Grace Mayell

June 22, 2020

American Music History
Daily Reflection #1

It has been a great start to the American Music History class. I only wish that we could

hear you (Professor Becker) lecture in person. I’ve heard so much about how engaging you are

and since I am enjoying the material so much, I would only enjoy it more in person. The names

of significant composers, compositions and events all tie back to information I have briefly

learned throughout my own educational experience and also the music I have heard in

performance but never to this much detail. What struck me the most going through the last three

lessons was attempting to place myself in the shoes of the people living during this time period.

Not only the composers but of an average, every day citizen. What would it have been like

starting life afresh in a place with very little conventional art? As a child? As a community

leader? As a young parent? Moreover, what would it have been like to be so far from home and

the familiar yet desire to assert your own individuality amongst so many who desired to do the

same? These questions have occurred to me before in the context of “young America” but not in

the context of “pre-revolutionary America.”

The second point that stood out to me was the form and function of distinctly American

music. This beautiful exploratory phase of development was only possible through some very

brave but amateur musicians who desired to pursue music to bring joy and through a passion for

creation. Despite the lack of a well-defined set of customs and rules, this sort of blank slate

opened up the opportunity for artistic expression and continued development to expand musical
training in the form of songbooks and public concerts, the very beginnings of which led to the

field of Music Education.