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.