Musical Autobiography

The very first thing that I thought of was all of my music classes that I have taken previously. In my first semester of Music History we listened to a wide variety of music including a rather unusual piece that lasted for twenty minutes with no sense of rhythm or pulse. Later, a performer came to the precollege and performed on the same instrument. It was absolutely fascinating to hear someone play an instrument that looks as bizarre as it did (I believe the Zither?), and play so many drums at the same time.
Also, although I have listened to mainly western music in my life, I feel that because of my upbringing I have more of an open taste in music. Because my brother likes Metallica, Offspring, and Beastie boys I have listened to not only that but many boy bands in my young teens. Along with those radical differences in music my father and stepmother listened to Oldies, along with Elvis and the Beach Boys while my Mother on the other spectrum listens to anything with a heavy beat including Tool, ICP (Insane Clown Posse), Eminem and Pussy Cat Dolls. To complete the package of the entire spectrum of music, while visiting grandparents, I would listen to Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra (due to my grandfathers tastes) and the Generic term of Classical for my Grandmothers. With such a large variety to choose from, I feel that I can relate to people more, and when other artists were brought to my attention such as Tatu (a Russian band) I felt that they were great also!
Other experiences that I have had with different music would have to include going to Greek restaurants in downtown Chicago, along with the annual Greek festivals. On occasion they would have live bands, and dancing. (the dancing was fun but slightly confusing at times) Also in band we would often play tunes that incorporated folk tunes of other countries and I was thrilled when a southern Korean girl played a melody for me that I was able to recognize and sing along with her based on the pentatonic scale. Also, on occasion I would go to downtown Geneva (Illinois) for the Swedish festival, there they would have folk songs being sang by the locals. Later when my father wanted to trace his Scottish heritage we went to the Scottish fair in Chicago and I was able to experience an authentic Irish dance with full out costuming. This was the beginning of my love for Irish dance music.
Other times I would hear Spanish music playing in the back ground of a Spanish restaurant and when I would work late nights at Target awhile back I would listen to popular Spanish hits while the workers cleaned the floors and brought out merchandise. The last few cultures that I have been exposed to was due to a project for IDC. Jessicca Thrift and I had paired up together to put a cd book of diverse music. Within the book was Japanese art songs typically played in dance like celebrations, Afghanistan traditional music, Westernized African music (very interesting), along with an entire cd of women singing in their native tongues. There were a few more types of music that slip my mind, however I enjoyed the vast majority of it, with my favorite being the entire cd of women singing in their native tongues.
All in all I truly enjoy learning about other cultures and how they share music within each and every demographic. I just didn’t realize how much I had experienced until now.