Music is for everyone (final draft)

Naomi DeWitt

Nicole Hancock

ENGL 101.10

08 Feb. 2008

Music is for Everyone

Music is a part of all our lives. We are surrounded by music from the time of our births until we pass in death. Can we avoid it? Is there a way that we could choose not to listen? Not to tap our toes to a passing tune? Is music just something that humankind invented? If so, why and how far back in time did it start?
Even the ocean’s tide seems to have a rhythm. It is said to be controlled by the pull of the moon. Maybe there is an invisible force that causes us to yearn for that rhythm or beat in the music of our choice. We have a steady beat going on inside of our chests causing a kind of “cha-cha-cha” as it pushes the blood through all of our veins and organs.
So, where does music come from? Investigating this question for a new radio program, Ivan Hewitt found evidence that singing and dancing are a key part of being human.[1] In his searching he heard of Maria Maline who is the leader of a team of archeologists working in a cave in Swabian Jura of south-western Germany, In the bottom layers were remains left by Neanderthals. They had made ornaments and instruments. Such as a delicately worked flute, made from a swan's bone. When played, it makes a clear sound, which sounds absolutely "musical", as if it had been made yesterday.[2] Others who have spent years with a tribe in the Congo basin say that their music and song came from listening to the sounds of the jungle around them, and sang a musical forest into being.[3]
When I was carrying my children in-utero, I would play different types of music near my ever-growing tummy with the idea that maybe my children would love the study of music or play beautifully at a symphony someday. Or maybe they would like some of my music. Well, that did not work. My children could not have been any more different in their musical tastes. They certainly do not like my music. They all have their own individual style of music that may never be played on a stage with a piano in front of them. It is uniquely their own.
It is sometimes suggested that the music we like to listen to comes from our parents, our surroundings or the culture we are familiar with. To a point I think it is somewhat true. So what happened to my daughters? Not only do they not like my style of music, they do not like their sisters’ music either.
In chapter one of How Music Really Works! written by Wayne Chase. He says:
You owe your ability to appreciate and create music to the genes you inherited from your parents and their ancestors, going back many thousands of generations. But the specifics of your musical tastes and musical creativity come primarily from the cultural preferences of your peer group—not from your parents. This applies to your non-musical cultural preferences as well.[4]

Chase uses the example of a Korean-born boy who immigrated to the United States with his parents at a young age. He spoke fluent Korean like his parents and practiced their Buddhist religion. However, when the boy reached his late teens he started pulling away from his family traditions and began identifying with his peer group. According to Chase:
In short, you inhabit a personal environment of your own, an environment that overlaps with the personal environments of your peer group. It shows. You still have the genetic inheritance of your parents, of course, but the specific cultural information you have acquired has come mainly from your peer group. And that includes not just your language, but also your musical tastes.[5]

Noam Chomsky, an American linguist said “the ability to acquire language is a species specific human activity”.[6] He believes that we are born with a module or system of modules in our brain that give us the ability to store words and to decipher the meaning.[7] This of course would apply to music as well.
Human beings have the innate ability to decide for themselves the kind of music they like. We are not blank slates waiting to be written on by others. We choose for ourselves.
When I was a college student in the eighties my friends and I enjoyed the popular music of the day. However, as I have grown older I have learned to like different types of music. Now I enjoy listening to classical, jazz, gospel and country.
There are many, many more studies and ideas of where music came from and why we like it. That list includes the well educated who spend years on the subject to fifth graders who think they have the corner on the best music choices.
In learning more about music lately, I feel that it has opened up a new world to me. Researching new music has been very enjoyable. I feel like I have added on several new types of music to my play list. Sometimes, I just listen to whatever fits my mood at the time. However, I am glad to know that it will always be my choice.
Anytime that you would like to share your favorite choices I will be open minded and happy to check it out.






[1] Ivan Hewitt. Music Healing the Rift. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/12/08/bmmusic108.xml
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Wayne Chase. How Music Really Works! http://www.howmusicreallyworks.com/Pages_Chapter_1/1_3.html#1.3.25
[5] Chase. http://www.howmusicreallyworks.com/Pages_Chapter_1/1_3.html#1.3.25
[6] Noam Chomsky. http://www.howmusicreallyworks.com/Pages_Chapter_1/1_3.html#1.3.13
[7] Ibid.