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Cool Stuff

This is a Tibetan Drinking song.
It's actually from a Chinese movie called Ganglamedo. This movie has won many international awards.



Music innovator James Whetzel takes a traditional tabla composition and puts english words to the rhythm of the tabla language. The video features scenes from the Volunteer Park Conservatory, Lakeview Cemetery and the art of Francis Celentano and Parks Anderson.



This is the tribe that lives near Bianca in Philippines. This is a nose flute. The tribes there apparently wear very few clothing and it is cold because they live in the mountains. According to Bianca, they eat nganga which is a type of fruit.
She also told me the they mummify the body just like Madagascar.



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I think that South East Asian and Arab music has opened my eyes more to the culture. It is so interesting and different. It's also interesting how everything is connected and everything has some an influence from everyone.
I realized about my culture is that Korea is very open minded. They took in other cultures and really studied it hard before making there own instruments. If Korea was not open minded, I do not believe that they could have made gayagum out of influence of the Chinese Chin instrument. In order to create an instrument but more unique, one must really study the original instrument. We also took in influences from other cultures that best suited our people. I believe that the western cultural influence hit Korea way later because China was of course closer to contact therefore always a step ahead of Korea in development. I do not see it necessarily a good or bad thing that Western influence came way later. Although there are many flaws in any country, Korea was still an overall very open country with people who were genuine. It is also so interesting to see that southeast instruments and dances are similar to Korea.

This course has made me think about the origins of everything. It has also taught me to tie connections with other cultures. I may have been more of a differentialist in the past, but I see now more of the universalistic view of the world's culture and music. It's beautiful how we are all somehow related to one another. But still, I really bravo those countries who have kept there own traditions alive for years. They have a strong foundation in who they are and there people.

Cool stuff 3

Fayzah Claudia has had a life long love affair with dance. Her dance background includes training & performance in Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Indian (Bharatnatyam), African, Capoeira, Argentine Tango, Fusion Dance, Fire Performance, and traditional Middle Eastern Dances (Bellydance). She has lived in Europe, California, the Caribbean, and Arizona.
She fell in love with music from Egypt, North Africa, and surrounding countries, and studied many classical and folkloric styles, with many distinguished teachers. Her travels throughout Egypt, gave her an added perspective, and cultural understanding. Many years of studying both Argentine Tango and various styles of Bellydance, led to the discovery of similarities between the two dance forms, and the process of combining their movements together. After being introduced to tango in 1997, she has had the pleasure of studying with various renouned teachers from the US, Argentina, and Europe. She credits Homer Ladas as a main inspiration throughout the years.




I thought, the next video, the little Indian boy and the cow is so cute.
It's interesting how the man is carrying around his instrument and the cow just randomly. This is South Indian Music.





This is a trailer of a music comparison of Appalachian music and the Himalayan music. The music playing in the background is Himalayan music from city of Nepal.

Music and Gender

I was thinking about how music and gender are related and I think it is very funny how it was like in Middle school. The guys listened to rock, or rap and the girls listened to a lot of pop and ballads. I remember that I wanted to be like a guy and I listened to a lot of rock and rap because of that. I thought it was intense. I thought that ballads and pop music were so prissy. Girls listened for sincerity and romanticism in their music and guys listened for the rhythm and something there bodies could rock to. It was funny how music was more separated when we were in elementary school. As my schoolmates and I grew older, I saw how everyone started to blend in with all different kinds of music. I’m not sure why that is. I guess it could be because guys have a wild side when they are younger. Usually they like to bring the wild side out of them and so they listen to extreme, active music. Girls like to bring their womanly intuition out and pop music portrays that well. It could also be that the media stereotypes the music that girls listen to and guys listen to at a very young age. Children’s shows like Disney stereotype gender and use music to implement gender. Music and gender is so subtle in America, but if you really take a step back and look around us, it’s everywhere. Especially targeted to kids.

Cool Stuff 2

This video is a song and dance from the Aztecs. It is a religion based song and dance. The drums represent the Four Directions which is four cardinal points. Mexicans thus believe that the numbers 4 or 5 are very important. The Aztecs believe that the central pair, up and down, is the divine pair. The music sounds kind of eerie and mystery to me. It also starts out in drumming which is interesting because Aztecs were a war based nation and they had they had the war drums.

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This war drum is carved out of wood. The drum shows a face of a god on the drum side. They believe that the god of water and fire are controlled by man even in war.
People believe there are links to this god that is very similar to a chinese god of fire and water as well as there beliefs about them. I am not completely sure what that means but I will look into it more.

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Here is a video of Chichen Itza when I went. The Equinox is a very famous one of their attractions today, but it was very personal to the Mayans. Here is information as well as how the Equinox affects the temple and the people. It's really interesting and (Bianca says Awesome!). =D

