User:Nposs/Music 250/Hmong music EDIT

Hmong music is an important part of Hmong culture. Hmong music and language are bonded closely together since Hmong language is tonal. Their words and all their poetry are sung. Also, Hmong song is used in many important rituals, including deaths and courtships.

History
The origins of the Hmong people of China and Southeast Asia was started near 2700 B.C. Some scholars belive that the hmong were located by the Yellow River in region on China.

The history time line goes something along these lines: •1790-1860 A.D.: Many Hmong migrate out of China to Laos, Northern Vietnam, and Thailand

•1963-1975: The Vietnam War and the U.S. Secret Army in Laos

•1975: Hmong Refugees Move to Thailand

•1976 to Present Time: Hmong refugees move to the U.S., France, Australia, French Guyana, and Canada

Ref http://hmongcc.org/BuildingBridgesGeneralPresentation2007Version.pdf

The Hmongs still remain in china, even though many have moved aboard. The Miao, ancient writings, are still found in China which is dated back to third century BC. The Hmong were located near Yangtze and Yellow rivers but slowly were driven off their lands which caused them to move more towards the south. Later around the 16th century the Hmong leaders got together and formed a kingdom in the central Chinese provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Henan. This kingdom held strongly for several hundred years before the Chinese government came and destroyed it. The Hmong people who survived in this fled to the mountains of Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan. This is where most of the Hmong live today.

In Hmong folktales and songs, the ancient Hmong kingdom is celebrated as a golden age. Accompanying the legend is the story of a Hmong messiah who will someday lead the Hmong people to victory against their oppressors and re-establish the ancient kingdom. It is a story that has inspired Hmong insurrections throughout the centuries. Reference http://www.cal.org/co/hmong/hhist.html

It is debatable on how and where the origins of this wonderful music formed. Music is a very important part of Hmong life, they use it for entertainment, for welcoming guests, at funeral rites, and now festivals. Hmong musical instruments includes flutes such as the dra, leaves also called nblaw, and mouth organ called gaeng. The gaeng/qeej is important instrument which is one of the base of hmong music. It is taught to everyone and kids in America are still learning how to play it. As we seen in the Miao the Hmongs are rich in oral literature.

They pass down information/history through their stories, music, poetry, and so on just to give to the next generation. Most of the stories are about an orphan who doesn’t give up, and becomes the hero they want to be. The orphan in the story is like a metaphor stating that the orphan is the hmongs and how they are without their own country, who survives wherever they go. Reference http://www.cal.org/co/hmong/hhist.html

Hmong people in The U.S
The Hmong people searched for refuge in The United States in late 1975, they came to escape the Communist rule and war in their home countries of Laos. They originally left to stay in refugee camps in Thailand but they could no longer keep up forcing the Hmong to move on. The U.S government granted them a "parole" and saw how they fought so loyally and the sacrifices they have made. The Vietnam War ripped apart many of these countries, lives, and families; they came to America in search for shelter, equality, and freedom from their dictating Communist government. The majorly of people live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and California. Other populations seek refuge in Australia, Canada, and in France. Before coming to America they endured a long strenuous terrible journey filled with death, turmoil, and agriculture destruction.

While intergrading into the American civilization there has been many hardships for the Hmong people. Learning how to speak and read English became one of the main problems for them. For the children it was much easier to learn English and American customs because of their schooling. Many Hmong children were left to teach they parent’s reading, writing and the English language. It was so important for the adults to learn English so they could get jobs and start a new life in America. Adapting to reading writing and speaking English was very difficult to the Hmong people, but even more difficult was forgetting the war and devastation they come from.

A huge obstacle was integrating their culture and adapting the American culture. Music played a big role in their everyday life in Asia. They continued to carry their music culture with them. Some rituals have stayed traditional and some have had a little bit of a change. The movie Hmong musicians in America, it was produced by Amy Catlin. It is a movie based on Hmong musicians in America. In this video it shows live performances of courtship dialog songs, a TV sitcom on a Hmong healer, the Hmong New Year Festival, Lao lamleuang folk opera, and Lao mohlam folksong with khen accompaniment. Hmong music is an oral tradition meaning that music is preformed and rehearsed by verbal memorization. The biggest music festival in the United States is the New year’s festival, it takes place in Sacramento California. At these festivals there are singing, dancing, traditional courtship, and a lot of eating, some of this food is Hmong sausage, bbq pork chops and tam som which is a type of salad. This celebration is a full day and gives the Hmong people a chance to dress in their traditional wear and remember their cultural roots.

