English Literature

This is the story of my first real experience with music. First though, I must explain the circumstances of its entry into my life. You see, I am a newly transferred student to the American University, and I had actually accomplished my first two years of college in my home country, Saudi Arabia. When enrolling for this semesters classes, my advisor informed me that she will be the one to pick and enroll me into my classes. This, is how I found my self enrolled in a music class. Thinking to avoid the embarrassing situation (I ended up finding myself in anyway), I contacted her to explain my situation as a student who had no background in music whatsoever. She said that it was not necessary to have a background on music to enroll in that particular class. Her answer comforted me and right then I figured that I just might enjoy an introductory music class that comfort, of course, only lasted me through the first few minutes of class.

After thoroughly explaining the syllabus, our music professor wrote some rhythm notes on the board and asked us to complete them, in order for it to have a meaningful rhythm. He said that this exercise was to refresh our memories. I remember thinking Memories This is the first time Ive ever seen these, how could I have memories of them to refresh Slightly panicked, I started to look at the people around me, hoping to find that other people were just as confused as I was. No such luck. All of my classmates were busy answering away, obviously familiar with these notes and the lesson. After a couple of minutes, the professor said I think that all of you should be done with the notes, now compare your answers with those of your neighbor. My seatmate turned to me with an expectant look and said Easy, isnt it Slightly ashamed, I confessed that I had no background in music at all, and so of course I had no answers to compare with hers. After she heard this, she was rather shocked. She looked at me with an expression that pretty much said What are you doing here then She then turned her back on me to face her other seatmate, and started to compare her notes with his instead. They were telling each other how easy and silly the exercise was.

Later, our professors assistant distributed rhythm notes sheets and asked us to clap with the rhythm on them, and that the professor would be accompanying us on the piano. Once the professor started playing, the whole class started to clap consistently and with enthusiasm. I, on the other hand, was left looking around feeling rather surprised and foolish, and I was pretty sure it showed on my face. Our professor was staring at me while he was playing the piano I suppose I did stand out quite a bit as I was the only student who was not clapping along with the music. After finishing the piece, he smiled at me and said You should look up the website readings in order to cope up with the course. I was really embarrassed, and I promised him that I would definitely read the notes as soon as I could. To be honest, I was getting rather suspicious if I was in the right class at all. I turned to one of my neighbors and asked her whether this really was the Understanding Music class. She nodded with surprise, so much for stumbling into the wrong class.

Then, the students had started to argue among themselves about some of the pieces that were being played in class. I was hearing such strange musical terms that I figured were related to musical instruments. They were criticizing these pieces and suggesting some editing to have a better rhythm than another. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I felt so out of place. This was my very first class in the American University. I was starting what should have been a fun and exciting time for me studying in this new school.  Instead of easing me into this new phase of my life, this very first incident was doing quite the opposite, it made me doubt myself and my decisions. I was starting to have severe reservations about this experience and thinking Well, that is definitely not a good beginning, maybe I should consider dropping this course

Then, the professor asked us If you were to choose between losing your sight and losing you hearing, which would you prefer It must have been a rhetorical question though as he immediately answered his own question himself, Well, being blind of course. He told us about an experiment that was executed by isolating a group of people and blocking their ears totally, temporarily robbing them of their hearing. In a matter of a mere three hours, those people were on the verge of insanity. From that standpoint, he said. we should realize how important music is. It is through music that our souls are enriched It was that story and that statement that made me think twice about dropping the course. I began to think about the vital role of music in our lives, or at least, what it could be if we let it. There were people who lived their whole lives around music. I have heard of people whose very lifeblood is music even if they were hungry, music seemed to be enough for them. I thought of the people who are brought to the heights of sheer joy by music. There must be something to it then, if music can keep a persons sanity intact. I was curious as to how an arrangement of mere sounds can enrich the soul. I started to think that maybe, learning about music will make me understand what it is about it that makes it so special. With this, I became convinced that learning music might just be as important as learning mathematics or history.

These exercises to refresh the memory and all these students who were so well-acquainted with music in that class overwhelmed me. It was as if in this place, everyone was already expected to have some basic working knowledge of music, and not knowing anything about it was considered strange. This concept was entirely different from what I had grown up thinking. The culture here and that of my home country regard music in ways that are pretty much polar opposites. All throughout my years in elementary school, I did not take a single class that was related to music, nor any performing art. It was not that I disliked music and so avoided it, it was just never offered as part of the curricula. As a matter of fact, there is no single school or university in my country that teaches a single course in music. I do enjoy listening to music, but my appreciation of it has always been superficial. I have never asked myself how was that song played, or which instruments were involved in that piece I never gave a second thought about what feelings a certain song evokes in me, or what it is exactly about that song that makes me feel that way. One just does not bother with nuances like that, a song is a song, and that was all it is. This was the mindset I was accustomed to as never had any kind of performing arts been a top priority in the education system of my country. In the United Stated on the other hand, a standard high school graduate is familiar with at least the basics of music. Its even possible that children in American elementary schools had more knowledge of music than a college graduate in my home country. In Saudi, people simply did care about music studies. In fact, some extremist religious considered music as haram, which means forbidden. The art of music had no place in the lives of the ordinary people it was never talked about or brought up, it was as if it did not even exist. It was not because people hated it and actively tried to suppress it, though as I said some did consider it forbidden, it is just that no one really considered it relevant enough in their lives.  Apathy- that is the best word I can think of to describe the attitude towards music that I had grown up around.

This whole music class debacle made me recall something involving my mother. My mother wasnt raised in Saudi. Therefore, she took many of music classes while she was in school. She became fascinated by the art of music, and considered playing the piano as one of her main hobbies. When her family moved back to Saudi, she enrolled in one of the universities there. She was so frustrated when she found out that the university did not offer a single music class. Until this very day, she vehemently criticizes the Saudi universities and the schools for not bringing the knowledge of music into their classrooms. My mother had always encouraged me to learn how to play piano, and had always emphasized the importance and joys of understanding music. To be frank, my attitude towards all her encouragement had always been rather apathetic too. Maybe it was the reverse-psychology of a child when his parents push their passions or hobbies onto him, or maybe I just adopted the attitude I saw around me. Even when I mention my mothers insistence to my father, he just laughs and says That is so silly. Im not quite sure where my own disinterest stemmed from, I had honestly never wondered about it until recently.

When I called my friends in Saudi, I told them about that incident. We were all laughing about the sheer embarrassment I had faced. But when I started to explain for them how important it is to learn music, instead of being convinced, they just started to make fun of me and teased me about my first day experience again. I think they called it, the electrical shock. I just let the subject go and let them have their fun at my expense. I knew they could not understand as I believe that a person learns something better through actually living an experience and not just hearing about it. For me, thanks to that humiliating first day of class, I have now opened my eyes to the importance of music and not just so I would not be laughed at again.

I believe that this experience made me aware of the value of trying to understand the intangible beauty of performing arts, music especially. We see them and hear them everywhere everyday, but it is only when one really learns about them that one can appreciate them in a wholly different level. I talked to the professor by the end of that first class and explained my situation to him. Fortunately, he was extremely helpful and guided me to check some useful websites other than the official sources, in order for me to better acquaint myself with the material. Now, Ive successfully finished that course and I really would have missed out on so much if I had just given up on it like I had thought about doing that first day. I remember my professor telling me that music is more important than any other discipline. In a way, I think hes right. We will stop using all the other disciplines at some point in our lives when were old and can barely remember what we had for lunch. Math and science will be of no use to us then but until our last breath, as long as we can still hear even if it were just a whisper, we can still appreciate music.