Music and Us

 Because of my own culture and being able to travel around the world, I have been introduced to many types of music and musical traditions from many different places. I am definitely thankful to have been able to travel the way I have and am also grateful for my own culture and its music. Music is something that has always been very important in my life. 

When I was in middle school, my family and I went on a cruise in the Baltic Sea. This meant that we visited Sweden, Russian, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. My favorite stop during the cruise was Sweden, which is in Europe. In general, I loved the area and thought it was a pretty place to visit. While we were there, we went to the ABBA museum. At the time, I was not really familiar with ABBA or their music. However, my parents were, and this experience made me realize why they loved this music group so much. I am very grateful for this experience because not only did it show me what type of music my parents used to listen to when they were younger, but I was also exposed to a modern, Swedish music group. 

Another place I went to when I was younger was Hawaii Although I cannot remember anything specifically about music in Hawaii, I wanted to look into more of what their traditional music is. Hawaii is considered to be part of North America. Hawaiian traditional music is called hula kahiko. Their music is often used to tell story, similar to many other cultures that we have studied. As I was researching more intro this music and the dancing that went along with it, I realized that I actually did watch a performance one night at dinner. It is really cool to see in person and honestly very beautiful.

One culture of music that I am very interested is the music of Brazil. Brazil is in South America. I recently have become very interested in the genre, Brazilian funk. My boyfriend plays soccer, and his teammates and he tend to play this music often. In addition, my teammate on my volleyball team here at Converse is from Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil and has introduced me to a lot of music in that genre as well. She explained to me that this genre is more on the modern side of Brazilian music. As I have listened to more of the music she likes, it makes me want to know more about Brazil’s culture. 

Lastly, I cannot help but talk about my culture’s music. I am very proud to be Puerto Rican and have grown to love every single part of my culture. Puerto Rico is considered to be a part of North America. One of the biggest parts of our culture is music. Puerto Rico is the place where the genre of salsa was born. Growing up listening to this traditional music will always be something I cherish. In fact, whenever I am really missing my family, I tend to always play the music my parents and grandparents would play constantly. Music is always something that brings joy to us. Because of how beautiful Puerto Rico’s traditional music is, my grandparents and parents really do not like the modern music. 

Like I said before, I am so thankful to be exposed to such diverse types of music. It is so amazing to think about how many cultures there are that cherish music in their own unique way. With that being said, music is definitely something that unites us all.