Alycia in Musicland

     I'm guilty of loving pop music and pop culture. I can't deny it any longer. I always feel music shamed for enjoying that type of music, but it makes me happy and makes me want to dance. I consume mostly pop music from women because I tend to relate to their message more. An artist I don't listen to is Dua Lipa, but I came across an interview with her and I thought it was interesting. In the interview, Dua Lipa she said she felt like people expect much more from women than men in pop music. It wasn't something I thought about before, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Women in pop music must be diverse artists who can do it all. It's highly praised if you're a triple threat; this can be singing, acting, and dancing. I remember when Dua Lipa was a joke on the internet for trying to dance because of the pressure she felt by her agency. Women have to be forever evolving to stay relevant and interesting, but someone like Ed Sheeran can get ...

    Three important instruments used in Brazilian music are the cavaquinho, ganza, and alafaia. The cavaquinho is small guitar with only four strings. The website Jam Addict compares the cavaquinho to the ukulele. The ganza is a cylinder-shaped instrument with beads on the inside; it can be made from several types of materials. The cylinder part can be made from metal, wood, or plastic; the beads can be sand, plastic beads, or metal beads. The alafaia is a drum that is made from macaiba wood and the covering is from goat or cow skin .        Cavaquinho                                             Ganza                                         Alafaia      A popular style of music in Brazil is Choro music.  Three key el...

In my lifetime, religion isn't something I've been strict with or closed-minded to. I was baptized catholic by my Hispanic family, and I have a mother who grew up as a Jehovah's witness. My mom stopped identifying as a Jehovah's witness once she moved out of her parent's home. Not long after I was baptized catholic, my Hispanic family stopped identifying as Catholic. For many years I didn't have an identity within religious communities. I've gone to a Jehovah's witness hall, Catholic church, Baptist church, and Christian church. I think I related most to the Christian church and the values; it taught true unconditional love. It wasn't a specific denomination; I wasn't extremely aware of denominations until I moved to the South. From what I experienced in the Christian church, music was used to unify everyone in the community no matter how old they were.  On a regular Sunday morning, the music was simple and not too loud for the older people; it w...

    Something I was interested in learning more about was Native American instruments and how they are crafted. When I typed " Native American", flutes showed up. I wanted to see if their flutes look like the common metal flutes that we see in our bands and they don't. They're made from wood and have less holes.  I began to wonder if they sound the same, but they have a different timbre. I also noticed they were played differently. With the metal flutes, the musician plays it lifted and horizontal to their bodies.   Native Americans play their wooden flutes downwards.     Another thing I was interested in learning about was the modern Native American girl. I wanted to know more about how they feel about our society and what it's like for them growing up. I found that they're just as frustrated with stereotypes as any other race or ethnicity. In the video, I like how they make fun the misconceptions about them and correct them. There were some misconceptio...