Our New Playlist

Throughout my life, I've always found it interesting to look deeper into other kinds of music and their instruments, both used in the modern day and i the past. I feel as though both traditional and modern-day music are very interesting, and it is impressive to see how much of the music from other cultures has changed today versus how it was in the past. Today, we will be looking at both traditional and modern-day music found across the globe.

For our first part of music, we have Mongolia. Mongolia has always been interesting to me, especially the throat singing and instruments, such as the morin khuur. The morin khurr, also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a chordephone with only two strings. Think of this instrument as almost like a violin. The morin khurr is also one of the most important instruments in Mongolian culture. The morin khurr is also played with both fingers and a bow. Throat singing is another thing that makes Mongolian music so unique as well. Another thing I like about Mongolian throat singing is how it can go with anything, especially with rock bands. For example, the HU is a famous rock Mongolian band that consists of both rock elements, throat singing, and the morin khurr. In their song, "Yuve Yuve Yu," It shows a lot of those elements. (Asia, Mongolia, Modern)

 On our way to traditional music in Scotland, I always find it interesting that they do, especially the Bagpipes. Bagpipes are an aerophone instrument that consists of a bag and a pipe called the chanter. The bagpipes have been used in many countries and places. Most of the time, bagpipes are also used for ceremonial events, for military, funerals, and festivals. For example, Scotland's main patriotic songs are still used to this day, with bagpipes usually known as "Scotland the Brave." (Europe, Scotland, Traditional)

More modern music I could also find was centered around South Korea, mainly K-pop. K-pop has been very popular over the years and is still growing in popularity. There are many musical influences gathered to create K-pop, such as rock, rapping, and obviously, pop. One artist I could remember mostly from my childhood growing up and listening to is an artist known as PSY. Over the years in Korean culture, PSY has created many songs that are not only popular in Korea but also in other countries, especially in the US. Songs PSY has created that became popular were "Gangnam Style," "GENTLEMAN," and more. One of my favorites that PSY has created was "I LUV IT". (Asia, South Korea, Modern)

Onto our final music type, we have traditional Chinese music. This type of music is very unique in my opinion, especially with their instruments. For example, the Erhu is one of the most popular chordophone instruments played in China. Just like the morin khurr, it has two strings and is played with a bow. A cool thing about this instrument in particular is that some of these instruments have python skin to produce a warm feeling to the music. I find Chinese music played with this instrument to be very relaxing and calm, too. (Asia, China, Traditional)

That's all for my blog. I hope you enjoyed learning about the instruments and more about traditional and modern-day music found in these countries!