1219 - Music for bringing people of different cultures and ages together
4 minute read
Some people say that music is a good way of bringing people of different cultures and ages together.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Model Answer 1: [Agreement]
Music plays a crucial role in our lives and eliminates differences among various cultures and generations. It symbolises harmony and reflects humanity. So, I agree with the notion that music helps bring people from various cultures and generations together.
One of the reasons music excretes the barriers among different nations and cultures is that people enjoy music from every part of the world, and it speaks the same language, which embodies human emotion, joy, love and sorrow. Music does not need interpretation to be enjoyed and understood as it touches our hearts and resonates in our minds. No matter what language we speak or understand, we appreciate the melody and depth of music which is why people of all ages can sit together and enjoy the same music. For instance, some viral music in foreign languages in our country signifies how it speaks our minds and hearts rather than just a human language.
Moreover, nations influence each other with the type of music they produce and the type of musical instruments they use. This amalgamation reduces cultural differences and brings people from different cultures and ages to a common platform. To cite an example, many music genres, that we enjoy these days, were derived from multiple nations and cultures and people from all these cultures enjoy and love them.
Finally, music is an art form which is enjoyed by all, and this helps reduce the generation and age gaps among people. To illustrate, when the national anthem is played, children, adults and elders all tune to the same emotion, which is patriotism, and their unity is stronger than ever. The same can be said when music evokes other emotions like love, sadness and so on. Besides, some music categories are loved by all, and the listeners feel a sense of togetherness in a divine way which is almost absent in other art forms. It not only eliminates age gaps but also the generation and cultural gaps.
In conclusion, music, as a universally accepted and supreme art form, enriches our lives and strengthens the connections between us, regardless of our backgrounds, culture and age.
Model Answer 2: [Disagreement]
Music can stimulate our minds and bodies and also offer some temporary relief from mental agony and sadness. Music probably can do many other things, but it can not bring people of different cultures and ages together. And this essay will explain why we can not rely on music to accomplish such a difficult task.
Music has some elements and qualities to bring some like-minded people within, not outside of a certain culture, country or nation closer together in a common bond because the tone and tune of that music sound so familiar to them. Many music lovers even suggest that music is the food for our soul, regardless of our ages. True that may be, but when we are pinning our hopes on music to unite people of different cultures and ages, we are becoming too much optimistic, to say the least, because culture is a very difficult subject to understand and so is “human nature”.
Culture is not only about what we like to listen to, or what we do not for some temporary pleasure or gratification. Rather, culture, among other things, very predominantly is also about “how we are so dissimilar to each other”, and it is essentially this “wish” or “sentiment” that helps us cling to our own ways of life, no matter how “peculiar” or “weird” that may look to other cultures. It is because of this strong “sentiment” that even though, almost all the countries in the continent of South America essentially speak the same language or practice the same religion, they are not merged into only one country. The same applies to different ages as well, and that is why we see, more often than not, that while a young guy likes some heavy rock or heavy metal music, an older person likes a more traditional or classic type of music.
So, from the discussion above, it should be fairly clear to us that music is important for our life, but it is not a good way to bring people of different cultures or ages together.