Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing Tradition

In oral folk song traditions we often find many lyrics, but not nearly as many melodies. The terms “polyfunctionalism”, “group melodies” or “general melodies” have been used by Estonian researches to indicate the phenomenon that many lyrics were sung to only one, or a small handful, of tunes. The sc...

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Main Author: Taive Särg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2011-03-01
Series:Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/20
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author Taive Särg
author_facet Taive Särg
author_sort Taive Särg
collection DOAJ
description In oral folk song traditions we often find many lyrics, but not nearly as many melodies. The terms “polyfunctionalism”, “group melodies” or “general melodies” have been used by Estonian researches to indicate the phenomenon that many lyrics were sung to only one, or a small handful, of tunes. The scarcity of melodies is supposed to be one of several related phenomena characteristic to an oral, text-centred singing culture.In this article the Estonian folk song tradition will be analysed against a quantity of melodies and their usage in the following aspects: word-and-melody relationships and context-and-melody relationships in Karksi parish (south Estonia); a singer; and native musical terms and the process of singing and (re)creation.
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institution Kabale University
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series Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
spelling doaj-art-6e205417a8b2407faa74a1120f9598442025-02-02T18:36:54ZengSciendoJournal of Ethnology and Folkloristics1736-65182228-09872011-03-0131355620Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing TraditionTaive Särg0Estonian Literary MuseumIn oral folk song traditions we often find many lyrics, but not nearly as many melodies. The terms “polyfunctionalism”, “group melodies” or “general melodies” have been used by Estonian researches to indicate the phenomenon that many lyrics were sung to only one, or a small handful, of tunes. The scarcity of melodies is supposed to be one of several related phenomena characteristic to an oral, text-centred singing culture.In this article the Estonian folk song tradition will be analysed against a quantity of melodies and their usage in the following aspects: word-and-melody relationships and context-and-melody relationships in Karksi parish (south Estonia); a singer; and native musical terms and the process of singing and (re)creation.https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/20ethnomusicologyregilaulformula melodyfolk song improvisationfolk singer
spellingShingle Taive Särg
Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing Tradition
Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
ethnomusicology
regilaul
formula melody
folk song improvisation
folk singer
title Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing Tradition
title_full Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing Tradition
title_fullStr Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing Tradition
title_full_unstemmed Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing Tradition
title_short Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing Tradition
title_sort context related melodies in oral culture an attempt to describe words and music relationships in local singing tradition
topic ethnomusicology
regilaul
formula melody
folk song improvisation
folk singer
url https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/20
work_keys_str_mv AT taivesarg contextrelatedmelodiesinoralcultureanattempttodescribewordsandmusicrelationshipsinlocalsingingtradition