Music and Religion

Music and Religion was always something that came in a package. I always believed music was a form of prayer, thanksgiving, or healing. Music comes from your heart and also your spirit. My parents grew up in a traditional hymnal church. My sisters and I grew up later years listening to very free moving church with contemporary music. I went to a Winter Conference in December 2008 to a Charismatic church in Kansas City. I grew up listening and jumping to Hillsongs music, which is a Charismatic church in Australia. When I went to this conference, it was a very open setting of music where people danced, jumped, shouted, sang and prayed in tongue. I grew up in traditional churches but my mother was very free in her worship. Many times she would break down in the gift of tongue and pray to God while others sang in the background. Sometimes, the whole congregation would start to pray out loud and the room will be filled with all different kinds of gift of tongue and the piano would be playing a hymn in the background. I grew up noticing that prayer and music was very much correlated. When I hear the whole congregation pray with piano playing, it almost sounds like the piano was accompanying each persons prayer thus having many songs within one room. My heart starts to pound every time these happen.
Within the Korean protestant church, they usually sing contemporary music through first part of service and end with a hymn before the service. During Easter or Christmas, Hymns are prominent in the service. Prayer with the whole congregation involving is as much important as singing praises. Many people start to move freely. Some people start clapping, raising their hands, or doing something different. Everyone is different and everyone has his or her unique dances during service.
My first language is Korean and my second language is English. Ever since I was 5 years old, my mother always took me to early Saturday morning prayer services as well as Wednesday evening prayer services. They were all in Korean. I did not understand the sermons so my mother always translated for me. Because I grew up listening to Korean hymns and Christian songs, they have more power in them than English Christian songs. My own language is so beautiful in music. It always makes me kneel down in a prayer mode because I see the beauty of God in these music and words. Within me, music and religion is deeply rooted together.

Cool Stuff

This is a video of drummers from Gambia, Africa. My dad went on medical missions two years ago for three months and he brought back a Gambia tribal drum. It looked just like the drum that these men are playing. I also think it's really cool how they use there elbows to mute the drum sound.




Litefoot is the first Native American to represent in what has become the international phenomenon known as “Rap” music. Litefoot’s road to achieving his goals- rivals the most inspirational of success stories. It is a story of struggle, perseverance, belief in self and overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. He has become one of today's most well respected Native American entertainers and one of Native America’s most recognizable national public figures. A modern day warrior from the Cherokee Nation Of Oklahoma, Litefoot was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma and currently resides in Seattle, Washington.




I randomly found this video but I thought the music was beautiful. It's created by a group artist named Black African Positive. Here is there myspace. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ContributorID=143131

Music and Family

As said in my last post, my parents grew up with Korean folk music and classical music. My mother grew up in a wealthy family so classical music was very much prominent. They were also into 80s Korean pop music. They were more like ballads and cheesy music I think. When they immigrated to America, she started to listen to much American popular music. My grandma on my mom’s side loved Frank Sinatra, Pavarotti, Tony Bennett, and Elvis Presley. My mom loved Celine Dion. I grew up during my elementary school years listening to Celine Dion. We also listened to a lot of Korean Christian music and hymns. There is a group of famous Korean Christian artists called CCM. They are still a big hit in Korea. Much Korean Christian music nowadays come from big Christian bands like the Hillsongs or Chris Tomlin. My mom listened to a lot of Stephen Curtis Chapman when she was in college. My sisters and I still listen to him too.
I started to get into Korean pop music, Japanese pop music, techno, jazz, and indie music. I got my parents into Korean modern pop music too. They did not like me listening to American pop music, even though I did, because it did not have Christian or “good” influence. I do not like being ignorant so I did secretly listen to a lot of American pop music, but kept it from consuming me like many people. I believe that the music we listen to makes us who we are. It’s almost like the people we hang out with can influence and shape who we are. Because my parents believed and knew the power of music, they tried to keep me away from dark things. We believe that all music has some kind of religion influence therefore some kind of spirit is always present. It is for us to discern and allow the right spirits to influence us.

My sisters and I love listening to many different genres of Christian music.
We grew up listening to a lot of hip hop. Here's a video of my friend's music. His name is Sam Ock and he is a composer/artist. His mom grew up with my mom and worked together in church very closely. She was also my voice teacher in Baltimore. My family supports his music. I think my family has become more into contemporary music because of my sisters and I. =D

Musical Autobiography

Music has always been essential to our family’s history and Korean culture. My mother sings opera, plays the organ, the piano, and a Korean string instrument, sanjo gayageum. My father grew up with countryside folk music. He plays the guitar and sings as well. My uncle and grandma also sang, but of course, western music. Because they grew up from a wealthy family, opera was definitely important.

My mother always turned on music when I was in her womb. When I was two years old, I stood in front of the television while the Seoul National Symphony Orchestra played the complete Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. My mother was astonished to see that I recognized the music. She had played all Four Seasons multiple times while I was in her womb. She also sang hymns when I cried in the shower as a baby. I would then stop crying and start laughing.

When I moved to America, I attended Korean School where I learned Korean folk dances and songs. I have studied fan dance/ Korean folk dance for 4 years. When I was in middle school, I taught for two years. Korean folk dance was my passion and it is till this day. I grew up with many Asian music influences.

By the end of middle school, I became deeply involved at my church. The youth group members asked me to join their praise band and so I did. I joined a Christian band for three years. I harmonized and sang many modern Australian gospels as well as American gospels. The Australian Hillsongs became one of my favorite bands.
I was also in the orchestra in school. I played the violin since 4th grade and love being in an orchestra. I think it’s strange that I dread being in a chorus but I love being in an orchestra. My orchestra teacher played the viola d’amore and was very interested in diverse cultures. We had a very famous tango dancers come and perform with our orchestra. We learned a lot that year about Spain culture and their tango music. The following year, we incorporated the Beatles and electric guitars into our music such as Eleanor Rigby. We also performed with the Scythian Celtic Band. We played Mountain Springs, folk music by Barrage, at the Carnegie Hall three years ago and thus they came to play with us a year later. It was awesome!

I think I grew up very fortunate. In my elementary school, I was exposed to different culture music. We were always watching documentaries as well as show and tell from native kids. The city was filled with many different cultures. My favorites were the Navajo Indian music. These have definitely broadened my taste in music as well as appreciation for all kinds.


Here's a little something interesting that I found on youtube today for fun..
I love it when classical artists use there brilliant technique and incorporate it to cultural music..