Music in my Daily Life

For me, I use music in every aspect of my day as possible; while I do homework, walk to and from class, while running, and so on. I have always incorporated music into my day for as long as I can remember. When I was young, I always listened to music with my brothers, and took piano lessons. Later, I learned guitar and listened to music on my own. My one brother makes a living as a musician, and his influence on my musical taste has made my library grow, and given me even more music to surround myself with. I experience music through playing it, or listening to it on my computer or MP3 player. The portability of music is remarkable, and I believe it has created a culture where people are constantly surrounded by music by their own choice.

I see music culture as something that you are born into. Especially in the more traditional places, or developing places, music is a way of communicating and is very traditional. It is easier for me to think of musical culture, and picture more traditional music of traditional groups, such as Indians, or native tribes of Africa. However, in America today, you don't see many tribal rituals with drums, singing and dancing. So, in my eyes, musical culture is the music that you are surrounded by your entire life. To me, when I hear blues, I instantly think of my childhood, and growing up surrounded by blues. Also, when I hear Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, or Billy Joel, that also reminds me of the countless hours spent on road trips with those CDs playing. I would consider all of this part of my music culture.

To consider music as art, I tend to listen to the music composition, instraments used, and the talent of the musicians. Also, I always think of "art" as something pure. The same applies to music. In order for me to consider music "art", it would have to have a pure sound, one that is hard to replicate, for pieces of art are generally one of a kind. Certain genres are easier to classify as art, such as Classical, jazz, and classical guitar. I feel like these are very pure and are generally one of a kind. I would hardly consider most of todays music, especially the mainstream music, art. A lot of it is just music that is made in order to sell records. In many cases, this is the reason that most of today's music has lost its purity.