week 3 discuss

Music wk 3
1. Read Chapters 4 and 5 (pgs. 48-75).
2. Listen to assigned music in the text.
3. Take chapter quizzes 4 and 5
4. Respond to Discussion Forum questions for Week 3.
5. Assignments are due by 11:59 PM CST on 9/13/09
WEEK 3 Discussion:
1. What connections can you make between the musical style of plainchant and the monastic lifestyle?
> I do not believe that there exists a more simplistic form of music than plainchant that could be more filled with color, texture and passion. On the surface the monastic lifestyle and plainchant are one in the same, silent and yet not. I think of words like solace, serene, simplistic, and dedicated. When you hear these descriptions, which subject am I referring to, the lifestyle or the music? The answer is simple, both. Below the surface their continuity continues as they are both filled with complicated artistry and text that sets their “life” apart from all else.
2. Why are sacred chants so prevalent in the world?
> All societies are based on beliefs, the strongest of which are religious in one form or another. Even the American Indians could be described as religious in their beliefs of rain dances and war songs of the past. Most cultures are deeply rooted in the past; it is the history of all life that makes people who they are. Plainchant serves as the music of Catholicism, Baptist hymns, Buddhist temple chants, Eastern Indian monophonic music, even New Orleans death march all serve as sacred music to the people that perform them. In whatever form, it is not just the sacred chants that prevail but also the stories that they tell and the message that they send.
3. What experiences have you had since 9/11/01 that has changed your perception of Islamic cultures?
> My perception of the Islamic culture has not wavered. I do not agree with most of their lifestyle decisions, yet I respect their right to make them. 911 was a decision of a man, or group of people to attack a belief or a society, it was not an attack of entire culture on an entire culture. I have served, fought, and have been wounded in the defense of my country and the rights that our people take for granted more often than not. I refuse to be terrified in my own state of mind and fearful of what “could” happen, I instead believe in living life to the fullest “one song at a time”.