When music Builds Bridges

As a music scholar, I have had the opportunity to experience the power of music first hand and I have come to understand that music carries more power than we can imagine. For those who have witnessed the healing power of good music in life, you would agree with me that music is more medicinal than we can imagine. Great Legends like Tupac, Lucky Dube and the likes blessed the world with great tunes of hope, activism and entertainment. These men gave the world the best of music they had in them and to date, generations unborn will always remember and enjoy their songs anytime it’s played. I am not going to be talking about music as a means of building bridges when it comes to love and relationship but I will talk about music from the aspect of language. While I was in the university studying music I came in contact with a course known as Music of the other world culture. The course may sound more like history but I tell you that it deals more with music as regards other cultures of the world. As I was going through the classes, I began to understand that music is not and should not be seen only from our point of view.

At some point in the course, I began to appreciate the music of other world cultures ranging from Asian, Western, African, Native American Music and so many others that I may not be able to discuss here. One thing I understood in all the classes I attended is that no matter the language of a person, music can make it easy for anyone to learn. For all those who are music scholars on this platform, they will understand that it only takes the arrangement of music notes according to the Tonal Inflection of a people for a none language-speaking member of that community to speak the language. The first time I tried this experiment with my church choir, I found out that they were able to sing songs written in the Yoruba and Hausa Language. Now, when I asked this same set of people to speak the language they just sang, they found it very difficult to do so. That made me understand that a well-arranged song can make it easy for people to speak foreign languages that they would not be able to speak.

I believe you will be wondering why I am writing about this today well, I was inspired by a WhatsApp video I watched where a choir made up of Europeans were singing an indigenous Igbo Catholic hymn. I was moved when I heard them singing because they were able to sing the song as if they were the original owners of the language. Now, if you have had the opportunity to hear foreigners sing a song in your language you will understand the power of music and why I said it builds bridges to close up the barrier language created. I would want you to watch the video below so that you will understand better.

What do you think about the song? For those who do not understand the language, I’m so sorry but I believe if you approach the song as a musician, you will understand it.

In making sure that music becomes a bridge in language, a music composer must try to obey the rule of tonal inflexion of a given language. What am I talking about? Musically, when a certain word demands that a tone mark either high or low is given to it, the composer must not make the mistake of living such words unmarked when attaching them to musical notes. Music gives even the blind the power to speak and express themselves in ways we can imagine. To anyone who feels limited by language, try and let the music guide you through it all because it is the invisible bridge that connects us all. One assignment I will give to you right now is that you should pick one language of your choice and try to speak it without the help of musical notes you will understand that it will be much harder than when musical notes are attached to it. Music makes every heart feel peace especially when it is a piece of good music not minding whether it is instrumental or vocal music. When last did you listen to a piece of good music? Always make it a duty to listen to a piece of good music at least once every day in other to maintain your peace of mind. Don’t forget, Music is the bridge that connects us.

Thank you for stopping by.

Davinchysax loves you.