Music & Rituals

 Even though I’ve never played an instrument, I have sung at many rituals (Anniversaries, funerals, and church events. I believe when you're actually singing the music or being involved in some kind of way , you understand it a bit more rather than you understanding from just listening to music. My voice lesson teacher taught me in order to feel the music from deep within put yourself in the singer’s shoes somehow. After that it became quite easy to  sing. I sung at my grandparents anniversary. Even though I was younger I didn’t feel like I did too bad. I sung “Why I Love You” by MAJOR. 
This song was easy to me because i know that my grandparents love is strong. Rituals make music more compassionate and more meaningful depending on the event.  For example, you can listen to “Take Me To The King” by Tamela Mann and think oh its just gospel music but when you’re actually singing the song at a funeral it makes the song more meaningful and sad. This was also a song I sung for a ritual which was a funeral. I’ve heard the song plenty of times but when I sung it at a funeral it was different. It made me feel all emotions not just from the people that were crying . To give you an idea of what I mean I sung this at my grandmother’s funeral and she was battling cancer. In the lyrics, Tamela Mann says “Truth is I’m tired, options are few”. It made me feel like maybe my grandmother felt the same way about all the test she had to go through. 
Another ritual that makes music different is school events. Parents may have heard a song a thousand times and just feel like “oh its just typical music” ,but when they go to their children’s school concert it becomes a song to remember. For one depending on the age of the child it could be quite funny. Children’s concerts are always funny because they dont know some of the components that make a song actually sound good. As a result, I believe rituals and music correspond together well. Rituals are the highlight of music. They bring out the joy or more emotions you may have never felt about about a certain song or just music in general. 



Comments

  1. BritneyMarch 10, 2023 at 2:14 PM

    Hi DeMia! I think its very interesting that you sing at these different events. I can definitely understand how being the one singing the song would make it more meaningful vs just listening to the song. Like how singing that song at your grandmothers funeral gave you an understanding of how your grandmother felt.

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