Reading Barbara Wheeler's column (See http://voices.no/?q=fortnightly-columns/2002-cultural-aspects-music-therapy), and the responses to it, I found myself asking two questions: How much weight is given to geographical location when considering one's musical culture and preferences, and what can we consider a "traditional" music in any given location?
To address the first question, I make note of a session given by Noah Shapiro at the recent American Music Therapy Association's annual conference, entitled "Sounds in the World: An Exploration of International Musical Styles." Professor Shapiro discussed the effort it took just decades ago to obtain recordings of international music, while living in New York City. He described poring over library holdings and researching other ways to obtain recordings of music from various cultures, whereas today, urban-dwelling (and even many rural-dwelling) Americans can easily walk into any major record store and find a huge selection of international CDs.
To me, this speaks to the influence of technology on current musical preferences in the United States. One no longer has to rely on live performances or mainstream radio to find music to enjoy. Therefore, I do not find it surprising that most of the people I know have an eclectic taste in music, though they may prefer one genre of music above others. I do not think one's geographic location is any longer of utmost significance on one's music preference, though the people/media in an area (such as the Louisville radio scene mentioned in previous columns) may play a larger role.
For example, in my own current music therapy practicum, I work with at-risk adolescent girls in a residential program outside of Boston, MA. Many of the girls come to the program from Boston proper, while others come from more rural areas in the region. Regardless, the largest genre of music present in this school's culture is rap music. Two of my individual clients arrived at the program liking country music and show tune music, respectively. Yet, although they individually continue to work with these genres in individual music therapy sessions, they have both come to enjoy and sing rap music. Is this simply the influence of "peer pressure," or is something more subtle occurring, where the culture these girls currently live in is shifting or widening their musical preferences?
Is this phenomenon of the rising popularity of rap music isolated to Boston urban culture alone? Hardly; in another session at the recent AMTA conference, I discovered in Bethany Cook's session "Rap Music: the Metaphor," that music therapists working across the nation use some of the exact same songs I use with my own clients for lyric analysis. Thus, I believe the factors contributing to adolescents' obsession with rap music are not limited to cultures of specific geographical locations.
Regarding the question of what we consider "traditional" music in any given location, I think of my own involvement in the Massachusetts folk music community. Having interned at local folk music management companies, volunteering at folk festivals and the historic "Club Passim" in Cambridge, MA, and through creating and producing my own folk music concert series with my best friend in undergraduate school in Western MA, my musical preferences are deeply rooted in the local folk music scene. Performers here often talk about connections with America's folk music past, such as the legacy of Woody Guthrie (having attended grade school with Woody's granddaughter, I personally feel particularly drawn to the generations of Guthrie music). At concerts, audience members describe performers playing fiddles and banjos as "traditional," in comparison to the large crop of local "contemporary" performers, utilizing only an acoustic guitar. However, can the folk music extending multiple generations backwards truly be considered "traditional"?
When I think of traditional music in my region, I do not think of folk music. Rather, I think of music from centuries ago created by Indigenous or Native Americans. When I lived several years ago with an Aboriginal (Ngarrindjeri) family in Southeastern Australia, I found their own traditional music is inextricably connected to the land they live on. An elder once responded to my questions about his culture's music by saying, "You want to know about our music? Go out and listen to country." After following his message and spending several days alone on the land, listening to the sounds of nature in that area (i.e. the winds rushing through the grasses, the quiet continual gurgling of the surf, and the animals calling to each other), I returned to the elder and reported what I heard. He then challenged me to hear the same sounds in the clapsticks and other instruments used in Ngarrindjeri music. Indeed, in not only the lyrics translated for me, but also in the actual timbre of the instruments and voices, I could sense the replication of and response to sounds in the natural environment. This traditional music (in the truest sense of the word) is very connected to their culture, which does not consider the environment as a separate entity from people.
This connects my thoughts to the previous discussion. That is, perhaps the rap music preferred by urban youth across the United States replicates in sound the culture of the city. For instance, the pounding, driving bass beats could reflect the steady, hectic pace of city life. This is an idea I would like to explore further. In conclusion, an inescapable fact is that advances in technology are not only allowing people easier access to recordings of music from cultures unlike their own, but also are affording people increasingly inexpensive means to travel to experience first-hand other cultures. When my peers of "Generation X" and I reach retirement age, with all of our continually expanding preferences of music genres from around the globe, I wonder how geriatric music therapy programs will adapt to accommodate this variety of musical cultural backgrounds, and I again sense the growing importance for the AMTA to require multicultural music competencies. I appreciate the vibrant discussion Dr. Wheeler initiated on this topic, and look forward to continued responses.
