Your comment post should be at least 300 words this week due Thursday by 11:59 pm (worth 70 points) and you will be responsible for responding (respectfully) to one of your classmates in at least a one paragraph reply entries by Sunday at 11:59 pm (worth 30 points).
Student Question | What Are Your Earliest Memories of Music?
MAY 9, 2016 5:02 AM May 9, 2016 5:02 am 4
What does that statement mean to you?
David Gonzalez interweaves a story about what music meant to his father as he tells about his own first memory of listening to those songs in the section of the article called “A Bolero Between Father and Son”:
My earliest memory of being alive comes with its own soundtrack. My father, Pedro, used to sit with his battered guitar by the window of our first-floor apartment in the Bronx and slowly pluck out the songs he had learned decades earlier in Puerto Rico.
They were romantic boleros, filled with melancholy and heartbreak, or traditional aguinaldos from his own rural childhood in Caguas.
God, I hated those songs.
During the 1960s, when Puerto Ricans were depicted as knife-wielding know-nothings who would be the downfall of the South Bronx, the last thing I wanted to hear was some corny music that reminded me of where my parents were from. Besides, by the end of that decade I was too enamored of Jimi Hendrix, Creedence and The Guess Who to even give a second thought to papi’s music. So while he tried once to teach me guitar, all I ever learned to play were records.
A few weeks ago, I was driving by Van Cortlandt Park on a sunny morning when one of those old songs popped up randomly. I only had to hear a few notes from the lead guitar to know it was “Noche de Ronda” by Dúo Pérez Rodríguez, one of papi’s favorite groups. With flowery, poetic lyrics, they declared loyalty to a vanished lover, vowing to wait until death.
Waiting. Maybe that was also a theme of papi’s life. He had come here as a teenager to work in factories where, in time, he would lose most of two fingers on his playing hand. No longer able to play leads, he switched to rhythm. He didn’t really talk about that. Nor did he talk much about Puerto Rico, having only gone back to visit once in the mid-1940s after he married my mother.
Music was the link to the island he left behind. Along with his brother Eusebio, and Luis Reyes, a family friend, they would break out the guitars to perform the music of their youth.
Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:
— To what degree do you identify with Mr. Gonzalez’s story of listening to his father’s favorite music from his own childhood?
— Is being a fan of a certain style of music or artists connected to how you see yourself? What about how you view other people? Explain.
— What are your first memories of music? What is the setting for those memories?
— Have your parents, grandparents, other older family members or teachers introduced you to music that they loved when they were younger?
— If so, what artists or musical styles have you “inherited” from them?
— Have you likewise brought new music to older family members? If so, what?
ReplyDeleteI think that I identify with Mr. gonzalez's with a 7 out of 10 because that was an interesting story and it was also culturally implied. I can relate to him because when i was around 2 or 3 my dad would out bob marley on in the car. I don't see the connection with me but with other people i can see a connection between their music and their personality. My first memories with music were listening to rap and reggae that was when i was the ages of about 9 through 11. My grandfather showed me the rolling stones and metallica, and my dad showed me bob marley and rock. The artists i have inherited from them are the rolling stones, bad religion, metallica, bob marley, and survivor. I took an interest in these people when i started listening to them on my free time like when i'm on the bus or something. Personally i have not given my family members any new music to listen to.
I agree with you you can some what tell what their personalty is like with their music. I can't really relate to Mr. gonzalez. I just didn't really know what my family listened to until I was younger.
DeleteI agree with you not everyone likes the same type of music and that's alright. Everyone has listen to there parents or grandparents music and not everybody likes it. But thats okay because everyone likes there own type of music and no one should care what type of music you like
DeleteJake coll
ReplyDeleteBlog 10 period 3
I can relate to him because when i was around 6 my dad liked to listen to reggae music and sometimes listened to bob marley. I don't see the connection with me but with other people i can see a connection between their music and their personality. I took an interest in these people when i started listening to them on my free time like when i'm on the bus or something. Personally i have not given my family members any new music to listen to. I feel that the type of music that you listen to describes the type of person that you are.For example if you listen to rock and roll, i feel that the person who likes it would be outgoing and less caring about dumb things.If a person liked jazz music i would feel that they would be quiet and a kind of person that doesn't talk much and only has a couple ammount of friends. I also remember my dad being in different moods toward music.like when rock and roll came on like black sabbath or ozzy osbourne he would be in a good mood.When i play my music like rap or hip hop he would most likely go in another room because he dosen’t like the music that i listen to.My granma likes older music and when i am at her house she is always playing some nice country music.My mom showed me her favorite songs and some of the songs that she went to go see in concert when she was younger.The artists i have inherited from my great grandpa and grandma are the rolling stones, metallica, and bob marley.I have tried to introduce my grandma and grandpa with my kind of music buut they weren’t interested.They would rather listen to the music that they have been all their life.
I agree with what Jake says, a lot of people inherit their music from their family. For example, Jake was introduced to country music by his grandma, and his mom showed him some of her favorite songs. Also, a lot of people like different kinds of music, so when rock and roll came out a lot of people liked it.
DeleteI agree with Dylan and I think that it is very true that some people can not have a connection when they talk or hang out together. With music I feel that it can bring people closer and it can help get to know someone just by the music that they listen to. If people can relate to a song they can start a conversation or maybe tell about a past experience about that song. I also can relate to Dylan because my grandfather nd my grandmother both showed me songs that they enjoyed listening to. The only way that I would listen to the songs that my grandparents taught me was when I was with them and they would play their music. Sometimes if I liked the sing I would ask what the song was called and then I would listen to the song when I am doing my homework or playing football or basketball.
