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Daily Archives: November 16, 2022

Limo Blog 7

I decided to do some research on the Christian religion to learn more about how they use music within their religious practices to express and share their beliefs. I myself am Catholic and I know that some Catholic beliefs in fact overlap with Christain beliefs since they originated in the same place.  According to the textbook, “Within Christianity, there are a variety of chant styles, including Russian Orthodox chant, the Byzantine chant of Greece, Ethiopian Orthodox chant, and Anglican chant.” Christianity was known as the dominant religion of Europe since the 4th century. This is mainly the reason why this religion has many chant styles since they had many religious followers located all over different parts of Europe that spoke different languages. The language was never a problem for religion because it can always be translated. These types of chants were spread through oral tradition and passed through generations of families. This also gave the chants the opportunity to be spread through trade. According to the textbook, “A monk or priest could then bring the chant to a distant community and teach it to the Christians there. This was risky, however, for music in the oral tradition usually changes over time and distance as individual musicians forget how it goes, commit errors, or make intentional alterations.” At the time these chants were being spread through Oral tradition when the Roman Catholic Church was becoming powerful over people in Europe. This led to many religious wars over who was or wasn’t catholic in catholic lands that were ruled by catholic royals. The ideas of Martin Luther impacted the power of the Catholic Church by stating his 95 theses. His main purpose was to write about what was wrong with the Roman Catholic Church. One of his concerns was how the Catholic hierarchy was preventing Christians from experiencing a direct relationship with god. 

A Christain chat that is well known since the late 1700s is “Amazing Grace”. It’s categorized as a Christian hymn written by John Newton. He wrote this song for Christians to sing and express their religious beliefs. It can be expressed as a harmonic singing song that creates a gateway for spiritual experiences. This song is part of the Georgian chants and part of Christianity. This piece of music expressed religious belief because the lyrics can be sung from the perspective of a person expressing how they communicate with god. Often people who follow. religion pray to their god to praise him or thank him, and this song is a perfect example of just that. 

Padda Blog 7

A religion that uses music I’d like to discuss is Sikhism. It is a monotheistic religion that I personally follow and have family that follow it as well. Music plays a major role in our religion, during times of prayer at Gurduwaras (the house of prayer for Sikhs), we often play “Kirtan”. Kirtan is a major part of Sikhi and many different gurus (people who have devoted their lives to Sikhism) learn to play it. As Ajit Singh Paintal describes it in his document ” Sikh Devotional Music – Its Main Traditions”, “Kirtan is music which overflows with devotion for God, and sings his glory” ( Paintal 19).

A certain Kirtan I would like to talk about is the “Rehras Sahib”. It is an evening prayer for Sikhs and worships our god. It is actually not a Kirtan but many different gurus have converted it into Kirtans and often use different musical elements. For example, in this video I have linked below, you can hear tablas and harmoniums being used. The voice of the guru goes through many different pitches and changes timbre quite frequently throughout the composition. It expresses religious belief through building a greater connection with god during the evening time.

YI Blog 7

Music plays a large role in the religion of Buddhism. Most Buddhist practices involve chant in some form, and some also make use of instrumental music and even dance. Music can act as an offering to the Buddha, as a means of memorizing Buddhist texts, and as a form of personal cultivation or meditation. Music is mentioned throughout Buddhist writings such as “The Amitabha Sutra”, the scripture mentions how heavenly singing and chanting can be heard in the Pure Land, as mandarava flowers softly rain down from the sky. In the Pure Land, one can always hear birds making beautiful, harmonious music. Animated by a gentle breeze, the movements of jewel trees ring out in melodious chords, as if thousands of gentle tunes are being performed in harmony. Upon hearing their song, those present naturally recollect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. In another Buddhist text, the “Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise”, states that “For bodhisattvas to purify the Buddha land, they seek out beautiful music, wishing that sentient beings in that land can hear the music and soften their hearts, making them easier to transform. This is why music is given as an offering to the Buddha.” Music is very important to the religion of Buddhism as is shown how it is mentioned several times throughout its scriptures and writing. Music plays a variety of roles such as calming one’s mind and allowing the disciples to open their hearts to the teaching of Buddha. The chant/music of Buddhism is very synchronized. Each chant performed by the disciple are in sync and performed in a similar vocal tone. The chat starts off with a chime from a bell, the sound of the bell starts off loud and clear and then starts to gradually fade. We can also hear a drum-like instrument behind the voice being hit while the chant is being performed. Occasionally we hear a bell-like instrument ringing behind the voices. This music expresses religious belief because it incorporates the chant of the mantras. Instead of using lyrics, the Buddhists incorporate mantras so that they are able to memorize and better understand them. 

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