called?
• Do you think it is a suitable name? Give a reason for your answer.
• The words home and Canaan are often used in spirituals. What do they symbolise?
• What is the dierence between work songs and spirituals?
• Name two composing techniques that are found in both spirituals and work songs.
Listen to the recording of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and join in each time when the words Coming for to carry me home are sung.
Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home If you get there before I do Coming for to carry me home Tell all my friends, I'm coming too Coming for to carry me home What is the message of this song?
STEP 2
59 Spirituals are examples where overlapping in music takes place; elements from Western as well as African music are combined.
A number of characteristics of spirituals are listed below. Listen to the recording again and complete the questionnaire.
Is the characteristic typical of African (A) or Western (W) music?
Is this specic characteristic present ([U+F034]) in the specic song?
CHARACTERISTIC WESTERN/AFRICA PRESENT
a whole group of people participate
accompanied by dancing, movement, clapping of hands call-and-response: the group answers the leader
the group often repeats the same words (phrase) the leader often sings the longer phrases
the group often sings the shorter syncopated phrases.
is accompanied by moaning and groaning strong rhythm with syncopation
• Today the term `gospel' is used for songs similar to spirituals.
Think of more gospel songs.
What would modern singers sing about in their songs?
Why is there a dierence?
Make a list of gospel singers.
3.3.12 Activity3:
3.3.13 To study blues (specically morna) 3.3.14 [LO 2.3, 2.4]
Read the following. What feeling do you experience?
When I'm feeling blue... / Blue-Monday: Despondency or depression Background Information
Like work songs and spirituals, the blues are also a mixture of African and Western music. Just like these two genres, the lyrics of the blues also portray the feelings, fears and hopes of the singer. The blues are however more personal as only one singer is singing - a solo in contrast with the groups of the work songs and spirituals.
First read the story of Cesaria Evora.
Listen to a recording of Cesaria Evora that your educator will play for you.
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What is your opinion about this music?
Cesaria Evoria comes from the Cape Verde Islands and is known as the barefoot diva. The reason for this is that when she appears on stage during a performance, she is usually barefoot in support of the less privileged women and children of her country. Her songs are based on her country's history of isolation, slavery and emigration: more than half of the inhabitants of the country have moved to other countries.
The words of the songs are in Portuguese-Creole and the style is known as "Morna", a type of blues, as it portrays the hardships of life through music.
Finally: Collect material on the three dierent styles and paste it into your learner journal. It can be examples of CD covers, lyrics, pictures or general information.
3.3.15 Assessment
Learning Outcomes(LOs)
LO 2
REFLECTIONThe learner will be able to reect critically and creatively on artistic and cultural pro-cesses, products and styles in past and present contexts.
Assessment Standards(ASs) We know this when the learner:
DANCE
2.1 researches the historical background of dances done by their elders in terms of social or cultural contexts, purpose and unique characteristics;
DRAMA
2.2 nds out about dierent types of drama in the country and makes connections between some of them in terms of origins and similarities;
MUSIC
2.3 listens to and discusses the use of repetition as an organising principle in African music;
2.4 selects a repertoire of songs that are used in various cultural environments, describes what cultural events they are drawn from, explains what the message of the lyrical content is and what the songs are used for;
VISUAL ARTS
continued on next page
61 2.5 identies the main purposes and design features of artworks in the home, the community and public places in terms of theme, subject and scale;
Table 3.10