..must come to an end

So here it is, my last blog post. An entire day late, yes.. but here nontheless.

And here are my responses to the questions:

1) Something I learned about another culture that suprised or intrigued me...
One thing I learned does not pertain to just one culture, but rather many of them: the role of community in the music production and performance.
The first cultures we learned about were those of the Sioux and Navajo Indians. Their music was very communal. Everyone participated either in the music-making (playing on the drums in a circle) or by dancing along to it.
This is similar to the group drumming (or, Agbekor) of Africa. In Ecuador, simply the playing of an imbabura harp is communal in itself since it requires two people to play it.

2) Something I realized about our own culture...
Our music is a melting pot of music from other cultures. Yes, we do have original stuff, but with each culture that we visited, their music reminded me of something in our own music. The most obvious example of this is the use of the sitar in the Beatles and Rolling Stones music.

3) Something I am inspired to learn more about...
Blogging.  No, really. This has been fun: it's just an online journal where anyone can read your thoughts (and comment on them too!). I also heard that if you pick a really good topic to blog about you can make money off of it. Imagine that... making money off of your own thoughts!

Okay, but as far as something "Music of Diverse Cultures"-related that I am inspired to learn about: Women and music of diverse cultures. What role do women play in other cultures? Are there differences in how women or men can participate in music? Why is this? We learned a little bit about the role of women in other cultures in this class, but there is so much more to discover on this subject.

Gender differences have always facinated me. Why do women get to wear pants but men can't wear skirts? Why does my little brother get away with so much more than me or my sister did? I don't have an answer yet for any of these questions and may never have the answers either, but I am determined to learn more.

The End.