McGahee's Magic Music

  How is music actually used in religion in your exper ience?      Music is used in religion in numerous ways, such as to s pread the  religion and enhance the religion itself. Music speaks to people, on every  level of life. In my personal experience religion has been used to intensify the words of G od, before the preacher begins the sermon, I remember him always say ing "Now, open your green hem book to page "____" and sing along with us". Singing along with everyone connects us together and prepares us to open our hearts and  minds to the  word. This, to a lot of people, is a very important part of the service. For me personally, I enjoy and find the preaching itself more useful and meaningful, than singing along with the masses.  And w hat is the purpose  of that use?  What sort o f  p erforming styles expected, and are there any rules that shoul d be  followed?      The purpose of music in my pers...

      Throughout the week, the Music of Diverse Cultures class has studied various indigenous groups scattered all over North America. These groups of people were settled in the "Americas" long before anyone else "discovered" or colonized the land, approximately 5,000 years ago. These groups of people survived off the land, some farmed, some hunted buffalo, some fished and some were gatherers. It just depended on the environment that each of the tribes was settled. The culture of these groups was also deeply rooted within the environment that they survived off of. The type of music the tribes used for dances, prayers, and other large gatherings was also deeply dependant on the tribe of the culture. Throughout the process of studying these groups and there music, I came upon many questions but I am specifically going to ask and answer three.  1. Did the Natives name themselves? Or was each tribe renamed when they were forced to move and assimilate by the colonies? ...

    Hello, I'm Cameron McGahee, and I am a student in the Music of Diverse Cultures class. Honestly, up until this class, I have never put much thought into playing music, or the fact that I rely on it so much. I do remember as a kid, my parents got me a small drumset for the garage and I'd go in there and bang around on it, creating the most horrible noises known to man. Eventually, my parents would move it outside for me each day so they didn't have to suffer through the endless hours of my music-making. Since then, I've kinda known that I'm not the best at creating music but this has given me a greater respect for those who can make beautiful noises with their drum sets.      Since I am going to talk about my musical culture, I should give a brief understanding of my background/my life for you to relate everything to. I was born in Sandersville, Georgia, a small town that only a handful of people know. I lived there until I was about two, and then my family u...