Sierra's World Music Playlist

  Hello everyone! I'm so glad you came by because now I have a chance to share my guilty pleasure music. I love oldies but goodies and doo wop music is just that. With that said, let's go! How did Doo Wop get started? Doo wop music was created in the 1930's and 1940's but it didn't become mainstream until after World War II when they appeared on records in the 1950's and the 1960's. It started along the east coast in black communities in big cities like Philadelphia and New York, but then soon spread to Chicago and Detroit, then to the west coast. It is a sub-genre of jazz which originated from the blues. Doo wop also takes musical elements from gospel music such as the harmonized group singing and rock and roll like the energetic vocal deliverance, making it a very syncretic type of music! For some people at the time, this is rock & roll. It was very easy for young enthusiasts of the music to make their own songs or sing existing ones since doo-wop is ...

 Welcome back everyone! I hope all of you are enjoying the cooler weather and watching the leaves change colors. Today we are going to be talking about sub-Saharan Music and Culture. Despite what we see on the news, Africa is a place of color, music, dancing, singing. From mbiras to African Dance, come with me to explore the world of music below the Sahara.    Mbira I really wanted to do a section on mbiras (or kalimbas if that is what you call them) because I love listening to sound of them. In the Google Doodle video, the sound is described as somewhere between water and air. I describe it as the twinkling of the stars. A mbira is an instrument with 22-28 metal keys on a soundboard called a gwavira. While playing the mbira, you will here a metalic buzz. This buzz adds depth to the sound and is also said to clear the mind of thoughts and worries so that the music can fill your soul. In Zimbabwe, the mbira is said to have healing properties and the Shona people say that i...

  Hello everyone! Fall is finally upon us. The leaves are changing colors, the air is getting crisp and chilled. Out of curiosity, does anyone else have their taste in music change along with the season? I feel like mine does. You know what else changes? Gender roles! Gender roles in music has definitely changed over the years from jobs to clothing choices to music. Since this is for a music class, we are going to talk about how gender has changed in music and how being a biological female has affected me when it comes to music. I have never been into playing an instrument. It has never been my forte if I am being honest, but I used to be in marching band as a color guard member and one thing I remember so vividly was one of my friends was the only girl on the drumline. People always joked that she was the little sister of the group or she was just one of the guys, but she is an amazing drummer! She really enjoyed it and it made her unique. My last year of marching band, I overhear...

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog. Today we are going to look at music in South America, more specifically Brazil. Brazil is the largest country in South America and home of the Amazon rain forest. From Samba to soccer, Brazil is a culture rich country with a fascinating sense of music and rhythm. I hope you enjoy learning about Brazil as much as I did. With that said, vamos! Samba dance The mesmerizing samba dance is a dance that hails from Brazil during the time of the African slave trade. The slaves would hold on to their culture with fast paced music and dance despite the attempts from the Portuguese to stop them. Once slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, the newly freed slaves moved to the favelas. From there, they would practice their dances for the celebration of Carnival. At first, the dances were frowned upon by the upper crust. Eventually, the samba dance and music traveled through classes and boarders and is now considered one of the ballroom dances. There ar...

Blessed be everyone!  Now, this will be a blog about my particular religion/spiritual beliefs known as Wicca. Some may have never heard of it, or they think of the wicked witch of the west. While yes, Wicca can be associated with 'witch craft', please go through this blog with an open mind and an open heart. I hope you learn some interesting things about me and more importantly, you learn more about Wicca practices and it's influence on music.    So you might be asking yourself, what is Wicca and what does it have to do with music? Wicca is a form of modern Paganism. Some call it Pagan witchcraft but with that said, Wicca music takes a lot of influence in pagan folklore and beliefs. Many of the topics include Mother Nature (most commonly referred to as The Goddess), The Circle (which represents the circle of life), the Elements (fire, earth, water, air). If you listen to it, it does take on elements of music that can be found in traditional northern Europe such as Ireland...

  Hello everyone! Thank you for checking out my blog and I hope you enjoy learning more about the Native American culture as much as I have. As I’ve been learning Native American culture and music, I instantly became fascinated with the jingle dress. I thought they were beautiful and the dancing looked so fun. The story of the jingle dress varies from tribe to tribe but the story always includes a man having a dream of four women adorned in green, blue, red, and yellow dresses with metal pieces. They dance forward, they do not dance backwards or spin around and the metal on the dress would make sound. During a powwow, a very young sick girl listened to the jingle dresses and began getting stronger.Native Americans believe that the sound made from the jingle dress asks the spirits for healing.  That is why the dress is considered a healing dress. Originally, the metal pieces are made by tobacco lids curled into a cone shape. Now, you can have jingle dresses that are multiple co...

 Hello everyone! My name is Sierra Stiles and I'm a full time student at Converse College. I'm currently undecided for my major but I would like to go for math and hopefully go into the dual engineering program with a minor in ASL. I think the world of engineering would benefit by having more gender diversity as well as by having more POC. Me specifically, i would like to go into aerospace engineering which would include working on air crafts and even spacecrafts.  I grew up in a small town called Clover, which is about 30 minutes from Rock Hill. I went to Clover High School where I was a part of AFJROTC and marching band. I did 3 seasons of marching band as a colorguard member and 2 seasons of winterguard. I learned a lot about music through dance and choreography, as well as how to spin a flag, rifle, and saber. Back home, my mom and dad tell me about my younger brother joining marching band as a tuba player. I also have 2 cats, Neo and Smokie, and a chihuahua-dachshund mix ...