To sum it all up...

     Throughout the blog entries, I have come to realize that music is one of the most valued ideas or concepts all across the world.  In many of the countries that we visited during these past few weeks, we have discovered that music can be universal because of the complexity of music.  While discovering all of the different types of music that exists, I decided that music is such a complex subject that it is able to do many things throughout the world.  There are many websites and organizations all around the world that truly portray the importance of music because it allows us as a community to express what we love to do most.  There are so many more countries all around the world that value music more or less, but the most important theme that I have learned while writing these blogs is that music has the ability to connect the world through such a simple yet complex theme of music.  Aside from all of the problems that we face, such as war or issues, music has the ability to connect us in a way where we are able to express our own thoughts and our own styles in a particular way of life.  This website is truly an exceptional website that portrays a wonderful organization of music all around the world.


PLAYING FOR CHANGE

     If you click on this link, you will be awed by the fact that there are organizations that do exist to this day.  People all around the world are able to express their thoughts and their views on what music is to them.  This website also portrays the many different types of music that does exist all around the world.  This source is a foundation that has started a project to gather musicians that have once inspired people with their music in the past.  They go around the world to see the different types of musicians that do exist and they film these musicians and post them on this website.  They provide music education to the less fortunate and they do this for the less fortunate.  This is an honorable organization because these people believe that music should be something that can make drastic change in the world that we live in today.  Although we do not have a way to meet with people all across the world, events like this truly help us understand that the world we live in today can be expressed in ways through one website.

     This topic of music has helped me to understand the different aspects of music, such as the different instruments of music, the different types and genres of music, the different performances, the different musicians, the different cultural background of music and the different purposes of music.  I truly do hope that through all of this research, you as the reader, were able to understand the different topics of music that can exist throughout the world.  I hope that this will help you to move forward with the dreams that you have in life an I hope that you will be able to see the different changes that can occur throughout the world just through music itself.  Let us fight for all the things that we desire in this world, before it is too late.  So I leave you with this.  Never stop following what you believe in because of the lack of resources but there is always a way.  Personally, I will fight for my passion of music in the ways that I desire and I hope that this will make a difference to you as well.

Music Unites the People

      Music has been around for quite a while now and it has come in many shapes and forms.  We have experienced great music and we have all experienced music that does not suit our ears.  There are different cultures within the type of music that we listen to because of the fact that there are so many types of music that is presented.  Today, we will discuss the importance of music in the Middle East.  This will be interesting to see the similarities and differences of the music from a region that is extremely different from the United States.  These similarities may be able to show us that we can relate to people that we are even in war with because of the powerful idea of music.

      Music in the Middle East is shared throughout the culture through fine poetry, music improvisation, musicals, entertainment, weddings, meditation and much more.  These are very similar to the way that music is utilized in all of the other countries that we have been able to study so far.  Improvisation is a large subject matter in the Middle East that is highly valued.  There are many performer in the Middle East that use improvisation according to the specific occasion.  The leader of the musicians at an occasion takes charge and begins this performance and then the rest of the member start to play along.  This improvisation gives the opportunity to these musicians to really give all that they have to music at the time being.  Improvisation is a huge skill that is valued among many artists and musicians because not everyone can do this.  It is actually very difficult because there is no set way to play, however the musicians have to follow the leader and play accordingly without making any mistakes.  

       

A woman is playing the hammered dulcimer and she is actually practicing improvisation

     In Middle Eastern music, there is a lot of performance that goes on and there are many audiences that enjoy this, who complement these artists and clap along to show their respect.  There are many times where people will start to play certain music and it will get a crowd to join along and make harmonic sounds.   A famous instrument, called the drone, is a popular instrument that is utilized among different people in the Middle East and these can be drone strings, hammered dulcimer, sympathetic strings, and long necked plucked lutes.  This instrument is available for fiddling and for people who desire to join in all together.  Some very popular contemporary musical instruments in the Arab world consist of Short and Long necked lutes, Chordophones, Idiophones, bowed fiddle, flutes, trumpets, different types of drums and much more.  These instruments are employed in so many ways throughout cultural music and even contemporary music that the Middle East has today.  It amazes me to see the different types of instruments and techniques in order to make beautiful music and sounds.

