Music and Culture

Music & culture are inextricably entwined. Around the world, one of the best ways to understand a culture is to listen to the music of the people within that culture. Music is a much more expressive medium and often shows the characterics of a countries people more than buildings or statues. To a seasoned traveller, cultural experiences are as important as seeing the "sights" of a country or city, and music is at the very centre of many cultures in many countries around the world.

If you travel frequently, you will already be aware that you can experience many different types and styles of music, some of them very distinctive. Music is sometimes used to unite a country - most obviously with national anthems, but also in more organic ways through folk songs and ballads that tell stories from a country's history. Indeed, in some cases people know more about historical events from the songs that have been written about them than they do from their history books.

Music can also be a way of introducing and welcoming new visitors to a country - often combined with dance to tell stories about a nation's history. For all these reasons, it's highly recommended when travelling to a country that you've never visited before that you try and catch a show, concert, or other performance that introduces you to the culture of that country via music. You don't have to travel to the other side of the world, for example, if you are from the UK you can visit Edinburgh to see the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle - an unforgettable experience for any visitor. If you are travelling futher a field to somewhere like South America you can experience music performed by local people conveying the heritage and ancestry of the country's indigenous population.

In some countries the local music may be religious or spiritual in nature; in others, it may be nationalistic or patriotic; in others it may tell stories of peasant life or simply serve as an expression of joy. Like a countries food it tells its own tale and is one of the most enjoyable ways to understand a culture.

It isn't always possible for us to travel to the places we'd like to visit; but that shouldn't stop us from experiencing music from around the world. Many music stores on the high street have large and well stocked "world music" sections with primarily non-Western ethnic music. Alternatively, there are plenty of resources online; like Worldmusic.net or Amazon.co.uk which have excellent selections of music from around the world.

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