- Title of piece Musical Priest
- Performer(s) The Dubliners
- Culture of Origin Ireland
- Instrumentation Acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, flute/whistle, mandolin
- A one paragraph reaction to the piece that makes connections to course readings/discussion; the theme for this week is in what ways are classification systems useful? Use an example of time or instruments in your answer.
In the spirit of St. Patrick's day I always play a solo-fiddle version of this for my students. I use this as a movement activity for kindergarten and first grade - they love it! I've actually never heard a version of this piece played by any other instrument than solo fiddle. So, for fun, I just typed the title into youtube and there were a ton of hits! While I enjoyed this version, I still prefer the solo fiddle version better. Perhaps it's because I've been listening to it for the last couple of years.
Anyway, in regards to the readings this week I think classification systems are so useful. When we're reading about all of these instruments from different cultures, sometimes I feel overwhelmed at the information that is being presented to me because I'm trying to picture the instrument in my mind. Having a classification system allows us the ability to visualize these instruments without actually having seen them. In this arrangement of "Musical Priest" I heard something that sounded very similar to a flue. I could tell it was in the aerophone family because someone was using air to produce the sound. Looking at all of the aerophones listed in figure 2.5 (pg. 42-43) in the text, I was surprised at how many aerophones were classified. I ended up doing some further research and discovered what I was most likely hearing was a whistle (which is common for music of Irish origin).
Prea, I of course love your music example this week (I am partially Irish)! The aerophone you most likely hear is the Irish Tin Whistle. I own one but don't practice it enough to get good at it. They are simple and very easy to play much like a recorder and you can buy a decent one for under $10.00. As like you, I find classification systems as a way of helping us organize the information on the instruments in order to better understand the culture that it exists in.
ReplyDeleteI love Irish music- my family has a mostly Irish heritage and I have always found it intriguing. I agree with you that the classification system can be great when listening to unfamiliar music. Especially in a class like this, all the different instruments we encounter can be incredibly overwhelming and it is nice to be able to group them into a more board category. We can all hear if something is being played through the use of air, or if someone is hitting a drum or plucking a stringed instrument, but it can be difficult to tell if that aerophone is a flute or ney, or if that chordophone is an oud or zither. Nice post, Prea!
ReplyDeleteThe visualization factor is something I hadn't thought about it, Prea, but it is a good point. I would if school-aged students feel similarly - do you think you'll use Sachs-Hornbostel classifications in your classroom?
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