Second Short Quiz

[johnkarls]

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SECOND SHORT QUIZ (PLEASE SEE ALTERNATIVE SINGLE-QUESTION QUIZ BELOW)

Since there are 52 weeks in a year, each 13-week quarter contains a 5-week gap between Reading Liberally meetings which are the second Tuesday of each month except when they conflict with religious holidays.

During each quarter's 5-week gap, we have a second Short Quiz to fill the void.

1. What historically has been meant by a "Renaissance Man"? Who was Leonardo da Vinci?

2. What is a specialist?

3. Can a given population produce more by specialization or by everyone being a "jack of all trades" (aka, "Renaissance Persons")?

4. Is this principle true on an international level as well as within a population on an inter-personal level?

5. What is the role of international balance-of-payments surpluses/deficits vis-à-vis specialization? Vis-à-vis Keynesian economics?

6. What was the famous/infamous "beggar thy neighbor" policy that had such a great role in creating the Great Depression?

7. Who were Messrs. Hawley and Smoot?

8. What was the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)? What is the World Trade Organization (WTO)?

9. What economic sector has always been an exception to economic treaties, whether the European Common Market (ECC) which morphed into the European Union (EU), or GATT which morphed into the WTO?

10. Is there another economic sector that has enjoyed semi-special status vis-à-vis economic treaties?

11. Under age-old international law, how long does a treaty last?

12. Would it be advisable, given today's economic conditions, for WTO members in general and/or the U.S. in particular to renounce the WTO?

13. How many states in the U.S. have "Balanced Budget Amendments" in their state constitutions?

14. Why did Republicans insist that the "Debt Ceiling Agreement" of last August contain a requirement that Congress vote this fall on a "Balanced Budget Amendment" to the U.S. Constitution?

15. How many co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives did the 1995 "Balanced Budget Amendment" have?

16. Did the 1995 "Balanced Budget Amendment" receive the 2/3 vote in the House of Representatives necessary to send it to the states for ratification? The necessary 2/3 vote in the U.S. Senate?

17. Does House Speaker John Boehner appear to be having "buyer's remorse" with respect to the "Balanced Budget Amendment" vote required by last August's Debt Ceiling Agreement? Why?

18. How would a Balanced Budget Amendment be enforced? Who would enforce it?

19. What is a CR (aka a Continuing Resolution)? Did President Obama and the Democratic House and Senate produce a budget in 2009? In 2010?

20. Would CR's as well as budgets have to be balanced since President Obama and the Democrats proved prior to the Republicans gaining control of the House in Jan 2011 that there is no need for the U.S. government to have a budget?

21. Would a Balanced Budget Amendment be too great an economic "straight jacket"? How did the 1995 Balanced Budget Amendment deal with economic recessions? With wars?

22. What was meant by the following labels and what are their continuing significance in the budget debates -- "guns and butter" (Lyndon Johnson), "starve the beast" (Ronald Reagan), "read my lips" (the first President Bush)?

23. What is the famous "pledge" that so many national Republican politicians have signed? How does the "pledge" related to "Taxed Enough Already" (aka TEA as in TEA Party)?


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ALTERNATIVE SINGLE-QUESTION QUIZ RE PENTATONIC SCALES

On Nov 5th, the following question was posed to 27 known classical-music lovers among the 150 recipients of our weekly e-mails.

Although the question it raises has nothing to do with this month's topic, it has everything to do with the Civil Rights movement and with African Americans in American society.

African-American Spirituals (as well as Blues and Jazz which have roots in the African-American community) are based on a five-note (aka pentatonic) scale, whereas classical music (and rock and country) are based on a 12-note scale.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=1312 is a youtube video of a Carnegie Hall fund-raiser for an inner-city charity that called attention to the fact that traditional African music is based on the pentatonic scale.

It was received from a 28th known classical-music lover on our e-mail list, along with some comments which he had received and which I interpreted to be racially prejudiced. [I dashed off some off-the-cuff comments, but didn't have time to "chase any rabbits" raised by my comments.]

Accordingly, I sent to our other 27 known classical-music lovers on Nov 5 a "heads up" concerning the youtube video with an offer to circulate a week later all of the reactions received.

However, only one comment was received.

Therefore, the original e-mail is being circulated to everyone. Please do not feel you have to be a classical-music lover to comment (or to "chase any rabbits" with research or Googling), though if you have been a covert classical-music lover, please feel free to "out" yourself.

