Wrap Up

1. What is something you learned about another culture this term that surprised or intrigued you?
I was really intrigued by the culture of Indonesia. Their culture seemed so different from our own. They live in cities and in tribes. It's amazing how so many islands can have music that is so similar. The metallic sound, arrangement, orientation, and busy atmosphere of the Gamelan Band was so mystical. They even have dancers to go along with their music. The music and dances are very much ceremonial. The performances have to be as close to perfect as possible. Those are some amazing expectations. I admire them for it. Even though they have to perform a certain way it is still very much art. That is so amazing. I thought it was interesting how some people don't view recitations as a form of song. I also liked learning about tango music. It's so upbeat and catchy. I love catchy tunes.

2. What something that you realized about your own culture through our discussions?
Wow! I was so amazed on how much of our music has come from African culture. I never realized that before our discussions. It seems like such a long journey for influence. It started with the shipping of slaves overseas. Then it started with the evolution of slave songs into country, then into blues, then into jazz, then into rock, and eventually into what we have today. I would have never ever been able to see that if I had not taken this class.

3. What is something that this course has inspired you to learn more about?
 This course has inspired me to learn more about American influence on Japanese music after the occupation of Japan in World War II. I thought it was sad that Japan's culture was modified after they were “defeated” by the united states. Nowadays, I don't think it's so bad because the people get to choose what they want their culture to be like. The occupation kind of forced the people of Japan to adapt to American culture. I think that was unfair. I also became more interested in Scandinavian music. The growling is oddly appealing to me. I don't hear many people who growl in their songs. I also liked the Scandinavian gods. Their system of belief is just so similar to that of the Greek's. Additionally, I would like to look into the hologram concert. That was so incredibly unreal! I really hope I get to go to one someday.

Cool Stuff #3

This is a music video from Indonesia. I noticed the music had Latin beat and I also heard some Latin instruments.  The singing sounds very western. I thought the video was very much a lot like a Spanish soap opera (both the music and the drama). It was interesting to see so much Latin culture in an Indonesian music video.

This is a traditional song from India. All of it is composed. I've found that  this composed song has more patterns and easier transitions from one phrase to another compared to the improvised songs that we listened to in class. I felt more comfortable with this song. It may just be because I'm so familiar to Western Music.

This is a traditional Chinese song  sung in a very modern way. They mix traditional instruments with some electronic sounds. This musical version is busier than most traditional ones. There is a baseline, melody, and a counter melody, at least. The voice of the woman is very clear and alluring.

This is a video of a Gamelan Band at a school of arts in Indonesia. I thought it was interesting to hear a Gamelan played in a school setting.

This is a man reciting the Qu'ran. I'm intrigued by the way he is chanting because it sounds like he is half talking and half singing. I found that very interesting. This is so artistic to me.

Music and Family

Me: What kind of music did you listen to as a child?

Aunt: Well, my mom would take me to the library and I remember that I would check out records from the library. I would listen to all sorts of different things.  I would play any record I had over and over again because we didn't have many records. I think because of that I learned about different kinds of music when I was young. I also remember that my mom would buy records at yard sales. For some reason there were a lot of musicals. So, I grew up listening to South Pacific, and the King and I. I don't remember any other musicals.

Me: How did you listen to the music, what technology did you use?

Aunt: All we had were record players. It would play 45 records and LPs.

Me: Okay, what sort of environment did you listen to music in?

Aunt: Most of the time I listened to music alone. Listened to the radio a lot. I remember I would listen to the radio for a song I liked.  I remember really liking the song called "Band on the Run".  I would listen to the radio all day long waiting for it to come on. It was only later, in high school, that I started listening to music with my friends. I remember that the Eagles “Hotel California” was the first album I ever bought for myself. One of my friends had it too. So then we started to listen to music together.

Me: How did your parents or teachers feel about your music of choice?

Aunt: Oh, wow! My mom was the one who would take me to the libraries to check out records and stuff. My dad was kind of upset because I was listening to Jazz in high school and he didn't like Jazz. He thought that it wasn't good music. He listened to easy listening music. I think he just didn't understand it. He also didn't think too highly of the people who played Jazz. So, he wasn't happy at all with me listening to it. But, my mom was pretty supportive.