     This information helps us to truly open up our eyes to see what is our there in the world besides where we are living as of now.  There is so much to see in the world, yet it feels as if we are stuck in this one mindset that there is only one type of music that we usually listen to and such.  These instruments and the style of playing music is so different in the United States, however the United States is so blessed to even have different genres for music, such as Classical music, Rock music, Pop music, Hip Hop music, Rhythm and Blues music and much more.  When we look at other countries, they have limited genres of music for many reasons such as limited resources, going against religion and much more.  This truly helps us to grasp the ways that we can reach out to the community to relate to other around us.  Through music we can come on contact with people that we would never reach out to on a daily basis beacause of certain differences.

     There is so much to know about one region's music history and all about the music but this is something that we can recognize with every country.  All of the countries in the world have something in common and we should really take the time to appreciate that.  Music is something that is open and free to most people in the world and this should really show people that although we are so different, we can be united by such beautiful sounds.  Music can truly bring all sorts of people together under one roof if an effort is made.  Personally, it opens up my eyes to see how powerful of a tool music can truly be.  It is good to hope for the future and dream that maybe someday, we can all put aside our differences in race, ethnicity, religion, gender, region and everything else and we can unite in the indescribable feeling and meaning of something so simple, yet so complex, Music.   

   

Music in East Asia

      In today's blog, I have decided to research the different cultural genres and types of music that exists in East Asia and it will be interesting to see the culture and the historical background of these countries that are somewhat familiar to me.

      East Asia consists of three main countries that have similar values when it comes to music.  Personally, Korean is the most familiar music to me after music in the United States because I was born in Korea and I am a Korean-American.  Music in Asia has different types of meaning and there is a different type of culture behind it.

     According to the Garland Encyclopedia, in East Asian music, each note that is played is extremely important.  The single or subtle note can mean so much to the song or to the music.  A lot of the Asian folk or traditional music was instrumental.  This was played during poems, novels, onstage and much more.  The music was significantly more quiet than other music.

     Music and theater correlate in the music of East Asia.  These two are extremely important together because music was always needed in the theater.  This correlation started with the Japanese kabuki that existed, the Chinese opera and the Korean pansori in East Asia.  These were some examples of how music and theater influenced each other.  This was truly important to East Asia and it is still important today.  

Japanese Kabuki

Korean Pansori

Chinese Opera

     These are some examples of how music is correlated with theater in East Asia.  Although the history of music in Asia is very traditional and it involves folk, music in some parts of East Asia have become culturally intact with the rest of the world.  To this day, there is modernized music that exists in Asia.  Personally, I am most familiar with the modern music in South Korea.  

      There is this movement from South Korea, known as the Korean wave.  The Korean wave, also known as, the Hallyu, is a wave that has started this tradition of Television dramas, pop music, video games, clothing, food, language and much more.  This wave is spreading all across the countries in Asia and even in the United States.  This wave is continuing to grow more and more each day throughout the countries in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world.  

 

This is a popular Korean drama that is a part of the Hallyu

 Famous group of musicians named, 2NE1 who participates in the Korean wave.  They have even been able to work with people from the United States while touring in Japan and other Asian countries.

 

      Music in East Asia obtains a religious aspect of why music exists.  Music also was culturally founded for entertainment especially in the theaters and performance areas for Asia.  This is quite different than the other countries that we have examined so far.  East Asia and Africa have reasonably different types of music because music in Africa can be seen as more critical and essential in ceremonies while the Asian countries are more directed towards entertainment.  Meanwhile, east Asia and the United States have a somewhat similar look on music historically and even in the current time when considering the Korean wave.  

      Music serves a different purpose everywhere and anywhere we go.  This is fact because each culture and each country has a different way of viewing the value of music.  Music can serve as entertainment for some countries, cultural and religious factors for other countries, or music can simply be music and sound.  Once again, there is no wrong or right to how music functions.  While researching about all these different countries, it makes me ponder on the value of music today.  When we consider the music that occurs in the modern days, so much meaning is lost not because there is a right and a wrong to the way we view music, but because we take advantage of all the technology that we have and the core of music is not recognized a lot of the time.  Often times we forget that we once had only vocals and hand made instruments to express the music that we desire to.  This blog is truly helping me to see the different cultural backgrounds of where music came from and I hope that these posts may enlighten you with new thoughts of what music truly is to you.          

Music of Africa

      While living in the United States my whole life, I have seen what music means to the people who enjoy it.  It means a whole lot.  Without music, a lot of the times, people could not live without it, including me.  I have grown up with music in my system.  I cannot live without music because music truly means a lot to me.  In other countries, music serves a similar purpose to many people for similar or different reasons than mine.  Today we will be visiting music in Africa and the cultural aspects of music along with the historical context of music.

