Musical Autobiography

Having to think about the role non-Western art music has played in my life made me contemplate how I ever began studying its opposite, Western art music. My mom, bless her heart, can only carry a tune as long as there’s no accompaniment, and my dad . . . well, let’s just say he wishes the definition for music was Van Halen. How in the world did I ever end up studying to be a classically-trained musician?!

LATER (by which I mean, the time it took me to grab a Brazilian Chicken Flatbread from Sandella’s):

Now that I’ve thought it over, I realize the non-art music my parents exposed me to actually did lead me towards the path of classical music. And my mom and my dad each contributed something completely different.

My dad liked me to play this game. It was called “Even Though You Probably Weren’t Born When This Song Came Out, Who Plays This Song?” Granted, my choices were limited to Van Halen, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and the occasional Def Leppard, but when you think Barney and any princess from a Disney movie are your best options, it makes the game a little harder. No, seriously. I eventually learned how to win this ridiculous game by comparing my knowledge of the band’s “sound” with the sounds I heard in the song. Don’t tell my dad this, but he was a genius. Do you know what that game taught me? How to study for listening quizzes.

Also, I grew up in New Orleans. Every year we have one week off to celebrate Mardi Gras. That means I grew up listening to lots of brass melodies and percussion rhythms like this:

And this:

Now let’s try to tackle my mom’s influence. She definitely loves jazz, especially Billie Holiday. Even though my mom is a child of the 80’s, she listens to music from the 70’s. Her favorite artists are Elton John and Billy Joel. She knows The Beatles’ songs, but she is not as huge a fan as her older sister, who DID grow up in the 70’s. However, I don’t really remember listening to these as I grew up. Instead, my mom infused me with a Latin flavor.

When I was six, my mom’s Spanish friends were visiting, and they taught us how to Flamenco dance with castanets. The art of Flamenco dancing is a great lesson in musicality. You are swapping between interacting with and reproducing the rhythms of the guitar. The following video is a perfect example, complete with castanets. Keep in mind RIO Flamenco is performing for an American audience. Normally, flamenco dancing is very sensual as opposed to sassy.

Celina Zambon is one of my favorite flamenco dancers. However, she does not traditionally use castanets. Most flamenco dancers actually prefer to forego them because they are already using their feet like castanets. If you don’t want to watch the whole video, I would suggest watching until the 1.18 mark, and then again from 3.33 until 4.46 and 5.50 until 6.54. Notice how intricate the rhythms are. She keeps count under her breath.

If I write much more, this will turn into an essay. Suffice to say, one of my favorite artists is Carlos Vives, and whenever my Panamanian cousins visit, I am serenaded with new Spanish rap songs.

So the last thing I’ll leave you with is one of the coolest things I discovered in Australia. Can you guess what they're playing? It’s really fun to say!