Me: Did you play an instrument?

Aunt: Oh yeah! First, I played a violin. I only knew the words violin and piano and you're suppose to write down three different instruments. But, I only knew the names of two different instruments. Fortunately the band guy said if you don't know how to spell "saxophone" you can just spell "sax". I went ahead and wrote sax down as my third choice. I really didn't want to play violin. I wanted to play bass. Whenever I would learn about a larger instrument I would ask to play it. So, I went from violin, to viola, then to cello. I couldn't take it home or anything. I had to practice in the band room. I remember that it had metal knobs on it. Whenever I would pick it up, and bring it upright, the metal knobs would hit me in the head. It hurt. Later on, they didn't have a string program anymore so I had to switch instruments. The choices were trumpet, or saxophone. I didn't think girls could play trumpet back then. So, I played saxophone. I still liked the big instruments. One day I saw this huge case in the band room and I asked the band director what it was. And it turned out to be a beri sax. That's how I wound up playing beri sax in junior high school.

Me: Why do you listen to music?

Aunt: I guess because it's really interesting. Some music just makes me really, really happy. Such as music like "Four Seasons", or the soundtrack from the Bugs Bunny show.  I thought a lot of music was exciting. It just made me feel good. It's fun to listen to. Some music is just plain beautiful. Other times I just like to sing along to the music. Music kind of keeps me company.

Me: Were there certain situations that turned you to a certain type of music?

Aunt: Yeah. In junior high school I had a history teacher who found out that I played beri sax. He said I should listen to Jerry Mulligan. It was really cool to be in the Jazz band. All my friends were listening to Jazz. It was like everybody I knew was playing Jazz. I had some friends who went to the Berkley's School of Music to study Jazz. For a while I was really, really into it.

Me: Were you ever exposed to music outside your own culture?

Aunt:  Jazz was different from my family's culture since we are Costa Rican. My Dad listened to easy listening music. My mom would listen to Costa Rican music every once in a while on Saturdays. That's what she would use to clean to house. I liked to listen to Jazz and Western Classical music. It was very different from the Costa Rican music I grew up with.

Me: Is there anything you can say about Costa Rican music?

Aunt:  Costa Rican music is really, really energetic.What I like are the stories that some of the old Costa Rican folktales tell.  It is usually about falling in love, or how beautiful the women in Costa Rica are. That's pretty much what its about. The other cool thing that I liked was when people would play the Marimba at a Costa Rican party. There would be three, or four people playing on one Marimba. It was really cool. It has a really cool sound. The other really cool thing is that in Costa Rica they still get people to serenade at parties and birthdays. Music and performance is an important part of Costa Rican parties.

Cool Stuff #2

This was a piece created in Argentina! The music starts out calm at first and then transforms into a very catchy upbeat tune. I like this piece because of its harmony, catchy melody, and the emotion the performers put into playing the piece. This song sounds like a mixture of Latin and Western music styles. The blueprint of this piece seems like it is adapted from the Western World.

This piece from Chile has a very fast tempo! I can imagine someone getting a good work out trying to dance to this. There is a lot of repetition in this piece. It has a different time signature from that of Native American music. I'm not sure what the time signature is but I know it's not 1 beat per measure. These girls seem like they have good skills with the guitar. This song is upbeat and very busy. I was very amazed by the skills these girls had.

I absolutely loved this woman's voice! I wanted to hear what "Don't cry for me Argentina" sounded like with a singer and ensemble. I thought it was lovely. There is so much sincerity expressed from the instrument players and the singer.

I thought this song was sad, and also somehow relaxing. I loved the trumpets. This song was harmonic. It seemed like this Latin Blues song had a similar style to Western blues.

