In this blog I'm going to be talking about Ethiopia. I'm going to be discussing a musical artist from Ethiopia, an instrument called the Washint and Eskista dancing. So many things caught my interest, but these things were what I decided on.
1) Ethiopian music - Artist and facts
For the discussion on Ethiopian music, I'm going to be discussing the Ethiopian singer, Gigi. She has performed in many genres and her husband, Bill Laswell (Jazz player), is often seen with her according to Wikipedia.org. According to ethiobiography, her birth name isEjegayehu Shibabaw and she is recognized around the world for her music. She ran away from her home country, Nairobi Kenya at the age of 19 in order to sing famously. She moved to the United States in '98 and composed her first album, One Ethiopia.
One of her songs, Nafekeñ, I'm attaching in the blog. I loved the beat and melody of the song. I noticed she sings very fast-paced and sings in her language. Sadly, I could not find an English translation of the song. I do like the song, even if I couldn't find a translation. She has a beautiful singing voice though. According to Wikipedia , most music from Ethiopia is pentatonic which means that a song has long pauses between notes. Also, the music of this region is either heterophonic (One melody but can have multiple voices), or monophonic (a single singer without harmony). Popular music is played in Ethiopia but so is traditional songs as well.
2.) Washint- end -blown flute
The Washint is a traditional musical instrument in Ethiopian culture. End-blown means the player blows into the flute to produce sound. According to musicinAfrica.net , It was used by shepherds who had to round up cattle. Ethiopians learn to play this flute when they are young and it has four to six holes on it. Musicians would tell their history through stories and use this flute to help tell them according to Wikipedia .Washint can be made from wood, bamboo or cane and comes in different sizes.
In this video you will see that the Washint flute and the flutes we are used to seeing, are very similar in how they look and sound. I love the melody that is coming from the flute, it has rhythm and could easily be hummed along to. This flute has six holes and is wooden. The man playing the flute has great breath control that makes the flute sound so smooth.
3.) Eskista- Ethiopian dancing
According to Allaroundthisworld.com , Eskista is a dance with lots of shoulder and head movement. It is performed in groups where people line up in rows. People who come to watch these performances dance along and it is seen as a favorite pastime. In the video, the whole body moves during this dance but especially the head and shoulders. Each girl has a male partner, but they are dancing as a group doing the same moves. The music matches the intensity of the rhythmic dancing. I liked this dancing just because of how culturally different it is compared to dancing that I've seen. The dancers seem to really enjoy it.
Overall, I enjoyed researching Ethiopia even though translations were hard to discover. I love the culture and I hope this blog taught you something about what I learned.
I loved the Gigi song in the first example! The syncretic style of it almost reminds me of American smooth jazz and Raggae combined, with her singing style similar to a jazz saxophone solo in a way (both in her natural varying tempo and smoothness of voice). The Washint flute was also very interesting to hear, as I have experienced many flutes in my lifetime (reminding me of traditional Indigenous flutes across the globe including Native American).
I liked how you talked about the music and the different facts about it. I also liked how you added the type of dances and how important it is to them.
I really liked the first song! It was very peaceful and harmonic, and I liked her voice as well. The second video was interesting too, it was cool how he played the flute so smooth. Also, flute seems to be an instrument that is popular all over the world, since it has appeared in all cultures we have studied
Ethiopia is very interesting. The artist sounds pretty cool, even though I wouldn't know what she was saying. The flute is pretty, but I couldn't hum along. That dance sounds hard, especially for someone with no sight to attempt. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hey Megan! I think it’s really cool how you surrounded your blog around Ethiopia. I’ve never specifically looked into this country so I really enjoy learning about it. More specifically I really enjoyed how you looked into certain artists And the detail you gave!
Hey Megan! The Eskista dance looks super hard and I'm sure requires a lot of trining and practice to be able to do this without running out of breath! I'm so glad you researched a flute. It's really interesting how he plays it almost parallel to the ground but it doesn't have a head joint like the traditional flute we are used to seeing! Unlike the flute I play, this has more of a breathier sound to it like the pan flute in South America. Thank you for sharing this video!
I loved the Gigi song in the first example! The syncretic style of it almost reminds me of American smooth jazz and Raggae combined, with her singing style similar to a jazz saxophone solo in a way (both in her natural varying tempo and smoothness of voice). The Washint flute was also very interesting to hear, as I have experienced many flutes in my lifetime (reminding me of traditional Indigenous flutes across the globe including Native American).
ReplyDeleteI liked how you talked about the music and the different facts about it. I also liked how you added the type of dances and how important it is to them.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the first song! It was very peaceful and harmonic, and I liked her voice as well. The second video was interesting too, it was cool how he played the flute so smooth. Also, flute seems to be an instrument that is popular all over the world, since it has appeared in all cultures we have studied
ReplyDeleteEthiopia is very interesting. The artist sounds pretty cool, even though I wouldn't know what she was saying. The flute is pretty, but I couldn't hum along. That dance sounds hard, especially for someone with no sight to attempt. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHey Megan! I think it’s really cool how you surrounded your blog around Ethiopia. I’ve never specifically looked into this country so I really enjoy learning about it. More specifically I really enjoyed how you looked into certain artists And the detail you gave!
ReplyDeleteHey!! I really enjoyed the dancing video. I love learning about different styles of dance. I also really liked the flute video.
ReplyDeleteHey Megan! The Eskista dance looks super hard and I'm sure requires a lot of trining and practice to be able to do this without running out of breath! I'm so glad you researched a flute. It's really interesting how he plays it almost parallel to the ground but it doesn't have a head joint like the traditional flute we are used to seeing! Unlike the flute I play, this has more of a breathier sound to it like the pan flute in South America. Thank you for sharing this video!
ReplyDelete