As this is my first blog post, I thought it would be appropriate and important to reflect and summarize the past few lectures. On the first day of classes, we hopped right in by watching variations of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’. During this activity, we had time to react and to compare and contrast the different versions of the song. I learned during this activity that songs can mean or show something different, depending on the performer. For example, Whitney Houston’s performance of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ gleamed with confidence and patriotism. Whereas, Jimi Hendrix’s version showed the reality of what was happening then with the war. His version of the song was defined as a protest. I thought it was fascinating that songs could vary in meaning depending on the artist or performer.
The following class, we got to read articles within a group. The article that my group and I were reading was “The 25 Most Important Civil Rights Movement in Music History”. When reading this article, I learned that many artists would deny performing if the audience was segregated. Then there were other artists that would use their platforms to spread a message about an issue, this could be writing a song or just speaking about the issue. I thought this article was interesting because I had no idea about any of them and it was very compelling to read about each one.
After these first few classes, it made me realize how important music is to me and music
has impacted my life. I am glad I picked this as my first-year seminar class because I believe that I will have a deeper appreciation and better understanding of music.
I agree with you when you talk about the importance of music in our lives. I didn't realize how much we rely on music until reflecting on it in class. I really enjoyed reading your post! I think that music there is so much to learn about music and also excited to have a deeper appreciation for music!
ReplyDeleteI also found "The 25 Most Important Civil Rights Movement in Music History" article very interesting. Prior to reading it I was unaware of how many people had taken a stand attempting to eliminate inequality in the United States. I had not realized the power performers and their music truly had on people. Musicians have the opportunity to call attention to things that need to be changed and try to get people to support that change.
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