Music and its connection to Religion
Music, being the art that combines several tones to make a continuous and heartfelt structure of tones and keys, is greatly influenced by religion and the way that people perceive types of music. One such type is the religious music. There are various religions but they all have some extent of influence on how the believers of that religion perceive their music. The scenario of the influence of religion and other believes on how people perceive music is only limited to religious or poetic music.
There is a great distinction between other social and secular songs from the religious and spiritual ones. For instance, music in India has been very controversial with some of the analysts claiming that the nature of their music greatly depends on people’s meaning the word religion. If religion is described as the faith, practices and biases of a certain community, then Indian music is not perceived to be religious music. But on the other hand if religion is defined as the spiritual path in which leads people towards universal values which help people rise above prejudices and limitations, then Indian music is seen as religious music. Indian music is seen as religious music since most of Indian classical chants are based on mythological experiences of the past. Indian music is perceived to be among the oldest genres of music.
Hindu, being the most prominent religion in India, has the most spiritual music. Music in Hinduism is the earliest source of moral and spiritual achievements. The music is not only aimed at entertaining but also has a connection with the gods. Music in Hinduism is seen as a divine art. However, not all of India’s music is spiritual. Current Indian pop contains several aspects of westernization and has no spiritual connection whatsoever. Their traditional music is spiritual and has that connection with a higher power. One of the instruments that have a connection with the spiritual world is the flute used by snake charmers to ‘wooing’ a snake out of its basket.
In China, there are several traditions whose music is very spiritual. These include Daoism and Buddhism. The music of the Daoism is spiritual and set the mind in a calm state and it also creates a worshiping atmosphere. The main instrument used in Daoism is the drum. It is used to sermon the people to come to the temple for worship. This genre evokes communion with higher powers since it is mostly sung to worship and praise the immortals and the gods. This is also sung with some of the scriptures being chanted in the back ground with the peaceful and clear tune of their songs. Wind and plucked instruments are also used in this genre. This music has remained unchanged for very long.
Buddhists too have a form of spiritual music that is sung to worship and praise the gods. Buddhists are found dominantly in China but are also prominent in India too. Buddhists use their music for worship, meditation and entertainment. Music is the core teaching of the Buddhists. Their main believe is that nature itself sing its own melodies and heavenly chants can be heard if one clearly listens. They also believe that music make people’s hearts soft and makes their minds easier to understand new teachings and to be transformed. Buddhists use their music mainly for worshipping and as a ceremonial offering to Buddha. They also know use the music at times for entertainment in weddings and also in funerals. Their music has however changed with time. Buddhists use drums, flutes and harps in their music.
In Hinduism music is controlled by the singers. For instance, the snake charmers control the music as she or he perceives and the snake changes its dance moves as the music changes. In Daoism, the music is controlled by the worshipers. As they chant the scriptures the tune of the song changes slowly. The music in this scenario is changed by the singers but also the wind enhances the nature of the music heard. In Buddhism, music is of two types. One is that which is sung by nature itself while the other is that sung by the worshipper. In the one sung by nature, nature controls its melodies. These include the wind, birds and the heavenly chants. In the second type of Buddhists’ songs, the soloists and the worshippers control the music nature.
When traditional musical genres that are religious are performed on stage to an audience that does not believe in the tradition’s religion they cease to be religious songs and are then seen as entertainment songs. This is because religious songs are supposed to pass religious messages to the listeners. If the listeners gain no knowledge or message from the songs they are only there to entertain them. Religious sons are also meant to be very significant in the worship sector. If the audience is not worshipping in the process of listening these songs are just there for their enjoyment.
What is the relationship between music, gender, and religion in the traditions you describe?
Music is religious in the Chinese and the Indians traditional. This is not however the case for all the songs. In Buddhism we have seen that the songs were also used at times as entertainment songs and also in mourning for funerals. In Indian classical music, most of the tunes are feminine in nature. They may have been sung by men or the women but they show that gender was not a main agenda in the traditional Indian songs. In the entertainment part of the Indian songs, women played a major role in dancing. This shows their involvement in the singing.
In the Chinese world, songs were mostly religious and peaceful as compared to the other countries. The nature of these songs show the attachment of the Chinese to religion was very great. Most of the songs were sung by the men. Women too were involved in the playing of the several instruments that were there.