Music and Gender

When I was growing up in the late 90s, it seemed like all the girls were listening to Backstreet Boys, Nsync, Destiny's Child or Brittany Spears. My step-brother was secretly listening to these groups and he wouldn't DARE tell his friends. These groups are what my school (Rockingham Middle School) considered "girly" music. Most of the boys I knew listened to Rock, Hard Rock, or Country. If a girl was singing a Country song, it was also considered a "girly" song. It didn't matter what the song was about. If a girl was singing it, it was "girly".

 Of course, I don't agree that music has a gender, or that it can have an adjective that refers it to a certain gender. Music cannot be a "genderist".


In the 1970s, when my aunt attended her high school band in New York, she was a saxophonist. She never agreed with the gender roles that U.S. society pressed on her. I think she subconsciously picked the saxophone because it was considered more of a "male" instrument. She even went to "All-State" in New York because of her skill. In her high school band days all of the females played flute or clarinet. The band was somewhat disproportional because there were so many flute and clarinet players. Her band consisted of about half males, and half females. All the flute and clarinets players were female. There was one female saxophonist, my aunt. The tuba, trombone, trumpet, and percussion sections consisted of all males.

When I went to high school, I was a flute player. Yeah, I know. I'm disappointed I give in to a "female" instrument. But, I loved playing it so much!

Anyways, when I was in high school band, the instrument "gender" changed quite a bit. The flute and clarinet players were all female. The trumpet section had one female. The trombone section had all males. The french horn section had one player who was female. The saxophone section had two females and one male. The tubas were all male. The percussion section consisted of one female and five males.

 There are many "gender roles" that society has made up. They often change with time. Sometimes, I think it's best to just ignore them. Society is made of people, and people can make such a big deal of trivial things. If no one in society changes, then society will never change. So no matter your gender, play whatever music or instrument your heart desires.

Just Something I Wanted to Write About: Psychology and Music Culture

This is not to be graded or anything. I just wanted to write about this because it is very interesting to me and maybe someone else might also enjoy it.

Psychology and Music Culture
January 9, 2011

I often listen to different kinds of music depending on my mood. When I’m happy I listen to happy music like Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”. When I’m feeling blue I listen to music by Evanescence. Even though I listen to music depending on my mood, it’s not always a good thing. Music has been shown in studies to have an impact on mood. So if I listen to sad music when I’m already pretty blue I’m likely to get even more depressed. If I listen to heavy metal when I’m already angry, I will likely get angrier. This is why I don’t listen to heavy medal at all. Heavy medal music is VERY stressful for me.


I believe the type of music a city, state, country, etc. listens to and performs may help indicate the values of that selected locale. Kind of like a national anthem, in a way. We can often distinguish 80s music from 90s music pretty easily. Why is there such a distinction? This is because society and everything else changes in time. Sometimes the cycle of what’s popular is faster than at other times. This has a big influence on music culture.


Music culture can also be influenced by social pressure like, for example, how a student in China with limited knowledge of the United States might want listen to North American music because they feel like they have to learn English and more about the North American culture in order to have a better chance to get into an United States university. Currently, it seems like much of the world is into the United States culture. I believe this might have to do with people believing the United States is a “superpower”.


I read this interesting article that mentioned an experiment done with mice. One group of mice was exposed for 24 hours to heavy metal music and the other group to classical music. The experiment was performed to see how the music affects learning ability. During the first attempt of the experiment all the mice exposed to heavy metal killed one another. So, the second experiment was done only for 10 hours. The second study showed that the mice exposed to Mozart had greater maze solving skills versus the mice exposed to heavy metal whose maze solving abilities actually became worse (Reference: http://www.suite101.com/content/the-psychology-of-music-a45967). So, if you’re about to do a test or just trying to figure out life, it may be a bad idea to listen to heavy metal. This is because heavy metal apparently clouds thinking. Instead maybe rock out to Mozart or one of your other favorite classical composers!

Cool Topic: Native America and Africa

I felt inspired that native american music was being exposed to schools! And the kids look like there really into it! I feel like this gives some hope of passing on the Native American culture!

I thought it was so cool to see this Japanese girl being so involved with the african music culture.

I thought this was a nice picture because it shows the Native Americans dancing and singing around the campfire for the "great spirit".