More than Just Good Feelings: Advocacy for Music among Mainstream Subjects

Abstract

In many world cultures music plays a central role in life’s activities (from birth to death) of the communities and in some instances it is said to be inseparable from daily activities. In Kenya these attributes of music hold true not just for rural communities (where traditional music dominates) but in urban communities as well. In modern society, if one considers the place and role of music in daily life activities, it becomes increasingly clear that music experience is more than just good feelings, socially and emotionally; rather it is fundamentally meaningful in our daily lives whether it is for soothing children to sleep, maintaining work tempo, providing sound structure for television commercials, creating intensity and meaning in movies, playing supporting role(s) in funerals, singing, or simply for its aesthetic purposes. I would argue that for a commodity such as music, which is so meaningful to us whether old or young, a good deal of investment in time is required to ensure that it (music) remains part of our social structure, such as training of instructors, learning and practising music, utilising and formalising its use in formal learning. These ideals ought to occupy important national and regional consideration and attention.