Music as a cultural tool has been around as early as mankind began to exist. Just like a Nigerian artist lyrics say "Music doesn't need any permission to enter our spirits", so it is a fact to say when we pass through traditional as well as modern age music we are actually in fact moving in the cultural and historic timeline of mankind.

When I think about traditional music, I am right away taken back to my grandmother’s house, my hometown. The traditional interesting folklore that tells the story of what our ancestors experienced, after every storytelling those days, there was always a song that accompanied it, years have passed, yet, there is something stable and reassuring in this transmission from generation to generation of these melodies and the singers. They help keep our tradition/culture alive as they recount love, loss, victory, and even their daily life.

On the other hand, modern music as a reflection of modern times has a more aggressive and energetic feel to it. It is the music we wake up to, exercise to, party with, express our emotions both sad and happy ones, sometimes confusing, and even fall asleep to. Modern music categories are dynamic, newly emerging, and sometimes are on the borderline of what is known to be music From the intensity of rocks, to complex beats in electronic dance music, they bear testimony to a changing, connected world.

The question arises, did traditional music influence the modern music? For me, I would Say Yes, but at the same time it is not just a one way or straightforward process, One might therefore simply conclude that traditional and modern music have evolved in a very mutual and reciprocal way, the movements of one being followed by the movements of the other.

Jazz for instance is considered as originating from folk music, which in turn, became the basis for the development of many other genres. It is through the scale, rhythm, and instrument that was fashioned over many dynasties that the present era's music composition was built upon. Let me begin with the blues. It is mostly seen as an American originated genre but from stories I've read and songs I've listened to, you can call me an old soul because right from my tender age, old-school music has been a favorite, the blues genre is originally based on the African Americans’ experience and it’s influenced by the African music. As time went on, the blues subsequently impacted nearly all the popular music specialties of the twentieth century, including jazz, rock, and hip hop.

However, modern music does not come from the previous one extending it, it most often overwrites it. That's why we see some very popular music fade away after a year or two, but old-school/traditional music lasts through many decades and still sounds as refreshing as ever. I once went to a show where a performer incorporated modern music with the features of cultural tunes. The result was electrifying. Thus, dance and familiar tunes found a new context and appealed to both young and old in the audience.

This preservation consequently offers emerging artists seeking to associate with their traditional or ethnic music or searching for new techniques motivation.
But the question remains, can the modern and traditional music coexist in today’s world? Indeed, in many ways they already do: We see modern artists incorporate traditional instruments into their music production, and the result, is mind-blowing, Burnaboy is an example of an artist who has successfully blended both traditional and modern music together giving that satisfactory feeling to the listeners.
We see this coexistence in music education as well: a friend of mine who is a music teacher today once told me of how they were given a project to research the traditional approaches to playing instruments such as the piano, and violin it was an exciting experience for her considering the way she related the information to me, this kind of training gives them the best chance of being prepared for a musical landscape where, for example, rock music contains elements of hip-hop and vice versa.

Thus, the use of traditional and modern music also depicts our duality in a globalized society, with one foot in the tradition of our forefathers and the other in the current merged blended society. Today, people of different cultures live in one society, and the same can be said about our preference in music. We could wake up to top charting song, sing a folk song to our child at night, and end the day with jazz. All in all, the shows how music in different ways whether modern or traditional music, it all contributes positively to our lives and expands our vision.

Being a fan of both classic and new music, more often I look in amazement at how they are connected and in what way they differ. And I think music will always make this world a better place toward unity.

This post is inspired by the #julyinleo monthly topics, day 5, which you can also take part in. Check out Leogrowth thread for more info.

Image 1 is edited with canva
Images 2 and 3 are mine

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