References:http://www.hmongnet.org/publications/hmf-intro.html http://www.apsara-media.com/Hmong%20Musicians.html http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/vietnam/hmong_5-4.html

The Music
Music is a very important part of Hmong life, they use it for entertainment, for welcoming guests, at funeral rites, and now festivals. Hmong musical instruments includes flutes such as the dra, leaves also called nblaw, and mouth organ called gaeng. The gaeng/qeej is important instrument which is one of the base of hmong music. It is taught to everyone and kids in America are still learning how to play it. As we seen in the Miao the Hmongs are rich in oral literature. They pass down information/history through their stories, music, poetry, and so on just to give to the next generation. Most of the stories are about an orphan who doesn’t give up, and becomes the hero they want to be. The orphan in the story is like a metaphor stating that the orphan is the hmongs and how they are without their own country, who survives wherever they go.

Hmong Vocal Songs
Since Hmong people were not very good at reading and writing, their cultural hertiage had to be handed down in other ways. Sung poetry and story cloths were the way the Hmong people would share their cultural hertiage from generation to generation. While older songs are often memorized, singers often add to them. Nowadays, Hmong songs are poems that the singer makes up using rhyme and clever word play. Very skilled singers gain great renown among the Hmong people. There are ritual songs, courting songs, and teaching songs. Even thought Hmong may have left china, their songs still connect with the life they had there.

There are several different Hmong vocal songs like Kwv Txhiaj (storytelling songs), Zaj Tshoob (engagement songs), Ntau Txhuv (wishing songs), Laig Dab (Invitation songs), Hu plig (Spirit Invocation songs), Ua Neeb (Possession chant), Qhua Ke (Farewell to the spirit songs), and Nyiav (weeping songs).

Kwv Txhiaj is performed mostly by Hmong couples which involve comparing aspects of ones’s lover to aspects of nature. This genre tells a story or explains the details of a ritual. There are several different types of kwv txhiaj that includes love songs (kwv-txhiaj plees), a bride’s song (kwv-txhiaj ua nyab), groom’s son (kwv-txhiaj cia nyab), and many more. Here are a few examples of kwv txhiaj: kwv-txhiaj plees is a love song based on broken relationships and impractical matches. kwv-txhiaj ua nyab is a bride song which is usually a sad song about leaving their family. kwv-txhiaj cia nyab is a song sung by the groom to reassure the bride-to-be and to convince her not to abandon him. kwv-txhiaj tuag is a song about someone who has died or tells of a wish to die. kwv-txhiaj ntsuag is a orphan’s song and can be sung by a widow or a forsaken girl. kwv-txhiaj sib-ncaim is a song about separation. kwv-txhiaj ua tshoob-kos is a wedding song where the groom’s side and the bride’s side have answering parts. This genre isn’t performed a lot nowadays due to where and how the Hmong people live. Since they moved west and are living a more industrial life. Only the older generations know how to tell stories in the traditional way because Hmong people have slowly moved toward using technology more and can’t find the time to teach children kwv txhiaj. Only time kwv txhiaj is performed, nowadays, is during Hmong’s New Year Celebration, a skilled singer is usually surrounded by people with tape recorders who wants to learn kwv txhiaj style.

Instruments
Instruments used in hmong music play a large role in hmong culture. Hmong Instruments are ussually associated with hmong rituals such as hmong funerals, dating practices, marriages, offerings, ancestral rites, among others. Hmong Instruments have a unique tone quality that allows words to be herrd just by playing.

Qeej
There are many instruments known to the hmong culture, but the instrument most well known to hmong music is called a reed pipe(spelled qeej in hmong hmong writing system). The qeej(reed pipe) is an important cultural symbol that keeps the tradition of the geograpically scattered hmong alive yet today. The qeej is a very unique instrument because every note corresponds to a hmong word. The qeej is a free-reed mouth organ, which is used to play a text based melody in the middle range. It consists of a wooden wind chest, with a long horizantal tapering neck, ending in a mouth hole. The wooden section is made from two identical pieces of mahogany which is bounded together with straps. The six bamboo tubes are variously curving or straight can also change in length from the smallest for a child's instrument to about two meters for a more experience player. Each bamboo tube has a hole for fingering above the wind chest and a metal free reed over a hole in the pipe encircled within the wind chest. For extra volume, the lowest tube, which is also the thickest and shortest one, is often composed of two or three reeds. The tubes are inserted vertically through the wind chest. When the player exhales or inhales and covers one or more holes for fingering, this allows air in the tube in motion to cause a musical tone. This popular instrument is not only played at special many events such as funeral or vital spirits, but the performer often has acrobatic dances to go along with it. There are two types of qeej composition texted and textless. Both genres are played successively in rituals, including funerals, ancestral rites, offerings to vital spirits, sacrifices to the drum, and marriages.

