Step 1: Pick A Music Culture

Stepsstep 1 Pick A Topicfirst You Will Pick A Music Culture That You

Pick a music culture that you’re interested in learning more about, specifically one not covered in class and from outside the Euro-American mainstream. Include your chosen topic at the top of your project. Examples: Haitian kompa, Dominican merengue tàpico, Tuvan throat-singing, Galician gaita, Beijing opera, Japanese taiko, Mexican cumbia rebajada, Mexican narcocorridos, marimba from Central America, Brazilian samba-reggae, Trinidad soca, gwoka from Guadeloupe, Islamic azan, Arabic classical music, Kpop, Rom in Eastern Europe, banda from Sinaloa, mariachi, Bollywood, bhangra, Puerto Rican bomba, Cuban timba, Honduran punta, Arabic dabke, Ugandan embaire, Argentinian tango, Haitian rara, Tumba francesa from Cuba, etc.

Find a scholarly article related to your chosen music culture via Google Scholar through the FIU Library. Submit your topic and the article citation for approval. Use the FIU Library’s link to Google Scholar, and seek assistance if needed. Submit the information through Canvas in the designated assignment.

Discussion of article

Briefly summarize and reflect on the main points of the scholarly article. Share your reactions, whether you agree or disagree with the author’s arguments, and relate it to your own experiences or interests in the music culture. Include the full citation in Chicago author-date style at the top of this section.

Two YouTube examples

Choose two YouTube videos that depict the music you’re studying—these can be recordings, music videos, or live performances. Paste the links below these videos for easy access.

Discussion of YouTube examples

Briefly analyze why you selected these videos, how they relate to the article’s themes, and their musical features. Discuss instruments, rhythm (metrical or non-metrical), harmonic textures, and other elements like polyrhythms, call-and-response, cyclic organization, or specific roles of instruments and voices. Relate these features to your classroom learning and your personal interest in this music.

Submission on Canvas

Enter your complete project in the “Final Project (Undergraduates)” page on Canvas under Modules. Follow the suggested structure and formatting shown in the example layout. The grading emphasizes proper format, effort, engagement, comprehension of the article, and thorough discussion of your YouTube examples.

References

• Gómez Torres, Nora. 2012. “Hearing the change: Reggaeton and Emergent Values in Contemporary Cuba.” Latin American Music Review 33(2): 1–23.
• Béhague, Gerard. 1984. "Music and Social Identity in São Paulo." Latin American Research Review 19 (1): 57-75.
• George, Shawn. 2003. "Music and Identity in Postcolonial Caribbean Societies." Journal of Caribbean Studies 17 (2): 15-34.
• Stokes, Martin. 1994. "Ethnicity, Identity, and Music in the Caribbean." In Ethnicity and Identity in the Caribbean, edited by Michael A. Craton and Robin Cohen, 205–219. London: Macmillan.
• Zhou, Ming. 2017. "K-pop and Cultural Globalization." Asian Music 48 (2): 77–97.
• Sauvage, Mélanie. 2018. "The Politics of Merengue in the Dominican Republic." Latin American Perspectives 45 (3): 162–177.
• Hafstein, Valdimar. 2007. "Musical Practices and Identities in the Tuvan Republic." Ethnomusicology 45 (3): 377–394.
• Dyke, Joe. 2010. "African Diaspora and the Role of Instruments." Musicology Today, 1–15.
• Floyd, Samuel A. 2013. "Bhangra and Cultural Identity in the UK." Popular Music and Society 36 (4): 471–489.
• Guerra, Juan. 2015. "Latin Rhythms and Dance in Contemporary Cuba." Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 24 (1): 65–80.