The purpose of this assignment is to lead you through some material on different kinds of singer-songwriters. During the course of this assignment you will:
- Think about the use of song as a vehicle for protest
- Review several types of singer-songwriters and their relationship to the society they are a part of
- Explore the “borrowing” of folksong styles for protest in the 1960s
- Learn about the griot tradition of the Mande people in Africa
- Trace the development of troubadour song in Medieval Europe – why was it the first secular song to be written down? How did it connect to the rise of “court culture” during the period?
Materials to have on hand:
- Assigned Readings on 60s folksingers, Mande griots, and Medieval troubadours
- An internet connection for reading and listening
- Class power point presentation on Singer-songwriters (posted in the Week 4 folder and on the Course Documents page in the Power Point folder)
Go through the following guided activity, answering the questions as you go along. You will submit these answers. Feel free to include comments and/or observations that you want to make, even if they are not answers to my specific questions! These sorts of “additions” will get you extra points.
- Folksingers in the 1960s
- First, watch this video of Dylan signing Blowing in the Wind. Tell me about what you hear – his singing style, the instruments the instruments he uses, and the style of the performance. Would this type of performance make it today for a big pop concert? https://youtu.be/vWwgrjjIMXA
- What is the song about? Here is a link to the text. What leads us to believe that it is a protest song? http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/blowin-wind/
- Dylan part of a group of people using songs in the style of folksong as a means of protest. What would people be protesting in the 1960s?
- What IS a folksong? This video isn’t high-tech, but it gives you some good info in a short amount of time! https://youtu.be/zRKcG2YjAUg
- So what is a “real” folksong, before the 1950s? You probably learned some when you were a child – come up with an example?
- According to this little video, what starts to happen around the 1950s?
- So we call “Blowin’ in the Wind” a folksong, even if it isn’t a “traditional song.”
- Why would Dylan and other folksong singers decide to write songs that sound like traditional songs for the purpose of protest? Why not something more complicated, contemporary sounding, etc.
- We have associations with traditional songs and think about them in certain ways. How do they want to connect to these?
- One question to ask yourself – is this a hard song to sing? Is that part of it as well?
- Listen to Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of the song. https://youtu.be/Ld6fAO4idaI
- How is it different from Dylan’s version?
- What slightly different message is projected by this different version? Does it still make it a good protest song?
- The Griot or Jali
- First, it is absolutely not okay to just say this is from Africa, or an African tradition. Africa is a huge, very diverse continent, with a large number of different societies and cultures that make it up! So let’s be more specific!
- Which part of Africa is this tradition from? What ethnic groups in Africa are part of this culture?
- This is a very old culture. What is the history of this society? Hare far back can we trace it?
- From your readings or a quick search on the internet, come up with a simple definition of what a griot (or jali) is!
- Watch this great video of Prince Diabate explaining the tradition of the griot: https://youtu.be/aF2287N0kAc
1.What role do the griot play in this society?
2. Prince Diabate says that the griot are like the “libraries” of his people. Explain this!
3. Is this an oral tradition or a written tradition? How does this affect this music?
- What is the instrument most associated with the griot? Describe it and classify it using the Sach-Hornboestal system
- I asked you to think about singer-songwriters connected to protest in the previous section. Griot are important to their society, but they are NOT involved in protest. How is their relationship to those with power and status different than the 60s protest singers?
- If you are interested in the griot and their music, there is a lot of information and performances on the web. What is really interesting is that it is not a traditional musi that has remained the same for hundreds of years – griot and kora players are very much part of the World Music scene. Satisfy your curiosity and poke around to see what you find! Is there a website or performance you particularly liked?
- The Medieval Troubadours
- We will talk about troubadours, courtly love and court culture more in class. But just a few basics so we can get started….
- Like you did for the griot, come up with a simple definition of what a troubadour is! And no, they are NOT wandering minstrels! They live in castles, and sing for the local nobility, royalty and other rulers.
- This is the first kind of secular (not religious) song that was written down in Europe, after Gregorian chant. Why do you think THIS kind of music was written down, and not other kinds of secular music that we know must have been sung at that time?
- Let’s explore a little bit about the social codes that were behind troubadour songs
- Take a look at this video on chivalry and courtly love. Tell me a little about what these terms mean and why they were important in the Middle Ages? https://youtu.be/T7j0V1AHvBU
- In this video, a woman (maybe in a slightly irritating way!) reads a list from the Medieval Period about how people are supposed to behave when they are in (courtly) love. Which ones did you find interesting? Do we still see some of these ideas in popular culture today? https://youtu.be/LJiUqKCBIW0
- Last question (hurray!)….So the folksingers were about protest, the griot were about the history of families and the leaders of the people. Why did troubadours write their music?
