Music : MUS 239: Intro. to World Music

Although this is by no means an exhaustive list of world music resources, it is our hope that this page introduces users to the range of materials that are available through the Music Library at Missouri State University. If you have a specific research topic that you'd like to explore, you can arrange a one-on-one consultation with a member of our library staff by emailing us at: Music&Media@missouristate.edu.

The Society for Ethnomusicology

World Music Central

Virtual Instrument Museum, Wesleyan University

BBC Radio 3: World Routes

Australia

• The Didjeridoo Specialists: The Didjshop
  

United States

• American Folklife Center, The Library of Congress
  

This 12-part video series, entitled Exploring the World of Music, looks at music from around the world as it explores themes such as music and the environment, music as cultural memory, and how technology changes music. The individual episodes are 30 minutes long, and each includes several 5-minute video segments that focus on a particular music culture. Click on the PLAY button below to go to the Annenberg Learner main page. Once there, find the particular program that you are interested in viewing, then click the VoD button to the right of the video description to open up a streaming video box. NOTE: The complete VHS video series is also available for checkout at the Meyer Library Music & Media desk.

Program 1, “Sound, music, and the environment”

Ganga singing from Bosnia 11:35-17:50

Tuvan throat singing 17:50-25:25

Program 2, "The transformative power of music"

Program 3, "Music and memory”

West African griot song 3:00-5:50

Storytelling ballads in rural America 5:50-10:00

Aboriginal ritual song and dance 12:35-14:55

Irish music in America 14:55-18:05

Program 4, "Transmission: learning music"

Northn Indian classical music

African village drumming

Program 5, "Rhythm"

North Indian tala 5:08-8:43

Japanese shakuhachi 8:43-11:11

West African drum ensembles 11:11-17:38

Afro-Cuban rumba 17:38-20:45

Program 6, "Melody"

Arabic maqam system 9:15-14:35

Irish ornamentation and sean nos singing 14:35-18:46

North Indian raga 18:46-23:27

Program 7, "Timbre, the color of music"

Program 8, "Texture"

Program 9, "Harmony"

Program 10, "Form, the shape of music"

Western music - sonata form 3:20-8:50

Jazz - improvisation over AABA form 8:50-13:30

Traditional Japanese music - narrative form 13:30-17:38

African music (from drumming to gospel) - call and response form 17:38-22:18

Irish dance music - AABB form 22:18-25:20

Program 11, "Composers and improvisers"

North Indian raga 2:50-4:10

Jazz 9:04-13:32

Arab classical music 13:32-16:43

Program 12, "Music and technology"

        
Smithsonian Folkways

Irish Music

• From Shore to Shore: Irish Traditional Music in New York City
  Great footage of ceilis, traditional sessions, Irish dancing, and interviews with both traditional and post-traditional performers.

The Music Traditions of India

• Raga Unveiled: India's Voice
  Includes segments on developing the melodic layer of a raga performance (the swara and raga), the rhythmic layer (laya and tala), the extramusical moods and emotions (rasa), the element of improvisation (vistaar), the learning parampara of master & disciple, the gharana system of musical style, and more.
• Singing Between Two Worlds: Learning Traditional Music in the Heart of Modern India
  A 26-minute film that follows two "twenty-someething" brothers in India as they prepare for a performance in dhrupad vocal music with their father.
• Ravi Shankar: An Intimate Performance
  Ravi Shankar plays "Rag Behag" in this BBC performance from 1974, accompanied by Allah Rahka Khan on tabla and Noder Mullick on tambura.
• Rhythms to Nirvana: An Introduction to Indian Classical Music

Music in Africa

• A Griot's Story
• The Seven Ages of Music: The Magic of African Music
• Listening to the Silence: African Cross Rhythms
• Dance-Drumming of the Anlo-Ewe
  Includes demonstrations of Kinka, Agbadza, and Agbekor dance styles
• Romany Trail: Part One, Into Africa

Balinese Gamelan and Dance

• Bali, Beyond the Post Card

The Music Traditions of China

• Fine Rain: Politics and Folk Songs in China
• Performing Arts of China: The Opera
• Chinese Musical Instruments

Music and Politics in Eastern Europe

• The Singing Revolution

Latino/Hispanic Music

• Tex-Mex: Music of the Texas Mexican Borderlands
• From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale
• Salsa: Latin Pop Music in the Cities
• Latin Music USA

