Historians who love Music

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Hello Nokviewers and Nokreaders, how is your day going. There is something that is evident everywhere we go, it is sounds and music, is it not amazing how Music is a universal culture?

So me and a friend of mine (Akan Etuk) came together to writer an article on Music. Feel free to check other posts on the blog, like, leave a comment and follow.

Music is a universal culture, art and means of expression and communication as there is no human group on the surface of the earth without any form of musical expression. Even with the existence of different culture, languages, races, ethnicities, nationalities, etc, music seems to be the universal ‘language’ that the different peoples of the world speak and understand irrespective of their cultural or linguistic backgrounds. However, as powerful as the influence of music is, no one has really been able to trace the origin of the first music played, or sung, or even conceived.

There are many conceptions and definitions of music by different scholars of music. However, it appears that there has been a stiff controversy over what music really means. Hence, there is no generally accepted definition of music. What exist are different conceptualisations of the phenomenon (music). For instance, John Blacking (a British ethnomusicologist) in his work How Musical is Man? maintains that we define music as “ humanly organised sound”, which is perhaps, too broad. This is because there is often a distinction drawn between speech and music even though both are sounds organised by humans.

Also, the many sounds inadvertently or indirectly organised by humans (the polyrhythmic groove produced by an old washing machine, or the grating whine of a leaf blower) do not typically qualify as music, although that has not stopped enterprising composers from incorporating such sounds into creations that we likely would consider music. It might, therefore, be more accurate, if troublingly tautological, to say that music is those sounds that people call music . Hence, for the purposes of this post, music is a form of art and cultural activity through the medium of sound organised in time and space. Modern music simply connotes the popular genres of music known to our contemporary world. These include Jazz, Reggae, Blues, Gospel, Hip Hop, etc.

Having looked at music from several perspectives, you would be amazed how some historians view music. To a historian, music goes beyond melody, it is believed that music tries to tell a story of the lyricist, singer/artist. It tells the emotion of the artist, the community story, infact it tells a story, it might be a story of love, a story of survival, a story of anger,hatred, pain, A story of development and culture etc. An example is the the black community in diaspora during the 20th century, some songs try to explain how blacks are treated, how they try to survive in a world that is different from their fore fathers there are several examples (THUG by Tupac, we shall overcome, Black Bird)

We have have songs that would aid historians to have ideas of the past happenings and even the present. It aids documentation and can be used as an oral source. Some music explains the happenings of the artist country and even the world at large be it political, economic or social vices, examples of this is Micheal Jacksons We are the world and earth song which speaks about earth and climate change. There is also a song This is America and a cover of this done by Falz this is Nigeria this songs try to explain the different countries dilemma. Most recently are the songs on Xenophopia

Apart from music as a source of documentation, it is also a source that can provide monetary value which can lead to economic development, development of tourism sector, provision of employment through income to some artist and their crew, the venue also houses vendors who sells their products etc. Music and the Music business if properly monitored and managed can be a source of income to a countries economy which can aid development in a society. Through taxes, enhancement of tourism etc.

Music to a historian is more than just melodious sounds, it is a story, a voice that the universe listens to. It helps to understand an individual, the community, the mind and society at large.

There is more coming in regards to this topic, but for now remember to check out other post, read, like, comment and share.

Ref.
Patrick Burke. 2015. “What is Music?”. Humanities, January/February 2015/Volume 36, Number 1. Retrieved from: https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/januaryfebruary/feature/what-is-music. Accessed on 17 August, 2017.

pictures from Shuttershuck And @officiallypiro on instagram

Akan Etuk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akan-etuk-a88116bb