The Universal Language

No, it is not English. It is the language that all of us listen to, all of us cherish, and everyone can understand. It is music.

Music is a way to express feelings and let loose in all cultures. It unites all sorts of people from around the world. Music is like a common language, though it can be sung in different languages, it still evokes feeling to others. From Salsa, to Samba, from K-Pop, to American Pop, from Bollywood, to Calypso, music around the world let us free. The drums, guitars, and other instruments speak to us. They help us enjoy time and sometimes even escape from things. Music brings joy to everyone and provides livelihood. So after reading this blog post, put your headphones in and escape life to the universal language of the world, music.

As you travel the world, you may run into the well-known musical genre of Calypso. This Caribbean style music, popular especially in Trinidad and Tobago, is a blends the musical styles from Africa and Europe. The fact that they use steel pans and drums helps create unique beats that are enjoyable to dance to. A fun fact, which proves that music is a universal language, is the fact that Calypso was created as a way for African slaves from different countries to communicate with each other. It took away the language barrier and brought the slaves together.

Salsa as we all know is a feisty dance move and genre of music that comes from Puerto Rico and Cuba. It tends to be popular in Latin American countries, though America has popularized the music by incorporating it in their own styles. Similar to swing or soul music, it invokes a feeling of strong love for culture with the use of the conga drums.

Samba, a Brazilian dance, with roots from Africa is typically used during the Brazilian holiday of Carnaval. Slowly, Samba has taken over the world, with its unique rhythm. The guitars, heavy percussion, an instrument called cavaquinho, and the exciting, feathery costumes worn when performing, all make this genre of music interesting.

Pop music is found all around the world. American Pop, Brit Pop, K-Pop, it’s the songs that always tend to play on the radio and everyone seems to know. As we all know, American Pop include the artists like Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and literally anyone you turn on the radio and hear. Similarly, K-Pop, from Korea, comprises of catchy beats and dance moves. It has it all; using the genres of electropop, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B, all with a Korean twist to it.

Some other interesting types of music from around the world include Katajjaq from Canada, Bush Music from Australia, and Bollywood music from India. Katajjaq is Inuit throat singing. This style of music can be found in places like Greenland, Russia, Tibet, and Mongolia. It is commonly sung by women to their children to fall asleep or in a competitive game. The Australian style Bush Music is ballads that record the events that occurred in Australia’s history. Bollywood music, is much like pop music, and is basically a style that comprises of all sorts of music to create one genre that is plenty of fun to dance to.

 

Music can tell a story, tell history, and describe the culture of a place. It helps you understand a place before you have even been there. It doesn’t matter if you do not understand the words, because that is not the main point of music. The point of music is to evoke feeling and let a person get lost in it. Any style or genre of music, no matter from which country, allows you to do this. That is why it is the universal language.

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