I think the discussion we had in class set up the idea
behind the fact that musical practices can lead us to act certain ways towards
different music styles and thus influence our actions in different situations.
For example, participatory music can convince us to live similar lives to the
music – when we open ourselves to a communal environment we enable ourselves to
unite with the small worlds we live in and around us. In a high fidelity
lifestyle, similar to that of American society, we tend to look at things with
a sense of how much money or profit can be made off of it. This is why the
general idea of participatory music is so new and unfamiliar to us: we’re so
used to getting paid for things and thus the practice of everyone being
included as opposed to those that have enough money is foreign and almost
useless to us. With this, a society can typically base its living habits off of
the style of music that is most prevalent within itself. Many African cultures
have come up during this class and a majority of them primarily practice participatory
qualities in that from a very young age, children are included in rituals and
events to better raise them with the quality of community already established
for them.
Being a global citizen is understanding and knowing where
you come from and stand in comparison to others. To elaborate, however, being a
global citizen does not automatically place you into a hierarchical system, but
rather it does the opposite. Knowing where you stand does not mean that one
must acquire a certain position to be among others but to understand where one
currently is to bring others to a similar level and to promote equality and
egalitarianism. As with the contra-dance, equality is an incredibly essential
quality in that it welcomes everyone without judgment or discrimination. Also,
the idea of the contra-dance helps to promote the spread of global citizenship
by starting out at a local level. When one goes to a night club, the primary
purpose of the establishment is to make money; the music attracts people,
special events draw more customers, the bar keeps them hydrated, but this is
from a high fidelity perspective of the audience being entertained and the
establishment being a performer in this scenario and practicing and rehearsing
its part to keep the guests amused while still making a profit. The
contra-dance helps promote the start of global citizenship in that everyone becomes
a part and an equal amount of enjoyment is had by all.
Much of global citizenship must be started at a local level.
Our communities become a part of ourselves and we become a part of the
community; both parties influence one another. The community can provide higher
quality resources and the consumer can show payment for said resources to
influence the production of more and greater resources. It’s almost a positive
paradox: the buyer pays the seller so the seller can sell to the buyer for the
buyer to purchase in the future and so on. This is incredibly prominent in the
presence of the farmers’ market. Farmers bring their products to the markets
for the locals to buy and become customers of the farmer. This whole process
adds to and builds off of the idea of collective community and participation in
one’s area. Instead of going to the local grocery store to get any necessary
goods, one can show participation and support for the community in other ways.
The local grocery store is high fidelity in that its primary purpose is to make
money and it values the growth of the corporation over the appreciation and
reaction to the individual customer instead.
Global citizenship requires effort and energy from everyone
in a group for the group to truly feel together or for the activity to be
useful. Each member must contribute an equal amount for everything to feel
right. This also falls into the category of one of the consequences global
citizenship: if one doesn’t contribute, the entire community could not feel
connected and thus will essentially be stripped of the title of a community. To
truly be part of a participatory community that exists within the idea of
global citizenship, one must sacrifice individual emotions and feelings for the
group’s greater good and well-being. This sacrifice permits egalitarianism to
enter and thus welcome everyone equally. Equality, however, may be another
consequence for someone who is not used to this lifestyle. The presentational
performances we typically attend grant us the opportunity to witness talented
performers and virtuosic musicians and thus music becomes a specialist
activity. When one enters the field of music within a society similar to this,
many enjoy the feeling of being the center of attention and receiving praise
for the works they have done. This is not so with an idea of global
citizenship; no one is praised as being any higher than anyone else and
although every skill level is welcome, the skill level is actually transformed
into a comfortability level which is then transformed into a participatory
level. However, this idea still does not place any member higher or lower than
anyone else on a hierarchical perspective due to the lack of any hierarchy. Any
amount of participation is welcomed and expected of just about everyone so even
the slightest contribution is enough, given that all effort is given as well.
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