Track 13 from Charanga / Saydisc / Christine Richards project - 'Listen to this' for Key Stage 3.

Popular 15th century French tune arranged by Robert Morton (d.1475), from Saydisc album 'Music from the Time of Richard III', performed by The York Waits (2'44")
Main features: 15th century music, early English instruments, texture.

This 15th century song features the sackbut (forerunner of the trombone), shawm (forerunner of the oboe), cornett (a curved wooden instrument) and tabor. The learning tracks of the Track Explorer focus on instrumentation, variations of the tune and notation.

Track 15 from Charanga / Saydisc / Christine Richards project - 'Listen to this' for Key Stage 3. Traditional Spanish music from Amon Ra album 'Oboe Collection', performed by Robin Canter (1'39")
Main features: traditional European instruments of the oboe family, ostinato.
This Spanish piece features the dulzaina (a traditional folk instrument of Castile) and side drum. The Track Explorer has three learning tracks focusing on instrumentation, structure and the rhythmic ostinato.

Track 16 from Charanga/ Saydisc / Christine Richards orject - 'Listen to this' for Key Stage 3. Traditional Turkish tune from Amon Ra album 'Oboe Collection' performed by Robin Canter (2'13")

Main features: traditional European instruments of the oboe family, ostinato, circular breathing, pirouette, duple time.

This piece is played on a Turkish reed instrument, the zurna, with an accompanying drum. The Track Explorer has three learning tracks focusing on instrumentation, structure and drum rhythms.

Track 11 from Charanga / Saydisc / Christine Richards project - 'Listen to This' for Key Stage 3. Also used as track 18 of Saydisc Percussion Around the World.

Traditional music from Rajasthan, from Saydisc album 'Rajasthani Folk Music', performed by Habib and Ramjan Khan (3'47"). Main features: pentantonic scale, drone, rondo, melodic decoration, improvisation, circular breathing.

This piece of Rajasthani folk music features the use of the dadara santara, a double flute with a drone pipe and the dholak, an Indian drum. The three learning tracks of the Track Explorer focus on instrumentation, the drone and pentatonic melody.

Track 12 from Saydisc "Percussion Around the World" - notes from Maureen Hanke.

'Bunyoro Madinda' was recorded in Uganda, 1969. It is a social piece played on the madinda by a group of fishermen.

The madinda is a log xylophone. Twelve keys are placed across two banana stems and separated by tall sticks driven into the stems. The keys, in this case canoe boards, are tuned higher in pitch by cutting the lower edges of the boards and tuned lower by increasing the depth of a hand made notch in the middle of the under surface.
Formerly the instrument was played only for the important and wealthy and traditionally on the first performance a goat or cockerel was sacrificed.

The whole piece is made of many short repeated patterns. ( In a music session listen to the overall effect: a very rich overlapping texture of rhythm and pitch. )

Track 11 from Saydisc "Percussion Around the World" - notes from Maureen Hanke.
'Teso Fishermen' is a recording of fishermen who have migrated to Lake Kyoga, East Africa.
They are singing simply because they are happy.

In Africa, music is often played for rites of passages, births, deaths, puberty, marriage, for socialising, for therapy and healing.
This piece of music features instruments and music making traditional to areas in East Africa. The singers accompany themselves on the mbira (referred to in the West as the thumb piano).
The mbira is a collection of tuned metal tongues fitted to a box or a plain board in such a way that one end of the tongue can vibrate freely. The free ends of the tongues are depressed and released by the player using thumbs or fingers. Very often the sound is made to buzz by attaching shells or metal rattles to the board or the resonator or both. the tuning of the tongues varies from region to region.

( in a music session listen for the rattle. Listen and discuss the differences between the tune which is sung and the accompaniment)

Track 14 from Saydisc "Percussion Around the World" - notes from Maureen Hanke.

'Ritual Burial Dance', an African piece, features Mayinda Orawo, a highly respected chief of the Luos who is also known as the Hippo Man.
He is heard here playing a repeated pattern drum. The gourd horns, flutes, rattles and whistles create the mournful wailing of sorrow.

Track 16 from Saydisc "Percussion Around the World" - notes from Maureen Hanke.

'Bowl Voices' features the singing bowls of Tibet. It uses all the bowls to spectacular effect, particularly the very high pitched bowls and the very low ones.
Tibetan singing bowls have a unique sound and are used as an aid for meditation. The bowls are made of an alloy of gold, silver, copper, bronze, tin, lead, iron and zinc. The sound is made by running a piece of wood around the rim of the bowl, rather like running your finger over the top of a wine glass.

( in a music session, as you listen to all or parts of Bowl Voices, what images does it make you think of? )

Track 15 from Saydisc "Percussion Around the World" - notes from Maureen Hanke.

'Jameko' is a piece of music from England. It features a tabor, a type of drum which was traditionally played with the pipe. It had a snare and could be shallow, deep or very deep in size. In this piece a shallow tabor is played by a stick held in the right hand. Its main use was for dance music although it also provided a very economical one man band.

(In a music session the whole group could be asked to tap the rhythm of the tabor quietly. Give one person a tambour. Using an untuned instrument the teacher taps a short rhythm pattern - a sort of musical question - and asks the tambour player to give an answer without stopping. The tambour is then passed on to the next person. The teacher repeats the rhythm question for the next tambour player who plays an answer and passes the tambour on. Meanwhile the whole group must continue to tap the steady rhythm.

Listen to 'Jameko' again. Throughout the piece the tabor keeps a steady beat behind a series of musical questions and answers. Try to work out the structure by listening to the questions and answers. Are some questions and answers repeated? )

Track 12 from Charanga / Saydisc / Christine Richards project - 'Listen to this' for Key Stage 2. Wedding song from Rajasthan from Saydisc album 'Rajasthani Folk Music' (2'20")
Main features: instrumentation, structure. This folk song from Rajasthan features a sarangi and dholak. The learning tracks of the Track Explorer focus on structure, instrumental sections, dholak and drone.