About Natasha Zebrowski
Biography
Music therapy graduate student, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Reading Barbara Wheeler's column (See http://voices.no/?q=fortnightly-columns/2002-cultural-aspects-music-therapy), and the responses to it, I found myself asking two questions: How much weight is given to geographical location when considering one's musical culture and preferences, and what can we consider a "traditional" music in any given location?
To address the first question, I make note of a session given by Noah Shapiro at the recent American Music Therapy Association's annual conference, entitled "Sounds in the World: An Exploration of International Musical Styles." Professor Shapiro discussed the effort it took just decades ago to obtain recordings of international music, while living in New York City. He described poring over library holdings and researching other ways to obtain recordings of music from various cultures, whereas today, urban-dwelling (and even many rural-dwelling) Americans can easily walk into any major record store and find a huge selection of international CDs.
To me, this speaks to the influence of technology on current musical preferences in the United States. One no longer has to rely on live performances or mainstream radio to find music to enjoy. Therefore, I do not find it surprising that most of the people I know have an eclectic taste in music, though they may prefer one genre of music above others. I do not think one's geographic location is any longer of utmost significance on one's music preference, though the people/media in an area (such as the Louisville radio scene mentioned in previous columns) may play a larger role.
For example, in my own current music therapy practicum, I work with at-risk adolescent girls in a residential program outside of Boston, MA. Many of the girls come to the program from Boston proper, while others come from more rural areas in the region. Regardless, the largest genre of music present in this school's culture is rap music. Two of my individual clients arrived at the program liking country music and show tune music, respectively. Yet, although they individually continue to work with these genres in individual music therapy sessions, they have both come to enjoy and sing rap music. Is this simply the influence of "peer pressure," or is something more subtle occurring, where the culture these girls currently live in is shifting or widening their musical preferences?
Is this phenomenon of the rising popularity of rap music isolated to Boston urban culture alone? Hardly; in another session at the recent AMTA conference, I discovered in Bethany Cook's session "Rap Music: the Metaphor," that music therapists working across the nation use some of the exact same songs I use with my own clients for lyric analysis. Thus, I believe the factors contributing to adolescents' obsession with rap music are not limited to cultures of specific geographical locations.
Regarding the question of what we consider "traditional" music in any given location, I think of my own involvement in the Massachusetts folk music community. Having interned at local folk music management companies, volunteering at folk festivals and the historic "Club Passim" in Cambridge, MA, and through creating and producing my own folk music concert series with my best friend in undergraduate school in Western MA, my musical preferences are deeply rooted in the local folk music scene. Performers here often talk about connections with America's folk music past, such as the legacy of Woody Guthrie (having attended grade school with Woody's granddaughter, I personally feel particularly drawn to the generations of Guthrie music). At concerts, audience members describe performers playing fiddles and banjos as "traditional," in comparison to the large crop of local "contemporary" performers, utilizing only an acoustic guitar. However, can the folk music extending multiple generations backwards truly be considered "traditional"?
When I think of traditional music in my region, I do not think of folk music. Rather, I think of music from centuries ago created by Indigenous or Native Americans. When I lived several years ago with an Aboriginal (Ngarrindjeri) family in Southeastern Australia, I found their own traditional music is inextricably connected to the land they live on. An elder once responded to my questions about his culture's music by saying, "You want to know about our music? Go out and listen to country." After following his message and spending several days alone on the land, listening to the sounds of nature in that area (i.e. the winds rushing through the grasses, the quiet continual gurgling of the surf, and the animals calling to each other), I returned to the elder and reported what I heard. He then challenged me to hear the same sounds in the clapsticks and other instruments used in Ngarrindjeri music. Indeed, in not only the lyrics translated for me, but also in the actual timbre of the instruments and voices, I could sense the replication of and response to sounds in the natural environment. This traditional music (in the truest sense of the word) is very connected to their culture, which does not consider the environment as a separate entity from people.
This connects my thoughts to the previous discussion. That is, perhaps the rap music preferred by urban youth across the United States replicates in sound the culture of the city. For instance, the pounding, driving bass beats could reflect the steady, hectic pace of city life. This is an idea I would like to explore further. In conclusion, an inescapable fact is that advances in technology are not only allowing people easier access to recordings of music from cultures unlike their own, but also are affording people increasingly inexpensive means to travel to experience first-hand other cultures. When my peers of "Generation X" and I reach retirement age, with all of our continually expanding preferences of music genres from around the globe, I wonder how geriatric music therapy programs will adapt to accommodate this variety of musical cultural backgrounds, and I again sense the growing importance for the AMTA to require multicultural music competencies. I appreciate the vibrant discussion Dr. Wheeler initiated on this topic, and look forward to continued responses.