Wrappin' It Up

I was intrigued that the countries of Asia have similar music and instruments. That some of the instruments have a different shape, is play differently, or just sound different. It was interesting to learn that the music of each culture is influenced by the music of other cultures. I always thought that each culture created its own music based on its ideas and ways of life. I was intrigued by the way Arabic pray. Their prayers are sung and in a specific way. The way they sing their prayer is unique. They used a lot of different pitches and the pitch change dramatically. I like the way they sing it. It sounded beautiful.

I realized that my culture is no different than the other cultures in Asia. I always thought that each culture is different, but I realize that there are similarities among them. Chinese music was influenced by Central Asia and Indian music. I find the Chinese opera the be unique. I do not think there is another country that has that kind of opera that china has. Japan has something similar but there is no singing and the music is different. Both Japan and China, however, take it seriously. The costumes and makeup have to be perfect. The actors always do their own makeup and costumes are really important. It takes ten years for the actors to learn the play.
I really like that we learn about different cultures and the fact that we learn the culture's music from the point of view of the people that is part of the culture. I like that we learn all the cultures as a community. I also like that we get to see the way the instrument is used and the way each culture sing. It was interesting that the music of each culture was influenced by neighboring cultures. I enjoy learning about the uniqueness of each culture's music. I wish we could have learned more cultures like Japan, Korea, or Thailand. Overall I enjoy the class.
Overall this course has inspired me to learn more about Asian music. Asia is really big and consists of a lot of countries. The music of each culture is different and similar in many ways. The instruments, however, are really similar. I was surprised that Japan also uses the zither even though I should not be.