Discuss the role of music in your life. How does music help define who you are as a person? How is music used as a method of communication, and what do you see as the role of music in conflict? Feel free to share significant tunes on your blog, or in class.
When I think of the role of music in my life, I am very aware of the way that the role of music has changed for me over time. As a child and young adult my primary focus was on being a classical pianist. There was incredible passion and devotion to my craft and also a lot of long hours of hard work and practice. As a teenager I was very interested in the alternative music scene and that was perhaps where I located my more rebellious teenager angst-ridden self. I was also very taken with music of generations that came before me like Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Lou Reed.
In my contemporary life, music plays a deeply spiritual role. Once a month my synagogue holds a Shabbat Chai service that is entirely musical with a variety of instruments including a Klezmer violinist. I use Shabbat music to set the mood for Shabbat in my home weekly. I also listen to Klezmer and Yiddish-language music that connects me with a broader Jewish community. Now in addition to playing the classical music I was taught to play, I am learning to play Klezmer tunes on the piano.
I think it is really interesting how music has the potential to change how it influences you throughout your life. I think one of the coolest things about it is no matter where you are in life one can always find a way to relate to it.
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