Jonas Hellborg
Play Better Bass
I do not think that there are a lot of people that can come up with an absolute definition of what world music is. This is a short summary of my humble view. It is a style or styles of music and instrumentation that unites musicians from all over the world to collaborate and develop a “different” sound” and it is taking the world by storm.The Bass, like in a lot of modern music styles is the heart of World music. Bass players nowadays fuse tabla, marimba, mbira, and tuba grooves, etc. and apply it to their instruments.World Music is a musical genre incorporating diverse styles from Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, South and Central America, the Caribbean, and non-mainstream Western folk sources. Initially, African popular music and world music were virtually synonymous and the genre’s biggest stars included the Nigerians King Sunny Ade and Fela Anikulapo Kuti and the Senegalese Youssou N’ Dour. Bassist and fellow Warwick endorsee Jonas Hellborg (above) has recorded dozens of albums and collaborated with various artists on some amazing world music projects. I heard him for the first time with guitar maestro John McLaughlin’s The Mahavishnu Orchestra. About classical Indian music he had this to say; “Coming from one of the world’s deepest musical traditions, Indian classical theory isn’t something you can blithely define in a few hundred words.”
Richard Bona
Here are a few basic terms to whet your appetite.
Hindustani: Heavily influenced by the influx of the Moguls into the Indian subcontinent in the 16th Century, it is the tradition of classical music generally associated with Northern India. It was made famous in the West by such players as Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussein, and its most common instruments include the sitar (long-necked lute), tabla (hand drums), and sarod (short-necked lute). It is closely related to the qawwali music of Sufi singers like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Carnatic: Regarded by some as the older of the two traditions, it is the style of classical music generally performed in South India. It has an especially rich tradition of complex rhythmic compositions, and is often performed on vina (lute), violin, mridangam (hand drum), and ghatam (clay pot). Popular performers include L. Shankar and U. Srinivas.
Raga: Somewhat akin to a Western mode, it forms the melodic backbone of a classical performance. Often with extra-musical associations (time of day, season, colour, etc.), it may or may not start or end on the root played by an accompanying drone instrument.
Tala: A metric cycle in Hindustani music. The most ubiquitous is teental, a 16-beat pattern subdivided 4+4+4+4.
Sargam: Like an Indian version of solfège, it is the solmization of the notes in a raga. Rather than “do,” “re,” “mi,” sargam utilizes the syllables sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa. “Jonas mixes Rock and Jazz with Indian Music. Go search for his videos on YouTube. It’s an education in mixing styles.
Richard Bona who hails from Cameroon, is without a doubt one of Africa’s greatest exports. His compositions naturally took in different sources: Africa, jazz, fusion… Bona is highly sought-after as an instrumentalist, and he regularly receives calls from some of the greatest musicians, including the late Joe Zawinul, Mike Stern, Bobby McFerrin, Larry Coryell, Chaka Khan and Pat Metheny. South African bassist, Bakithi Kumalo laid the solid foundation down for Paul Simon on his Graceland Album.The rhythmic feeling of two against three is very prominent in African music. (Tap on any solid surface)
Right Hand 1 * 2 * 3 *Left Hand 1 * * 2 * *
Stem up = Right Hand and Stem down = Left Hand on percussion chard below.Some of the bassists that have defined the Latin style since its initial development are: Israel Lopez, Andy Gonzalez, Bobby Rodriguez, Al McKibbon, Carlos Del Puerto and Oscar Stagnaro. These are bassists from many sides of Latin Jazz – Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Peruvian, and Argentina and are busy creating new Latin Jazz approaches. It is interesting to note that Latin music has become less “Jazzy” and more “Worldly”. You will know what I mean once you have checked these guys out on YouTube.
The line below is an example of a World Drum and Bass Groove with a Latin feel:
On the following examples, we see that the mbira (Zimbabwean instrument) lines could be used on Bass in World Music. The Bass line could be both lines on joint Treble and Bass Clefs.Turkey, Egypt and the Arab world all contribute to this style. You can see the similarity between this Turkish bass line below and a Latin Bass line.
There are many collaborations between various cultures, which could create a new aspect of music which does not already exist or remain interconnected with other elements of music around the world.
I only mentioned a few artists. There are thousands more to check out.
To make things easy for myself, I think of World Music as popular music from Latin America, Africa, and Asia and any combination thereof. You can mix it with Rock, funk, Jazz or whatever.
Since I have made World Music more prominent in my style, my journey has become one of challenged and ‘out of the box thinking.” Check it out and open the doors to he Real World
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