Israeli folk music
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain the cultural and historic context of Israeli folk music and its key musical features.
Key learning points
- Israeli folk music is influenced by various global regions and has strong ties with Jewish folk music.
- It is often used to accompany dance, in particular at celebrations and festive occasions in Israel.
- The music is energetic, upbeat and has a strong rhythmic pulse for dancing to.
- Its distinct sound comes from its use of off-beat chords, accelerando and ornamentation, including note bends.
- Typical instruments include violin, clarinet and accordion.
Keywords
Accelerando - when the tempo gradually speeds up
Note bending - when a musician ‘bends’ the pitch of a note
Ornamentation - when a performer decorates a melody with extra notes (such as trills or grace notes)
Common misconception
Israeli music is very similar to other Middle Eastern music because Israel is in the Middle East.
Israeli folk music has a very different history to other music from the region, as it was influenced by Jewish migrants from other parts of the world. Jewish folk music uses many European instruments and has similarities with European folk music.
Teacher tip
Where possible, facilitate pupils to explore note bends on instruments. These work well on bowed string and woodwind instruments, but there is a wealth of online resources demonstrating them. If MIDI keyboards have pitch bend wheels, pupils will be able to bend the notes of the melody as well.
Equipment
DAW and/or instruments for live performance
Licence
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