       There are different types of music in Africa in different areas.  For example, in North Africa, classical music is very popular throughout that area.  In the sub saharan area, music is often used for many different purposes.  For example, it is used to ward off evil, for childbirths, marriages and even hunting.  These performances go on for extremely long periods of time.  

 

        The different types of musical instruments that are used in Africa are, musical bows, harps, xylophones, trumpets, flutes, drums, gongs, double rattles and many more.  These instruments are used along with vocals at times to create a definite kind of music.  When discussing music in Africa, a lot of the influence comes from Christianity and Islamic views.  These types of religions truly do influence the type of music that they listen to or even play with their instruments at ceremonies.  Time is extremely important in Africa when it comes to music.  Time is important to space, context, moments, biographical time, social time, historical time and much more.  All of these times may not make complete sense to me or you, however, to the people of Africa, Time is a key in order to be successful in making or playing music.   

        Music in Africa and music in the United States have very similar and different types of music and different purposes they serve.  Music in America is mostly contemporary music and when we play music to perform, it is called a concert.  This is somewhat similar to the purpose that it serves in Africa but a lot of the times, there is no meaning behind the concert music these days which makes me ponder upon the significance of music.  People just go to the concerts of their favorite bands and they go to mostly party and just to have a good time.  In Africa, there is much more meaning to why they play music.  Not stating that one is right or more accurate than the other, but music has more meaning to individuals than others.  Concerning time, the only emphasis on time in the United States during concerts or shows is valuing when an event will start or end.  Also, time can be important when we determine how long a song is.  The United States does have specific instruments that go along with vocals, however, they are fairly different to the instruments that African tribal music utilizes.  Here is an example of how different music is in the United States. 

    
 As you can see, this band utilizes different types of musical instruments in order to play their music.  The instruments can be similar concepts to what people in Africa utilize, however the instruments in the United States are a lot more technologically advanced.  
         It is extremely interesting to see the different purposes of music all around the world.  Because I personally am not used to the music in different countries, like Africa.  Music has a great influence all around the world and it is interesting to see the what music serves in different countries.  

Music All Around the World

       Music is something that exists all around the world today.  It is present in our everyday lives, whether we enjoy it or not.  In this blog, I will be discussing all of the different types of music that exist throughout the world because it is interesting to see what types of music exist and it is also interesting to see what music can serve in the specific culture.  In today's culture, you can find almost any type of music on the program, iTunes.  iTunes gives people the opportunity to buy the particular music that one desires to listen to and this is interesting in the American culture.  Music serves as different purposes or applications in other countries.  There is not a right or a wrong in however they apply music to life, so it will be interesting to actually see the diversity among many countries.  Every aspect of this thought will be considered: the events that music is used, the duration of how long the music lasts, the type/genre of music, how people respond to this particular music, who participates in such acts, the time and place that this music is employed, and many more. I will begin with the country that I am most familiar with when dealing with music and this is the United States.
       Music has existed in the United States for many years now, and it has changed drastically since it has begun.  Music is literally everywhere and anywhere we go now.  A big phenomenon that has bloomed in the past few years is a site called youtube.  This site provides almost any type of video that you can find and more.  Many people utilize this site in order to watch music videos or just to listen to music along with iTunes.  It is a free video uploading website that people employ in order to show off their music or just to listen to music as well.  There are many musical bands, famous and unknown, bands or artists that exist in our country today.  These artists have set a standard for what music is in our culture.  We have ceremonies where people gather together and listen or sing along to the artist's music in which they are called concerts. This is a major thing that I personally see, everywhere I go.  Most everyone in the United States has attended any sort of concert in their lives.  This concert consists of the band or artist performing their own music in front of an audience which consists of their personal fans.  People attend these "concerts" in order to listen to the music that the band or artist provides and often times, they can sing or dance along to the music.  In the United State's culture, we have come to appreciate this type of ceremony to be entertaining or meaningful and often times, desirable to attend because of our own personal interests.  This could be seen as something terribly interesting to some countries while being extremely offensive to others.
       It is truly interesting to see the different types of music that exist around the world compared to what we are familiar with.  Personally, I believe that the culture and the meaning behind music has been somewhat lost in the United States culture and this is a great opportunity for the music industry to examine how we could re-focus what music is all about through the comparisons and contrasts of music all across the world.  Hopefully, this blog will provide some insight of an individual who desires to pursue music in the future.  To others, it may open up our eyes and kick us out of this bubble that we all live in.  Just wait and see what I have in store for you.