From Kent Williams Sent Mon, Aug 23rd 1999, 14:16
From Kent Williams Sent Mon, Aug 23rd 1999, 14:16
On Mon, 23 Aug 1999, Drusca wrote: > ChairCrusher wrote: > > > That view of melody (or more generally harmonic progression) is the > > cornerstone of western music. It took Africa (and African Americans) to > > bring rhythm and drums up to where they are co-equal with harmony > > in Western Music. > > I think rhythm & melody were on a equal level in Western music before the > introduction of African (or Asian) rhythms. There was a lot of rhythmic > intricacy in medieval music (check out Machaut & the whole Ars Nova > period) and then of course much later Stravinsky did some amazing stuff. Stravinsky was directly influenced by hearing African music in Paris. Just as Picasso was by seeing African ritual masks. > Even listen to Beethoven's 5th, I definitely think > the rhythmic development in that piece is just as important as the melodic > development. Even Brahms is famous for doing a lot of 3 against 2 stuff. It's not that rhythm is absent from Classical Music, but that it is in most cases subservient to harmony. Bach wrote dance music too, but it's definitely not about jacking your body. > I think what Africa did is introduce the west to different rhythmic > patterns and "feels" and the emphasis of different beats (2 & 4 vs. 1 & 3). > That's what I'm talking about. The whole primacy of syncopation and swing in music made in this century has a direct African lineage. The 'Bo Diddley' rhythm goes back straight to Yoruba chants, and can be heard everywhere, from Cuba to Brazil to Memphis.