It is known that there are various types of music genres that people love to listen to nowadays. However, there has been a debate over whether traditional or modern music is more important. Personally, I think that traditional music deserves to be known more by people. In this essay, I will further explain why music is so popular and why folk songs need to be more significant.
In the beginning, music has always been a part of our lives. In childhood, we are already introduced to songs such as “ABC’S” as a method of learning. Songs also help us in retrieving memories. Sometimes when we listen to the melodies, we are reminiscing about the time when we had heard the song. For instance, a dementia patient who was a ballerina in the past vividly remembers the dance moves that she did years ago. Hence, music is so popular because it has always been a part of our lives.
Although music is widely known by a lot of people, it is often the modern music that has been really popular these days. We frequently forgot about the traditional songs that are a part of our cultural heritage. Songs that are written usually represent the traditions of a local community and have a message for the listeners. One example is the Indonesian folk song “Cublak-cublak suweng,” which is often associated with the traditional game with the same name from Central Java, and it teaches kids about the importance of avoiding greed and maintaining balance in life. Not many younger generations know this game because of globalization and pop music trends. Traditional music must be preserved and passed on to future generations, since it is a vital aspect of our national identity.
Despite the unavoidable trends of modern music, folk songs are still important. Given that traditional music is a part of our culture, we need to protect that to ensure that our country has its own uniqueness and identity to encourage others to learn more about the country.