Music Breaks Boundaries

Today, I took a standardized school test. One of the passages that I had to answer questions about was about Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist. This prompted me to write this post. I admire him a lot, especially for his Silk Road Project. This project focused on taking music from all different nations, and sharing them. The real reason that this project was and is so monumental is that no matter what language you speak, what religion you have, and your social class is, you have some relation with music.

Very few people (Sigmund Freud being one of them) dislike music. Therefore, everyone shares this universal language, even if it differs slightly from region to region. With stereotypes and language barriers, many people are not open to interactions with other cultures. However, listening to other cultures' music is something everyone can do and enjoy. What Yo-Yo Ma did with the Silk Road Project is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to reach out to other cultures.

To conclude, if you want to learn about other cultures, try listening to their music. Also, make sure you interact with music so you don't get left out of the universal language.

Think Freely

Many people are set in there ways. Music is, of course, the first example I think of. Most "popular" musicians write the same kind of song because that's what sells. When people go outside of the so-called safety zone, they are much less successful. They are almost shunned for their differentiations from the norm. This is detrimental to the music world because what is popular is not necessarily what is best.

I see an example of this in the religious world. These are just my ideas, and I do not intend to offend anyone with them. Nowadays, everyone either has no religion, or goes to a church, synagogue, or mosque. However, preset organized religion may not be the best for society. Organized religion, I believe is counterproductive to religion's goal. The goal of religion, as I see it, is to teach people to respect their fellow human beings and to overall teach people to do things not just for their own benefit. Organized religion, however is essentially an ultimatum. If you don't abide by every rule listed in the Bible, the Torah, or the Qu'ran or elsewhere, you will have negative consequences. This is fear based, and doesn't have people doing the right thing for the right reason. Therefore, different ideas could be beneficial, and should not be shunned.

Overall, I'm saying that the present situations should be examined and new ideas should be introduced. Rules have their benfits, as I've said, but new rules need to be introduced as well.Even in music, where there are tons and tons of rules, you have to bring new ideas and rules in. That is the way that music has evolved so much. So examine your world, and see how you can better it with free thinking.

Time Influences Music

Everyone thinks about the influence music has on people, but what about people's influence on music? In the Baroque and Classical eras, most songs were written within limits. You could have a certain amount of measures and themes and repeats. This is consistent with the society. Most European countries were controlled by a monarch who had the nation under strict rules. Then, in 1850, as democracy had become prevalant, the rules of music dropped and the Romantic Era rolled in. This era was all about freedom and cultural identity. Eventually, as society become even more free and more expressive, so did the music. Now, in the 20th century era, we have music unlike we would ever think. The amount of leniency in the music today is astounding, and you have an enormous variety of sounds to select from. This reflects our individualistic society. What's the next step, you ask? I can't say, but when the next step does come, look to music to see what it truly is.