ReplyDeleteMy Earliest memory of music was kidz bop, that was the best music back when I was a little Boy. I would listen to it every time i was in the car I would blast the music and people in their cars would look over and just see me jamming out to kidz bop and they would probably think i had problems. Because of the way i danced i looked so dang weird when i danced. People would think im a toddler because of how short i was and also because i had a watermelon for a head. But i loved it because i would have so much fun with my brothers when we listened to Kidz bop in the basement and my brother was a DJ and he worked in a club. So,he had really big speakers and we would blast the music down there you would feel the floor vibrating upstairs so we would get screamed at alot by our dad because he would be trying to sleep or he would be trying to watch TV.
ReplyDeleteBut i couldn’t stop playing that music so loud either it was in the car,in my room, or in my basement with my brothers. Even today i have kidz bop CD’s that i lisented to when i was little. But i loved it but today their is still good music but you can barely make out what they are even saying but still the music they have today is good and i listen to it But nothing is as good as Kidz bop and how fun it was. Just because it wasn’t adults singing it was other kids.and some kidz bop would have videos playing with them so they could dance wit you to. Kidz bop is still around today because they have commercials about it and people still buy them but i dont because now we have technology.
My earliest memories of music was when I was really little. Me and my friends bought the game, guitar hero on the Wii, and we used to always come over and play together. Basically, with the game it comes with a guitar with a few buttons that all have different colors. Then, when you pick a song you want to play on the game, there would be a guitar and it would go through a rhythm that would match to the song and it would make you press the colors on the guitar that match the screen. Also, mostly the type of music on that game was rock music. It was mostly creators of metallica and it was also some other creators of rock too. That wasn’t the only type of music they had in the game, but there was different types as well. I can relate to him because we both find music once in our life, but I don’t find a connection between us because we both listened to different types of music. I first listened to rock music that was in a game, and he listened to another type. Also, my dad has introduced me into the music because he bought me the game. He bought me and my brother the game for christmas or for our birthday when we were young. I have stopped playing or listening to that type of music ages ago. I don’t bring that music to the family no more because I didn’t really like it, I just played the game when I was young because I thought it was cool. I normally listen to rap music now, and I have sometimes played in the car when my family members were with me. I haven’t really received any styles from music but I enjoy listening to rap music, and music when I was young.
ReplyDeletei agree david i think we all should be open to new music and stuff not everyone should have to like the same thing. and we should also try to get our family members to try and like the same music we do to get them to expand what they like. i think our parents should let us try there music as well.
DeleteI can relate to him because when I was a kid my parents would always make me listen to their music. I now know songs from the 60s to my my music now. I do think that your music can show who you are and what your mood is. There are sad songs for sad things.There are different songs for different cultures as well. So yes I do think that your songs represent who you are and how you are feeling. My first memory of songs was when my mom would sing all these nursery rhymes to me. I don't really know why she sang me all those songs I guess it was just to entertain me. I also remember watching my favorite shows and listening to the theme songs when I was younger such as the little einsteins. Yes my whole family in fact has made me listen to at least one of their songs from when they were my age. Some of their songs are catchy and some just get stuck in your head. I now know ice ice baby by vanilla ice all because of my dad. It just shows me how they were in the past what they some what acted like. My dad always listens to country or the 80s. I doesn't really count as a skill but I know most of the songs on the radio because of him. I have in fact showed my family our generations music. My mo doesn't really mind my music she likes to sing along with me. She cannot stand my brothers rap music. My grandma and grandpa are the same way although they would much rather to listen to country. My dad doesn't really mind either he just still prefers his "classics" over my music it just depends who gets to the radio first.
ReplyDeleteNot everybody likes the same type of music some like pop , country , rap , and others things. I agree with being a fan of a certain style of music you can see yourself and other people.Some people could take that as a insult. I’m am saying this because so people may like rap as music but not everyone may not agree to what they're saying. I don't really have any memories of me listening to music for first time i would really listen to anything that came on the radio except for country i can’t stand that type of music.My parents and grandparents have introduced me to there music and i didnt really like it. I did perfore my mom's music instead of my grandmother’s.Older family members have showed my there music but never my teahcers.I never really made people listen to music that i liked but i really have no favriote song. But everyone likes there own type of music and i guess people could view how they look at you from now on. People also could inherited a song or a artist from there family or older friends. I personally think people shouldn't judge you on that because they may like the song but they don't like what they are saying. So i don't think we should judge people on this.
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ReplyDeleteIn my opinion being a fan of different music does bring out your personality and inner self. For example David's father likes songs about love and heartbreaks and then he married David's mother. Plus i myself like listening to music i can relate to or vibe with and i know many more who do the same. Now that i think back in time my first memory of music was the little CD’s Mcdonald's use to give out in the happy meals that had about 5 songs on it. Half of those artists on those CD’s weren't really relevant but they are now with many albums. The mood those songs brought me in was happy and excited because i never heard music like that unless it was on the radio in the car and then i finally had a CD of my own and a CD player because iphones and ipods weren't invented yet back in the day. Now that i'm older my mom is always telling me to put certain songs on through the aux in the car and when i put it on i barely ever know what is on until i actually listen to the words and like it. Most of the songs my mom inherited to me i forgot the name but their was this one song that she had me hooked on for awhile and it was “lose to win” by fantasia and that used to be my favorite song. Now i have my mom hooked on songs and artists like Pnb Rock, Kodak black, G Herbo, and ect the same exact way she had me hooked on some of her music.
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