What do you think?
Rate this book
Popular World Music
Exploring Popular World Music is the first introductory level text written to introduce students to popular music styles from around the world. Focusing on styles that all students will know -- from Reggae to Klezmer, from Afro-Pop to Kodo drums--the book offers a comprehensive, listening-oriented introduction to the world's popular musical cultures.
Each chapter will focus on a specific music style and its associated geographic locale. The salient musical and cultural features associated with each example are discussed in detail to increase our appreciation of the music. Relevant artists will be highlighted and suggestions for further reading and listening will be offered. By the end of the book, the student should be able to 1) recognize a variety of world music styles, 2) articulate musical and cultural knowledge associated with each style, and 3) identify important artists related to the genre.
Supplementing the text will be a web site fcreated by the author) featuring the author's world music map, enabling students to explore pop music cultures as they relate to each other; as well as an iTunes playlist for all the highlighted selections in the book. This book should strongly appeal to Intro to World Music Courses for non-majors who wish to study popular rather than traditional musics of the world, which would encompass a large majority of students enrolled in these courses.
Each chapter will focus on a specific music style and its associated geographic locale. The salient musical and cultural features associated with each example are discussed in detail to increase our appreciation of the music. Relevant artists will be highlighted and suggestions for further reading and listening will be offered. By the end of the book, the student should be able to 1) recognize a variety of world music styles, 2) articulate musical and cultural knowledge associated with each style, and 3) identify important artists related to the genre.
Supplementing the text will be a web site fcreated by the author) featuring the author's world music map, enabling students to explore pop music cultures as they relate to each other; as well as an iTunes playlist for all the highlighted selections in the book. This book should strongly appeal to Intro to World Music Courses for non-majors who wish to study popular rather than traditional musics of the world, which would encompass a large majority of students enrolled in these courses.
196 pages, Paperback
First published October 5, 2010
9 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 22, 2018
I went to grad school with Andrew Shahriari, so I’ve been excited to read his textbook on global pop music. I was curious to see how he decided to cover such a big topic, and I knew I’d learn a lot as I read.
Actually, my favorite thing about the book is that Shahriari has done away with the accompanying CD package that’s typical of music survey textbooks. Usually these CD sets are extremely expensive, and if (as often happens) there’s not time in the semester to teach everything in the book/CDs, then students can feel justifiably ripped off by the huge costs. What Shahriari has done instead is what many of us have been doing in the last several years anyway: he says, essentially, “Look, all this stuff is online if you just search for it. So go find it for free.” That’s really a relief, and cuts the cost of taking a class by half or more. Bravo!
The content of the book is a lot of fun. Shahriari proceeds region by region, highlighting a few of each area’s most popular music genres. Obviously, this leaves out a lot that might have been included, and the brevity of the chapters means there’s a priority on breadth rather than depth. That’s one of the tough choices to make in crafting any music survey textbook, and I think here it works fine. The quick pace allows professors to go into greater depth in any of their specialty areas, but in other areas it’s possible to experience a bit of the music and then move on more quickly. While my preference would be more depth—more discussion of the connections between music and the other arts, culture, religion, and history—there is enough here for a professor to begin with, should it be appropriate to dig into one or more areas a little more comprehensively.
The personalities Shahriari highlights are among the most important to be aware of in the world: Lata Mangeshkar, Umm Kulthumm, Bob Marley, Tito Puente, and many others. For me, there were no surprises in these choices, and that’s not a problem. It would be great for students coming out of a course with this textbook to be at least a little familiar with these names that are so influential in other parts of the world.
It’s hard for a textbook to be on the cutting edge of what’s current, and for a pop music–focused book, it’s a special challenge. There is some attempt to reference up-to-the-moment trends, but the book focuses mostly on genres and icons of a generation or more in the past. In future editions, for example, I would expect more coverage of K-pop, in light of the growing global popularity of BTS and other groups. I’d also like to see more focus on methods of discovering and exchanging music. Many parts of the world now have access to cell networks and the internet, and so music is increasingly shared online, not on cassettes or CDs. It would be interesting to discuss that change and what it’s meant for performers, traditions, and listeners.
I’d enjoy the chance to teach this book. I think it opens a lot of opportunities for really enjoyable class sessions and supplementary projects.
Actually, my favorite thing about the book is that Shahriari has done away with the accompanying CD package that’s typical of music survey textbooks. Usually these CD sets are extremely expensive, and if (as often happens) there’s not time in the semester to teach everything in the book/CDs, then students can feel justifiably ripped off by the huge costs. What Shahriari has done instead is what many of us have been doing in the last several years anyway: he says, essentially, “Look, all this stuff is online if you just search for it. So go find it for free.” That’s really a relief, and cuts the cost of taking a class by half or more. Bravo!
The content of the book is a lot of fun. Shahriari proceeds region by region, highlighting a few of each area’s most popular music genres. Obviously, this leaves out a lot that might have been included, and the brevity of the chapters means there’s a priority on breadth rather than depth. That’s one of the tough choices to make in crafting any music survey textbook, and I think here it works fine. The quick pace allows professors to go into greater depth in any of their specialty areas, but in other areas it’s possible to experience a bit of the music and then move on more quickly. While my preference would be more depth—more discussion of the connections between music and the other arts, culture, religion, and history—there is enough here for a professor to begin with, should it be appropriate to dig into one or more areas a little more comprehensively.
The personalities Shahriari highlights are among the most important to be aware of in the world: Lata Mangeshkar, Umm Kulthumm, Bob Marley, Tito Puente, and many others. For me, there were no surprises in these choices, and that’s not a problem. It would be great for students coming out of a course with this textbook to be at least a little familiar with these names that are so influential in other parts of the world.
It’s hard for a textbook to be on the cutting edge of what’s current, and for a pop music–focused book, it’s a special challenge. There is some attempt to reference up-to-the-moment trends, but the book focuses mostly on genres and icons of a generation or more in the past. In future editions, for example, I would expect more coverage of K-pop, in light of the growing global popularity of BTS and other groups. I’d also like to see more focus on methods of discovering and exchanging music. Many parts of the world now have access to cell networks and the internet, and so music is increasingly shared online, not on cassettes or CDs. It would be interesting to discuss that change and what it’s meant for performers, traditions, and listeners.
I’d enjoy the chance to teach this book. I think it opens a lot of opportunities for really enjoyable class sessions and supplementary projects.
Displaying 1 of 1 review