Nov. 5, 2011
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
Re: The Pentatonic Scale and African-American Spirituals

Bcc's to --

Ken Appel - Ernst & Young Partner & Balletomane (NYC)

Sally Atkinson - Newsweek Editor & Balletomane (NYC)

Sir Arthur Collingsworth - Worldwide Philanthropist & Opera/Symphony Aficionado (Berlin, Germany)

Dan Darger - Attorney & Balletomane & Former Ballet Dancer (SLC)

Judy Donnell - Balletomane (SLC)

Bob Findling - Investment Banker & Opera Lover (Paris, France)

Leslie Francis - U/U Law Prof + Phil Dept Chair & Utah Symphony Subscriber (SLC)

John Francis - U/U VP & Utah Symphony Subscriber (SLC)

Ted Gurney - Retired U/U Biology Prof & Opera Aficionado (SLC)

Tucker (Mrs. Ted) Gurney - Retired U/U Biology Prof & Opera Aficionado (SLC)

Peggy Hatch - "The Real McCoy" = originally Viennese; Peggy's grandfather, as Austrian Prime Minister, negotiated the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1955 from Austria, the only Eastern European Country permitted to leave the Soviet bloc prior to 1989; Peggy came to the U.S. for her PhD from Harvard where she met a SLC Utahn. ["The Real McCoy" because a Viennese who is non-musical would have to be a genetic mutant!!!] (SLC)

George Kunath - Former Ernst & Young Partner & Opera Aficionado (NYC)

David Leta - Attorney & Former Board Chair of Ballet West (SLC)

Helane Leta - U/U Social Work Prof & Balletomane (SLC)

Sam and Ann Newbury - Sam is a retired Boston attorney and former junior partner of US Senator Leverett Saltonstall but former senior partner of Massachusetts Governors Michael Dukakis & Deval Patrick -- Sam and Ann are long-time front-row habitués at the Metropolitan Opera (Eastern Connecticut)

Vicky Norton-Strong - Utah Symphony Chorus Member (SLC)

Aaron Stander - Retired University English Prof & Current Whodunit Author (Interlochen MI permanently after having a life-long vacation home there)

Jeannette Swent - Ass't US Atty & PhD in Musicology from Yale U (SLC)

Tango Tanner - Attorney & Balletomane (NYC)

June Taylor - U/U Physical Chemistry & Balletomane (SLC)

Leslie Urry - Utah Symphony Chorus Member (SLC)

Bill Vogel - Retired Attorney & Opera Aficionado (SLC)

Barbara Washburn - Opera/Ballet Lover (Washington DC)

Susan Whitney - Former Salt Lake Tribune Book Review Editor + Opera Lover (SLC)

Beth Whitsett - Attorney & Former Utah Symphony Chorus Member (currently New York)

Crystal Mara Young - Utah Symphony Development Officer (SLC)

Dear Friends,

As the 27 known classical-music lovers among the 150 recipients of the Reading Liberally newsletter, it occurred that you might be interested for both reasons (classical music & liberal politics) in the following video regarding the referenced subject = http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=1312

Although this video of a non-profit fund raiser at Carnegie Hall only demonstrates "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Every Time I Feel The Spirit Moving In My Heart I Pray" as examples of Spirituals using the Pentatonic Scale for proof that the Library of Congress is correct in attributing only the text of Amazing Grace to Wintley Phipps, the former captain of a slave ship, and attributing the music to "unknown" -- you might like to experiment on the piano with your favorite African-American melodies, such as "Old Man River," to see whether they use the Pentatonic Scale.

If anyone is interested in sharing their reactions, I'll send out to the group anything that is received during the next week (be sure to mark it "not for attribution" if you want your remarks to be anonymous).

Your friend,

John K.

*****
Although not provided with the original Nov. 5 e-mail, there follow my off-the-cuff comments sent to the person who originally provided the youtube "heads up."
*****

Dear James and Mark,

I'm sure Lois didn't intend her comments to be offensive and that she was just providing some off-the-cuff random thoughts in a light-hearted manner!!!

But, for me, they certainly were extremely offensive!!!

African-Americans trying to claim that their spirituals were inspired by black keys on the piano when they likely had never seen a piano??? And, for good measure, pointing out that the performer had changed keys twice during his rendition of Amazing Grace!!!

How to begin???

You, Mark, majored in math both for both undergrad and grad school. And you, James, were engineering undergard before your MBA. So both of you understand number bases.

