Not sure how many of you guys would’ve guessed this part, but Music is definitely the universal language. Many people claim Math also to be universal, I however tend to disagree. The values and equations in Math may be constant wherever you perform them in the universe, but in order to comprehend Math, it requires logic and the ability to reason. This goes to prove that math can be more of a universal constant and not a language exactly, for ‘language’ of any sort should be comprehensible. Music on the other hand requires nothing specific and can be understood by pretty much any life form that this universe can support. If not replicate it, they are at least aware of some sound that is soothing. Well, anyway skipping the scientific definitions and explanations, I intend to discuss more on the literal music that we listen to everyday.
We all have our own taste for music and hence guys who listen to anything apart from English music will have to excuse me as this article is more towards western music. When most of us think about the history of music, we think of the history of rock music. We assume that the history is simple because the music is simple. In fact, neither is the case. The history of music, whether classical, rock, jazz or any other kind, is always complicated. New chord structures are introduced bringing with them new ways of understanding the world. New rhythmic patterns are introduced, bringing with them new ways of understanding time.
The taste for music is generally progressive for most of us. Personally I started out with ABBA, Beatles and stuff in 1990’s and slowly moved to Beegees, Bryan Adams by ’94, soon to be followed by JBJ, Metallica and Iron Maiden from ’98. Post 2001, I guess there’s been a huge global explosion in the number of music bands and a lot of new kinds of music. More bands like LP, SOAD came in and the time of heavy metal started out. Agreed, that rock was very much heard globally even earlier, however the reign of rock started out in India pretty late among majority of the crowd. Most of the young generation at that time was hooked on to Backstreet Boys, Boyzone and Britney Spears, which still seems to be quite famous among the ‘yet to grow up’ music crowd. Thanks to the recent rock shows by Joe Satriani ‘06, Iron Maiden ’07, Aerosmith ’07 and Metallica ’08 and others, the face of youth today is safely re-directed from boy-bands/ girl-bands.
Talking about the youth today, my sister although just 14years old, has already completed all 8 grade exams in Piano. At times this does make me feel bad, for I have been meddling with the guitar since the age of 10, but have not been able to finish all the grade exams. In my defense, I started learning at the age of 8 whereas she had started from the age of 5 and besides she had my grandma’s 50 years old, 8 octave upright piano to practice with, at all times. I did try my hands at the Piano as well from the age of 12, but never crossed 4th grade. For best learning experiences, I’d suggest that music classes should be tagged along with choir practice. One of the best places to learn music and the relationship between the notes is Church Choir for this gives you a very good understanding of all 4 components- soprano, tenor, alto and bass. All you hardcore acapella fans don’t miss the N’ Sync hit single ‘O Holy Night’, for this song gives a very good picture on modulation capabilities of the human voice. On a more serious note, I would advise every one of us to ensure that at least 1 member at our home is music literate; meaning that he or she should be able to play a music instrument, after all music is food for the soul. I’ve seen so many people mentioning that they had taken up guitar or keyboard classes when they were young but later on discontinued due to lack of support or interest. . In my case I’m lucky that apart from my grandfather, the rest of my family plays either guitar or piano. Even my great grandmother was a well known violinist during those times. In any case, whatever the instrument might be, it’s always better to start early at the age of 8-10, if you intend to be really good.
What’s my take out of this…? I hope that this post will make at least 1 parent to ensure that their kid learns music or maybe convince one of the readers themselves to learn music. Although age does play quite a role, it’s never too late to learn. Like in any other aspect of life, if you’ve never actually learned music, you would not possibly know what you’re missing. Once taken, the radio will never sound the same; everything will seem much richer and luminous. A song can reflect a new way of being or life in the world and you will begin to realist that music embeds our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories.
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