The Ultimate Celebration Accessory - Live Music

The Ultimate Celebration Accessory - Live Music

The "universal language" is also the global language of celebration

by Dendy Jarrett

As those in the USA get ready to celebrate the 4th of July (Independence Day), preparations are underway all over major cities for huge fireworks extravaganzas. But what's really interesting is that virtually all of these celebrations include some tie to music - which isn't surprising, because since mankind first started hitting sticks together instead of simply hitting each other with them, music has been an integral part of celebrations throughout the world.

For example, music is a huge part of the Olympics and for that matter, virtually all sporting events - the Super Bowl would hardly be the same without the music-centric half-time show. But music isn't just a part of massive celebrations. Weddings, funerals, high school proms, Native American pow-wows, worship services, protest marches, festivals...the list could go on and on. (And also think about the importance of dance in many of these celebrations – you certainly couldn’t have dance if you didn’t have music.)

In many ways, we include music in these celebrations as our means of expressing emotions tied to the celebration - everything from the joy of a couple united in marriage, to the crossing over to whatever happens (or doesn't happen) after life, to major events and holidays. Through lyrics, we can communicate messages of love, hate, relationships, sex, politics - and often, music doesn't even need lyrics to express itself. Think of a blues guitar riff playing: it can transport you immediately to a place of deep thought and reflection and, yes, maybe even pull you into sadness or happiness.

Grammy-winning musician Moby once said “One of the really fascinating things about music is that technically – in a very literal way – it doesn’t exist. A painting, sculpture, or a photograph can physically exist, while music is just air hitting the eardrum in a slightly different way than it would randomly. If you were a space alien trying to define music, you would define it as humans manipulating the way in which air molecules hit someone’s eardrum. Somehow that air, which has almost no substance whatsoever, when moved and when made to hit the eardrum in tiny subtle ways, can make people dance, cry, have sex, move across country, go to war, and more. It’s remarkable that something so subtle can elicit profound emotional reactions in people.”

In his 2006 book "This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession," Dr. Daniel J. Levitin writes, “…Whenever humans come together for any reason, music is there…it is and was [always] part of the fabric of everyday life.”

Whether or not you're in the USA celebrating the 4th this week, you’re probably celebrating something, somewhere, with music. So find a live music venue, or grab your own instrument, and make time to celebrate what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once called "the universal language of mankind." That in and of itself is worth celebrating! -HC-

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Dendy Jarrett is the Publisher and Director of Harmony Central. He has been heavily involved at the executive level in many aspects of the drum and percussion industry for over 25 years and has been a professional player since he was 16. His articles and product reviews have been featured in InTune Monthly, Gig Magazine, DRUM! and Modern Drummer Magazines.