How to Listen to World Music

The term "world music" was originally coined by the music recording and marketing industry in the late 1980s. The term generally describes any sort of "foreign" or non-Western music types, from Hungarian Folk to Aboriginal Rock to Japanese Pop. Consequently, when listening to world music, expect scales, rhythms and instruments ranging from mildly exotic to downright unfamiliar. Every world culture offers its own unique musical language.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Start branching out slowly. You may find listening to world music to be a rather unpleasant experience if you jump right into highly unfamiliar grounds. Stick to American-ethnic fusions and related genres at first.

2. Trace back a step or two into the growth of your preferred musical genre. If you enjoy jazz, listen to some Afro-Cuban Jazz or more traditional African Jazz. If you enjoy British Pop, listen to some British Folk-Rock.

3. Look even farther back to the origins of your preferred musical genre. Again, if you enjoy jazz, listen to some more traditional African Folk selections and even some spirituals. If you listen to Classical composers such as Tchaikovsky, try some Hungarian folk music.

4. Branch out to related styles of world music. From African Jazz and Folk music, incorporate some Cuban Jazz. From Pop-Rock, try some Japanese Pop, Indian Pop and Latin Pop. If you enjoy dance, sample the rhythms of Salsa, Rumba, Merengue or even Calypso.

5. Add to your resource base. Learn more about world music, find world music artists and get suggestions for recordings from books and websites.

6. Keep an open mind. As mentioned, the unfamiliar scales, rhythms and instruments might make you rather uncomfortable, at first. Give the music a chance, and try to enjoy the differences. You will start to notice all the various world music influences in many of the more traditional musical genres and appreciate music as a whole that much more.

Tips & Warnings

• Some websites allow you to listen to brief samples of a variety of music.

Resources

• Explore musical genres at Allmusic.com.
• National Geographic world music guide
• Find world music media downloads at Worldmusic.net.