This week we discussed the lobotomization of a cat for experimentation of sound as mentioned in the book “mp3”. We brought up the discussion if it was ethical or not to do this. I personally found that the cat did not have a brain anymore so it could not feel pain so it was not suffering. Although it may not have been morally right, for the progression of science experiments like this are required.

The term chosen: Blue Grass

First used as an artistic term (not for music): 1719

Next used to describe “Poa” (actual “Blue” grass plant): 1794 (An historical, geographical, commercial, and philosophical …)

First reference to music from novel in 1974: Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys: an illustrated …

After conducting this search I found that Blue Grass Music had not been literally mentioned until close to the mid 20th century and most previous references before that were about a genus of plant species called “Poa”. Blue Grass itself had a drastic rise in literary mention in the latter half of the 20th century.

This last week in class we discussed one topic concerning ‘false fingering’, which is where two (or more) notes are played continuously but with a different pitch. This style is usually demonstrated on a saxophone and serves as a complex thing to the audience but at the same time a simple thing to the musician. I did not understand what exactly made this technique so special but I enjoyed the references that were made to the style.

This week’s discussion involved a history mystery as we explored the inclusion of African Americans in the confederate army during the civil war. Now as we all remember one of the Confederacy’s main goals of the war was to preserve slavery so the inclusion of the people they were trying to oppress in their own ranks seems a bit redundant. Many of the ideas presented in class seemed to include logical reason regarding why this must have been. Probably one of the best answers was that they saw the military life as a better life than that of slavery or maybe the military was a chance to escape from slavery. Every week in class presents a new intellectual challenge that asks us questions that defy our modern view which is one of the many reasons I’ve grown to appreciate this class.

This week in class was intellectually engaging in the idea of what the Minstrel Show was. In my opinion I find it cringe worthy that many Americans of that time would think of this as a form of entertainment when considering how socially stereotypical it was. In retrospect, many Americans during the time of the minstrel show were not considered racists by each other due to this being a cultural norm and an ethically enlightening activity. In its early years, the Minstrel Show appeared to have been a form of mockery for the Afro-American community but later in its development we could see a change in its message. This is probably why it later became more widely accepted as a form of entertainment from the Afro-American community because some saw it more as preaching their culture than mocking it.

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