Hiya! Today's tasting journey stops us at a very interesting topic: Music and Religion. Let's dive into, shall we? So, religion, I'm not exactly your church girl that goes to church and reads her bible, I'm more of sees religious stuff and walks the other way. That being said there are some religions out there that, I think are pretty rad and I'd love to share them with you as well as their music.
The first cool cat up is Hinduism. In Hinduism, music is a very big deal, in a typical Hindu worship, chanting mantras and singing devotional songs, usually referred to as bhajans are everyday incurrence. Their songs are primarily used to arouse the senses and create spiritual vibrations that enhance devotion during their worship. As for chanting the mantras, this helps connect devotees to humankind and to their spirituality. Many of their chants are Vedic hymns which were composed way before any of our parents thought about having us. The Vedic seers composed these hymns in a meditative state. So when you hear this type of song it really mellows you out (at least for me it does). They even use their music as a gift to gods (I mean, who doesn't' like to be serenaded?).
When you listening to Hindi worship music it sounds a little disjunct, depending on the type of music you listen to and their texture is also monophonic most of the time. During the worship service, the priest would take the lead in the chants and songs while worshippers sang the chorus. As for the video down below, you will only see two instruments and no singers, or chanting, just two dudes having a good ole time in a temple. The video below is an Ancient Vedic hymn. I hope your ears enjoy :)
Another Religion that definitely caught my cat's meow is Vodu. I know what you're thinking, and no their religion isn't evil or filled with voodoo dolls, or spells and cures, though there is some of that in there. It's mostly based on followers asking for advice, protection, or assistance in their life. Haitian Vodou is an African religion mixed with catholicism, thus some of their music has a hint of Catholicism. Voduist usually use their music for celebrations and religious services. Both are very upbeat and incorporate a lot of dancing. Their music centered around communal singing, pair that with their fast beats, powerful singing, and the upbeat melodies, you've got yourself one heck of a pop and locking tune. Take a little listen below ;)
Let's all for now,
over and out.
Work cited:
https://www.kansascity.com/living/religion/article1363260.html
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-05-12-0605120279-story.html#:~:text=Music%20is%20essential%20to%20the,like%20jazz%2C%20in%20the%20singing.
https://people.howstuffworks.com/voodoo.htm
I just wanted to say, its okay you're not a church girl. You're amazing how you are. I love how you touched on different cultures, because I would have never even thought about checking those out.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I expected from Hindu music, but that's not what I was expecting. At times it felt slightly disorganized in the first video. It felt like they were competing to see who could be louder. The voodoo music surprised me as well; I liked how the women sang and thought it was beautiful. You presented new music to me and I enjoyed learning about the religions you chose.
ReplyDeleteI really connect with the Vodu music I really like the chanting in it. It sounds very unison and beautiful. The first song also sounds very disjunctive, usually with disjunctive music I am not really a big fan of it but this song i really like. The other song is very conjunctive however and it still has the chanting it is very interesting but it like it.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog because you focused on religions I wouldn't normally explore or ones that I haven't even heard about such as the VooDoo. I really enjoyed the voodoo music! I think that the women's voices sounded very nice. I however, did not care much for the Hindu music but that is just my personal opinion - I did think that it was interesting that they had holy music without any vocals.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on not know much about religion and walking away when religious stuff is mention. But I'm open to read about it and learn some basics. From the other music videos that I heard these music videos stood out to me. I really like the first one because it doesn't have any words. It is just two instruments playing at a tempo. I really enjoyed your post, thanks for educating us!
ReplyDelete