BENGALURU: Many of us are guilty of thinking of classical music as the pinnacle of refinement, culture and sophistication. Any other traditional music, be it folk, tribal, or world music, is less than. Simpler, easier, and somehow rustic.
A turning point in my life, was when I sat with the Senegalese legend Solo Cissokho, and we prepared for a workshop with SaPa students, and he told me how young children are brought into the West African music tradition.
The Griots, in West African villages are musicians, storytellers, entertainers, and keepers of culture in what is essentially an oral tradition. They hold an important status in the social hierarchy, keeping traditions alive.
When a young child is being initiated, s/he must first learn to make an instrument such as a Kora (a traditional fretted stringed instrument). Only once one can make a Kora, will they be taught how to play it. First the rhythm strings, which keep the tempo, and then the melody strings. The student must also learn how to play the djembe (a single headed drum played by hand) and memorise and sing over 100 songs.
Also, in the African tradition, music is never just music – it is also accompanied by dance. Once a student has assimilated the knowledge of how to make the instrument, learned to play it and other instruments, mastered traditional songs and dance, s/he must appear and present the repertoire before a strict council of elders, who can either deem the student fit, or send him/her back for further training.
So even before a young griot is allowed to perform, he must already obtain a certain level of mastery. This requires relentless hard work, high skill levels in multiple domains, creativity, and a tremendous memory. To believe that this (tribal/folk) music, is somehow easier or simpler than classical music (Western or Indian), is hopefully just because of ignorance and nothing worse. We need to make sure our children are less ignorant than we were, and give them exposure to global culture.
At a most fundamental level, every music can be called folk music, because it is music from and of people. We need to stop ascribing differing values to different styles of music, and just accept and appreciate different musical styles as they are.