My Musical Autobiography

As the child of a music teacher, I have been exposed to my fair share of musical instruments, both Western in origin and not so Western. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I remember my dad bringing home an assortment of African drums. He brought a small djembe home just for me to play. He showed my brother and I how to play a few very simple rhythms on them. Though my djembe-playing career was short-lived, my little djembe still resides in our living room near the fireplace.

These drums were not the first, and definitely not the last, instruments to enter our house. In 8th grade, I did a project on Austrailia in my English class. I picked this country in particular so that I could bring in my dad’s didgeridoo to show to all of my friends. It was not the most authentic didgeridoo, considering that it was plastic and much smaller than a real one, but it served its purpose. It was not until my Freshman year here at Converse that I would get to see a real didgeridoo. At the SCMEA conference, there was a whole session on the didgeridoo and aboriginal music of Australia. The man running the session had been playing the instrument for years and even tried to teach us certain techniques on how to play it.

The first time that I witnessed the music of a particular culture being played in its place of origin was when I went to Great Britain on a school trip in high school. We were heading up to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland when we began to hear the sound of bagpipes. When we came around a corner, I saw a man playing the instrument dressed from head to toe in traditional Scottish attire. As we turned another corner, I even saw a woman playing a bagpipe. The sound of the instruments’ drone could be heard our entire journey up the steep hill to the castle.

As far as my own musical preferences outside of Western Art music, I have loved listening to punk rock since my Freshman year in high school. I convinced my parents to get me a blue Fender Stratocaster and started taking guitar lessons so that I could learn to play the power-chord-driven songs that I loved to listen to. Though I enjoyed learning songs by The Ramones, Stiff Little Fingers, Sonic Youth, and many others, the band that truly stuck out among the rest for me was and still is The Clash. Not only do their lyrics have significant social and political messages behind them, but they are not tied down to a single genre. Though they are labeled as simply a “punk rock band,” the music of The Clash often clearly incorporates influences from reggae, African drumming, and many other genres.

And so, I leave you with my favorite Clash song. Trust me, the title is deceiving.