Native American Music

• Native-American Flute Making
• The World of American Indian Dance
• Smoke Songs: A Native American Punk-Rock Band With a Message

"Americana"

• High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music
• American Roots Music
• Ozark Jubilee: A Living Legacy
• [Ozarks Watch] Beginnings of the Branson Music Theaters
• [Ozarks Watch] A Lifetime of Entertaining: Conversation with Andy Williams
• [Ozarks Watch] Memories and Melodies: KWTO/KOAM Live Radio Musician's Reunion
• [Ozarks Watch] The Ozarks Greatest Hits
• [Ozarks Watch] Ozarks Fiddlers and Their Tunes
• [Ozarks Watch] Family Singing: A Musical Portrait
• [Ozarks Watch] Ashley Hull Profile
• [Ozarks Watch] John Wilkinson: Elvis' Sideman
• [Ozarks Watch] Dottie Dillard: A Lifetime of Song
• [Ozarks Watch] L.D. Keller and The Promenaders
• [Ozarks Watch] Bob Hubbard: Memories of the Jordanaires and the Foggy River Boys
• [Ozarks Watch] The Ozark Mountain Daredevils
• [Ozarks Watch] Tradition and Talent: The Possum Holler Fiddlers
• [Ozarks Watch] Sounds of the Ozarks: Seldom Heard Music
• [Ozarks Watch] Pickin' and Grinnin': Kelly's Kountry Junction
• [Ozarks Watch] A Music Tradition: The McDowell Gold Jubilee

African Music

• Xylophone Music From Ghana 
• Drum Damba: Talking Drum Lessons
• Studies in African Music 
• The Soul of Mbira
• Glenn Velez: The Fantastic World of Frame Drums
• John Bergamo: The Art & Joy of Hand Drumming

 Cajun Music

• Beau Solo: 12 Cajun Fiddle Tunes Transcribed From Michael Coucet's CD

 Chinese Music

• Music from the Tang Court  
  Transcriptions of court entertainment music which was "borrowed" and then preserved in manuscript form by the Japanese Imperial Palace. The selections (written for 2 mouth organs, zither, and lute) include an "Introit to Perfect Virtue," music for spear throwing, and a tune representing the sounds of a flock of geese.
• Jiao ni ru he tan zou pi pa ("Teach You How to Play Pipa")
  In Chinese. Includes exercises for pipa as well as over 30 pages of short solo material.
• An Introduction to the Gu-Zheng (4 volumes)
  All in English, this 4-part series serves well as a beginning-to-intermediate method book for the Western zheng student. Volume 1 introduces the instrument (with detailed diagrams and instructions on stringing & tuning the instrument as well as securing the four plectra, or picks, to the player's hand). There are also 15 short exercises, or lessons, designed to build facility in the right hand plucking technique. Volumes 2, 3, and 4 contine the lesson sequence (16-72) by gradually incorporating more advanced techniques, and the series culminates with a complete solo called "Little Wooden Bridge," which would be suitable for a recital, jury, or public performance.

Hawaiian Music

• N¯a mele hula: A Collection of Hawaiian Hula Chants

 Irish Music

• Irish Fiddle Music From Counties Cork and Kerry
• Riley's Flute Melodies
• Popular Irish Songs
• Irish Songs
• Songs of Ireland: 100 Favorite Irish Songs

 Jewish Music

• Klezmer Fiddle: A How-To Guide
  Includes music for 16 tunes (with parts for fiddle, second fiddle, and cello/bass). The companion CD is also available, with complete performances as well as backing tracks w/2nd fiddle, accordian, bass, and drums.
• Klezmer Clarinet Duets
  12 short duets, including Havah Nagila, Az der Rebbe est, and Chiri Biri Bam.
• Mordechai Gebirtig: His Poetic and Musical Legacy 
  Mordechai Gerbirtig was a Polish Jew who lived through World War I and the subsequent realization of independence by Poland, but did not survive the massacre of Jews by the Nazis during World War II. This collection includes 49 of his political/social songs: A Lidele, Tayer vi Gold ("A Song, Precious as Gold"); Gevalt Vel Ich Shrayen ("The Outcry"); Es Brent ("It Burns"). The second half of the book contains poems and songs without musical score, including Hulyet, Hulyet, Vilde Sochrim ("Make Merry, Black Marketeers") and Blayb Gesunt Mir, Kroke ("Farewell, My Cracow"). Texts are in both English and Yiddish.
  
