RETIRED Topic: Music tells us something about a

[LokeshRay]

Topic:

Music tells us something about a culture. What does the music of your country reveal about the culture of your country? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer.


Essay:

Music is an art form. It originated a million years ago when a caveman learnt to create sounds by tapping a stick on a hollow tree trunk. A million years later, the stick and the tree trunk have been replaced by digital consoles, but the unique place that music holds in our past, present and future cannot be replaced. Music is also a reflection of our culture. Culture evolves over time. The changing trends of music mirror the evolution of our culture. A study of music is very useful in the study of culture.

Religion is a very important part of my country. The general populace is god-fearing. This importance of religion in the culture of my country is adequately reflected by music. Here, prayers are offered at temples in the form of "bhajans" and "shlokas" which are forms of Indian religious music.When one translated the meaning of these "shlokas", it is noticed that they are used to praise God. The part played by God as the creator of this universe is eulogized and all his works are praised. The devotees are exhorted to follow the path of good and avoid all evil. In India, such kind of religious music is heard everyday in all households. On many occassions, chanting of religious songs and playing of religious music is necessary before embarking on a long journey. Thus, our religious music reinforces the fact that religion forms the very moral fiber of an Indian.

Music tells a lot about diverse peoples and their customs. In a few parts of my country the land is dry and hence it is not suitable for cultivation. Rain water is a very precious commodity. Monsoons are very rare. As a result, when monsoon finally arrives, it is welcomed by a lot of song and music. It indicates how the people of those parts live an agrarian life and how important is the role played in their lives by the rains. As also, after a good harvest, village folk come together to celebrate. Worship is done in temples by the farmers to express their gratitude to the weather Gods. As also, music is an integral part of Indian marriages. During such an occassion, four days are reserved for music and singing. These four days are called "sangeet". The theme is that marriage is one of the most important things of an adult's life and hence one must be very careful with it. Thus on examination of the music of my country it can be concluded that
agriculture and the institutiion of marriage are a very important part of my culture.

India is made up of several states. Among these states, there exist tribal people who are struggling for their survival. Due to the advent of westernisation and expansion of cities, it is feared that these indigenous people will be wiped out and their culture will be lost forever. But, inspite of such grave predictions, these tribal people have survived. Thye make the use of music and folks songs to pass on the knowledge imbibed in their history and culture. Sons learn the music from their fathers and they pass it down to their sons. And thus one can say that music has made it possible for these tribal people to keep their culture alive.

It is impossible to estimate how important has music been to my culture. But it can be said with certainty that music reflects the pre-occupation of our people with religion and agriculture. Also, music has kept several cultures alive by passing knowledge down the generations.

[Majid]

[B)]I am not sure what is the number of this essay but I found it in POWERPREP. Please comment

Music tells us something about a culture. What does the music of your country reveal about the culture of your country? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer.

Music represents the state of mind of its creator. It has developed corresponding to human social evolution. It depicts the state of mind of the creator that could have been influenced by his/her social associations, environment, and most appropriately, culture. The music of my country reflects traditions, wars, religious devotion and profession of the people.

Books reveal that my country has been a doorway to South Asian countries since 6000 years B.C. An archeologist reports that almost every shepherd living in Mohen Jo Dero at that time kept with him the oldest version of flute. Enjoyed the nature and played his flute all the day while his sheep kept on nibbling. Interestingly, this phenomenon is still there with almost no change. Only the configuration of flute has changed but the spell-casting tunes of the shepherds of Indus Valley still elucidate their love to nature and peaceful thinking of the people.

Whenever I travel to the western provinces of my country, I listen to a very arousing music. Before asking to my music teacher about it, I could easily guess the relation of these musical tunes with the battles of gallant natives with the invaders. The music played in these provinces attracted British Army during its expeditions in the East. British Army officials found this music so arousing for the soldiers that they decided to add some local music players to their official battle music band. History clearly describes how well that music worked for the British Army.

Religion is a part of any country's culture. "Qawali" is a form of music that describes the religious devotion of my fellow countrymen. “Qawali” is played and sung by eight or ten people in chorus. This shows the harmony and teamwork that is a part of our culture. Some forms of our music are associated with professions of people. In past two to three decades, music of our central province has become an interesting stuff to listen to. This is the set of specific tunes played and listened by the truck drivers that belong to that central province. According to a famous behavioral scientist of my country, this music enhances the driving intellect. More interestingly, the drivers who belong to other provinces do not like this music as such. This has become the representative music of a certain cultural segment of my country.

Undoubtedly, music tells a lot about the culture even the sub-cultures of a country, but it needs a certain understanding. My country has got rich music traditions that are closely connected to our cultural values. If somebody has some understanding of our music, he/she can gain much understanding of our cultural values.