My chosen independent world listening is the Hispanic Caribbean. The above video is a piece called "Baila Merengue" and is being performed by Alex Torres and his Orchestra. The merengue has its roots in the Dominican Republic but is also present in other countries such as Puerto Rico. The instrumentation of the ensemble has that of a horn section (brass and saxophones) as well as a rhythm section with plenty of Latin percussion instruments in addition to the vocal parts. The lyrics are in Spanish and this type of music also has a dance to accompany it.
In America, we have representations of many different cultures. With different cultures come many different types of music that represent different groups of people. As described by Kelly & Van Weelden (2004), norms such as obedience to laws, celebrating certain holidays, going to school at a certain age, eating certain foods, and voting are shared by Americans and unite them even with different cultural backgrounds. Because of the wide representation of different cultures within America, music education should be reflective of those cultures. While places such as southern Florida have a high percentage of Hispanic Caribbean immigrants, other places throughout America do as well. The merengue is very much a part of all that culture, but also the culture of dance. Professional dancers are very well versed in many different types of dance, including Latin dance. This familiarity makes this music something that a lot of Americans can recognize, especially with the inclusion of a TV show such as “Dancing with the Stars”. As a music educator, making students aware of the background behind different types of music is an essential part of listening to music. Teaching in a very diverse area makes the study of world music ever important. The study of ethnomusicology is an imperative aspect of this study of music. According to Nettl, ethnomusicologists carry out research about non-Western, folk, popular, and vernacular music, taking into account both the music itself, as sound, and how it interacts with other things that people do. These ethnomusicologists study the culture and music of the people of that particular area in depth to gain a better understanding of their music and how it affects their culture. This is imperative for the understanding of how and why music has been developed. Being an American, we are exposed to many different types of music, thus being influenced by them as well. It is important to understand the background of the music, just as it is important to understand history.
