Your comment post should be at least 400 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?
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" Well his fathers music would have been a very heavy Spanish music and would have been a lot of instruments. I also do not think that it depicts a person either or affect the way that i view a person. Just because they say they can relate to a song doesn’t mean it necessarily relates to them or to their personality for example. A personality of someone can’t just be viewed or judged by what you hear in songs or how the person says that they can relate to them. My first memories of music go back about 12-13 years. It was when I heard people sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. That was when I was about 2-3. Mainly my mom and dad sang these types of songs to me. I do definitely also know that they sang to me when I was younger but those memories are just too far gone that i am not able to hold them in my mind or be able to search for them in my mind. Those are the earliest memories of music that i have locked and stored away in my mind. Some family member have introduced different types of music to me. For example, just a couple of years ago my parents introduced me to a genre known as Country. I honestly did not like it at all the first time i heard it, but over time, after listening to it more and more just caused me to grow into liking it. I do still listen to other music but this goes along with some of the other types of music I listen to. I really do thank my parents for introducing this kind of music into my life. Honestly I never brought new music to any older family members. The reason why is because they would not like it and new music really isn't that good.
ReplyDeleteI like how you can remember the song "twinkle,twinkle little star". Most kids can relate to that song. I also agree where you can't judge a person by the type of music they listen to.
DeleteI can totally identify with David Gonzalez's story of him listening to his father's favorite music from his childhood. I think that all kids from each generation hate some of their parents music. Every generation of people have different kinds and types of music. I also can relate to Mr. Gonzalez when he says he hears one of his father favorite songs he thinks about his father. It's like it triggers a memory. I don't think that being a fan of a certain style of music or artists connects how you see yourself. I might like country music and live in the city. It doesn't mean that I think I am a cowboy. I don't view people about the music they listen to. Like the saying says " You can't judge a book by it's cover". well the same goes with people. Just because they might like a certain type of music you should not judge them. My first memories of music was about over 12 years ago. I used to watch the show "Bear in the Blue House" on the Disney channel. The intro to the show had a song on named "Welcome to the Blue House". It was one of my favorite shows when I was little. My mom says that I used to get all excited when the song came on. It is a happy memory. I also loved the SpongeBob Squarepants theme song. It reminds me when my Dad and I would wait for the new episode to be on and then be excited when it came on.My Dad is known for telling or showing or getting you to listen to music that he used to listen to. He plays a guitar and loves to play music he used to listen to.He is constantly calling me in to hear a new song he learned to play that he used to listen to. Lately he is listening and learning how to play Queen songs. My mom like to turn on music in the car to songs she used to play. It's kind of embarrassing when she sings to it. She also listens to country music which I hate when she puts that on. I think the only "music" style I inherited from anyone in my family is from my Uncle Tyler. He is closer to my age than my parents or grandparents. He loves heavy metal. Most of the music is pretty cool. I don't think I really brought new music to any of my family members. We all really like different types and style of music. The only time we all like a song is when we take our road trip during spring break.We all find a song we agree on the be the theme song for that trip only. Otherwise we really don't like each other's music except for my mom and dad to can sometimes listen to the same music.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you . Mr. Gonzalez didn't really like his dads type of music at first, but as he grew older he began to a enjoy it. Also I do like how you explained why you didn't think enjoyed a typ of music doesn't show who you really are.
DeleteTrue, this is very right Mr. Gonzalez may have not liked his fathers music. I believe that over time he began to enjoy it since he could actually relate to it and understand what they were saying and, exactly what they meant in their words.
DeleteI can identify with David Gonzalez's story of him listening to his father's favorite music from his childhood. I do believe that being a fan of a certain type of music connected to how I see myself. Because music I listen to can be soft and smooth and sweet or it can be loud, crazy, or wild. This shows me two different sides of me. This showed me that I can be both careful and careless, safe and dangerous if I wanted to be. When I see other people's music taste it basically gives me an idea of what they are as a person. Let's say I see a person that listen to kick rock and roll or heavy metal it shows me what they like. It also shows me what kind of person they like because the music shows what kind of person they would like to hand out and be around and just to talk to. My first memories of music is when I was younger and how I wanted a song on the radio to be played. It was a old song that I don't know the name to I remember that it was a rock song. The person driving wanted to change the station,but I said no. Some of my family members have showed me what kind of music they did listen to. But I don't like their type of music and I always like to something different. I don't show my type of music to my older family because I know they would hate it. So I don't and also that my family only likes really old music so it wouldn't really fit for them.When I listened to their music type , it wasn’t really my favorite, but it wasn’t bad either. It made me enjoy some of their old music and realize that how old a song is doesn’t effect how good it is.I really don’t listen to anywhere near the same type of music as my parents, but that’s not related to how I was raised.
ReplyDeleteTrue, this is very right Mr. Gonzalez may have not liked his fathers music. I believe that over time he began to enjoy it since he could actually relate to it and understand what they were saying and, exactly what they meant in their words.
DeleteI identify with Mr. Gonzalez's story in a way that is very hard to explain. When I was much younger, I would go to my Grandparents' house and hear these series of sounds played in a way that is indescribable. I asked my Grandma what it was called, and she said that it was called Music. I learned to know that I fell madly in love with country music. I think that being a fan of a certain style of music or artists is connected to how I see myself. I also think that it does change the way I view other people. For example, if I listen to Country, and other people listen to different styles of music, I think that it sounds kind of trashy and too hard to understand. My first memories of music are, like I mentioned before, at my grandmas house. My parents, grandparents, other older family members, and teachers have introduced me to music that they loved when they were younger. For example, my family members all listen to country music. I have "inherited" are country music. I have fallen in love with many artists including, Rascal Flatts and Old Dominion. I have showed my older family members including, Toby Keith, and One Direction.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article that Mr. Gonzalez learned to like and really start to like the music his dad used to listen too. He said that he did not really like the music his father listened to but preferred his own type of music. I think he wanted to avoid his father’s music because he did not want to be labeled as that. Once he grew up he began to realize that it wasn’t as bad and he should respect it more for what it is and what it means for his father. I do not think a certain kind of music connects to how I see myself because a lot of music that I have listened to over the years really doesn’t connect to me as a person. It may for some others but for me I have memories and things like that about songs. I also do not think that it makes a person either or affect the way that I view a person. Just because they say they can relate to a song doesn’t mean it describing their life. A personality of someone can’t just be viewed or judged by what you hear in songs or how the person says that they can relate to them. My first memories of music goes back a while. It was when I heard people listen to certain songs it go stuck in my head. I do definitely also know that they sang to me when I was young but I do not really remember it. Those are the earliest memories of music that i have put away. Some family member have introduced different types of music to me. I really do thank my parents for introducing different kinds of of music into my life. Some of the artists that I have come to like because of my dad or mom. Because I have spent time listening to other genre I have also been able to start looking at and do to like the other artists that are involved in this that type of music. I have shared any music that i have learned to like with other people. I am mostly involved with people around my age but they mostly already know the types of music and artists that I listen to. So in conclusion there are a lot of different types of music and it connects to your life in a lot of ways.
ReplyDelete