For me, the only exposure I really have to music of my family’s culture is through Coke Studio videos and Bollywood movies. I haven’t explored it much in my life because of how American music has felt all-important. Growing up in the US meant I was introduced to learning to play instruments through an American, European-based way. I loved getting to play in band throughout my school years. I got to learn to play the clarinet, improve my music-reading skills, explore percussion instruments, and more. Music wasn’t that big in either of my parents’ families because they grew up in a conservative sect of Islam where music is generally discouraged. If I were raised in Pakistan, maybe I could have had an opportunity to master tabla or sitar, but the chances are slim. I feel lucky in some aspects to have had the musical education I got here, despite the Western bias. (274 words)

       Another study from 2011 compared participants with varying levels of familiarity with non-Western music. One group was only familiar with Western music, so they were labeled monomusicals. The other group had been exposed to some non-Western music in their life along with Western music, so they were labeled as bimusical. I found it interesting to learn about bimusicalism, since it is similar to biculturalism in the way that it describes a familiarity with two different musical cultures. Anyway, in that study, the group that was bimusical was better at discerning changes in complex meter in music that they were unfamiliar with. The group only familiar with Western music could only discern music changes in simple meters. This was because Western music mainly consists of simple meters, like 4/4 or 3/4, and rarely opts for something different-sounding, like 5/8. Think of it like this: even if two different songs are from different cultures, the chances of someone familiar with the culture of the first song being able to understand what’s going on in the second song depends on how similar the components (like meter, rhythm, pitch, melody, etc.) are to the first. A lot of non-Western music has completely different structures compared to Western music, so it will mainly stay in its own sphere and not be picked up or spread as much as Western music. That means it is listened to less and is more likely to be perceived as strange by those unfamiliar with it.

       Although certain emotional responses to music vary within a culture, one article found that “preference for one harmonisation style over another, including the major-happy/minor-sad distinction, is influenced by culture.” The “major-happy/minor-sad distinction” they are referring to is the common belief that music in a major key is meant to express or bring about happy feelings and thoughts, while music in a minor key is meant to be sad. This is mostly true in Western music, but is not guaranteed to happen in other musical cultures. 

       These are just a few that stood out to me most. It’s fascinating that culture plays such a huge role in how we perceive music. I did not find much from my survey to prove how culture affects music perception, but it did show to me how some people define music and demonstrate what it means to them. Regardless of culture or background, music is super important to us as human beings. No matter how you choose to listen to it or play it or make it, it is built around social connectedness. I hope to keep exploring this subject after this project and find a way to support communities of different, diverse music-making cultures. I also want to learn more about other musical structures, foster my own bimusicalism, and create music that incorporates elements from both Western music and Pakistani music (which is my family’s culture). (647 words)