Mus Foundations of Music

Kevin Robinson

MUS 200 (601)

Paper 1: The Foundations of Music

Question 1A:

The context of this performance is quite profound; the granddaughter is taking part in a song that is a tradition in her family and of the surrounding area. Her grandfather has put the task on her to learn this song by heart, and perform it in front of people, who knew the song as well. The cultural context and significance of this song is apparent in the grandfather’s insistence that his granddaughter learn this song. This song, though impossible to understand, probably has a cultural significance to that area. Since Alim Qasimov is a prominent singer in his area, it is important to him that his family learns his songs and trains their voices’ since music is very significant to his life. Allowing his granddaughter to sing with his own band shows that knowing this song is special to him, his family, and everyone in attendance.

As I have never sang, danced, or played an instrument in front of people there is nothing totally personal for me to relate to this. However one my best friends growing up went through something similar to what the granddaughter did. Wilson Billingsley was in a family where his dad played guitar, his older brother played drums, and his cousin was a great singer. The family band performed at churches and local festivals a lot, and it was important to them that Wilson became a part of this. When he was only five years old he began to learn the guitar so he could become part of his family’s band, and right away was very good at it. He practiced on his own from age five until 5th grade, when he would finally get a chance to play with the band. His dad had tried to teach Wilson as much as he could about their songs and their style, but didn’t want him to join until middle school. However his family was performing at our outdoor day in 5th grade, and without letting Wilson know ahead of time, his dad called him up to play their favorite song with them. I don’t...