Wrap-Up

1)  I'm very glad that I was able to take this class again.  As I stated, one thing that I took away from taking it the first time was the fact that the same music (or simply sounds, really) can signify something completely different over culture barriers.  One thing that I only this semester realized, though, is that other cultures perform or do a task that seems to make music to our ears, but does not to theirs.  Case in point: the reading of the Quarn.  When Muslims read it, we hear them signing it, but to them, it is simply a chant.  The post office workers in Africa was another great example.

2)  What I realized about our own culture is exactly how diverse IT is and how much of it we seem to ignore.  There are people who care about these other aspects, though, and they are likely begging to be seen.  Everything's there, we just have to go out and find it.

3)  The course rekindled my interest in the blues.  I had found a lot of those old recordings a couple of years ago but hadn't listened to them in awhile.  I stumbled across the mystery that is Henry Sloan.  It also made me want to look into more Scandinavian music.  I found the viking song very intriguing.  Also, my favorite band, Opeth, is Swedish.