My Musical Autobiography

One of the biggest influences of “Non Western Art Music” on my life is most definitely church music. My dad is a pastor in a Pentecostal denomination that relies heavily on contemporary Christian music, as compared to the traditional repertoire of churches with Lutheran, Catholic, or Episcopalian flavors. Growing up around this music has made me appreciate the music of different age groups. You have the people my age who make Christian music in rock, gospel, and even “screamo” styles. Then you have the older generation who appreciate hymns and down-home southern gospel tunes that might remind you a lot of country music. I know many of those hymns are from the Western sacred music of the Lutheran church, but much of it is heavily influenced by the pop music culture of America today. So, needless to say, I’ve had experience with just about every form or influence on Christian music available in America- rock, pop, soft rock, jazz, gospel, southern gospel, sacred hymns, instrumental music, and even things like handbells, bagpipes, and ram’s horns.

Since I was born and raised in the South, and have lived in South Carolina all of my life, I have had a strong taste of country music in my life. Yes, most of it talks about sad things like losing a friend or missing the good times, but some of it is uplifting and even comical, like the revenge a girl got on her cheating boyfriend or the way a hometown country girl is attracted to a man on a tractor. Needless to say, it makes for a lot of entertainment.

I have been to Mexico two or three times, so I’ve heard some traditional Mexican music there and seen some of their instruments. However, I never played it myself and don’t remember a whole lot, except for the heat of Mexico.

There was the time in third grade when a group of African drummers came in traditional African garb to my music classroom and played for the group of hyper, wide-eyed, ooh-ing ten-year olds. They even let some of us play the drums ourselves. They sang and played some songs with call-and-response (which is also common in gospel music), where we would echo what they sang. I was thrilled.

At a music conference last year, I heard and attempted to play the didgeridoo, an Australian instrument. However, it was a failed attempt, but I did get to laugh at the other people around the room when they tried to play and looked pretty ridiculous at it.

Also, a really neat experience on my list of musical exclamation points was getting to see a live performance by the group Stomp. This isn’t a culture of the world, but it is most definitely Non-Western Art Music. It is a group of people who create music- some pitched, some unpitched- with props such as brooms, trash cans, aluminum cans, their own bodies, and yes, even playing cards.