Music around the world has the equivalent of different number bases which must relate to how different cultures hear the harmonics of sound.

Which, I am guessing, is why music in different cultures around the world sound so alien to us - indeed, I am even guessing that, for example, traditional Indonesian gamelan music would sound just as alien to a Buddhist as it does to us.

Indeed, even in so-called Western culture, so-called classical music contains many so-called atonal works which sound alien to most of us. And, just to cite another example, a bugle is only capable of sounding a handful of notes from a traditional Western-culture scale.

So why would it be surprising that, just like Asian cultures, the music of African cultures would also be based on a different scale than the one to which we are accustomed???

A confession.

I am now going to make several assumptions because I don't have enough interest in this subject to "chase these rabbits" with actual research!!!

I am guessing that because of the physics of harmonics, many of the notes in the scales of various Asian cultures correspond to SOME of the notes in the scale to which we are accustomed.

And, as suggested by the youtube audio/video, the notes in the scale of African cultures also correspond to SOME of the notes in the scale to which we are accustomed. And I am guessing that this is also true because of the physics of harmonics.

Truly, would any of us be surprised if we were informed that it is possible to play on the piano the music of various Asian cultures??? That is, it is NOT true that only some of the notes would be playable and the rest would be "in the cracks"!!!

So now we come to Lois' "telescope"!!!

Why a "telescope"!!!

Because she is proverbially looking through the wrong end!!!

And here, I am not interested in the "red herring" of how African-American slaves became such devout Christians which, presumably, occurred after they reached America. And Lois' comment about how African-American slaves probably never saw a piano. Although I doubt the probability of Lois' off-hand light-hearted comment!!! After all, not all plantation owners were Simon Legree's!!! First, if African-American slaves became such devout Christians in America, that was probably only possible because their owners must have permitted them to attend their own religious services. And from among all the plantation owners, I am guessing that there was probably at least one in most communities that donated an old unused piano to be used in the religious services of the slaves.

Why is that a "red herring"???

Because it's the wrong end of the telescope!!!

First, the piano derived from the forte piano which derived from the harpsichord. All three instruments have the same physical arrangement of five short keys in every octave.

I have never seen a harpsichord for which the five short keys are painted black!!!

And as both of you know, I have attended more than 3,000 opera performances around the world and usually sit in the front row. And the instrumentation for many of those operas includes a harpsichord. So many have been the times that there has been a harpsichord keyboard a mere 3-4 feet in front of me.

So why did harpsichords have five short keys in every octave???

I don't know, but I am guessing that the harpsichord inventors/developers were well aware that there were important cultures whose music was played solely on those pitches.

The so-called pentatonic scale.

And, facetiously, I am also guessing that they didn't provide a separate manual (like you would see on an organ) that could be used for playing only notes that could be sounded on a bugle because, hopefully, harpsichord audiences would not fall asleep during performances.

Now, still looking through the correct end of the telescope, when did the short keys first come to be painted black??? And why???

Looking through the correct end of the telescope I am guessing that Europeans, because of their inferiority complex of being a cultural/political/scientific backwater from 800-1800 during the existence of the Arab Empire, felt they needed someone to look down upon.

And they were aware that the music of sub-Saharan African culture was based on the five short keys. Which was one of the reasons why the inventors/developers of harpsichords made them short = to facilitate playing such music.

And, along the way, someone initiated the convention of painting the short keys black, probably because Black Africa's music was based on the pentatonic scale.

*****
Until seeing Suzanne's youtube video/audio, I had never realized that African and African-American music was based on the pentatonic scale, though I had often wondered when hearing various types of Asian music what their scales must be like.

But since seeing/hearing the video/audio, I am haunted by the memory that African-American culture, like German/Swiss/Austrian Alpine culture, features prominently the use of accordions which, of course, have keyboards. And that seemingly more often than not (and perhaps only seemingly because of the psychological impact they make), the accordions of African Americans reverse the coloration of their keyboards.

As for the comment about whether Spirituals used white keys in chords, who knows whether Africans and African Americans traditionally sang in parts and, if so, whether they followed Whitey's conventions regarding other parts, if any.

And as for the comment about the singer on the tape changing keys twice toward the end, of course he was going to follow Whitey's conventions. After all, this was a fund raiser for a non-profit organization and the audio/video showed the Carnegie Hall audience was predominantly, if not completely, white.

Enough already!!!