The qeej is more than an instrument in the hmong culture. The music it plays is like an extension to the hmong language, meaning every note sybolizes its own word. To Hmong people, the sounds of the qeej is like speech and qeej players are known as story tellers performing older hmong ceremonial songs. Qeej players often also dance and perform acrabatic movements while playing. It is most often played at funerals and is an instrument that communicates with the spirit world. It is an unusual instrument because of its ability to express musically the lyrical qualities of the tonal hmong language.

Raj
The Raj (tube, flute) is a common instrument used in Hmong music. In a musical context it relates to a wide variety of areophones and is in the category of small wind instruments. There are two types of Raj’s, the Raj Nplaim and the Raj Lev Les. The Raj Nplaim is a free-reed pipe and is known to be a longer flute than the Raj Lev Les. The Raj Nplaim is the most popular to play and uses a small reed to create a buzzing tone quality. It is made in many different sizes and can have from five to seven holes. It is used by sealing your lips around the reed or by putting the top of the instrument in your mouth and blowing to make the different pitches. The Raj Lev Les is also a free-reed pipe but it is shorter and recorder-like. The Raj Lev Les can be made out of a small piece of bamboo or grass. These instruments are commonly not found in the United States and can be disposable. These instruments are known for playing words rather than melodies. This is done by setting pitches to match certain tones of words. In Laos, the Raj is commonly associated with Hmong courtship and dating practices. Young boys and girls would play songs back and forth, and without saying any words, would be able to express their feelings to each other. Another reason a Raj might be played is for entertainment purposes and can even be a way to signal others in the jungle. Although the raj was not played by everyone, most people in Laos could understand the messages played on the instrument because the pitches were based on real tones of the words. Most of these messages played by the Hmong people were either about loneliness or love. In America, the new generations of Hmong Americans have not continued the tradition of the Raj. The reasons for this are because new generations don’t have the deep knowledge of their language that playing and understanding the raj requires. Also, modern dating practices have replaced using the raj for courtship purposes. The older generations play the raj mostly for recreational purposes and at festivals to display their culture.

Ncas
The Ncas is another instrument used in Hmong music known also as the Jaw’s(jew’s) Harp. The Ncas is a six inch, thin strip of wood or brass with a blade cut out from it. It is the most poetic of all the Hmong instruments. The Ncas is played by vibrating next to the mouth while blowing air through the blade. This is another commonly used instrument in Hmong courting practices. Its soft, whisper-like sound encourages a sort of secrecy between young Hmong boys and girls in love. The Ncas is a dying tradition in courting practices of Hmong people just like the raj.

Nplooj
The Nplooj is a Leaf, usually a banana leaf, and is used by curling it up and positioning it in your mouth so it vibrates when blown. This instrument makes loud, very high pitched sounds that can be heard for miles. The varying pitches are made by pulling on the leaf and blowing to make certain tones that relate to certain words in the Hmong language. This instrument was the ultimate in portable music and because it could be made from almost any nearby plant or tree made it easily accessible for young Hmong kids. Also, this instruments was often used during times of war, where they were used as signals in combat and secret messages could be communicated with words played as melodies.

Discussions:
There are many instruments known to the hmong culture, but the instrument most well known to hmong music is called a reed pipe(spelled qeej in hmong hmong writing system). The qeej(reed pipe) is an important cultural symbol that keeps the tradition of the geograpically scattered hmong alive yet today. The qeej is a very unique instrument because every note corresponds to a hmong word. The qeej is a free-reed mouth organ, which is used to play a text based melody in the middle range. It consists of a wooden wind chest, with a long horizantal tapering neck, ending in a mouth hole. The wooden section is made from two identical pieces of mahogany which is bounded together with straps. The six bamboo tubes are variously curving or straight can also change in length from the smallest for a child's instrument to about two meters for a more experience player. Each bamboo tube has a hole for fingering above the wind chest and a metal free reed over a hole in the pipe encircled within the wind chest. For extra volume, the lowest tube, which is also the thickest and shortest one, is often composed of two or three reeds. The tubes are inserted vertically through the wind chest. When the player exhales or inhales and covers one or more holes for fingering, this allows air in the tube in motion to cause a musical tone. This popular instrument is not only played at special many events such as funeral or vital spirits, but the performer often has acrobatic dances to go along with it. There are two types of qeej composition texted and textless. Both genres are played successively in rituals, including funerals, ancestral rites, offerings to vital spirits, sacrifices to the drum, and marriages.

References: http://glnd.alexanderstreet.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/View/328656/Highlight/hmong%20music http://glnd.alexanderstreet.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/View/329103#page553;;