-Anthropology A179-

    Introduction

    Music is everywhere.  Throughout time music has been an integral ingredient of human society.
    Where ever one goes music can be found in some form or another.  It has been used as a means of communication, education, entertainment, and even in religion.  All music is arbitrary.  Each and every society has their own guidelines and definitions on what music is made up of.  Musical interpretations differ widely depending upon the listeners own background and cultural biases.  For many countries music is sacred and can only be heard during special occasions, such as a birth or death.  And for other countries, such as the United States, music is free to be expressed by anyone with the inclination to.  In America, technology plays a large role in how music is used by the people.  The way music is interpreted and disseminated has changed with each technological advancement.  There are two main ways to think about technology.  One is the actual technological change such as an improvement on an instrument and how that changes the way that the instrument is played.  The second way is to think about how the change in technology effects the way society  thinks about the music.  With the creation of the "internet", people can gain instantaneous access to new ideas and interpretations on a wide variety of music.  The wide spread use of the "internet" has added a whole new dimension to our musical culture.

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