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Daniel Adams

12/2/16

For this ethnography interview assignment, I chose my mother as the subject


of my interview. My reasoning for this was as such: I was aware in passing that she
had had experiences with participating in music when she was younger, but I was
not aware of the specifics. In addition to this, she was raised in Vancouver, Canada
under two fully Chinese parents (who had immigrated there around the late 50s,
early 60s), which I assumed would mean that she would have experienced a fairly
significant amount of Chinese culture and by extension, the music associated with
Chinese culture. I began the interview by allowing her to establish her background,
her place of birth, and then inquired further into her background with music,
personal experiences growing up. As it turns out, she had begun to take band
classes in elementary school, around fifth grade, in which she played clarinet for
three years to come. It should be noted that in the schooling system she was
enrolled in, elementary school moved directly to high school. From there, she
moved to other instruments such as the flute, timpani drums, and tenor sax. I found
it interesting how soon she was granted the opportunity to be participating in band
as a student compared to what I have personally experienced growing up.
Additionally, the multiple instruments she played gave her a larger perspective on
participating in ensembles that I did not personally have. I made a note to return to
this soon to find out more.
Now, while someone participating in band classes is a good indicator that
that person likely has an established appreciation for music, it typically doesnt give
much insight as to the more personal views on music that that person has, such as
the music that they enjoy outside of band or views on music that are shared with
their family. I inquired about her family and the musical background that they had,
and I was not expecting what I then learned. Her father apparently used to play the
banjo, a fact I had not learned even after multiple visits to her parents. She went on,
He also played violin, which I believe he learned in Hong Kong, another fact I was
not aware of. He apparently did not speak of it often, if at all, but from my mothers
understanding his pursuit of the instrument was purely for his enjoyment as
opposed to participating in any sort of ensemble. But her father was not the only
one in her family that had a musical background. She stated My mother, from what
I remember, she did some singing, and the type of singing she did in those days
were Chinese opera style, she still does that today, she does a lot of singing old
style, old Chinese style, and shes with a group of other ladies that are also retired
like her, and they perform every so often for their association doing different
events. This was further insight that I had never been privy to, as this had never
been mentioned in my previous visits to meet my grandparents in Vancouver, much
like my grandfathers banjo and violin playing. With her parents both musically
versed, I thought it no surprise that she would also have an inclination towards
participating in music herself.

With the new information I had learned so far, I was curious to explore
whether her parents Chinese background, particularly her mothers Chinese opera
music, influenced her own taste in music, and how music factored into her life
socially, so that I could draw further parallels between her experiences and mine. As
it turns out, she had never taken an overt interest in her mothers opera singing,
which I felt was the strongest link to Chinese music-culture present in her life, and
she stated she was never a huge fan of other kinds of Chinese music. In fact, her
favorite music of the time was rock and roll, as she grew up in the 70s. I found this
as a tiny surprise, and it also broadened my perspectives slightly on how it must
have been growing up in such a different area and yet still having some interests
line up with what I knew of music-culture back in those times. Her experiences in
band that she recounted lined up rather closely with what Ive personally
experienced having taken band in my school years before college. The main key
aspect I noticed was the distinct social circle that emerges between bandmates; this
is to say, how you may have a certain group of friends that you interact with mainly
through band, and then another group that isnt involved in band, one you may
have had even before joining band. The band room also still served as something of
a social hub, which I observed in my high school years.
Lastly, I was curious on her interest in and views on music have changed
since then, as she had come to the states a fairly long time ago, and I believed it
prudent to find out what has changed. She had never found the time visit actual
musical concerts of musicians she enjoyed, but she did express an interest in the
jazz genre, with one artist specifically in mind. Im partial to Mindi Abair, shes an
alto sax player. She has made quite a name for herself these last several years.
She had first discovered Abair while working in a retail job and seeing one of her
CDs, and, having already had an interest in jazz, became of fan of her since, which I
had been aware of, but thought it necessary to explore regardless. Lastly, I asked
her what her thoughts on music are today compared to when she was growing up.
Music has changed quite a bit, she began, and she described how she feels music
today is driven heavily on artistic expression, and how music can be a response to
tragedy, whether external or internal to the artist, which I completely agree with.
Overall, I found that conducting this interview helped me better understand my
mothers past and also offered a valuable perspective on how music can affect us all
in the ways that we interact with it growing up.

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