%0 Journal Article
%T Context-Related Melodies in Oral Culture: An Attempt to Describe Words-and-Music Relationships in Local Singing Tradition
%A Taive S£¿rg
%J Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
%D 2009
%I University of Tartu, Estonian National Museum, Estonian Literary Museum
%X 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.
%K ethnomusicology
%K regilaul
%K formula melody
%K folk song improvisation
%K folk singer
%U http://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/20