- Something learned about another culture that surprised or intrigued you.
I found Arabic music to be intriguing. I loved that they slid between the notes on the piano. I loved the way that the music sounds. It was interesting to learn that they have their own strict music theory for their culture…sometimes I forget that western music theory isn’t all that there is in the world.
2. Something realized about your own culture.
Western culture needs to be more inviting. I feel like we should incorporate other cultures into western culture. I think that it would be cool to be not only trained in western music but to have an arsenal of different cultures to work with. Think about classically trained musicians from America, if they had an arsenal of different cultures, they could fit in anywhere with ease. I just feel like Western culture should be more open to the idea of other cultures. A lot of times we don’t think about music from other cultures as being important-which they are and should be treated as such-so I think there should be more of a chance to learn about these other cultures.
3. Things liked and disliked about the class.
I loved all the cultures we got to look at. Sure, I didn’t understand some of the reasons for why they used music, but it was beautiful. I also loved getting to know the different instruments that people used and how they all came to be-where they evolved from. I wish that we had infinite amounts of time to go into each culture. I know that we only got the tip of the iceberg, but I wish that this class could be a series of classes…kinda like we have Music History 1-4…we should have Diverse Cultures 1-4 or so. It would be cool to be able to stay in one culture for more than a few days and get more knowledge about that culture.
4. Something that has inspired you to learn more about.
I definitely want to look more into Arabic culture. There are just a lot of cool sounds that come out of the middle east and I want to learn more about it! I would also like to learn more about the different types of flutes in each country through their folk songs and maybe incorporate those into my senior capstone. This class has inspired me to look for music that I never thought to look for…so I thank you, Kelly Vaneman, for opening my eyes. 🙂
Music is Universal 