Discuss Traditional and Cultural Music

[Anonymous]

Discuss the traditional and cultural music in the community where you work. Be sure to come back and respond to others as well.

[Rachel Sedmak]

I live in a community that has a lot of families who have lived here for generations, usually descending from German or Italian immigrants, and also a university that adds some cultural diversity through professors and students. I grew up in a community that was largely descended from German immigrants and the music that we learned as children were American folk songs, music from the early part of the 20th century, and music created specifically for children. Bluegrass music is indigenous to my state, and there are plenty of country and Christian stations on the radio. My community is just outside of a medium sized city, so we also have rock and hip-hop/R&B stations as well as a classical station. However, without actually being out in the field, it’s hard to say exactly what traditional or cultural music influences members of my community.

[Rachel Sedmak]

After I wrote my initial response, it occurred to me how much Mozart has influenced children. I can think of at least 3 children’s songs to the tune of “Ah-vous dirai-je, Maman.”

[Favor Chujor]

As someone who grew up taking piano lessons, this hits especially close to home! Also thinking about Mozart, it’s interesting to think about the fact that he wrote so many of these recognizable melodies as a young child! Maybe the reason his music is so influential to children is because he wrote so many melodies as a child himself.

[Rachel Sedmak]

I hadn’t even considered that! You may be right! That is definitely an interesting insight.

[Amy Berggren]

I live in a large city near the border between the United States and Mexico so there is a large influence from Mexican and Latin music in this area. Also, Native American/Indigenous music plays a large role here. There is a large university here so we experience high cultural and musical diversity from the various places students and professors are from.

[Favor Chujor]

You’re so fortunate to have that musical influence right in your community! I took a World Music class in college and we spent about two months on Latin American and Indigenous music and it was so cool to learn about the historical and social impact that music had on those communities.

[Erika Svolos]

It is wonderful to hear about your communities and the diverse and rich cultures within them. I find one part of being culturally responsive is getting to know the music of the community where I work and the individuals and families that I work with.

[Favor Chujor]

I’m originally from North Dakota, so a lot of my familiar music growing up was American folk songs and country music. However, there was a big classical music community in my hometown, and I took piano lessons growing up, so I was exposed to that genre as well. However, my family is from Nigeria, where they use a lot more polyrhythms and syncopation, which I try to incorporate into my musical practice. Taking traditional American songs and making them a bit more syncopated or polyrhythmic has been a great way to stretch my musical brain!

[Mikelia Wallace]

The music culture where I work mostly centers around children’s standards, Disney songs, and classic rock/pop favorites, like “Yellow Submarine” and “On the road again.” As far as cultural music, we are looking to incorporate more Spanish favorites, as a majority of families we work with are part of the Latinx community. We don’t use a lot of Classical music as it isn’t client preferred music for most the kiddos I work with.

[Sophia Paravalos]

Working around the Boston area has stretched my knowledge when it comes to Spanish music! Boston has a very large Spanish-speaking population and I have met a lot of families who sing Spanish lullabies to their babies and have other common Spanish songs that are the equivalent to well-known American songs like twinkle twinkle. I speak very little Spanish and I love to take these opportunities to collaborate with parents and take a step back to be the student, allowing them to teach me their music and then offer some of my musical skills to support and learn the song that culturally means a lot to that family.

[Erik Hylan]

In the communities that I work with the music focuses on nursery rhymes, traditional children’s folk music, and music pulled from childrens T.V. shows and movies. With technology as advanced as it is, I experience a lot of overlapping music from youtube channels and other internet resources for children. I find it amazing that the music I listened to as a child is still relevant in early childhood. Like Raffi or music from Sesame Street. Pop music and Disney music is also a significant part of the culture here.

[Author]

Posts