Music of the World - Essay Example

Music of the world Introduction Culture is a way of life of a people that varies from one region of the world to the other. Peoplein this context can thus be defined in accordance with their nature of beliefs, their eating and dressing habits as well as their social practices including during leisure time. Music is a critical component in the definition of the culture of a people. It helps in the portrayal of the historical background of the people as well as helps in defining the belief orientation of the people. Some scholars in the field of music have argued that music is a universal language that tends to portray the same message irrespective of the cultural background with which it is developed and utilized (Bennett, 2008). In an attempt to understand the universal nature of music, one would ask the validity of music as a universal language. This paper will thus attempt to analyze music in respect to an international platform with a categorical focus on the Chilean new song movement as a discussion point to substantiate the notion of music being a universal language. This will equally be assessed through a comparison of the two-music kind to understand the position of music as a universal language Music as a universal language In the nineteenth century, an American poet (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) stated that music is a universal language for humankind, a notion that has been widely accepted by most people globally. In validating the claim of music to be a universal language, researches were conducted by the Canadian universities of McGill and University of Montreal in collaboration with scientists from Technische Universität Berlin. According to the research, some music compositions were played to the pygmies in the rainforest of Congo, being among the most remote and isolated people in the world and their reactions to the tunes recorded. The results of these recording were thus compared to those of the Montreal residents who were exposed to the same melody. The research found that the music caused similar feelings and emissions among different people of the world irrespective of the language used in the song (Patel, 2003). Other scholars in support of the idea that music is a universal language have pointed to the earliest days of man’s development as a proof of music being a universal language. According to anthropological studies, music was the mode of communication of the early men; thus, the language was the same for all races and groupings of men. In this regard, music has remained to be “stuck” in the subconscious mind of “man” even to the current generations. Charles Darwin first proposed the idea of music being used as the mode of communication by the early men in a theory called proto- music theory. According to this theory, music is older and more instinctual to humans than the current human speeches. A cording to Pinker (a psychologist), music makes use of the existing neurological pathways that evolve to process speech. Music incidentally stimulates emotions in a manner that could be compared to an “auditory cheesecake”. Ellen Dissanayake (an anthropologist) argues that mothers and infants communicate through a sort of proto- musical language that is universal for all mothers and infants all over the world (Letts, 2007). Chilean New Song Movement The new song movement (Nueva canción) is a genre and movement within Latin America that is a folk-inspired music and socially committed music. The new song movement is recognized for having played a pivotal role in the social upheavals in Spain, Portugal and in the Latin America during the 1970’s and 80’s. The kind of composition first came to light in Chile in 1960’s. The musicians of this category often faced censorship, torture by the right wing military dictators and exile. Nueva canción songs bore strong political sentiments, some of which have been used even among the most current political campaigns. The basic question in the analysis of the Nueva canción is the effects of the genre type in an international setup. The ability the Chilean genre creation to stir political recognitions in other nationalities like in Spain Portugal and the Latin America has often aroused the discussion of music being a universal language. This has been orchestrated by the notion that the same effects a particular kind of music can achieve in one society would be the same when the musical kind is applied in another society. Music is not a universal language In as much as most scholars and theories have been developed to elaborate the possibility of music being a universal language, the fact is that music is a form of culture that takes a cultural orientation approach, and so as cultures differs, music equally follow the trend. Music in simple terms can be defined as any means of conveying information and communication of ideas. In the same way languages differ, so does music from different cultures differ in the same manner an Indonesian may not be able to understand English, a person from the Indonesian culture may not be able to understand the power of a solo guitar (Masataka, 2007). Moreover, in the same manner, just as most Americans cannot comprehend anything of the Japanese language, they cannot be able to understand the philosophical implications of the Japanese sankoku. Thus implying that the ability to hear a song is not tied to the interpretational ability of the some to its intended effect on a person from a different culture other than the cultural origin of the song. In a means to disapprove the notion of music, being a universal language is through analysis of the function of music as employed by people from different cultures around the world. In this regard, it is known that different cultures use music differently for their benefit. Music is thus viewed differently by people across the world and used to communicate different aspects of life (Cross, 2011). Thus, the fact that the rhythms of the music from different cultures could bare resemblance; it does not mean that the two musical kind communicate the same aspects. It must be understood that all cultures in the world have some form of music, and in an attempt to understand the form of music of these cultures, people draw boundaries closer. Music in itself is one form of the most powerful intercultural interactions. Thus, one may feel a musical kind that is played to a particular group of people has the same effects as It has on the other group, without knowledge that interaction in the musical kinds has occurred thus negating the notion of isolation nature of people who are exposed to experimental music analysis. Comparison of the African rumba and the western pop music Rumba is a family of rhythms and dance that originated in Africa and extended to Cuba by the Africans taken to the continent during the slave trade. The form of music is secular with no religious connection. In Africa, rumba is a form of music that is mostly played and produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo where it is widely known as sokus and Lingala in East Africa (Daniel, 2009). This is a music kind played using the Lingala language and takes a form of slow rhythm with little tonal variations during the course of the music. However, in the modern musical production, rumba is mixed with kwasa kwasa that gives it a faster tempo. The music is played with no intent of appeasing any religious sect or organization; thus, it is a form of music that is widely accepted by people in Africa irrespective of the gender, creed or religious affiliation. The main intent or motive of the music king is for entertainment, thus the kind of music is normally played in a relaxed mood and does not provide stronger emotional attachment, but brings about a light mood to the listener. Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the west. Pop music originates from rock and roll making the musical type be an extremely eccentric one. The pop music borrows stylistic elements from other genre including the urban, rock and dance. The elements that define the pop music are that it is written in a basic format, employ repeated chorus and melodic tune. Pop music tends to be an aggressive kind of genre with the singers and the dancers motivated by the immense amount of energy spent in singing and dancing the song (Spicer, 2014). Despite the fact that both rumba and pop are musical kinds, the communication derived from pop is not the same that is derived from rumba. To a rumba listener, pop music could be termed as a noise in the ear and the reaction that a rumba listener may manifest would not be the same as the one a pop lover would express if both are exposed to the music. This implies that even though music can possess a melodic characteristic and elicit a reaction from a listener, it does not communicate the same information from one audience to another. A comparison of the nature of rumba and pop music is thus a disapproval of the popular notion that music is a universal language. References Bennett, A. (2008). Towards a cultural sociology of popular music. Journal of Sociology. Cross, I. (2011). Music, cognition, culture, and evolution. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 930, 28–42. Daniel, Y. P. (2009). Ethnography of Rumba: dance and social change in contemporary Cuba. Dissertation Abstracts International, 50, 3275. Letts, R. (2007). Music: universal language between all nations? International Journal of Music Education. Masataka, N. (2007). Music, evolution and language. Developmental Science. Patel, A. D. (2003). Language, music, syntax and the brain. Nature Neuroscience, 6, 674–681. Spicer, M. (2014). (Ac)cumulative Form in Pop-Rock Music   . Twentieth-Century Music. Read More