AOS 4: World music

Set work 10: Capercaillie: Skye Waulking Song from Nadurra

(2000)
FOLK MUSIC:
FUSION
Waulking songs
Waulking is an old practice of beating material to make it flexible. The workers used to
sing whilst they did this to make the music more sociable, and to keep them all beating
in time. These folk songs were called waulking songs.
The features of waulking songs are:
Compound time signatures (where the main beat is divided into three: 12/8): this
made it dance-like and helped with the beating movement; it also kept everybody
in time.
Use of refrains.
Lyrics based on well-known story.
Use of nonsense syllables: this made it sociable because everyone could join in.
Fusion
A fusion is a mingling together of two musical styles. This piece is a fusion because it
mixes folk music and western popular music.
Folk features

Instrumentation:
o Accordion
o Whistle
o Uilleann pipes
o Fiddle
o Bouzouki

Western popular features

Instrumentation:
o Synthesiser
o Wurlitzer piano
o Bass guitar
o Drum kit

Simple chord accompaniment.

Pentatonic melody.
Use of refrains.
Use of scotch-snap rhythm (short-long).
Gaelic lyrics and nonsense syllables.

Lyrics
This song is a lament (a sad song). The lyrics tell the well-known story of a woman
lamenting her husbands deeds and his downfall (a well-known folk character, Seathan).
The slow tempo and minor tonality help to create this sad, or lamenting, mood. Each
verse consists of one line of the story repeated. The nonsense syllables are sung
between each line of each verse.

AOS 4: World music

Structure
The song is structured as a series of verses/refrains:

Intro
Verse 1
Break
Verse 2 6
Instrumental
Verses 7 and 8
Outro

Tonality
The tonality is unclear for the first few bars because of a sustained chord with lots of
added notes played on the synthesiser, but it soon becomes clear that the key is E minor.
When the chord sequence changes, the key becomes G major. For the rest of the piece it
is unclear whether the key is E minor or G major.
Harmony
Intro, verses 1 3
Key: E minor
Em

Verses 4 6, instrumental
C

G
Key: G major

Em

Em

Em

Verse 7 (only)
Am9

Em9

Verse 8
C

G
Key: G major

Outro
C

Key: G major

Key: E minor

AOS 4: World music

Set Work 11: Rag Desh

INDIAN CLASSICAL
MUSIC
This is an unusual set work because it consists of different performances which use the
same rag.
Rag
A rag is the scale used in a piece of Indian music. It is different to a Western scale in a
few ways:
There is no set pattern; i.e. every rag has a different pattern of notes.
There is one set of notes used when the rag is ascending, and a different set of
notes used when it is descending.
Each rag has a different rasa (mood/emotion).
The rag used in these pieces is Rag Desh: the rasa is associated with the rainy season,
so there is a sense of anticipation and delight.
Drone
Every piece of Indian Classical music has a drone, played by the tambura. The drone will
usually be played on the first and fifth notes of the rag.
Tal/tala
The tal/tala is the rhythmic cycle used in a piece of Indian music. The tal features
stressed and unstressed beats and is played by the tabla.
Instrumentation
Sitar: a string instrument that is plucked with a metal plectrum.
Tambura: a string instrument which plays the drone.
Tabla: a set of two drums played with hands.
Bansuri: a wooden flute.
Sarangi: a string instrument that uses a bow rather than plucking the strings.
Sarod: like a sitar but smaller and played with a wooden plectrum.
Voice.
Playing techniques
Meend: this is the technique of sliding between notes.
Tan: the rapid scalic flourishes between lines of the gat, played on the sitar or sarod.
Tihai: this is used to mark the end of a melody, improvisation or section. This is when the
tabla and soloist plays three repetitions of the same rhythmic pattern/phrase.
Sections of a piece of Indian classical music
Alap: The introduction. This section is in free time and in this section the solo instrument
improvises to introduce the notes of the rag and the rasa. The tambura plays the drone.
Gat 1: This is the composed section of the piece and is where the tabla enter and the tal
can be heard; it therefore has a pulse. The soloist improvises rapid flourishes between
lines of the melody this is called tan.

AOS 4: World music

Gat 2: This is like the first gat, but played at a different tempo.
Sections of an Indian song
In the case of an Indian classical song, the structure is slightly different. There are only
two sections:
Alap: This section is the same as in an instrumental piece.
Bhajan: This is the word for the song. Like a Gat, it is the composed part of the piece and
includes the tabla playing the tal.
*In the exam there are only three different pieces of Indian classical music that they can
choose from. An outline of each piece is below.
Exam pieces
1: Anoushka Shankar
Instruments: sitar, tanbura, tabla.
Structure: Alap Gat 1 Gat 2 (different tal and faster tempo)
2: Mhara janam maran
This is a Bhajan (a devotional Hindu song).
Instruments: voice, sarangi, sarod, tanbura, tabla.
Structure: Alap Bhajan.
Interesting features: In the Alap the sarod and voice both improvise. The sarod and
sarangi both play in the Bhajan, alongside the voice.
*You need to be prepared to compare performances of the same rag.
3: Benjy Wertheimer and Steve Gorn
Instruments: bansuri, tabla, tanbura,
Structure: Alap Gat 1 Gat 2 (different tal and faster tempo).
Oral tradition
This type of music is not written down, but is taught and learnt by word of mouth; it is
passed down from generation to generation. This is known as the oral tradition.

AOS 4: World music

Set Work 12 (last one!): Koko: Yiri

AFRICAN
MUSIC
Features of African music:
Repetition: use of ostinati.
Improvisation.
Polyrhythmic texture.
Call and response.
Pentatonic melody.
Instrumentation:
Percussion:
o Djembes.
o Talking drums.
Balafons.
Voices.
Djembes and talking drums
Drums are the most important of the African instruments. The drums play a repeated
ostinato (short repeated pattern) throughout this piece, although there are also
improvised fills. The drums provide the rhythmic drive and create a polyrhythmic texture.
Balafons
These are similar to xylophones. In this piece they play different ostinati, which together
create a polyphonic texture. Again, the balafon players improvise fills, and there is also a
solo improvised introduction.
Voices
The voices sing a simple pentatonic melody. The vocal line has a simple call and
response structure. Call and response is when a singer sings one phrase and the group
respond with another phrase.
Rhythmic features
Cross-rhythms: rhythms that cross the usual patterns of accented and unaccented
beats.
Polyrhythmic texture: a texture made up of different rhythms.
Syncopation.
Oral tradition
This type of music is not written down, but is taught and learnt by word of mouth; it is
passed down from generation to generation. This is known as the oral tradition.