Instruments
Growing up I always wanted to play an instrument. For a little while, I played the piano then the violin, and one day I just decided to stop. As I got older, I began to wish that I never gave up playing instruments because when I wanted to try again I had completely lost everything that I learned. One instrument that I wanted to try to play was the guitar because it is very similar to plucking the strings on the violin, so I that learning to play it would be easy. I was definitely wrong about that one, so I decided to just admire the guitar and any other instrument for that matter from afar. I find it so interesting that there are so many different variations of the same instrument, and how they all have their own unique sounds. In class today, we listened to songs that were played on the steel guitar. This was actually the first time that I have even heard of the steel guitar. I think that it sounds a lot like a ukulele which makes sense because the steel guitar originated in Hawaii like the ukulele. I personally do not like that sound because to me is sounds like none of notes flow together. For some odd reason in recents years that sound of the ukulele has become quite popular in pop music, and some artists like Megan Trainor have even launched their careers by posting videos of them performing pop songs on the ukulele. After today’s class discussion, I began to wonder if the purpose for this increase in the use of ukulele in music has to do with it actually being Hawaiian influenced, and if so then is that why I don’t personally care for it. In my opinion, I think that it takes away from the essence of Hawaiian music because it lacks soul. In some cases, I think that people who use cultural musics styles in the way that recent celebrities have been using, is a form of appropriation. I say this because often times these people don’t actually know the history behind the art and the cultural meanings, and they rarely ever take the time to try.
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