• Yes, We Sang!
  Songs from the ghettos and concentration camps of World War II Europe, arranged for voice and piano (with both English and Yiddish lyrics).
• New Haggadah Melodies
  The sixteen songs in this collection were newly-composed by author David Alster-Yardeni to fill "the need for new singing material" during Jewish festivals such as the Passover Seder. Each song is notated in "lead sheet" style (as a single-line melody, with chord changes written above).

Spanish Music

• Mel Bay's Flamenco Guitar: Basic Techniques
• Juan Martin's Guitar Method: El arte flamenco de la guitarre
• Zarzuela!
  Zarzuela is a form of opera that first developed in the 17th-century court of King Philip IV of Spain. Each of the 48 songs in the 4-volume collection (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone) includes a short scene synopsis.

 Traditional American Music

• Ozarks Fiddle Music
• Mel Bay's Old-Time Fiddling Across America
  Includes transcriptions in American regional styles (Cape Breton, French Canadian, West Virginia, Deep Southern, Ozark, Texas, and others) as well as Cajun, Irish, Scandanavian, Klezmer, and Eastern Europe styles.
• Mel Bay Presents the Phillips Collection of Traditional American Fiddle Tunes
• Hoedown Fiddle in America: How to Play It
• The Fiddle Book: The Comprehensive Book on American Folk Music, Fiddling, and Fiddle Styles Including More Then 150 Traditional Fiddle Tunes Compiled From Country Fiddlers
• Cowboy and Western Songs: A Comprehensive Anthology
• Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads

Scholarly journals often provide the newest research and up-to-date information on upcoming publications and festivals.

   Here is a list of relevant journals that are available to you online.

Many of our books focused on music traditions from around the world are located in the following sections on the shelves:

        ML199-360  History               ML480-548  Instruments             ML3565-3776   History/Styles

The following sources are all available in the reference area of the music library. These do not normally check out to students.

Ref ML100 .G16 1998 - The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music

Each volume in this series contains an overview of the geographic region, a general survey of its musical traditions, and more detailed descriptions of selected musical genres. The individual articles are supplemented with photographs, drawings, maps, and musical examples.

Volume 1: Africa

Volume 2: South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

Volume 3: The United States and Canada

Volume 4: Southeast Asia

Volume 5: South Asia (The Indian Subconitinent)

Volume 6: The Middle East

Volume 7: East Asia (China, Japan, Korea)

Volume 8: Europe

Volume 9: Australia and the Pacific Islands

Volume 10: The World's Music (General Perspectives and Reference Tools)

Ref ML101 .A9 O94 1997 - The Oxford Companion to Australian Music

This single-volume encyclopedia covers the full spectrum of music in Australia, from ancient Aboriginal traditions and European-derived orchestral, operatic, and concert music, to Australian folk, jazz, country, rock, and experimental music. The alphabetical entries include biographies of key figures and groups, major musical organizations and companies, musical works, genres, instruments, terms, and some of the historical and cultural contexts within which Australian music can be placed.

Ref ML101 .I47 O94 2011 - The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Music of India

Fully cross-referenced, and with over 5000 entries by more than 100 leading experts from all over India and abroad, this 3-volume encyclopedia includes detailed biographical notes on composers, musicians, and dancers in classical, folk, film, and other musical forms over the last 2000 years. Over 200 rare photos and paintings from family albums and private collections are included, as well as sections on the music of India's neighboring countries, the influence of Western music on India, and the prevelence of Indian music in popular drama and film.

Ref ML101 .I73 V35 1999 - The Companion to Traditional Irish Music

Ref ML106 .C8 O7613 2004 - Cuban Music frrom A to Z

Ref ML108 .F27 1981 - An Annotated Glossary of Arabic Musical Terms

Ref ML108 .K37 1990 - Selected Musical Terms of Non-Western Cultures: A Notebook-Glossary

Ref ML128 .E8 P67 2004 - Ethnomusicology: A Research and Information Guide

Ref ML128 .E8 S4 1992 - Ethnomusicology Research: A Select Annotated Bibliography

Ref ML128 .F75 K44 1997 - North American Indian Music: A Guide to Published Sources and Selected Recordings